HobbsDailyReport.com
Winning a Northwestern 3A-4A girls’ soccer title this season under head coach Brian Jillings helped Hickory win a Wells Fargo Conference Cup.
CHAPEL HILL – Hickory, East Lincoln, Kings Mountain and Lake Norman fielded the top athletic programs in their respective high school sports conferences this season.
Each of those schools won a Wells Fargo Conference Cup when season results were released by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) on Thursday.
Each conference in the state annually develops its own scoring format in a chase to determine the top athletic program in each league in the state each school year.
Here are the highlights for each of the four Greater Hickory area conferences (see complete point totals below):
David Craft is athletic director at Hickory High, which won a Wells Fargo Cup for the Northwestern 3A-4A this school year as the league’s top athletic program.
Northwestern 3A-4A: Hickory ended up No. 1, with 212 points and four ahead of Watauga, after winning a league girls’ soccer title, finishing in a second-place tie in boys’ lacrosse and finishing third in boys’ tennis.
Southern District 7 Athletic 2A: East Lincoln won a baseball title and finished second in girls’ softball and in boys’ track and field win the league’s cup.
The Mustangs finished 19 points ahead of second-place Newton-Conover after the Red Devils won league titles in boys’ tennis and girls’ softball and took second in boys’ golf.
South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A: Kings Mountain won three spring sports titles – boys’ golf, girls’ soccer and boys’ track to post 135.5 points and finish 29.5 ahead of second-place Crest.
North Piedmont 3A-4A: League titles in baseball, boys’ golf and boys’ tennis helped Lake Norman score 832.5 points, edging Mooresville by nearly 100 points.
SD-7 2A: 1. E. Lincoln 114.5; 2. Newton-Conover 95.5; 3. Lincolnton, Maiden 90.5; 5. W. Lincoln 79.5; 6. Bunker Hill 72; 7. W. Caldwell 68; 8. Bandys 58.5
SMAC 2A-3A: 1. Kings Mountain 135.5; 2. Crest 106; 3. Shelby 100; 4. Draughn 98; 5. E. Burke 94; 6. R-S Central 92; 7. E. Rutherford 74.5; 8. Chase 57.5; 9. Burns 45.5.
North Piedmont 3A-4A: 1. Lake Norman 832.5; 2. Mooresville 735; 3. S. Iredell 720; 4.Alexander Central 692.5; 5. N. Iredell 545; 6. N. Lincoln 523.5; 7. Statesville 495; 8. W. Iredell 422.5.
Northwestern 3A-4A: 1. Hickory 212; 2. Watauga 208; 3. St. Stephens 193.5; 4. S. Caldwell 187.5; 5. Freedom 174; 6. Hibriten 172; 7. Fred T. Foard 166.5; 8. Patton 164.5.
WELLS FARGO STATE CUPS
The NCHSAA also released final standings on Thursday for the Wells Fargo State Cups for the state’s top athletics programs, with those scoring systems including – among other criteria – sports offered, conference titles and finishes and advancement in the state playoffs.
Lake Norman Charter, which begins play in the South Fork 2A in August due to statewide realignment, was second in 2A behind Carrboro.
Hickory, which will play in a revamped Northwestern 3A-4A in August, tied Concord for 14th among the state’s 3A schools.
(Top 10s, visit www.nchsaa.org for 1A)
2A: 1. Carrboro 540; 2. LAKE NORMAN CHARTER 507.5; 3. Croatan 397.5; 4. N.C. School of Science & Math 355; 5. Brevard 315; 6. Parkwood 297.5; 7. First Flight 292.5; 8. SHELBY 275; 9. Forbush, Clinton 270.
3A: 1. Marvin Ridge 810.83; 2. Weddington 710; 3. Chapel Hill 545; 4. Northern Guilford 460; 5. Cox Mill 350; 6. Jacksonville 337.5; 7. Cuthbertson 315; 8. W. Carteret 282.5; 9. Fayetteville Sanford 272.5; 10. Hillsborough Orange 243.33.
Note: Hickory tied Concord for 14th with 212.5 points.
4A: 1. Green Hope 515; 2. Cardinal Gibbons 430; 3. Myers Park 397.5; 4. Charlotte Catholic 370; 5. W. Forsyth 359.37; 6. Raleigh Broughton 312.5; 7. Hough 304.37; 8. Providene 277.5; 9. Winston-Salem Reagan 275; 10. Panther Creek 270.