SportsTalk: Wilkerson Wraps Up Junior Season At UNC

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Colby Wilkerson saw much success during his time at Kerr-Vance Academy and that success has continued at UNC where Wilkerson is the starting shortstop.  Wilkerson, who is a junior this year, and the Tar Heels just wrapped up the season making it into the NCAA Tournament.  Wilkerson felt UNC was successful this season but didn’t quite get to where he had hoped this season.  “Every season has goods and bads. We always want to get to Omaha,” Wilkerson said.  Omaha is the site of the college baseball world series, and while UNC didn’t make it this year, Wilkerson did say one of the highlights of the year was his sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning in a late regular season game against rival NC State to win the contest.

There were other highlights for Wilkerson including the opportunity to play another year, finishing the season healthy and contributing to other players success.  Wilkerson said that every game is exciting for him and that he credits much of his personal success to having a good routine that he sticks to.

UNC will only lose three seniors for next season which could mean more wins on the diamond for the Tar Heels. “We hope to get a little better and be the last team standing,” Wilkerson concluded.

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SportsTalk: Duke Baseball 2023 Super Regional

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Chris Edwards, play by play announcer of Duke Baseball for Learfield, spoke with John Rose on WIZS SportsTalk.

Super regional play begins Friday for Duke at Virginia at 12 noon.

Wake Forest, Duke and Virginia hope to advance to the College World Series.

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2 Vance Charter Lacrosse Players Make All-State Team

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-information courtesy of Vance Charter School Lacrosse Coach Dan Sandlin

Vance Charter School is excited to share that two student athletes have propelled to All State in lacrosse. Junior, attackman, Gavyn Sandlin, and Senior defenseman, Daniel Mangum, have both taken a spot on the All State lacrosse team for NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A. Both serving as Captains during this season, Sandlin and Mangum were also named to the All Region team and All Conference players. Mangum was the Vance Charter School Defensive Player of the Year, while Sandlin was the Offensive Player of the Year.

Sandlin reached the 200 career point mark, finishing out with 218 points over his last three seasons. This season, Sandlin finished with 52 goals and 29 assists, putting him among the top point getters in the 1A/2/3A East Division. Last year, Sandlin was also named to the All Conference, All Region and All State teams, finishing out being named a US Lacrosse All American. He finished this season strong.

Mangum had 65 ground balls and 35 takeaways after a strong season. His defensive skills allowed him to excel on the field as a constant leader. Mangum brought an amazing level of energy to the field each day at practice and games.  This energy was contagious, and the rest of the team would feed off of his energy.

The Vance Charter Knights had a strong season finishing at the top of the conference, making it to the second round of state playoffs for the second consecutive year, and having All Region and All State representation the last two years.

Crossroads Christian School

SportsTalk: Crossroads Celebrates 4th State Championship

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Crossroads Christian School has just wrapped up its girls soccer season with the school’s fourth state championship.  The school had previously won a championship in golf and has had two consecutive boys cross country championship teams.  The girls soccer team has come a long way in the last couple of years, according to the school’s athletic director Scottie Richardson.

“We were 11-10 in 2022,” Richardson said on Thursday’s SportsTalk on WIZS.  “This year we exploded. We were ranked number 1 most of the year. We lost our first game but went on to win fifteen straight games,” Richardson added.  The team, consisting of mostly 8th, 9th and 10th graders, featured two all state freshmen.  “We are still a young team,” Richardson said.

Next year is shaping up as a good one for Crossroads as Richardson said boys soccer will return most of its players after a deep run in the playoffs this season.  Richardson also has high hopes for volleyball and feels that the girls cross country team could add to the championship banners at Crossroads Christian.

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TownTalk: Vance Co. Venom Win Initial 7 On 7 Cup

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7-on-7 football is a bit different, but according to Vance Venom coaches Theo Perry and Trenton Ware it’s still football.  “It’s the same strategy. We look to take advantage of the other team’s weakness,” according to Ware.  On Sunday, May 21st, the Vance Venom hosted the First Annual Carolina Cup with teams from Warrenton, Knightdale and Goldsboro participating.  The Venom were victorious in what Perry and Ware hope will be a yearly event with more teams.

Perry and Ware, who both appeared on WIZS TownTalk, say that one of the goals is to help develop players age 7 to 18 in the Vance, Granville and Warren County areas.  “We want to give the kids something to do. Keep them off the streets and the right path, doing something positive,” Perry said.

This season focuses on high school kids, but Perry and Ware hope to expand next year and have more players who are younger so the Venom will be able to field more teams organized by age group.  Ware said many of the younger players this year look up to the older kids who play for the Vance County High School Viper team.  “Those kids are well coached and want to learn,” Ware said of the Viper players who play with the Venom.

 

Third Overtime Score Propels Vance Charter School Women’s Soccer to Elite 8

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The Vance Charter School women’s soccer team defeated Voyager Academy Monday night 2-1 on an Addison Clary assist to Abby Cole for a one-touch score.

Coach Johnny Yount told WIZS News, “(The) second overtime 10-minute period was ours and carried over to the first 5-minute OT.”

The winning score came in the first minute of the third overtime as the 12th-seeded Knights upset 4th-seeded Voyager in Durham.

Yount said, “(This is) such an incredible achievement for this program and everyone involved.”

Vance Charter will face top-seeded Woods Charter on Wednesday at 6 p.m., according to Coach Yount, in the Elite 8 round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs.

High school soccer overtime rules require two 10-minute periods which are not sudden victory.  The contest becomes sudden victory in the third OT.

Lucas Satterwhite Signs to Play Varsity Lacrosse at Guilford College

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Coach Dan Sandlin submitted the text and photos.

Today marks a monumental day for the Vance Charter Lacrosse team. Lucas Satterwhite, a four year varsity starter and a three year captain of the team, signed his letter of intent to play lacrosse at the collegiate level. In the fall, Lucas will be attending Guilford College in Greensboro and will be a member of the Varsity Lacrosse program for the school.

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep Wraps Up Successful Spring Season

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Spring sports at Oxford Prep have wound down, but Athletic Director John Hammett is happy with the outcomes of his teams at the school. The softball team won a conference championship, the baseball team was third in the conference, posting a winning record and advancing to the second round of the state playoffs, and the soccer team posted the most victories in school history with five.

With the softball conference championship, that makes for seven banners in ten years for teams from Oxford Prep. And Hammett is excited for upcoming seasons as well. “Our entire baseball team returns next season, and all but one from our softball team will be back as well,” Hammett said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.

Hammett also indicated that most of the soccer team will also be back, and he feels the next several seasons could be strong for all of his teams.

With the school year at an end, one might think things will be slowing down, but Hammett will be busy with camps for the students getting them prepared for what should be another exciting year for Oxford Prep sports.

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SportsTalk: Vance Charter Soccer Advances To Third Round Of Playoffs

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Update 10 p.m. — Congratulations to Vance Charter!  Survive and advance.

Final Score

VCS-1
Lejeune-0

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SportsTalk: Local Schools Making A Run In State Playoffs

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It’s an exciting time at Oxford Prep and Kerr Vance Academy.  Both schools have teams advancing through the state playoffs.

At Oxford Prep it’s Tommy Anstead’s softball team that is looking to make it to the third round of the state playoffs.   “We’ve never been as far as the third round,” Anstead said on Thursday’s SportsTalk on WIZS. On Tuesday Oxford Prep had a convincing 5-3 win over Union High School.  That school featured a pitcher with 196 strike outs this year.  When asked how you prepare for a pitcher with that type of talent Anstead said, “You hope they don’t have any,” referring to the strike outs. This is the school’s third time advancing to the second round and they must defeat Riverside Martin from Williamston Friday night to make it to round three.  Riverside Martin is ranked eleventh in the state.  That game is in Oxford and will be at 6pm Friday.

Meanwhile, Mike Joyner, Athletic Director at Kerr Vance Academy, will need to be in two places at once Friday night as both the baseball team and the girl’s soccer team will be playing.  The Spartan’s soccer team is ranked #8 in the state and escaped with a 1-0 win over Lee Christian earlier this week and will now face local rival Crossroads Christian.  That game is at 5pm Friday.  At 6pm the #1 seeded baseball team, which is coming off a first round bye, will take on North Hills Christian.  “We lost in the semi-finals last year and we felt we were in good shape to make a run this year,” Joyner said of the team.  “We are young with no seniors but we added two really good players,” Joyner added.  KVA will be at home throughout the playoffs with the championships coming up on May 19th and 20th.

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