If Kinston is the basketball capital of jap North Carolina, Tarboro the soccer capital and Whiteville the baseball capital, does that make Carteret County the flagship county of observe and area and cross nation?
The numbers would appear to again it up.
There was loads of success earlier than, however let’s simply check out the county’s achievements since 2010.
There have been seven crew state championships in that point.
Croatan accounted for 5 of these, successful the boys cross nation title this previous fall, the boys winter indoor observe and area titles in 2018, 2019 and 2022, and the ladies winter indoor observe and area title in 2022.
The West Carteret ladies gained the winter indoor observe and area title in 2013 and the spring outside observe and area title in 2017.
9 groups earned state runner-up finishes in that point.
The Croatan boys had been the runner-up in winter indoor observe and area in 2017, in cross nation in 2021 and in spring outside observe and area in 2022.
The Croatan ladies had been the runner-up in cross nation in 2014.
The West Carteret ladies had been the runner-up in spring outside observe and area in 2013, and the runner-up in winter indoor observe and area in 2017 and 2022.
The East Carteret ladies had been the runner-up in spring outside observe and area in 2019 and 2022.
There have been 26 state champions in ladies spring outside observe and area since 2010.
East’s Breah Taylor and West’s Blake Doge every accounted for 5, Croatan’s Sammy Jo Layko and Kaleigh Hanson every collected 4, and East’s Cece Johnson gained three.
There have been 15 state champions in boys spring outside observe and area since 2010.
Croatan’s Brendon Hodge and Michael Quispe earned 5 apiece, and West’s John Crossley gained three.
There have been 25 state champions in ladies winter indoor observe and area since 2010.
Dodge racked up 9, West’s Mackenzie Whitaker had 4, Hanson took house three, and Croatan’s Navaya Zales and West’s Tyler Collins contributed two apiece.
There have been 14 state champions in boys winter indoor observe and area since 2010.
Hodge gained six and Quispe 4.
Three county ladies have captured cross nation state championships in that point.
Dodge gave the county its first cross nation champion in 2011, adopted by West’s Emme Fisher in 2016 and Zales in 2022.
If this was all there was, it will be greater than sufficient, however there’s a nice deal extra.
Twenty-one county observe and area and cross nation athletes have competed on the Division I degree since 2010.
West has been chargeable for 14, together with Nathaniel Williams (N.C. State), Andrew Spear (Appalachian State), Katie Stop (Appalachian State), Cameron Eure (UNC Asheville), Hunter Newman (UNC Asheville), Samantha Decker (UNC Asheville), Rachel Rouse (Western Carolina), Charles Cooley (Western Carolina), Jenna Reiter (UNC Greensboro), Dodge (North Carolina), Fisher (North Carolina), Crossley (East Carolina), Whitaker (East Carolina) and Braxton Plisko (U.S. Air Power Academy).
A few of these athletes haven’t simply competed on the DI degree, they’ve shined.
Whitaker gained the pentathlon with a meet file 3,954 factors on the 2020 American Athletic Convention Indoor Observe and Subject Championships. She beforehand took second within the lengthy bounce on the AAC Indoor Championships and second and fifth on the AAC Outside Championships within the lengthy bounce.
Cooley captured gold on the Southern Convention Indoor Observe and Subject Championships by taking first within the pole vault with a personal-record 15 toes, 11 inches. He had beforehand taken fourth and third in two earlier Southern Convention Indoor Observe and Subject Championships.
Williams completed within the high 5 within the discus for 4 consecutive years on the ACC Outside Observe and Subject Championships, and twice earned All-ACC honors. In 2012, he completed second earlier than occurring to take third within the NCAA regional and thirteenth within the NCAA Championships. He was a two-time All-American (2012, 2013).
Fisher was named the Most Helpful Runner for the ladies’s cross nation crew at UNC Wilmington after which transferred to North Carolina the place she earned an All-ACC honor with a fifth-place standing within the 1-mile on the Atlantic Coast Convention Indoor Observe and Subject Championships in a personal-record 4 minutes, 46.13 seconds
Dodge earned an All-ACC honor by taking sixth within the 800 meters on the Atlantic Coast Convention Indoor Observe and Subject Championships in a personal-best 2:007.02.
Croatan has seen 4 athletes compete on the Division I degree, together with Robert Brenneman (UNC Asheville), Hanson (UNC Charlotte), Quispe (U.S. Naval Academy) and Zales (East Carolina).
Three East Carteret athletes have competed in Division I, together with Taylor (Appalachian State), Johnson (UNC Wilmington) and Andralyn Livingston (East Carolina).
County athletes have gained six Most Helpful Performer awards at state observe and area meets since 2010. Dodge gained three in her profession, and Whitaker, Hodge and Zales every captured one.
Dodge and Crossley are two of one of the best operating athletes in state historical past.
Dodge earned her fifteenth particular person state title within the 800 meters on the 3A state championships within the spring of her senior yr to interrupt a tie with Wilson Fike’s Sabrina Thompson for probably the most state championships by a feminine within the 3A division.
She ended her highschool profession proudly owning state meet data within the indoor and outside 1,600 meters, 1,000 meters and 800 meters.
Dodge completed fourth on the New Steadiness Nationals within the 800 meters in her junior yr and recorded the tenth quickest time within the nation within the 800 meters as a senior.
She capped her profession with the N.C. Excessive Faculty Athletic Affiliation Feminine Athlete of the Yr award.
Crossley captured a nationwide title on the New Steadiness Outside Nationals after his senior yr with a time of 1:48.01, making him the quickest highschool boys 800-meter runner in state historical past. He additionally set a meet file with the time and was eighth all-time nationally.
Crossley, who gained three state championships throughout his senior yr, together with setting a 1A/2A/3A state winter indoor file with a 2:30.34 within the 1,000 meters, gained the Gatorade N.C. Boys Observe & Subject Athlete of the Yr award.
If Carteret County isn’t the usual bearer for these sports activities within the jap a part of the state, I don’t know who’s.
(Ship feedback or inquiries to jj@thenewstimes.com or observe him on Twitter @jjsmithccnt.)