From staff reports

  Catawba AD Larry Leckonby  and head coach Curtis Walker announced the 2015 football schedule for Catawba.

The 11-game schedule features six home games.

“It’s exciting to be able to play six games in front of our home crowd,”  Walker said. “This season we will have our second full recruiting class and I have never been more excited for the upcoming season.”

West Georgia will be making its second trip to Salisbury for the season opener on Sept. 5. The first meeting came in 2000 with Catawba prevailing 28-24 in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

After the opener, Catawba will travel to Davidson on Sept. 12 and Carson-Newman on Sept. 19.

The SAC has  a new rotation on the league schedule. Catawba’s conference opener at Carson-Newman will be followed by a conference home night game vs. Wingate on Sept. 26.

The Indians will stay at home to face Newberry before a road game at new opponent Limestone on Oct. 10. The Saints will be in their second season of football and have joined UNC Pembroke as schools with a scheduling alliance with the conference.

Catawba will return to Shuford Stadium on Oct. 17 to face Mars Hill and UNC Pembroke on Oct. 24. The UNC Pembroke game will be on homecoming weekend.

On Oct. 31, the Indians will travel to Brevard and then Tusculum on Nov. 7. Catawba closes out the regular season at home against Lenoir-Rhyne on Nov. 14.

Catawba has moved its Hall of Fame ceremonies to the fall. This year, the ceremony will be held on Friday night, Nov. 13. The following afternoon, the Indians will host Lenoir-Rhyne in the regular-season finale.

Five of Catawba’s six home games will kick off at 1:30 p.m. The Wingate game on Family Weekend will start at  6 p.m.

SPC girls hoops

East Rowan’s girls haven’t won  regular-season conference championships back-to-back since the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons, but they’ll  accomplish that with a 2-0 week.

Kelli Fisher (17.2  points per game) and Shenell Pharr (10.7 ppg.) lead the Mustangs

Ranked ninth in 3A,  the Mustangs (19-2, 12-2)  have won their last eight outings. The last team to beat them is the one they play on Tuesday’s Senior Night  — Central Cabarrus (10-11, 7-7).

The Mustangs were still celebrating their  Christmas Classic Championship when they were upset at Central Cabarrus 69-65.

• South Rowan’s girls don’t play Tuesday. They only have one regular-season game left — and that’s their Senior Night game against East Rowan on Friday. South Rowan (16-6, 13-2) wins the SPC if it wins that game.

South Rowan’s girls haven’t won a championship — regular season or tournament — since they swept  both  titles in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference in 1999.

Rowan’s leading scorer Avery Locklear (19.2 ppg.) paces the Raiders. Cassidy Chipman averages 14.7 ppg.

• Hickory Ridge (16-5, 11-3)  split with South Rowan and East Rowan and still has a chance to share the league title with a 2-0 week.

Hickory Ridge plays at fourth-place Carson Tuesday. The Cougars (11-11, 8-6) will be celebrating Senior Night.

Carson has double-figure scorers in Alex Allen (16.3), Olivia Gabriel (13.0) and Sydney Huffman (10.0). Allen and Huffman are seniors.

Hickory Ridge finishes at home against West Rowan on Friday.

West Rowan (9-13, 7-7)  is home for Senior Night  Tuesday and will try to avenge a loss at Cox Mill (5-17, 4-10). Khaila Hall (16.4) and Taylor Martin (10.7) lead the Falcons.

College baseball

Appalachian State named Brian Bauk (Salisbury) as the starting pitcher for the season opener on  Friday against Davidson in a tournament at N.C. State.

College softball

Virginia State and Winston-Salem State were named the division favorites in the preseason CIAA poll.

LC basketball

Livingstone is on the road on Wednesday at Fayetteville State.

Livingstone’s women are tied for second in the Atlantic Regional poll.

Catawba athletics

Catawba’s women’s soccer team was recognized on Monday with the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2013-14 academic year.

• Catawba’s women’s golf team finished 13th out of 17 teams in the World Golf Invitational in Florida.

Lynn won the two-day tournament by 11 shots.

Catawba finished with a score of 641. Madison Kennedy (Salisbury) finished 13th after rounds of 73-77 —  150.

  

SAC hoops

SAC basketball players of the week were Brevard’s Katie Williams and Carson-Newman’s Charles Clark.

• Catawba’s teams are on the road Wednesday at Coker and home Saturday against Anderson.

Cornhole tournament

American Legion Baseball Post 115 held a fund raising Corn-Hole Tournament at Memorial Baptist Church in Kannapolis, with  40 two man teams entered.

The winners  were Rowan residents.

First place: Robbie Davis and Scott Simpson   

Second place:  Branden and Erik Davis

Third place:  Rusty Smith and Dean Safrit

CCC boys hoops

Lexington and North Rowan tied for first in the CCC last season, and it  could happen again.

Both are 7-1 entering the final week of the regular season and they’ve split a pair of two-point games with each other.  Lexington is at East Davidson Tuesday, while North Rowan is at Thomasville.

Salisbury celebrates Senior Night Tuesday against West Davidson. On  Friday, Thomasville is at Lexington, while North Rowan hosts Salisbury.

Prep swimming

The NCHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships are scheduled  this week. The championships kick off with 3A Thursday, followed Friday by the 1A-2A championships. They conclude with Saturday’s 4A competition, all at the Triangle Aquatic Center.

Swimming commences with preliminaries after the coaches’ meeting, which is scheduled to end at 8:45 a.m. Finals begin at 4:45 pm each day.

Diving  will be held at Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh. Diving competition starts Wednesday with the 3A divers, with  competition at 1:45.

Admission: six dollars per session or nine dollars for an all-day pass

Qualifiers: The top eight times in each event, including relays, qualified from the regional level to the state championship meet in 3A and 4A. The top 12 fastest times in 1A-2A qualified.

Defending champions:  Girls: 1A-2A, Raleigh Charter; 3A, Marvin Ridge; 4A, Charlotte Catholic; Boys: 1A-2A, North Carolina School of Science and Math; 3A, Chapel Hill; 4A, Green Hope.

Notable: Charlotte Catholic has won 13 consecutive girls state championships in swimming and diving in  three different classifications.

Youth soccer

The FCCA U11 soccer team, the Green Dragons (1-1-0), split league matches over the weekend, winning 4-2 and losing 6-1.

Scoring for the Dragons were Maddox Goodnight with four goals and Christopher Portillo with one.  Ben Childress, Ben Sweet and Oscar Enciso led the defense.   

7th-grade hoops

Erwin’s boys won 24-23 against China Grove.

Grayson Vail made the game-winning shot with 1.7 seconds left.

Vail and Brandon Jefferson scored eight points each. Hijkeem Still had six.

The Eagles host Knox on Thursday.

North Hills hoops

The North Hills elementary school boys won 36-19 against Phoenix Montessori. Aydan Patterson led the Eagles with 15 points.

Commitments

South Rowan quarterback Aaron Kennerly has committed to Averett’s football program.

• Carson tennis player Marshall Wood is signing with Catawba.

  

Hurley YMCA

The J.F. Hurley YMCA is taking registrations for girls volleyball for grades 4-8. Registration is through March 7.

Register at the J.F. Hurley YMCA or online at www.rowanymca.org. Contact Jesse Byrd at 704-738-5134 or Jbyrd@rowanymca.org.