Watauga High School Sports Teams Update

Successful Start in New Conference for Pioneers

Story by Jason Gilmer

Moving into a different conference, one with 3A and 4A schools, didn’t seem to bother a couple of Watauga High School fall sports teams who won anyway.

Four teams have clinched Northwest 3A/4A championships so far for the Pioneers.

Here’s how the girls tennis, girls golf and boys and girls cross-country teams fared in conference play this season.

Tennis Goes Undefeated

It wasn’t unusual for the Pioneers to close out a conference match without losing, winning 9-0. Sometimes, there was just one lost match, but never more than three.

The Pioneers cruised to the title with a 12-0 record, as No. 1 player Shannon Herndon and No. 3 player Laura Gulliver each went undefeated individually in conference play and MacLain Copeland, the sixth player, lost just once.

“It was awesome to have an undefeated conference season,” coach Terry Hartley said.

The girls advanced to the playoffs, but had to face Asheville’s T.C. Roberson, which had beat the Pioneers during the season, in the first round and lost.

Herndon, though, advanced to this weekend’s state tournament after finishing in the top four at last week’s regional tournament.

Hannah Peterson (No. 2 player) was 12-4 overall, while Katelin Fox (No. 4) was 10-6 and No. 5 players Katie Grubbs (6-6) and Alexis Evans (2-2) also had good seasons.

“I was proud of the girls. They’re good kids and are very coachable,” Hartley said.

“Most people don’t make a big thing out of it any more, but they’re great sports,” he added. “If there would have been a citizenship award, we would have won that, too.”

Girl Golfers Capture Title

They didn’t win the final tournament, but the girls golf team won the conference title anyway.

The total number of strokes throughout conference play determines the championship. The Pioneers finished at 765, which was 41 strokes lower than South Caldwell.

“I couldn’t be happier and more proud of the girls who played,” said coach Jerry Moretz.

Moretz wasn’t sure how the team would be during the season because the players were so young. He had two seniors, a junior, a sophomore and nine freshmen on the squad.

Seniors Jenna Green and Hannah Yates led the girls, though, to the program’s first conference title since 2001.

“I didn’t know how we’d play,” Moretz said. “But I knew we’d work hard.”

XC Teams Run Away with Crown

The conference championship meet on October 21 was tight for the boys division, but the girls title wasn’t much of a race.

The WHS girls’ cross country team placed six runners among the top seven and held nine of the 14 all-conference positions. The girls beat South Caldwell 16-75 for the championship.

That shouldn’t be a surprise. The girls had won 24 of the previous 26 conference titles prior to moving into a new region.

That tradition certainly makes it easier for coach Randy McDonough to motivate his team.

“I’ve been lucky through the years,” McDonough said. “It was already started when I got here in 1990 and they’ve built off that. The traditions on the team carry them through.”

The girls were led to the title by the top seven finishes of Kayla Schneider (who finished first), Hannah Barbour, Amanda Carringer, Darby Middlebrook, Madison Harmon and Doria Kosmala at the conference meet.

The boys’ team had a bit tougher time, as it beat South Caldwell 53-57.

Daniel Osborne, Andrew Vandenberg and Clark Brackney finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference championship meet. Bryan Brackney and Migel Noriega rounded out the Pioneers’ top five runners.

The boys had won 17 of the previous 26 conference titles, McDonough said.

“The boys are doing well, but we’re struggling to get that fifth person in right now,” McDonough said.

The teams will run this Saturday, October 31, in the state’s regional meet in Charlotte. If either team finishes in the top four (out of 26 teams) at that meet, the Pioneers will advance to the state meet on Saturday, November 7.