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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22 UCW MARCH 29 - APRIL 4, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The Carver Classic, named after former Cumberland County Schools Student Activities Director Bill Carver, is annually one of the biggest track meets in the Cape Fear region. This year's Carver will be taking on an expanded look as it's scheduled to be held two days for the first time, March 31 and April 1, at John Daskal Stadium at Reid Ross Classical High School on Ramsey Street. Current Student Activities Director Vernon Aldridge said the idea to make the meet run two days came from conversations with local track coaches and with people who run major meets elsewhere in the state. "Mr. Carver is such a great man we wanted to make this thing as big as possible,'' Aldridge said. Adding a Friday round of competition will let the Carver hold an open 1,600-meter race and a 400-meter hurdle race. Saturday will feature the field events and the traditional running finals for girls and boys. Aldridge said many track coaches like to get competitive times for their 1,600-meter athletes, and scheduling an open race will allow plenty of chances for that. The 400-meter hurdles are mainly run at the college level, Aldridge said. Running it in a high school meet will give hurdlers a chance to show college recruiters a competitive time in that event. It's still early and the final list of competitors hasn't been confirmed, but here are some likely names from Cumberland County to watch for in the meet: Jade Jordan, Pine Forest, 4-A indoor long jump state champion; Zinzili Kelley, Douglas Byrd, fourth in 3-A indoor long jump; Janay Hall, South View, 4-A indoor track middle distance champion; and Chianti Ghee, Pine Forest, third in 4-A indoor shot. • After putting together a successful girls' invitational soccer event recently at Terry Sanford, Bulldog girls' and boys' coach Karl Molnar is working on a major preseason boys' tournament for this August. Terry Sanford would host all of the games, and the field would include the Bulldogs along with Pinecrest, Fayetteville Academy, Pine Forest, Lee County, Southern Lee, South View and Seventy-First. Molnar got the idea from his friend Jamie Sykes, who reminded Molnar of a similar tournament held at Westover when Molnar was in his playing days at Fayetteville Academy in the 1980s. The tournament would benefit an organization founded by Molnar's wife, Kim, called Miller's Crew, which supports local youngsters with disabilities. Details of the tournament are still developing, but Molnar plans to pair the teams so that, as much as possible, they won't meet conference rivals. • Congratulations to the Jack Britt High School cheerleaders, who recently placed second in a national cheerleading! competition held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A year ago, Jack Britt's Spencer Oxendine was the only golfer in the Mid-South 4-A Conference to finish the season with an average round under 80. To say he's picked up where he left off this year is an understatement. Through three rounds in 2017, Oxendine has yet to shoot a round in the 80s. His last round, a 76 on March 21 at Stryker Golf Course, was his worst of the year. In spite of that, he's been a medalist in all three weekly Mid-South tournaments. This story will publish before the fourth tournament of the year at Upland Trace. Jack Britt golf coach Joe Myrtle said he's been most impressed with the way Oxendine is striking the ball this season, and how he's starting to manage the course better than he did during his freshman year last season. "He played a lot of tournament golf over the summer,'' Myrtle said. "He learned how to play at a higher intensity with better golfers. He found he could score better, but he also saw at times if he lost his focus it can go away real quick.'' Myrtle said the important thing Oxendine has to realize is, like major league baseball, the golf season is a marathon, and a hot streak in the first few matches won't continue if he doesn't pace himself and continue to fine tune his game. "I'm more concerned with him working on his short game,'' Myrtle said. "As long as he's striking the ball, his short game can help him out a ton.'' In the weeks ahead, Myrtle said he'd like Oxendine not to focus so much on his score as how many fairways and greens he's hitting. Oxendine feels the courses he's played so far this golf season aren't as tough as the ones he tackled during his run of summer competition. "I use high school golf as a way to get back into a competitive mentality,'' he said. "I should be playing much better. I shot better on tougher courses over the summer.'' The summer golf helped Oxendine toughen his mental approach to the game so he could place himself into competitive situations over and over and get used to it. He will continue to focus on practice, going to Pinehurst every other weekend and working on his game there. "I hope I can shoot a sub-70 round,'' he said. "That would be nice. With the courses we've got left, I'm very confident.'' Last year, Oxendine advanced to the N.C. High School Athletic Association regional tournament and qualified for the state tournament where he finished in the top 30. Myrtle thinks a repeat is possible, with Oxendine finishing as high as top 20 or even top 15. "You never know,'' Myrtle said. "One good day and he could be in the top 10.'' Oxendine Starts Strong in Mid South 4-A Conference by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Carver Classic Honors Local Activities Director by EARL VAUGHAN JR. EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-987-5311 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Jade Jordan Spencer Oxendine Chianti Ghee Attention Students: Do you have a story or idea to share with High School Highligts? Email us at highschoolhighlights@upandcomingweekly.com