Notebook: Chapel Hill’s Sherry Norris named to NCHSAA hall

Longtime Chapel Hill High coach Sherry Norris is one of eight people selected for induction into the N.C. High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame this fall.

Norris has led the Tigers to two volleyball and two girls’ basketball championships. She is the NCHSAA’s all-time leader in volleyball wins (739-257) and her basketball teams are 545-376.

Norris will be part the 29th group of inductees into the NCHSAA Hall, joined by University of North Carolina’s Dr. Tim Taft, Gil Bowman of Fayetteville, Mac Cumbo of Hendersonville, Suzanne Grayson of Kings Mountain, Bill Harrison of Fayetteville, the late David Price of Charlotte and Jimmy Tillman of Wilson.

Fight for 55: Green Hope and Panther Creek will start an all-sports rivalry competition this school year. The “Fight for 55,” named for N.C. 55 that separates the west Cary schools by 2.5 miles, is a points system that will give one point to each varsity head-to-head win.

For sports like golf, swimming, cross country and track and field, the point will go to the team that finishes higher in the conference championship. In all, there are 34 points available.

The competition could come down to a final “Super Saturday,” which is scheduled in the spring as an all-day head-to-head event. Panther Creek is slated to host this school year’s “Super Saturday” on April 28 with varsity matches in boys’ lacrosse, boys’ tennis, softball, baseball and girls’ soccer.

National titles: Leesville Road’s G’Jasmyne Butler, Research Triangle High’s Michal Swepson and Trinity Academy of Raleigh’s Christian Pigues won national titles Saturday at the USA track and field junior Olympics.

Butler won the 17-18 girls’ 800 (2 minutes, 12.19 seconds), Swepson did the same in the 15-16 boys’ 3,000 (9:07.41) and Pigues won the 15-16 boys’ 1,500 (4:05.73).

Cross country rankings: Green Hope is the No. 1 girls’ cross country team in the state, according to NCrunners.com, which ranks the top 30 boys’ and girls’ teams based on returning runners and their fastest times from a year ago. Chapel Hill was No. 2, Cardinal Gibbons No. 3 and Leesville Road No. 4.

Green Hope has won six straight 4A titles.

Broughton was the highest-ranked area boys’ team at No. 2, one spot below Winston-Salem’s Mount Tabor. Broughton has won four 4A titles in a row. Green Hope was No. 4 and East Chapel Hill was No. 5.

All-state baseball: The N.C. Baseball Coaches Association released its all-state teams over the weekend. Each classification had 17 or 18 players on its respective team.

Making the list in 4A were Fuquay-Varina’s Austin Harris, Northern Durham’s Spencer Smith and Leesville Road’s Andrew Papp and Jack Conley. Cleveland’s Tyler Keenan, Lee County’s Alston Scott, Orange’s Bryse Wilson and Triton’s Tyler Vaughn made the 3A squad, and South Granville’s Ty Adcock, Justin Bullock and Justin Brown made the 2A squad.

In 1A, Voyager Academy’s Kiki Kornegay and Roxboro Community’s Parker Brann earned all-state honors.

Jordan football: The Jordan Falcons, 2-9 a year ago, have not made the football postseason since 2010, but coach LaDwaun Harrison hopes to change that.

“This group has been with me for four years now, so I’m excited about this class here. Everybody is a lot more comfortable now, and when you’re comfortable, you can play a little bit more free,” Harrison said.

Carrboro football: Carrboro, 3-8 a year ago, has no players left from its 2012 runner-up finish in the 2AA football playoffs. Jaguars coach Melvin Griffin said his team has depth in the trenches.

“It’s rare to have your entire offensive and defensive line back,” Griffin said. “What we’re lacking is leadership at the skilled positions.”

Elliott Warnock contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Notebook: Chapel Hill’s Sherry Norris named to NCHSAA hall."