Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Feb. 1, 2005, edition 1 / Page 10
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february 2005 the stentorian | ncssm Men’s Basketball Margaret Yim T he Men’s basketball team has had a tough season despite great leadership from a new coach assisted by many bright young minds. Head Coach Howard Thompson is a first year coach here, but is no rookie at coach ing; he also coaches both the men and women’s soccer teams at Durham School of the Arts, and has received several regional and national distinc tions for his coaching there. Assisting Coach Thompson is Coach Doug Esleeck, who is the coordina tor of the team’s defensive and offensive tactics. He has had two years of experience help ing UNC’s JV team. This has allowed him to incorporate some of UNC’s plays into the Unis’ repertoire including a secondary fast break that is now in NCSSM’s bag of tricks due to coach Esleeck’s pres ence. Besides these more notable plays, Esleeck is also responsible for all of the other plays and sets that the Unis’ make use of on the court. In addition, Esleeck is a senior at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Many other people con tribute to the team, and they are also familiar faces on cam pus. Brian Diekman not only helps the team out, but is also an active part of the Young Life Program at NCSSM. He is also a senior at Duke, study ing Biomedical Engineering, and he is also applying for the Kevin Chen H eather Mohom is will ing to literally travel half way around the world for her love of swim ming. Her dedication to the sport is evident as she used to practice eight times per week in Greensboro, accu mulating over 11,000 miles in just two years from driving to practices. With eleven years of expe rience, Heather swims in the 200 and 500 yard free-style events, as well as two relays. Heather swam a 100 free in 55.2 seconds during a relay, setting a per sonal record. Heather’s record breaking performances in the pool are matched by her excel lence in the classroom - her talents are being sought after by MIT and Yale. As co-cap tain and one of North Carolina’s top swimmers. Heather continues to lead the esteemed Fulbright Scholarship. SLI Marion Meadows is also a contribut ing member of the team. This youthful group brings a fresh ness to the team, and they hope that they can do their part to help the Unis succeed. Not only does NCSSM sport a great group of coaches, the individual talent of the players on the team has been critical in the play of the Unis. Co-captains senior Andy Robertson and senior Doug Valchar along with senior Andrew Franklin has led the team in scoring, and the other starters, seniors Lance Harden and Ervin Griffin also con tribute significantly to the team. Junior Lindsey Erps will sometimes start in the place of Griffin, or otherwise is the sixth man. Senior Terrell Pridgen and juniors Ryan Stairs and David Rhoden have also seen considerable time on the court. These tal ented players have all added their individual abilities to the team, making for a great team with a variety of skills. Unfortunately, the Unis have been having a difficult season. However, they have not given up on themselves; even with an overall record of 1-14 and a 0-7 in the TISAC conference, the men have remained competitive in most of their games. This competi tive nature is what the team hopes will help them prevail as they move in to the latter part of the season and the tourna ment ahead. Heather Mohorn Athlete Spotlight: Isaac “E-Sack” Oluwamayokua Owolabi II Lance Harden I t seems unlikely that any one would be unfamiliar with Isaac Owolabi. As a member of Colours Gospel Choir, Imago Dei (and their Praise Band), LYTE, NSBE, and Jazz Band, the 4th East RLA has his hand in just about everything at NCSSM. While this Renaissance man may be more well-known for his theatrical and musical exploits, he has also put together an impressive ath letic career in soccer and track. As a junior, Isaac scored 2 goals for the soccer team before suffering a sea son-ending hamstring injury. In track, he came within .1 second of the school record in the 300-meter hiudles and finished 3rd in the 110- meter hurdles at the State Meet, the highest finish of any NCSSM individual. He concluded the season ranked #19 (in a statewide compila tion including public and inde pendent school runners by www.trackhonors.com) in the 110-meter hurdles and #26 in the 300-meter hurdles. Throughout the year, he con tinued his staunch support of 4th East intramurals. This year, he again con tributed to the NCSSM soccer team, notching several goals and assists as a striker. His goals for the upcoming track season include breaking the school records in both the 110 and 300-meter hurdles and swim team towards success. HOME SCHOOL: Northwest Guilford HS IN THE CD PLAYER: Bruce Springsteen FAVORITE BOOK: Jane Eyre EMOTIONAL MOMENT: I missed being state champion by .04 seconds twice in one season. ATHLETICS MEMORY: All those 6 am practices. ATHLETICS LESSON: I needed to break 18 minutes in the mile to qualify for Nationals. To learn to tolerate pain for that long, I would take ice cold showers for twenty minutes. Eventually, lactic acid did not seem so bad. ATHLETICS ADVICE: Listen to your coach. ADD TO MOUNT RUSHMORE: Dr. jTeague FOR 30 MIN- iUTES I’D LIKE TO BE: telepathic GUEST LIST: Catullus and Clodia and her husband LIKES: Carolina Hurricanes, coaching DISLIKES: College Board, ski ing, cold weather Hd Mohon,(He.a«r's D.d) ^ become a member of a secret society COLLEGE PLANS: Yale (maybe MIT) COLLEGE MAJOR: Math, economics improving his finishes in the conference and state meets. Isaac’s talents will surely be missed next year, but NCSSM fans have no reason to fear. His three sports-crazy, younger siblings are interested in attending NCSSM, so we may not have seen the end of the Owolabi after all. athletic HOME SCHOOL: Charles D. Owen HS, Black Mountain, NC PERSONAL: 5 feet, 9.5 inches; lettered in soccer and track; son of Rev. Dr. Isaac & Abigail Owolabi IN THE CD PLAYER: “The Last Street Preacha,” by T-Bone FAVORITE BOOK: The Bible, by God EMOTIONAL MOMENT: Having a hurdle kicked into my lane during the 300m hurdle prelims at the 3A NCISAA State Meet last year, causing me to trip and fail to advance to the finals ATHLETICS MEMORY: After pulling my hamstring during soccer season last year, it was completely healed dur ing a Sunday church service even though doctors said it Mm. ^ would take 6 months to heal ATHLETICS LES SON: “You can’t do every thing yourself; you have to 1 trust your teammates no matter how good you think you are.” ATHLETICS ADVICE: “Don’t let haters hold you down” ADD TO MOUNT RUSHMORE: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. FOR 30 MINUTES I’D LIKE TO BE: Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup At-A-Glance GUEST LIST: Jesus, legacy Ben Carson, great-great- grandfather Owolabi (taken away by slave captors) LIKES: family, helping people, winning, beautiful women, performing DISLIKES: hypocrites, haters, hazing; vegetarian lasagna GREATEST AMBITION: To live my life for something that will outlast it COLLEGE PLANS: Yale, NC State, Florida Tech, Georgia Tech COLLEGE MAJOR: Aerospace Engineering or Theater Arts. Women’s Basketball Margaret Yim D espite a moderately slow start to the sea son, NCSSM’s Lady Unicorns showed incredible improvement in their phenom enal win against Cardinal Gibbons. One of the biggest upsets in the history of high school basketball. Science and Math captured its first confer ence win in over 4 years against the then #1 ranked team in the conference. Cardinal Gibbons. NCSSM played a very well-rounded game, with solid performance in all aspects of the game, but it was the great defense and pace set by the Unicorns that clinched the game. Unable to control the tempo and score quickly. Gibbons had trouble converting and transitioning to stop the Unis’ consistent offense. Down for the vast majority of the first half, the Crusaders tried to rally in the second half, and led for most of the 4th quarter. NCSSM stayed close behind, and with a three pointer from senior Cierrea Roach late in the game, tied up the score. Gibbons then lost the ball out of boimds with the help of NCSSM juniors Dani Brewington and Jessica Lynch with 2.9 seconds to go. Senior Rosa McDonald then set a pick for senior Tiffany Wang, who received the inbounds pass from Roach. Wang passed it right back to Roach past the half-court line, and Roach then took one dribble and shot the ball from at least 5 feet beyond the arch just as the clock ran out. All eyes in the gym were fastened on the ball as it made its way through the air, and the crowd erupted as it hit the bottom of the net, giving the Unis the win 39-36. NCSSM was led by Roach with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and the game-winning shot, "Womens B-Ball,” continued on back page
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