Horton one of Navy seniors to be honored
Published 12:00 am Friday, November 15, 2013
From staff reports
Receiver Brantley Horton (West Rowan) will be one of 22 Navy seniors honored prior to Saturday’s final home football game against South Alabama.
Horton has dressed for all the home games this season and will dress for the Army-Navy game and also for a bowl if Navy qualifies.
Horton did not make the depth chart this season, so he has served on the scout team.
The scout team’s job is to simulate an opponent and give the regulars a quality look at the upcoming opponent’s offense and defense. Without the scout team, Navy could not properly prepare in practice.
Horton has been on the field for only one play in his varsity career — at East Carolina last season — but he’s had a tremendous experience as a Navy football player.
Horton will learn in a few weeks if he’ll be assigned as a Navy ensign or a Marine Corps second lieutenant.
USC Upstate’s Ross Oden (East Rowan) was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic team.
“Ross has been a real leader for us this year in the classroom and during the meets,” associate head coach Carson Blackwelder said. “His intelligence and hard work have allowed him to be one of our most successful student-athletes.”
Oden has been the top runner for the Spartans this season, posting two top-15 finishes.
He won the individual title at the Eye Opener Invitational with a time of 26:16.67. Oden was recently named second-team all-conference for the second straight season after finishing 11th at the A-Sun Championships.
He recorded a season-best time of 25:29.27 at the Blue Ridge Open.
“We are proud of the success that he has had in the classroom,” Blackwelder added. “He is the definition of a student-athlete.”
Oden boasts a 3.40 grade-point average and is majoring in chemistry with a minor in mathematics.
Oden will compete on Friday in the Southeast Regional in Charlottesville, Va.
Kennesaw State freshman Kelly Dulkoski (Carson) suffered a season-ending knee injury in a practice.
Dulkoski will need surgery to repair tears to an ACL, MCL and meniscus.
Dulkoski’s parents said she had just been told she’d earned the starting point guard position only minutes before she was injured.
She was hurt making a standard cut off a screen.
Surgery is scheduled for next week, and her parents report that Dulkoski loves the school and the team and is making the best of a difficult situation.
She was on a five-year academic plan to earn a masters degree, so this will essentially become a redshirt season for her, and she’ll still have four years to compete.
Dulkoski holds the Carson records for points in a game (36), season (617) and career (1,458).
Wheaton’s Erika Nelson (Salisbury) won the Central Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship at No. 4 singles.
Nelson and Emily Jones were runner-up at No. 2 doubles in the CCIW tournament. Wheaton won its ninth consecutive conference title.
Four championships will be decided Saturday in the annual NCHSAA’s boys soccer championships at Dail Soccer Field on the campus of N.C. State.
Championship weekend starts with the 1A final on Saturday morning at 11:05, followed by the 3A game at 2:05 p.m. and the 2A final at 5:05 p.m.
The final game of the quadrupleheader will be the 4A contest, starting at 8:05 p.m.
This will be the 13th year for four separate classified championships.
All four of the games will be televised by Time Warner Cable and also will be available on Local on Demand, digital channel 199 on Time Warner systems across the state.
The 5:05 pm contest for the 2A title has Kill Devil Hills First Flight (23-0) against Salisbury (26-1) in a battle of potent offenses and stingy defenses.
Salisbury won the 2011 2A title and has a great scoring threat in senior midfielder Bobby Cardelle, who has 44 goals on the season and has cracked the 100-goal barrier for his career.
First Flight features the Northeastern Coastal Conference Offensive Player of the Year in Graham Smalley (33 goals, 24 assists) as well as the Northeastern Coastal Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Seth Pugh.
Saturday’s 1A final has two teams making their initial appearances in an NCHSAA soccer championship as Wallace-Rose Hill (22-3) takes on North Moore (20-3-1).
All-State players Erik Patino and Carlos Gomez lead Wallace-Rose Hill. Menor Espinoza is the team’s leading scorer with 37 goals.
North Moore has outscored its opposition 22-1 in the playoffs, with junior Pedro Ugarte and sophomore Iban Catalan leading the offensive attack.
In the 3A game, defending champion Jacksonville will make its fifth visit to the finals since 2005. The Cardinals (20-4-1) will face Waxhaw Marvin Ridge (21-1-1).
Jacksonville’s Cards are led by Clayton Sparks (26 goals) and Warren Washington (25 goals).
Marvin Ridge, in the championship for the second time, will counter with a strong one-two punch of Will Green (23 goals) and Klint Parker (22 goals).
The final game of the day will see two well-established soccer powers, Raleigh Sanderson (23-6-1) and T.C. Roberson (26-0-2), vying for the 4A championship.
Sanderson is in the finals for the 14th time and has won or shared 11 state titles.
Michael Clemmons and Ryan Turner each have 17 goals to pace the Spartans.
Roberson is playing in its sixth championship. The Rams are led by senior standout Austin Stamey (34 goals). Goalkeeper Kevin Rhash has recorded 16 shutouts.
Tickets will be $8 at the gate.
Southeast’s girls won 40-22 against China Grove.
Olivia Gabriel scored 23 points. Sarah Musselwhite and Alexandra Linder scored six points each.
• Erwin’s boys (1-0) won 62-28 against Corriher-Lipe.
Bryson Sprinkle scored 19 points, and Cole Perry had 16.
Connor Childers scored 12 for the Yellow Jackets.
• West Rowan’s boys won 26-17 against North Rowan with defense.
Caleb Mauldin scored 14 points. Malcolm Ingram had four steals, and Logan Sproul and Josiah Dixon had three each. Owen White had eight rebounds. Anthony Renegar also played strong defense.
Tyrese Lawrence led the Mavericks with 12 points.
West Rowan’s baseball program is conducting a winter coat drive through Friday, Nov. 22.
Winter coats received will be distributed to elementary and middle schools in the West Rowan community for children in need.
You may give coats to any member of the baseball program or you may bring them to a coach at the school.