Tag Archive for: #VanceCountyHighSchool

SportsTalk: Local AD’s Preparing For Playoffs

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The life of an athletic director at any level can be busy.  This time of year not only are there sporting activities, but there are proms, graduation and other end of school year events taking place to add to the load ADs face. Both Ray Noel at Vance County High School and George Hoyle Jr. at Thales Academy certainly have full plates.

Noel says the Vance County Vipers are about at the halfway point for baseball, softball and soccer.  Playoffs for baseball and soccer will begin in the first week of May with soccer following in the second week of May.  The baseball and softball teams are coming off wins against Granville Central and the girl’s soccer team, which is described as young by Noel, has now started to win some games with two conference victories under their belt.

The baseball team is down a player at the moment according to Noel.  “Chris Jones is in California for an All-Star Football game,” Noel said.  Jones, a star on the Viper’s football team, is also a big part of the baseball team as well. Noel also said the Isman Alston Jr., another Vipers football standout, has just signed with St. Augustine.  He also plays on the baseball team.

Over at Thales Academy in Rolesville, Henderson’s George Hoyle Jr. is the athletic director, and he is as busy as Noel. He also has a young soccer team with only one senior and a tough non-conference schedule has now resulted in a couple of conference wins, with the team having won its last two games.  His softball team is in the same position, young but improving with a 3-5 record. Varsity baseball is definitely on the upward track at Thales as they are now 6-3.  Thales’ is set to be good for the foreseeable future as well. “Our middle school talent is ridiculous,” Hoyle said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  The school, which started in 2007, has shown tremendous growth as they are now a 3A school and could soon be a 4A.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Israel Terry And Chris Jones Sign Letters Of Intent

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Vance County High School had a very successful 2022 football campaign making it into the state playoff and two of the reasons why are senior wide receiver Israel Terry and defensive star Chris Jones. Both young men have signed letters of intent to play college ball, Terry at Winston-Salem State and Jones with Barton in Wilson.

“It feels like home,” Terry said of Winston-Salem State where he is considering majoring in either the business field or sports training. About the challenges of moving up to the college level Terry says, “I just need to stay focused and locked on goals. I’m just an athlete and I’ll do what the coaches ask.” Terry also said he expects to play receiver for Winston-Salem State. At some point, he may even have to face another Vance Co. graduate, his brother Noah, across the field. Noah plays cornerback for Shaw University.

Jones, who athletic director Ray Noel called modest, will be heading to Barton. While primarily a defensive player with the Vipers, he did play running back on offense but at Barton he will be focusing on defense. “I want to be where I can make the plays,” Jones said about his preference for offense of defense.

Both players say Vance County’s success on the football field comes down to buying into the program that Coach Aaron Elliot put together. It allowed the team to bond. “Vance County (High School) is on the rise,” Jones said.

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The Local Skinny! Students Learn To Extinguish Fires

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They are everywhere – in office buildings and schools, under kitchen sinks and in so many other places where fires could break out. But just because we see fire extinguishers throughout the course of a day doesn’t mean we know how to use them.

Vance County Schools puts a strong emphasis on providing students with experiences and opportunities and high school students in the Public Safety 2 class recently got some hands-on, live training with extinguishing a fire. Students went through training ahead of the actual lab to learn proper techniques and the use of a fire extinguisher. Each student discharged the fire extinguisher to put out a live, controlled fire, with 100 percent success.

Public Safety is one of the many courses offered through the Career and Technical Education program.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Hoops, Swimming And Wrestling Keeps Noel Busy At Vance Co. High

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“Busy, busy, busy,” is how Vance Co. High School Athletic Director Ray Noel sums up the last couple of months.  “We have two to three games a week,” Noel said and that’s just for basketball.  When you add to that wrestling and swimming it’s easy to understand just how busy Noel must be.

Swimming has just finished it’s season and wrestling is getting close to being over with regionals next week.  Noel describes both as being successful this year but injuries have been a problem for the wrestling team.

Basketball is also nearing tournament time with the men’s team in the middle of the pack but the women’s team is making great improvements. “They’ve won four of the last five,” Noel said on Thursday’s SportsTalk. The women’s team, with a win over Carrboro this week, could capture the number two seed in the tournament.  Even so, both the men’s and women’s team will have to contend with Southern Durham which is undefeated in both divisions.

Once all of this ends Noel says it will be time for baseball, softball, track and soccer but his focus now is on basketball.  The Vipers will begin conference play on February 13.

 

Crossroads Christian School

SportsTalk: Crossroads Christian Meets Vance Co. High School For First Time

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Only a few miles separate Crossroads Christian School from Vance County High School, and with the two schools in the same county, one might think that the two teams would meet on the basketball court with regularity.  That’s not the case.  Friday night will mark the first time these two schools will compete in basketball.

The Vipers will run into a Crossroads Christian team that is playing well. The JV team is undefeated, the girls team is 8-1, and the boys team is 7-3.  It all starts at 4:30 p.m. with the JV team, the girls tip off at 6 p.m., and the boys at 7 p.m.

According to Crossroads Christian Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Coach Scottie Richardson, the matchup is a big deal for Crossroads. “It’s almost like a fundraiser,” he said on Thursday’s SportsTalk. The crowd is expected to pack the game which is hosted by Crossroads, so arrive early to get the best vantage point for the games.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Preparing For A Southern Durham Rematch

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“We feel good. I would put them up against any team in the state,” Vance Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott said on Wednesday’s SportsTalk with Bill Harris.  The Vipers have advanced to round two of the state high school football playoffs after a 28-26 road win against highly touted West Carteret last Friday in Morehead City.  The Vipers were underdogs last week and may be so again Thursday night against conference rivals Southern Durham, who have already beaten the Vipers once this year.

Coach Elliott likes being an underdog.  That, he says, eliminates the team having a target on its back. “As long as we are healthy, we can go a long way in the playoffs,” Elliott added. Right now the Vipers are healthy.  An unexpected week off for the Vipers helped tremendously to get kids back after a round of flu contributed to the Southern Durham loss a few weeks ago.

All season long Coach Elliott has worked to instill the importance of practice with the Vipers and that has seemed to pay off this season, and he said this week has had great practices despite a shortened week.  The game has been moved to Thursday night at Southern Durham with a kick off time set for 7:30 p.m. due to remnants of Nicole making an appearance in North Carolina.  The Vipers and the Spartans may still have to work through some rain Thursday night, but everything is set for a rematch between two great teams looking to advance to round three.

Airtime Thursday night is at 7:20 p.m. with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. from Southern Durham.

Listen Local and Listen Live at 1450 AM / 100.1 FM and online here – https://player.listenlive.co/53101

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Prepare For Last Regular Season Game

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Update — The game was cancelled.  The Vipers will find out Saturday about who and where they play in the state playoffs.  Tune in Monday at 12:30 p.m. for SportsTalk.

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We’ve been hearing about flu and colds and viruses over the last several weeks.  It seems like we’ve all come down with something recently and the Vance Co. Vipers football team is no exception.  With six players, including quaterback Nazir Garrett, suffering from flu and flu-like symptoms, the Vipers struggled a bit against conference rival Southern Durham.  The Vipers did not win last week and Coach Aaron Elliott said that even though he wouldn’t make excuses for the teams loss, the illnesses did play a roll in the game.

Unless Southern Durham has an uncharacteristic slip up against Carrboro, the Vipers will be the number 2 seed in the conference for the playoffs but before that the Vipers have one more game in the regular season and that’s at home Friday (tonight) against JF Webb.  Webb only has one win on the year and would seem like an easy win for the Vipers but this is a long standing rivalry and Coach Elliott knows Webb will be coming to play.  “They have nothing to lose,” Elliott said of the Warriors. “They have good athletes. This is not going to be the same old Webb team,” Elliott continued.

It’s also Senior Night and Elliott wants it to be a big deal.  “It’s important to me,” Elliott commented on SportsTalk on WIZS Thursday afternoon.  He would like to start a new Senior tradition with his team as well to make the last year a special one for his players.  With 14 seniors on the Viper squad this season that will take some work.

The Vipers will play JF Webb tomorrow night at Viper Stadium for the final regular season game.  Airtime on WIZS is 6:50 with kick off at 7pm.

 

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Go For Conference Championship Friday Night – Tune In!

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After another huge victory last week against Granville Central, the Vance County Vipers are poised to win a conference championship this Friday night.

In Henderson, listen local at 1450 AM / 100.1 FM and anywhere with your connected device or speaker listen here – https://player.listenlive.co/53101. Or tell Alexa to “Listen to WIZS.com on Tunein.”  Or say, “Hey Google, Listen to WIZS.com on Tunein.”

The 6-2 Vipers have been on a roll the last several weeks, but the competition stiffens this week as the Vipers have to hit the road for another trip to Durham to face the defending conference champs Southern Durham.

“We’ve never beaten Southern Durham. We’ve never won a conference championship,” said coach Aaron Elliott on SportsTalk on Thursday.  Southern Durham is 4-4 so far this year but played a tough early schedule and has been winning as of late.  Right now the Vipers control there own destiny and with a win on the road will secure the school’s first conference championship while a loss muddies the picture considerably.

Southern Durham cannot be taken lightly according to Coach Elliott.  “They have athletes on both sides of the ball,” he said. Elliott hopes the Vipers’ speed will be a deciding factor along with the continued strong play of the defense. He also feels if the Vipers can score early and get a lead and can be balanced on offense, then they will be in good shape Friday night.

Airtime on WIZS for Vance County vs. Southern Durham is at 6:50pm with kickoff at 7pm.

 

VCS Names New Principal For Vance County High School

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-information courtesy of Vance County Schools

Vance County Schools announced Thursday that Nealie Whitt III has been named the new principal of Vance County High School.

Whitt takes the reins from Rey Horner, who was selected to fill the role of executive director of student services for the school district. He becomes the school’s second principal and is scheduled to begin his new job on Nov. 28.

“As I enter into this new journey, I am excited to be a part of Vance County High School,” Whitt said. “As principal, it is my duty to continue to build a supportive and collaborative school community while maintaining the spirit of our district of Vance County. As a school community, we will build on the traditions of the past and meet the challenges of the future in innovative and exciting ways.”

Whitt has 12 years of teaching experience. He began as a physical education teacher and was a finalist for the Wells Fargo Principal of the Year in 2022 for the state of North Carolina, as well as a Top 10 North Carolina Principal of the Year finalist in 2021. He has served in leadership roles in public and charter schools.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health, with an emphasis in secondary education from N.C. Central University. He holds a master’s degree and currently is enrolled in a doctoral program of education in educational administration.

Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett welcomed Whitt to Vance County. “Vance County Schools is excited to welcome our new Viper principal,” Bennett said, adding that he brings leadership experience and knowledge of the county to his new role.

“He expresses a great desire to build strong students and support staff in a manner that will ensure our graduates are prepared. I am grateful for the work of Mr. Horner and look forward to the next chapter,” Bennett said.

SportsTalk: Vipers To Celebrate Homecoming Against Granville Central; Listen Here

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Live Play by Play Friday Night at 1450AM / 100.1 FM / and by clicking Listen Live at WIZS.com (or click here https://player.listenlive.co/53101)

With only three games left on the regular season schedule, the Vance County Vipers are 5-2 heading into homecoming week this Friday night against an 0-6 Granville Central team.  While it may look like a mismatch on paper Coach Aaron Elliott says that Vance County can’t take the night off. “We almost lost last year. They made it a close one,” Elliott said referring to a game the Vipers should have won easily. Elliott expects Granville Central will try to pressure quarterback Nazir Garrett in much the same way as South Granville did last week.

With homecoming also taking place Friday night, it’s a big game for the Vipers.  “Most coaches will tell you they hate homecoming week,” Coach Elliott said on Thursday’s SportsTalk. He said the opportunities for disruption can be a challenge but at the end of the day they have to go out and play a football game Friday night.

Ray Noel, Vance County Athletic Director, was also on Thursday’s SportsTalk and said there will be an expanded half time and more food than usual to accommodate the growing crowds.  Food trucks will on site for Friday’s game and he encourages everyone to arrive early.  Noel said at recent games the concession stand has been cleared out by the third quarter with nothing left to sell but cold drinks.

You can hear all of the action of Vance County Friday Night Football beginning at 6:50 tomorrow night with kickoff at 7pm here on WIZS.