The N&O Athletes and Scholar-Athletes of the Year for 2016-17

This has never happened before.

The News & Observer’s male and female high school athletes of the year hail from the same school.

Orange’s Payton Wilson, a junior three-sport star, won male athlete of the year. Mia Davidson, a two-sport senior standout at Orange, is the female athlete of the year.

This also has never happened before: Wilson is the second winner from his own household in as many years. He follows older brother Bryse, who graduated last year after starring in football and baseball. He’s now in the Atlanta Braves organization after being selected in the fourth round of the MLB draft.

The N&O scholar-athlete of the year awards go to athletes with exceptional GPAs and remarkable athletic feats – good enough to have possibly won one of the other awards.

Woods Charter’s Isabel Pearce was the female scholar-athlete of the year. She posted a 4.7 GPA for the Wolves from Chatham County and broke state records in girls soccer.

Heritage’s Thayer Thomas won the male scholar-athlete of the year award. He was a three-sport standout – starting for football, basketball and baseball teams that made the third round – while maintaining a 4.9 GPA.

Payton Wilson

Wilson capped an undefeated 43-0 season in wrestling with the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A 220-pound championship, but that may not be his best sport.

He’s one of the top-ranked linebackers in the country and recently committed to North Carolina over offers from far and wide. He can play nearly any position on the field. On defense, he had 127 tackles, 13 sacks and one interception. On offense, he ran for 756 yards (9.0 per carry) and six touchdowns and caught 13 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite being 6-4 and 220 pounds, he also added five punt returns for touchdown.

In the spring, he played lacrosse and was his team’s leader in groundballs and faceoff percentage.

Wilson’s football team went 12-1, the wrestling team was the state runner-up with a 31-1 record and the lacrosse team went 11-4.

Mia Davidson

Davidson’s legacy statewide is being the all-time home run leader in NCHSAA history with 53. Her 152 RBIs will rank fourth all-time, her 186 runs will rank third and her batting average of .624 is second.

Her legacy at her school will be as a two-time N.C. Gatorade Player of the Year who led her team to its first state title in program history.

But in the Triangle, she’ll be remembered as the best softball player the area has seen. Ranked as the No. 4 player in the nation, Davidson will join older sister Montana at Mississippi State next year.

Davidson hit .517 this season for the 26-3 3A champs with a whopping 50 RBIs and 12 homers. She wasn’t just a slugger either: She stole 22 bases. The most feared batter in the state was walked 46 times this year – no one else in the state recorded more than 27, according to MaxPreps.

But Davidson was more than just softball. She was also a starter on one of the best Panthers girls basketball teams in history. She was the starting center, fifth-leading scorer (5.7 per game) and leading rebounder (7.9) for a 25-2 team. She was an all-district third-team selection by the N.C. Basketball Coaches Association.

Thayer Thomas

Thayer Thomas was a rarity at a 4A school: a traditional three-sport athlete. He played football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring.

And he was pretty darn good at all of them, making all-conference in each sport while lifting the Huskies to new heights – all three teams made the third round – in each. He held a 4.9 GPA despite the year-round schedule.

Thomas turned down some offers in other sports to walk-on at N.C. State to play football.

In the fall, Thomas was the football team’s top receiver. He caught 73 passes for 965 yards and seven touchdowns for the 11-3 Huskies.

In basketball, he was the starting point guard for a 28-2 team that won the Cap-8 Conference and averaged 6.0 points and 4.2 assists.

In baseball, he led the conference with a .473 average for a 20-6 Heritage team.

Isabel Pearce

There was almost not a girls soccer team at Woods Charter this year. The Wolves had just 13 players after tryouts, but they made it all the way to the NCHSAA 1A East final thanks in large part to a player who had more goals than most teams net in an entire season.

Isabel Pearce scored 80 goals this year, the most in state history. She finished her career first in state history as well with 226.

But she was also a standout in the classroom, holding a 4.7 GPA.

This story was originally published July 8, 2017 at 1:57 PM with the headline "The N&O Athletes and Scholar-Athletes of the Year for 2016-17."