Cook wins pole vault at BRC
From staff reports

ASHEVILLE — Watauga’s girls track and field team finished fourth in the Blue Ridge Classic hosted by A.C. Reynolds Saturday.

The Pioneers finished with 65 points. T.C. Roberson won the event with 14 points, followed by A.C. Reynolds and Charlotte Mallard Creek.

Taylor Cook won the pole vault, and Sydney Cook finished fifth in the event for the Pioneers. Taylor Cook cleared 11-feet even and was the only vaulter to reach that height.

“Taylor Cook really had a good day in three jumps,” Watauga coach Randy McDonough said. “She reached the finals in long jump and triple jump and won the pole vault.”

Sydney Cook cleared 9-feet even i the pole vault. Laura Gulliver finished in a tie for 10th place.

In the sprints, Kasay Jones was second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48:32 seconds. Ryann Jones finished fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.36 seconds and fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.53 seconds. Kayla Schneider was second in the 800-meter run with a 2:26.61, and freshman Hailey Middlebrook was ninth in the event, just missing the final eight by less than a second. She finished with a time of 2:37.70, just shot of the 2:37.18 that was run by Maggie Mills of Hayesville.

Hannah Barbour was fifth in the 1,600-meter run with a 5:34.16, and Watauga’s 3,200-meter relay team was second to T.C. Roberson with a time of 10:25.46.

In the jumps, Sydney Cook finished fourth in the high jump and Tara Trivette was seventh for the Pioneers. Each jumped 4-feet, 8-inches. Taylor Cook was seventh in the triple jump.

Watauga’s boys’ team finished in eighth place with 44 points. Mallard Creek won with 73 points, followed by Hendersonville, Asheville and Tuscola.

In the throws, Gabby Romano won the discus with a toss of 139-feet, 7-inches. Jordan Pineda was fourth in the event with a toss of 130-8. Pineda was also fifth Romano was sixth in the shot put.

“Gabby Romano continues to do well in the discus,” McDonough said. “He won and he’s done it with sheer hard work.”

Thomas McDonough finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.93. Justin Martin was 11th overall in that event.

Daniel Osborne was fourth in the 1,600-meter run with a 4:50.80, and Ian Boyd was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a 16.23. Boyd was also seventh in the pole vault with a height of 11-0.

“We had several good performances,” Randy McDonough said. “Our relays didn’t necessarily show it, but they ran well with the teams we’ve had. We worked hard on the relays and it started to show. We had to throw a couple of them together at the last minute and they still came through.”

Watauga has a meet at West Caldwell on Wednesday, and then travels to Columbia, S.C. for the Taco Bell Invitational Saturday.

Girls soccer
SAWMILLS — Watauga rolled to a 5-0 road victory over South Caldwell Friday night.

Austin Williamson scored two goals for the Pioneers (3-7-2, 3-2 Northwestern 4-A Conference). Skylar Hicks, Kendall Baird and Austin Williamson also scored goals for Watauga, which hosts Freedom Tuesday, weather permitting.

Watauga’s jayvee team also beat South Caldwell 4-0 Friday.

Boys’ tennis
TAYLORSVILLE — Watauga blasted Alexander Central in two matches Friday, winning each by a 6-0 score. Only singles were played in each match.

The Pioneers (13-2, 9-0) did not lose a set in any of the 12 matches played. Ryan Schweitzer won his match at No. 5 singles in the first match 6-0, 6-0, while Kevin Ashline beat Justin Chapman 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Brian Geldmeier, Davis Roberts, Preston Stigall and Chris Ludwig all won their matches in straight sets. Alexander Central never won more than three games in any set.

It was more of the same in the second match. Geldmeier and Stigall won their matches 6-0, 6-0, and Ashline won his match 6-0, 6-1. Aaron Evans added a singles victory at No. 6, winning 7-5, 6-3.

Watauga plays at A.C. Reynolds on Tuesday.

Watauga 6, Alexander Central 0
Singles
Kevin Ashline (W) d. Justin Chapman, 6-0 6-1
Brian Geldmeier (W) d. Elias Bolzen, 6-1 6-0
Davis Roberts (W) d. Matt Brown, 6-0 6-3
Preston Stigall (W) d. Chris Kidd, 6-1 6-0
Ryan Schweitzer (W) d. Haden Seely, 6-0 6-0
Chris Ludwig (W) d. Brandon Matuszky, 6-0 6-2

Watauga 6, Alexander Central 0
Singles
Kevin Ashline (W) d. Justin Chapman, 6-0 6-1
Brian Geldmeier (W) d. Elias Bolzen, 6-0 6-0
Preston Stigall (W) d. Matt Brown, 6-0 6-0
Ryan Schweitzer (W) d. Chris Kidd, 6-2 6-1
Chris Ludwig (W) d. Haden Seely, 6-2 6-0
Aaron Evans (W) d. Brandon Thomas, 7-5 6-3