SportsWeek
Also Religion and Classifieds May 21? 2015
CLASS 1A STATE TRACK
W-S Prep's girls rise to state outdoor
track and field champions o
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
They're baaaaack!
After a six-year
absence, Winston-Salem
Prep's girls are back in the
saddle as Class 1-A state
outdoor track and field
champs. The Phoenix
totaled 64 points to secure
the team title at the state
meet last Friday in
Greensboro. Prep outlasted
the Community School of
Davidson County (56) and
Swain County (48) in the
chase for the championship
trophy.
The Phoenix gener
ated all of its points from
the efforts of two individu
als and two sprint relay
teams - five people in all.
Deonica Reid, who
has signed with Campbell
University, ruled the 100
and 200-meter dashes and
added a second-place finish
in the long jump. Ashya
Smith delivered as the state
runner-up in the 100-meter
hurdles and 300-meter hur
dies. The Phoenix put its
personal stamp on the meet
with dominant victories in
the 4x100 and 4x200 relay.
"This was an ideal
day for us," said first-year
coach David Lindsay .
"There were a lot of per
sonal best
perform
ances and
our kids
took it on
home.
Everybody
did exactly
what we asked of them."
Aside from Reid and
Smith, the Phoenix got
valuable input from Reid's
younger sister De'ja, along
with Loriane Forman and
Malaysia Albright. Even
though De'ja suffered a
torn ACL less than a year
ago, she healed quickly and
established herself as a
prime figure in both relays.
"I can't say enough
about De'ja's comeback
and how she's competed at
such a high level in spite of
coming off a serious
injury," said Lindsay.
"Loriane, who is our lead
runner for both relays, does
an excellent job of pushing
the stick through the zone
and getting out fast.
Malaysia has only been
See Champions on B2
?at i i odkajh: _i i
Photo by Craig T Greenlee
Winston-Salem Prep, Class 1-A girls state track champs
Off day costs Carver High track and field championship
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Track and field can
be unpredictable at times.
In most cases, athletes get
one chance to excel in a
winner-take-all scenario.
That's a prime reason why
the sport is prone to pro
duce unexpected results -
especially in a champi
onship setting.
Carver has firsthand
knowledge about this.
Entering the Class 2-A
State Outdoor Track &
Field Championships held
last weekend in
Greensboro, the
Yellowjackets had high
hopes. Based on those
expectations and t it's fair
to say that at this year's
state meet, Carver had an
off day at the office.
The Jackets liked
their chances to duplicate
what they pulled off a year
ago at the state outdoor
championships. Brian
Sessoms emerged as the
N.C. 2-A champ at the 100
and 200-meter sprints. But
that was just the beginning.
He also set the tone in lead
ing Carver to gold-medal
winning victories in the
4x100 and 4x200 relay.
This spring,'Sessoms
had the fastest 2-A times in
the state in the short
sprints. So, it was a no
brainer to view him as a
solid favorite to deliver
another 100/200 double.
Aside from that, the Jackets
were considered j>rime
contenders to win the
4\200. As things turned
out, the day proved to be a
mixture of ups and downs.
For starters, Sessoms
surrendered his state crown
in the 100, losing to Trey'l
Beasley of Edenton
Holmes (10.88 seconds)
and Ashton Avery of Bunn
(10.96). Sessoms (10.97)
ended up in third place. On
the flip side, the soon-to-be
wide receiver at N.C. State
got a big measure of
redemption by winning the
200 as expected.
"It was one of those
days," said Coach Wesley
Chapman of Carver. "You
win some and you lose
some. Overall, we had a
pretty good performance,
but it could've been better.
I was expecting us to run a
little faster in the 4x200.
We didn't get it done like
we wanted, but we'll take a
third."
In the prelims of the
100, there was-no clear
indication that anyone in
the field had the capability
to dethrone the defending
state champ. In the finals,
Sessoms discovered why
it's so difficult to win back
to-back championships.
Although he was sat
isfied with his start,
Beasley and Avery had bet
ter starts and they bolted
ahead by less than a meter.
Sessoms closed fast over
the final 30 meters, but it
wasn't enough to close the
gap entirely.
"I really don't know
what happened out there
today," said Sessoms. "I
got out of the blocks great
See Off day on B2
I I
Photo by Craig T Greenlee
Brian Sessoms breezed to victory in the 200-meter
dash.
Up-and-coming
Rams fall short
before College
World Series
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem State
University's baseball sea
son didn't have a happy
ending. Even so, there's no
denying that the Rams have
arrived as an up-and-com
ing factor at the national
level.
Although the team
fell short in its quest to earn
its first trip to the Division
II College World Series,
there are plenty of positives
to consider. WSSU's 42-15
record is the best-ever in
school history.
After winning its
first two playoff games
handily, the Rams eventu
ally bit the dust. However,
they pushed the top seeds
to the absolute limit at the
NCAA Atlantic Regionals
in Erie, Pennsylvania. It
was WSSU's fifth straight
appearance in the region
al.
"I like the position
we've put ourselves in,"
said Coach Kevin Ritsche
of Winston-Salem
State. "We've become
strong contenders in our
region year after year. I'm
confident that we're on
track to seriously compete
for a national champi
onship."
In tightly-contested
regional losses to No. 1
Mercyhurst (2-1) and No. 2
Millersville (6-5), the final
outcome wasn't deter
mined until the final out of
the ninth inning in each
game.
The Rams dreams of
advancing to the CWS
were squashed in the bot
tom of ninth in the elimina
tion game against
Millersville last Sunday.
With the score tied 5-5, the
Marauders had two runners
on base with one out. Tyler
Orris hit a liner up the mid
dle off WSSU reliever
Jordan Cummings to bring
home the winning run and
end the Rams season.
"As I looked around
the dug-out after the game
was over, there was so
much emotion," said
Ritsche, whose team was
seeded fourth in the region
als. "You could see the dis
appointment in their eyes.
Deep down, they know that
they deserved to be here.
We didn't have any
blowout losses. They know
they're good enough to
win. It just didn't happen
this time."
The Rams, ranked
21st in the national polls,
had no problems swinging
the bats (5 runs on 10 hits).
The issue was keeping
Millersville off the board.
Nathan Steger hit a two-run
single to give WSSU a 5-3
lead in the top of the sev
enth inning. The Marauders
rallied to tie the score
again.
Day three of the
regionals turned out to be
the longest for the Rams,
who were originally sched
uled to play Mercyhurst at
7 Saturday night. Two
See World Series on B2
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Gavin Culler (1) hit a team-high .470 in the NCAA playoffs.
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