Pag8 4
Fabruaiy 25,1988
Winter Sports Finish Interesting Season
by Beth Krodel
The winter sports teams
at NCSSM had some interest
ing seasons for 1987-88, They
both received and created
some upsets, Most important
ly, they all put forth a great
effort, showed their school
spirit, and demonstrated
leadership.
After swimming six
schools, ranging from 4A to
private. Science and Math’s
swim team came out with an
overall record of 6 wins and
3 losses. The boys had an
exceptional season with 5
wins, 3 losses, and 1 tied
meet. The girls, who had 2
wins and 7 losses, were faced
with some tough competition
from Plnecrest and
Ravenscroft,
The 1987-88 swim team
was definitely a grqup of
record-setters, A total of 16
school records were set.
Daphne Moore and Won Kim
captured six records each, and
Terry Baggett and Dean
Nestvogel hold one individual
record each. Records were also
set In the relays, the girl’s
400 yd, freestyle relay made
of Leslie Gaddis, Eliza
Johnson. Daphne Moore, and
Krlssy Slmmeonson, and the
guy’s 200 yd. medley relay
consisting of Won Kim, Dean
Nestvogel. Terry Baggett, and
Thomas Hazel. Nine swimmers,
the members of the relay
teams and Julia Roos, com
peted In the regional meet in
S&M Sluggers Ready
by Shane Hutson
High hopes are in the air
as the baseball and softball
teams prepare for the upcom
ing season. The softball squad
is looking to improve upon its
record from a year ago, as is
the baseball team which
finished 5-17 last year, yet is
talking about a possible state
playoff berth this season.
Practice began February 15
w.lth both teams eager to
begin. The softball team had
batting practice on the field
and ran through fielding drills
In the outfield. The baseball
prospects, all trying to earn
their spot on the final six
teen-man roster, took a few
swings in the batting cage
and worked out in the Multi-
Purpose Center, getting into
condition for the first game.
After the softball team had
finished, the baseball squad
took their turn at infield prac
tice and drills in the outfield.
In an extremely strong
softball conference, the ladles,
under Coaches Jon Miller and
John Parker, expect to surprise
quite a few teams this year.
Several returning seniors can
lead this team through the a
very good season. The team
always remembers that this is
only a game, and that they
play because they enjoy doing
so. regardless of the final
score.
The baseball learn is look
ing forward to a promising
season in the Capital Area 2-
A Conference. The other con
ference teams have been
plagued by the loss of several
key senior players, while the
Unicorns have grown, gaining
the experience they lacked.
Experience is one of the keys
for Branson Brown’s Unicorns
this year, considering the fact
that the team has five senior
starters. With these players
leading the way, and with
the capable juniors that have
come out for the team, the
baseball players are optimistic.
Only time will show how
well the baseball and softball
teams will do this year. With
the support of the fans at
NCSSM, both squads have
the opportunity to make the
most of this season. If the ex
perience pays off as it should,
and if the two teams do not
let down the Intensity they
have shown in practice, this
season will go by very quick
ly.
Greenville, N.C. Mitchell
Tatum and Sharon Gardner
were alternates.
In conclusion of the
season. Daphne Moore stated,
"We’ll really miss the seniors
next year, but I feel that we
should be able to rebuild
the team because of the many
returning juniors."
The NCSSM girls’ basket
ball team finished with a
record of 5 wins, 14 losses.
The girls were playing in one
of the toughest 2A conferen
ces in the state. The con
ference was made of ten
teams including the state-
ranked Wake Forest-
Rolesville team. Although their
record only accounts for five
Y/ins, -(ho team lost five of
their games by a very nar
row margin.
This was the first year
that Science and Math has
had a "famous" coach (Cur
tis Hunter), and according to
Senior Tonyu Marshall, "We
got picked on a lot by the
other teams because we’re
S&M’ers and because of Cur
tis." Marshall also said, "Cur
tis and John (Williams) had a
lot of faith in the team!"
As for next year. Terra
McKlnnlsh says, "We have
some juniors with a lot of
playing time and experience,
so hopefully.
by Chris Sheila
On February 18, 1988,
the Science and Math men’s
basketball season ended on a
losing note at the hands of
the North Johnston Panthers,
Since it was senior day for
the Unicorns, the starting team
consisted of Matt Mabry,
Dana Letchworth, Eddie Jar-
min, Trevor Grady, and Mike
Carter, The Unicorns started
off a slow pace, and found
themselves down by ten
points at the end of the first
quarter. But this did not dis
courage the Unicorns, and
after inserting some of the
juniors, they found themsel
ves down by only five at the
Athletic Policy Enforced
by Dean Nestvogel
Contrary to popular belief
and rumors, the policy on
vans leaving early for away
athletic games has not been
changed, only enforced. The
old policy states that an ath
lete will be allowed to leave
early for athletics provided
he/she makes arrangements
well in advance with his/her
teachers. This is to ensure
teachers and students ample
time to reallocate their time
and arrange make-ups. This
policy has been in effect since
1983,
Since then, the policy has
been taken for granted by
students. Last year, some ath
letes left without checking
with their teachers - taking for
granted that the teachers had
been informed about the
athlete’s need to leave early.
Due to this, many teachers
began complaining about stu
dents missing Important labs
and classes.
Thus the administration
has decided to enforce the old
policy Instead of changing it.
To enforce the policy the ad
ministration has decided that
every sports team must sub
mit a schedule of all It’s away
games and how many of them
require early departure. A
select board of administrators
then reviews the schedule and
decide whether or not to allow
athletes to leave early on that
day. This Is the first year of
this type of enforcement. It is
basically still on a trial run.
This year’s spring schedule
has been approved with
"minor stipulations." These
stipulations were undisclosed.
What does this mean for
the students? It means that
athletes can now leave early
for away games WITH THEIR
TEACHERS’ CONSENT.
Teachers are the final judge
in this matter and have the
authority to withhold an ath
lete at their discretion since,
according to school policy,
academics comes before ath
letics. This also benefits the
athletes since they will be
receiving excused absences
rather than unexcused absen
ces.
Lee Cooper grapples with South Grenville
opponent.
half. A key point in the game
c'me in he middle of the
third quarter when both
Mabry and Matt Becker were
called for technical fouls. The
Panthers failed to capitalize
from this, as they m.lssed all
four foul shots. This -/,^as fol
lowed by a lull in the action
where both teams did not
score much and the game
stayed -withing a five point
margin. V/ith a little over
three minutes left in the game,
the Unicorns created a tie
with a flurry of steals and
defensive rebounds. However,
the Panthers went back up by
four, and made key foul shots
dov/n the stretch to hold on
and defeat the Unicorns by a
final score of 53 io 52.
This game was a good
example of Unicorn play in
a very competitive Capital
Area 2A conference. Our team
tried their hardest, yet ended
up with a 1-17 conference
to'-ord. But many of the-sp
games were by ^ery narrow
margins and were much bet
ter games than the scores in
dicated, In out of conference
play, our Unicorns had a !■
1 record, S&M students can
lock forward with much hope
to next year, as several return
ing juniors may lead the
Unicorns to a winning season.
The wresting team has
had a very solid year from
every member of the team
contributing to the victories
that they had. Our wrestling
team faced very tough com
petition from several 4A
schools, which gave our team
quite a bit of experience for
the future. Lee Cooper, Jon
Martin, Joey Staier, and Neil
Stikeleather have given much
senior leadership to the team.,
and hopes for next year lie
in hands of very promising
juniors like Dickson Slater and
Howard Weeks.
Track Team Sprints Again
by David Cherry
The Tine;}-. Team has high
expectations for the spring
season. According to Coach
Adams, "We have more guys
and fewer girls than last year,
but we’ll still do well. We
have more quality in each
event. There is a lot of in
terest in the Junior class.
The juniors have some ex
perience, depth, and a desire
to work and learn,"
Track captain Robert
Charles shares Coach Adams’
optimism by saying, "The
team has a lot of potential,
and we have a very good
chance of winning several
events. However, we need to
work on our weak points."
Steve George and Sheridan
Hopkins are the other boys’
team captains, and Sharon
Croom is the girls’ team cap
tain.
The Track team hopes to
win Individual titles in thf
conference and develop many
runners for the state meet
As in previous years, thi
Unicorns should do well in
the distance events. Since the
conference added the 2-mlle
relay and the hurdle events,
the team should perform bet
ter than expected against con
ference rivals this year.
Besides many new juniors
the Unicorns will have a new
assistant coach, Carla Me
Laughlin. She has run foi
Northern Durham and the
University of Tennessee, in
addition to last year’s U.S.
Olympic Festival. Coach Mc
Laughlin will coach the
sprints, relays, and other
events.