Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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SEPTEMBER 13 - 19, 2017 UCW 29 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Patriot Coaches Adjust to Schedule Change by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Before the recent Jungle Run night cross country race at South View High School, host coach Jesse Autry predicted that Cape Fear's young squad could pose a challenge to other teams in the new Patriot Athletic Conference. The results of the race proved Autry right. The Cape Fear boys placed second in the developmental race behind Chapel Hill, scoring 44 points to 22 for the winners. Juan Alvarado and Colton Danks were third and fourth in the race for Cape Fear, Alvarado with a time of 18:07.27 and Danks 18:23.02. Cape Fear was third in the girls' developmental race, led by Adriana Alvarado in seventh place with a 22:29.73. In the girls' championship race, Cape Fear's Beth Ketterman placed 12th with a time of 19:45.12. Cape Fear boys' coach Matthew Hanes felt his team had the potential to do well this year. "We had three of the top five ninth grader times last year," Hanes said. "Two of my top five times from last season were soccer players who converted full-time to cross country this season." Emily Freeman, who coaches the girls, was equally impressed with her squad's showing in the Jungle Run. "Beth (Ketterman) did a personal best," Freeman said. "We gave her a goal of breaking 20 minutes." Ketterman said the whole squad has been focused during workouts along with staying motivated and training hard. "I want to make the state meet," she said. "It's the highest level I can achieve in the sport in high school." Juan Alvarado was hoping to break 18 minutes in his race but fell just seven seconds short. "I've been focusing on workouts and getting mileage in," he said. "I feel as a team we've worked harder and been get - ting better, focusing on higher goals." Hanes said running a 5K like the Jungle Run to start the season is a great early evaluator and gives the whole team valuable experience at big competitions to come later in the year. "No matter what you do or how you train, you really don't know where you stand until you get that race under your belt," he said. "That's especially true for those who haven't run a 5K before." Hanes said the Colts are in a better position to start this season than they were this time last year. "If they progress at the same rate they progressed last season, I really expect us to have a shot to run at the state meet for both the guys and the girls," he said. L to R, from top: Jonathan Piland, Colton Danks, Juan Alvarado, Jalen Hollingsworth, Adriana Alvarado, Beth Ketterman The new combination 3-A/4-A Patriotic Athletic Conference has created a headache for the league's foot- ball coaches. They've got one less non-conference game to play with, which means one less game to evaluate players before making final decisions on starting lineups. One game might not sound like a big deal, but listen to Terry Sanford first-year coach Bruce McClelland explain it. "That can mean 30 to 40 snaps easy for a kid," McClelland said. "If I'm evaluating someone on 80 snaps, I'm comfortable." The trick for McClelland and his staff was to figure where to get extra snaps to replace the lost game. Terry Sanford added an extra preseason scrimmage with St. Pauls and additional preseason 7-on-7 pass- ing skeletons. Once full contact began during August practice, McClelland had the practice sessions videotaped so player performances could be evaluated from that film too. "The only thing we haven't evaluated is that big- game atmosphere and rivalry, how they are going to play," he said. South View coach Rodney Brewington said there's another reason lineups need to be determined as soon as possible this season. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will use MaxPreps rankings when determining seeding for this year's football playoffs. The rankings are based on a complex formula. "With strength of schedule being a factor, you want to be in a position where you are making a strong show - ing and scoring points," Brewington said. Like McClelland, Brewington relied heavily on watching practice. South View also got in extra scrim- mage time at Campbell University and added extra 7-on-7s. Brewington said regular attendance by Tiger play- ers at summer workouts also helped. "When you go through the whole summer, you have an idea of who's who," he said. The process of evaluating talent was complicated at Cape Fear this fall when a rash of injuries at line- backer forced coach Jake Thomas to make a number of unplanned adjustments. "Typically if conference is further down the road you can rest those guys so they can heal for conference play," Thomas said. Thomas had to promote reserves to starting roles and elevate players originally destined for the junior varsity to the varsity. "We've got six sophomores starting now," he said. "When you've got sophomores and young guys in there, they are going to make some mistakes. "But they've got the tools to work with and you understand there will be a learning curve." Thomas said Cape Fear continues to plug leaks and put its puzzle together. "Hopefully you will coach them up," he said. Colt Cross Country Outlook Bright by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Bruce McClelland EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. (910) 364-6638. Rodney Brewington Jake Thomas & PRESENT OUR WEEKLY LINE UP 6-8pm WCLN 107.3 CAPE FEAR HIGH SCHOOL COACH'S SHOW 7-8pm @ 301 Wingz, 407 Eastern Blvd Airing on WGQR 105.7 Bill Boyette w/ Coach Jacob Thomas TERRY SANFORD HIGH SCHOOL COACH'S SHOW 8-9pm @ Spinners, 2805 Raeford Rd Airing on WCLN 107.3 Trey Edge w/ Coach Bruce McClellan Coaches Corner w/ Don Koonce 105.7 starting @ 6:00pm 107.3 starting @ 6:00pm Followed by LIVE to The Fields Overhills HS @ Cape Fear HS on 105.7 Kick off @ 7:30pm Gray's Creek HS @ E.E. Smith on 107.3 Kick off @ 7:30pm Ending with Postgame Scoreboard w/ Sonny Jones August Athlete Player of the Month: Xeaiver Bullock, QB-E.E. Smith MONDAY 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 FRIDAY 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 WEDNESDAY