Gaster coached for 31 years at West Columbus, Smithfield-Selma, Lexington and Albemarle and had a 230-72-3 career record.

He died in Rockwell, N.C., of complications from a stroke. He was best known for his years at Albemarle, where his teams won three N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A championships.

Albemarle running back T.A. McLendon, who went on to play at N.C. State, set state and national records as the Bulldogs dominated 1-A play.

At Smithfield-Selma, Gaster emphasized the weight room and offseason workouts.

"Jack came into Johnston County and really put pressure on other coaches to work as much as he did," said Clayton coach Gary Fowler. "He was going to try to out-work you, and he would if you didn't get busy.

"There was no halfway with Jack. You had better get your guys involved in a weightlifting program, because his players were lifting and getting stronger. They were going to push you around if you were not as strong as they were."

Fowler said Gaster was a believer in paying attention to details, including the field and the stadium.

"You'd go to Smithfield and it would be immaculate," Fowler said. "Then you'd go home and start picking up and cleaning.

"Jack painted everything; if you were going to keep up, you needed to get out the paint brushes, too."

Fowler also credited Gaster with initiating coaching mini-clinics in the area.

"It used to be that a bunch of coaches would call around and go visit somebody and ask questions," Fowler said.

"What Jack did was get a local sponsor, invite some coaches in to speak and open it to all the coaches. Eventually, he started getting college coaches to come in."

CARY WRESTLING: Senior Justin Koren and junior Eloheim Palma have led Cary to a 19-0 record in wrestling and have helped make the Imps the overwhelming N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A favorite.

Koren, a defending state champion, is 33-0 at 142 pounds. Palma is 34-0.

Cary has won team tournament titles at the Fayetteville E.E. Smith Invitational, Jim King Invitational, Mark Adams Invitational and the Tiger Classic at Chapel Hill.

Senior Lawrence White (132 pounds) is 34-1, junior Gabe Brotzman (154) is 33-1, Matt Colvard (137) is 33-2, and senior Brett Colyer (173) is 25-2.

SMITH WANTS RECORD: Athens Drive senior swimmer Kirsten Smith wants to add the NCHSAA 500-yard freestyle record to her 200 individual medley record.

Smith has won the 200 free and 200 individual medley each of the past three years. She set the 200 IM mark with a 2:01.08 in 2006.

The 500 freestyle record (4:48.23 by Cara Lane of Charlotte Providence, 1999) is the NCHSAA's oldest record in girls state swimming. Smith's best 500 time is 4:53.09.

Smith, who swims year-round with the Marlins of Raleigh, has signed with Florida. She has qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke and the 200- and 400-meter individual medley.

ROSE COACH LEAVING: Greg Thomas, whose Greenville Rose football teams won four state championships and 98 games in nine years, has accepted the head football coach and athletic director positions at Choctawhatchee High in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Thomas, who had a 98-19 record at Rose, is 138-49, including stops at schools in Washington and Fort Mill, S.C.

Thomas' Rampants won N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The 2007 team finished 8-5 and was eliminated in the playoffs by Durham Hillside, 42-30.

REALIGNMENT MEETING: School representatives will meet Jan. 22 at East Carolina's Minges Coliseum in Greenville to develop conference alignments to begin in August 2009.

The NCHSAA staff prepared an initial alignment; the schools will have the chance to make adjustments at the meeting.

The proposed realignment will be presented to the NCHSAA's Realignment Committee in March. That committee will make a recommendation to the full NCHSAA board in May.