Prep notebook: Hundreds make all-state softball team
No all-state team is as expansive as the N.C. Softball Coaches Association’s. Released last week, the list contains 394 players in all classifications who were named all-state by the NCSCA.
Among the top award winners were Orange’s Mia Davidson (3A East player of the year), South Granville’s Savannah Tilley (2A East player of the year) and Bunn’s Erica Davis (2A East pitcher of the year).
Other area selections (note: coaches must be members to nominate players) included:
1A: Chatham Central’s Talli Poe; Franklin Academy’s Carly Graves; Granville Central’s Taylor Bailey and Logan Taylor.
2A: Beddingfield’s Allison Pate; Bunn’s Davis, Emily Bell, Charlotte Murphy and Stephanie Williams; Franklinton’s Summer Jacobs; Jordan-Matthews’ Holly Clark, Dee Decristofaro and Carlie Mote; North Johnston’s Olivia Narron; North Pitt’s Kim Whitehurst; South Granville’s Tilley, Miranda Barker, Madison Boyd, Bri Coleman, Hunter Mundy and Megan White.
3A: J.F. Webb’s Mary Anna Clement; Lee County’s Jacie Arrington, Whitney Sanford, Caroline Wilson and Tessa Wilson; Northwood’s Kayli Blankenship, Anna Jasper, Ally McKee, Carson Shaner; Orange’s Mia and Montana Davidson and Kristina Givens; Triton’s Lindsey Chapman and Anna Tyndall.
4A: Apex’s Julia Cerasi, Kaitlyn Long, Samantha Pesot and Shelby Poliachik; Athens Drive’s Melanie Darges; Cardinal Gibbons’ Elizabeth Pedersen; D.H. Conley’s Grace Cochran, Cara Davis, Emily Kirby and Makenna Matthijs; East Wake’s Haley Glover; Fuquay-Varina’s Ashlyn Long and Cathan Soto; Garner’s Libby Bynum and Alisha Josey; Harnett Central’s Searria Fisher; Heritage’s Jordan Gontram, Imani Rochelle and Grace Valchar; Middle Creek’s Gianna Gravius; Northern Durham’s Mckenzie McCullen and Sarah Pleasants; Overhills’ Jordan Adcox and Kelsie White; Panther Creek’s Rachel Johnson and Cassidy Somers; Pinecrest’s Jordan Blake and Brianna Embler; Rolesville’s Abby Taylor and Mercades Torres; South Central’s Lauren Conway, Brae Mizzelle and Abigayle Rowell; Wake Forest’s Jessica Barbour and Chelsey Cunningham; West Johnston’s Megan Mills and Kassidy Wood.
Krah wins national title
One day after being named Gatorade’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year for North Carolina, Durham sprinter Marcus Krah made yet another mark on the national scene by winning the men’s 110-meter hurdles at the USATF Junior National Championships in Fresno, Calif.
Running at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium on the first day of the Junior Nationals, Krah won the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.25 seconds. He narrowly beat out Amere Lattin of Houston, who reached the line in 13.32 seconds.
Krah’s time time was the fastest in the world so far for hurdlers going into the IAAF World Junior Championship games in Poland.
His win in Fresno came one week after Krah, running for the Durham Striders, won the 110 hurdles at the New Balance Nationals with a time of 13.39.
Earlier this year, Krah was named MVP of the N.C. High School Athletics Association’s 4A outdoor championships after winning three events – including the 110 hurdles in a NCHSAA record time of 13.32 – the nation’s No. 1 performance among prep competitors in 2016 at the time and fifth in U.S. high school history. Krah also won the NCHSAA’s long jump with a distance of 23 feet, even, and the triple jump with a mark of 48 feet, 8 inches.
By virtue of winning the 110 hurdles at the USATF Juniors meet, Krah will represent the United States at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Poland, to be held July 15-28.
A member of Hillside High School’s class of 2016 who maintained a weighted GPA of 4.63, Krah has committed to run next semester at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He was named Gatorade’s N.C. Male Track & Field Athlete of the Year on Friday.
W.E. Warnock
J. Mike Blake: 919-460-2606, @JMBpreps
This story was originally published June 26, 2016 at 11:57 PM with the headline "Prep notebook: Hundreds make all-state softball team."