Tag Archive for: #oxfordprep

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep Softball Looking For Back To Back Championships

It’s never easy to repeat as a champion, but Oxford Prep Softball Coach Tommy Anstead feels as though his team has a pretty good chance to win a conference championship in 2024.  “We have 12 or 13 girls returning including all of our starters except one,” Anstead said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.

The team is counting on another strong performance from pitcher Addison Faucette.  Last season, as a freshman, Faucette was 16-3 on the year with an earned run average of 1.79.   Oxford Prep can hit the ball too.  “We had seven players with a batting average of over .300 and of the seven, four were over .400,” Anstead said.

Anstead expects tough competition this season citing Roxboro and Vance Charter as teams that could cause problems for Oxford Prep this season. Anstead also says the team has a tougher schedule this season.  Oxford Prep opens the season on March 1st against county rival J.F. Webb.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Local Coaches Prep For Basketball Tournaments And Spring Sports

John Hammett and Scottie Richardson may be athletic directors for different schools in different counties but they are both facing the same things: a basketball season that is winding down and the start of spring sports.

Hammett, Oxford Prep’s athletic director, says his boys’ basketball team is having a real strong year despite a loss this week to Vance Charter.  “We’ve got some real good shooters,” Hammett said.  They take on Roxboro Charter Friday night. “Roxboro is young but they have a couple of good player,” Hammett said of the team’s opponent. The girls team is currently 7-9. “They have been getting better throughout the year,” said Hammett.  Oxford Prep has five games remaining before they start the conference basketball tournament.

Meanwhile, at Crossroads Christian, athletic director Scottie Richardson says his girls team will be the second seed for their upcoming tournament. The boys could be.  “We control our own destiny,” Richardson said.   It will take a few more wins in the remaining four games for Crossroads to secure that second seed.

One of the problems both men face is an overlap between basketball and baseball.  “I would like to see both basketball and baseball seasons shortened to eliminate the overlap,” Hammett said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Richardson said it is difficult to coordinate with coaches when players play multiple sports.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep’s Challenging Schedule Could Pay Dividends Later

It takes a young team time to learn and Oxford Prep Athletic Director John Hammett hopes the school volleyball team’s challenging schedule to open the season will do exactly that.  Oxford Prep opened with two losses against Wake Prep and East Wake.  Both schools field strong volleyball programs. Those losses were followed by two close wins against Kerr Vance Academy.

Conference play opened with a loss against Roxboro community this week.  “We hope the schedule will pay dividends later,” Hammett said of his young team on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  “We just have to play through it,” Hammett continued.

On the soccer field Oxford Prep won against Kerr Vance Academy last week but lost to Granville Central. Hammett is also optimistic about the soccer program.  “Our numbers are up,” Hammett stated.  “We are taking small steps building our program,” Hammett added.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep Prepares For Fall Sports

Fall sports are beginning to ramp up at schools around the area, and Oxford Prep is no exception.  The school’s athletic director, John Hammett, has a full plate as the school’s varsity volleyball team will be scrimmaging twice next week ahead of opening the season.  Also, Coach Kevin Grant’s soccer team kicks off the season on August 14th against Granville Central.  The volleyball team will have no seniors meaning that the team will have, ideally, no changes over the next two seasons.  The soccer team will only have two seniors out of 21 players.

In addition, other fall sports are also gearing up.  “Cross Country, women’s golf and middle school teams all start next week,” Hammett said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.

While academics come first at Oxford Prep, Hammett hopes sports can play a role in the lives of students.  He added that when it comes to expectations, his biggest goal is for the students at Oxford Prep enjoy the experience.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep Wraps Up Successful Spring Season

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.

CLICK PLAY to hear Athletic Director John Hammett!

 

SportsTalk: Local Schools Making A Run In State Playoffs

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.

CLICK PLAY!

 

 

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Best Season Ever For Oxford Prep Softball

It’s been a great year for Oxford Prep softball.  “We’re having a really good season. It’s the best year we’ve ever had,” said coach Tommy Anstead on Thursday’s SportsTalk.   Currently, Oxford Prep is 13-3 on the season with just three games remaining on their conference schedule.  One of those games is with Vance Charter while a double header with Voyager will take up the final two games.

Currently, Oxford Prep is number seven in the RPI rankings and will likely move up. “A lot of people underestimated us,” added coach Anstead.  One of the reasons is no one knew of the strong freshmen class.  These freshmen players included Addison Faucett. The freshmen pitcher has 118 strikeouts on the season.  Additionally, the team has five players batting over .400 on the season and Oxford Prep as a team has a batting average of .355.

If the final three games go as expected, meaning wins, then Oxford Prep will get a first round playoff game at home and a strong possibility of a second home playoff game. However, Anstead and Oxford Prep are trying not to look ahead.  “I tell the girls all the time to take it one game at a time,” Anstead said.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Hammett Optimistic About Oxford Prep Spring Sports

Oxford Prep Athletic Director John Hammett’s teams are coming off a strong winter sports season. Both boys and girls basketball teams made the state playoffs and, for the first time in school history, a swimmer made the State meet.  According to Hammett, “We have a good group of girls who got better as the season went along,” in reference to the girl’s basketball team. Now Hammett turns his attention to spring.  The baseball team at Oxford Prep is off to a strong start defeating Granville Central this week 14-3 but, with only one senior, they are very young.  “Health is a big challenge because we only have  11 players,” Hammett said.

The girl’s softball team is also off to a solid start defeating Louisburg High School 6-0 earlier this week.  “They’ve got a chance to be real good,” Hammett said of the team which has quite a few returning players.  On Tuesday of next week, they will take on county rival Oxford Webb.

As for soccer, having plenty of players isn’t a problem.  Hammett said there are 23 girls on the squad.  The soccer team, unfortunately, is coming off a loss to Falls Lake.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Oxford Prep School

SportsTalk: Oxford Prep Athletics With John Hammett

John Hammett patrolled the football sidelines as a head coach for many years but the former JF Webb coach now finds being athletic director at a small school such as Oxford Prep to be quite satisfying.  Even though there are aspects of being a football coach that he misses, one of the reasons he made the change was it began to become more like work.

Being a football coach meant Hammett had to deal with injuries, something he says Oxford Prep takes very seriously. “You have to teach players differently about how to deal with injuries.  The more education the better,” Hammett says. “Athletes have to be honest,” according to Hammett. That’s hard he says because the kids are competitive and don’t want to miss any time on the field or the court.

According to Hammett, Oxford Prep is becoming more competitive on the basketball court.  After a slow start, the school won a big rivalry game last week over Eno River.

So while Hammett may not be patrolling the sidelines of a football field, Oxford Prep’s AD position seems to be working out for him. “It’s nice, because it’s small,” Hammett summed up.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Watkins selected for Governor’s School

Isaac Charles Watkins, a junior at Oxford Preparatory School, has been selected to attend North Carolina Governor’s School of 2021.

Watkins, 17, lives in Oxford with his parents Kelly Watkins and Chris Cox. He was selected for the program because of high academic performance in the social sciences, according to Vici Bradsher, upper school director at OPS. He will attend Governor’s School West, held at High Point University, Bradsher noted.

“Being selected for Governor’s School is a high honor,” Bradsher said. “Not all schools have students selected to attend Governor’s School,” she said. He is the first OPS student to be selected to attend the summer program.

“We are honored that Isaac has been selected,” Bradsher said, adding that it is “a testament to the level of dedication with which Isaac pursues everything. Isaac is such a very deserving young man.”

His accomplishments extend into the community as well. He spends time helping others at Area Congregations in Ministry (ACIM) food bank in Oxford and the Flat River Baptist Association Church & Communities Ministries in Oxford. He also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout last year. His Eagle Scout project was the creation of a prayer garden at Sharon Baptist Church, where he attends with his family.

Watkins will be studying the social sciences at Governor’s School, and Bradsher said he excels in history, government and politics. At OPS, he also is a member of the swimming and cross-country teams, and is a commencement marshal for the second year.

His mother, Kelly Watkins, said Wednesday that her son also is interested in philosophy and religion, adding that he has indicated an interest in pursuing those subjects in college.

Music is another passion he pursues. He plays electric guitar in the OPS Jazz band and plays trumpet in the school’s performing Band. Outside of school activities, he co-founded The Palm Trees, a band that has performed for various events at the Senior Center in Oxford.

He performs musical selections regularly at his church, his mother said. His maternal grandfather majored in music in college, and Isaac plays the trumpet that his grandfather once played.

The North Carolina Governor’s School is the nation’s oldest statewide summer residential program for gifted high school students. The 5 ½-week program is located on two campuses: Governor’s School West is at High Point University in High Point, and Governor’s School East is held at Meredith College in Raleigh. Each site can accommodate up to 335 students. The program is administered by the Public Schools of North Carolina, the State Board of Education, and the Department of Public Instruction through the Exceptional Children Division.

###