WNC sports awards banquet cancelled for 2020
Due to ongoing concerns with the Coronavirus and mandates on large gatherings, the Mountain Amateur Athletic Club has cancelled the 59th WNC Sports Award Banquet presented by Ingles.
The event, first held in 1959, was scheduled for May 24 at the Omni Grove Park Inn.
The banquet, held to honor the top high-school athletes and teams in WNC, plans to return in May 2021.
The MAAC hopes to conduct a ceremony later this year to induct three new members to the WNC Sports Hall of Fame, presented by Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP.
The Class of 2020 includes a trio of local high school legends - football coach Kenny Ford of Owen High, basketball player Rhonda Mapp of Asheville High and McDowell High basketball coach Mike Silver.
Also to be honored at the ceremony are two MOOG/Gene Ochsenreiter Lifetime Achievement Award winners, WLOS-TV sports anchor Stan Pamfilis and longtime Skyview Golf Tournament director Billy Gardenhight.
For information on the banquet, go to wncsportsawards.org or call Keith Jarrett at 828-712-6324.
Winners Announced for 2020 WNC Sports Awards Presented by Ingles
Multi-sport stars who excelled in several different areas have been recognized as Athletes of the Year by the Mountain Amateur Athletic Club.
The 23 WNC Sports Awards winners - presented by Ingles - were selected by the MAAC Board of Directors from a list of 125 finalists that represent the best of Western North Carolina high-school athletics.
The finalists in 24 categories are normally recognized and honored at the WNC Sports Awards Banquet at Omni Grove Park Inn. After the 2020 banquet was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MAAC - which has conducted the event since 1959 - chose to continue to honor the top athletes and teams.
WLOS-TV will air a one-hour special on June 27 to honor the award winners. Hosts for the special will be sports anchors and MAAC board members Stan Pamfilis and Chris Womack.
Olivia Sutter of Carolina Day was selected as the Apollo Flame Division II Female Athlete of the Year. A standout in cross country, swimming and track who won multiple state championships, Sutter will attend Cornell.
Mitchell High’s Noah Pitman was chosen as the Young Transportation Division II Male Athlete of the Year.
Pitman, who will attend Mars Hill, was named all-conference each of the past three seasons in three sports - baseball, basketball and football.
The Asheville Citizen-Times Division I Female Athlete of the Year Award went to Karlyn Pickens of North Buncombe. She was all-conference in basketball, all-conference and league Player of the Year in softball and honorable mention all-conference in volleyball.
Asheville High's Three Hillier was named the McNabb Family Division I Male Athlete of the Year. A three-time all-conference performer in baseball and football, Hillier will play baseball at Liberty University.
Addison (Addie) Porter of Reynolds was the only athlete to win two awards. The Reynolds soccer standout was selected as the Blue Ridge X-Ray Division I Female Athlete Academic Award winner and also was presented the Lary & Jan Schulhof Division I Female Athlete in a Major Sport Award.
Porter had a school-record 35 assists and added 23 goals in soccer and ranks in the top five of her class with a 4.52 grade-point average.
Each finalist will receive a gold medal, and the winners in the 24 categories will receive plaques and be recognized at the 2021 banquet.
Finalists were chosen from a list of nominees provided by WNC athletic directors and coaches. A total of 27 schools are represented by the 125 finalists.
Reynolds High (12) had the most finalists, followed by Asheville High (10) and Hendersonville and West Henderson (9 each).
The 23 winners come from 14 different schools. Reynolds (4) had the most winners, followed by Murphy (3) and two each from Avery, Carolina Day, Hendersonville, North Buncombe and Robbinsville.
The complete list of winners include:
Wells Fargo Advisors/Aiken, Meyer Whatley Division II Female Athlete in a Major Sport: Torin Rogers, Murphy basketball. Rogers averaged 17 points, nine rebounds and 4.6 blocked shots per game for the Bulldogs, who finished 30-0 and were declared 1A state co-champions.
Carole Martin/Northwestern Mutual Division II Female Athlete in an Olympic Sport: Sarah Pulliam, Murphy multi sports. Pulliam won the state discus title for a second straight season, setting a new school record with a throw of 126'11" in the state meet.
Homewood Suites Division II Female Team in a Major Sport: Murphy High basketball. Coach Ray Gutierrez's team capped a 30-0 season by being declared the state 1-A co-champion as the state's only undefeated squad.
Mills Manufacturing Division II Female Team in an Olympic Sport: Carolina Day cross country. Coaches Mark Driscoll and Brian Rannie led the Wildcats to their sixth consecutive state title, finishing 49 points ahead of the second-place squad.
Merrill Lynch/Keller Ferrell Division II Male Athlete in a Major Sport: Rylee Anderson, Robbinsville football. A three-year starter on both sides of the ball, Anderson finished his career with more than 6,000 rushing yards, including 2,029 yards and 32 touchdowns this past season.
White & Williams Division II Male Athlete in an Olympic Sport: River Griffith, Avery wrestling. Griffith won his third straight state title, posting a 60-2 record this season and a 205-15 mark for his career.
Fields Auto Group Division II Male Team in a Major Sport: Robbinsville football. The Black Knights finished 15-0 under coach Dee Walsh and won the state 1-A championship for the second time in six seasons and 15th overall.
Blue Ridge Division of EmergeOrtho Division II Male Team in an Olympic Sport: Avery wrestling. The Vikings won state titles in team and dual team divisions, with seven wrestlers reaching the title round and five winning championships.
Lary & Jan Schulhof Division I Female Athlete in a Major Sport: Addison Porter, Reynolds soccer. Porter is first player in school history to be named All South/All Mid-Atlantic and was selected her league's Player of the Year after having 23 goals and a school-record 35 assists.
First Citizens Bank Division I Female Athlete in an Olympic Sport: Maya Gash, Hendersonville multi sports. Gash was a three-time all-conference and two time all-state soccer player and ran on two track and field relay teams that won regional races.
Home Trust Bank Division I Female Team in a Major Sport: West Henderson volleyball. The dynasty continued for coach Tiffany Lowrance, who led the Falcons to a 29-3 record and a berth in the state 3-A title match.
Nat & Carolyn Arthur Division I Female Team in an Olympic Sport: Hendersonville tennis. Coach Jessica Eblen's team was perfect, finishing 19-0 with a state 2-A championship.
Goforth Builders Inc. Division I Male Athlete in a Major Sport: Jhari Patterson, Reynolds football. An electrifying wide receiver, Patterson was named his team's offensive MVP, the conference Offensive Player of the Year and played in the Shrine Bowl.
Massasoit of North Carolina, Inc. Division I Male Athlete in an Olympic Sport: Braden Riggs, Pisgah wrestling. Competing in the 126-pound division, Riggs posted a 51-1 mark and won a state title.
McKinney/Nationwide Insurance Division I Male Team in a Major Sport: Reynolds football. Coach Shane Laws and the Rockets continued their ownership of WNC football with a fifth straight league title and a streak of being undefeated in conference play since 2014 that has reached 40 straight games.
Rodeway Inn & Suites Division I Male Team in an Olympic Sport: Enka wrestling. The Jets won a second 3-A state title under coach Mark Harris, winning 29 dual meets and having six wrestlers named all-state.
Paramount Kia Division II Female Athlete Academic Award: Anna Bernstein, Asheville School multi sports. With a 4.5 grade-point average as the top-ranked scholar in her senior class, Bernstein was all-conference in soccer and tennis and will attend Yale.
Blue Ridge X-Ray Division I Female Athlete Academic Award: Addison Porter, Reynolds soccer. Ranked in the top five in her class with a 4.52 grade-point average and a Vanderbilt commit, Porter is an all-state soccer player.
Heath & Nikol Shuler Division II Male Athlete Academic Award: Tyler McKinney, Asheville Christian Academy basketball. Ranked in the top 10 of his class with a 4.70 grade-point average, McKinney averaged 22.5 points a game.
Beverly- Hanks Realty Division I Male Athlete Academic Award: John Meyer, North Buncombe tennis. The class valedictorian with a grade-point average of 4.64, Meyer was captain of the tennis team the past two seasons and was 12-0 in the shortened-season 2020 matches.
Apollo Flame Division II Female Athlete of the Year: Olivia Sutter, Carolina Day multi sports. A Cornell commit, Sutter has been named to the Citizen-Times All-Western teams in cross country, swimming and track.
Young Transportation Division II Male Athlete of the Year: Noah Pitman, Mitchell multi sports. Pitman had 7,659 yards of total offense in football for the Mountaineers in four seasons and was a three-year all-conference athlete in three sports.
Asheville Citizen-Times Division I Female Athlete of the Year: Karlyn Pickens, North Buncombe multi sports. Pickens led her basketball team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots and struck out 101 batters and had 10 home runs as her league's Player of the Year in softball.
McNabb Family Division I Male Athlete of the Year: Three Hillier, Asheville High multi sports. The Cougars' all-time leader in completions, yards and touchdowns as a quarterback, Hillier also holds school records in baseball for hits, home runs and RBIs.
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