DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR announced today that Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider and the Official Auto Parts Retailer of NASCAR, will serve as the primary sponsor of the Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine.

The entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (NAAPWS) and Advance My Track Challenge, Advance has dedicated its resources to developing NASCAR at the grassroots level. As partner of the Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine, the retailer continues to expand its presence in the sport.

“This program has been advancing careers for many years, with so many talented drivers getting the opportunity to showcase their abilities,” said Jason McDonell, Advance’s executive vice president of merchandising, marketing and e-commerce. “Increasing diverse representation within the motorsports community is paramount, and our Advance team is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with NASCAR to create a pipeline for tomorrow’s racing stars.”

“We’re excited to welcome Advance Auto Parts as our combine partner,” said Brandon Thompson, NASCAR’s vice president of diversity & inclusion. “Their commitment to our industry diversity & inclusion efforts, and specifically their commitment to advancing the next generation of NASCAR drivers will aid us in identifying, attracting and developing young, diverse talent.”

NASCAR and Rev Racing also announced the names of 13 drivers who will be participating in the Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine.

These drivers from around the world went through a rigorous selection process and will be evaluated by judges from across the NASCAR industry. Each participant will be assessed in different areas from physical fitness and on-track performance to media and marketing skills.

The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program was created in 2004 to develop and train ethnically diverse and female drivers both on and off the track. NASCAR Cup Series drivers Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suárez and Kyle Larson are alumni of the program, which is operated by Rev Racing in Concord, N.C.

“We are thrilled that we are in a position to return to an in-person evaluation for this year’s Advance Auto Parts Drive for Diversity Combine,” Rev Racing CEO Max Seigel said. “We are energized by the high-level of participating athletes and look forward to building the best driver class for 2023. As an organization, we have never been more positioned for success and future growth.”

Following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 combines due to the impact of COVID-19, this year’s candidates were evaluated based on applications, references, historical success and previous on-track performance by a panel comprised of NASCAR executives and professionals. To apply, interested drivers submitted a racing resume and video highlights to NASCAR and Rev Racing.

The 2022 combine features the following drivers:

Name (Age) Hometown
Justin Campbell (17) Griffin, Ga.
Quinn Davis (13) Sparta, Tenn.
Eloy Sebastián López Falcón (17) Mexico City, Mexico
Katie Hettinger (15) Dryden, Mich.
Caleb Johnson (15) Denver, Colo.
Nathan Lyons (13) Concord, N.C.
Andrés Pérez de Lara (17) Mexico City, Mexico
Jaiden Reyna (16) Cornelius, N.C.
Jordon Riddick (17) Sellersburg, Ind.
Paige Rogers (19) New Haven, Ind.
Lavar Scott (19) Carney’s Point, N.J.
Regina Sirvent (19) Mexico City, Mexico
Lucas Vera (15) Charlotte, N.C.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After dropping the first set to Watauga volleyball, 25-12, a resilient Alexander Central team got their act together for a more respectable outcome in the second set, 25-21. The Pioneers nonetheless responded with even more firepower in the third set, completing the 3-0 sweep with a convincing 25-11 third set win.

“They picked up a lot in the second set,” said Watauga senior setter Camryn Norris after the match. “We usually can get down on teams but their resilience kind of messed with us at first. Then we started finding holes and were scrappy right back, so that helped us compete with them.”

Pioneer senior Faith Watson pointed out, “They picked up on their service feed a lot and went on some longer serving runs. And, honestly, they just had some good hustle plays. This is the second time we have played them this year. We had a bit of a home court advantage, but we know them as a team that will play up to our energy level. If you give them some motivation, they will definitely play and get scrappy with it, and score some points.”

Head coach Kim Pryor was quick to compliment the visiting Cougars.

“When we played at their place earlier, they scored in the 20s, so we knew them to be scrappy. They have some good hitters. If we are not on top of our game and kind of relaxed, they will take advantage,” said Pryor. “We started well, but kind of rolled over in the middle, then came back at the end.”

Pryor was again able to get plenty of floor time for her reserves, emptying her deep bench as the Pioneers prepare for the state playoffs. That fine-tuning will be tested on Oct. 8 when Watauga hosts regional volleyball powers Fred T. Foard (Newton, N.C.) and T.C. Roberson (Asheville), before closing out the regular season with two road matches against Hibriten (Oct. 10) and Freedom (Oct. 12), then returning for a final regular season home encounter vs. Ashe County (Oct. 17).

SELECTED WATAUGA INDIVIDUAL STATS

• Camryn Norris 21 assists
• Faith Watson 6 kills, 3 digs
• Brooke Scheffler 15 kills, 14 assists, 2 stuff blocks, 2 service aces, 12 digs
• Caroline Farthing 17 kills, 3 service aces, 12 digs
• Kate McCullough 4 stuff blocks
• Madi Combs 5 service aces
• Kenzie Baldwin 4 assists, 1 service ace, 11 digs

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After already clinching the Northwestern Conference regular season team title, Watauga women’s tennis head coach Jennifer Pillow put the “Senior Night” fate of the team in the hands of… the seniors, who came through to lead the Pioneers to a 7-2 win over Ashe County.

Senior Madison Ogden moved up to play No. 1 singles against Ashe County senior Claira Corley. After a tug of war in the first set in which Ogden eventually prevailed 7-6 (7-2) that saw the lead change hands at almost every crossover, the Pioneer who has more often played No. 2 singles this year was more convincing in the second set, winning 6-3.

Pioneer sophomore Sienna Davidson, who stepped down to No. 2 singles for Senior Night from her usual No. 1 singles position, had less trouble from Ashe County freshman Addison Dollar, 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 3 singles, senior Amira Younce sailed past Huskies junior Julia Herman, 6-2, 6-1, and at No. 4 singles, senior Alaina Muse got by Ashe County freshman Malea Lambert in a tussle, 7-5, 6-2.

Pioneer senior Laurel West stepped up to defeat Husky junior Olivia Glover, 6-4, 6-1, in the No. 5 singles match, before junior Ali Eller got Ashe County it’s first team point with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-1 win over Watauga senior Madeline Hays.

Pillow rostered an all-senior doubles lineup, with Ogden-Younce defeating Herman-Corley, 8-2, in No. 1 doubles before Ashe County got its final team point with Dollar teaming with Maleah Lovell to prevail over the Pioneer duo of Hays and Serena Jewell-Miller at No. 2 doubles, 8-0.

In the final matchup of the afternoon, Watauga seniors Macayla Kanoy and Katie Harrison dispatched the Husky tandem of Eller and Bailey Richardson, 8-3.

Next for Watauga will be the Oct. 21-22 NCHSAA West Regionals, to be hosted by Hough High School in Cornelius, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association website.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Not only did a trio of Watauga seniors finish 1-2-3 in the ‘Pre Conference’ cross country meet on Oct. 5, but the Pioneers captured seven of the top 10 spots and ten of the top 15 finishing positions.

Pioneer head XC coach Randy MacDonough explained during the afternoon races that while some schools were actually racing, others like Watauga were using the event as a “training run.” Then there were schools like Freedom, that had raced just the day before so were basically jogging the course while familiarizing themselves with the course.

MacDonough said that the real purpose of the event was to allow the non-Watauga teams to familiarize themselves with the course, the same one that will be host to the 2022 Northwestern Conference Cross Country Championships on Oct. 18.

In the women’s 5,000 meter race, Watauga seniors Gwedolyn Anderson, Brianna Anderson, and Savannah Duvall finished 1-2-3, with times of 20:55, 21:26, and 21:38, respectively. Ashe County senior Sherry Billings finished in the No. 4 position (21:42), followed by Andriana Rink at No. 5 (21:56), Virginia St. Clair at No. 6 (21:57) and Rachel Cathey at No. 7 (22:10).

Abilene Dollar of Ashe County was at No. 8, followed by the Pioneers’ Janie Beach-Verhay at No. 9, then Freedom’s Katie Deacon to round out the Top 10.

A total of 56 athletes from six Northwestern Conference schools took part in the Pre Conference event. Other Pioneers in the Top 20 included No.12 Sullivan McAulay, No. 14 Maddie Bollman, No. 15 Kara Schneider, No. 16 Mia Llibre, No. 17 Ellary Smith, No. 18 Sydney Cate Townsend, and No. 19 Anna Norris.

TEAM SCORES

• Watauga 17
• Ashe County 47
• Alexander Central 77
• Hibriten 116
• South Caldwell 120

Freedom only had four athletes running, short of the required five for team scoring.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Led by Watauga’s Will Bradbury, five different schools were represented in the top five finishing positions on Oct. 5 in the running of the 2022 Northwestern Conference Pre-Conference Cross Country event.

Bradbury finished the 5,000-meter course in 17:16, 36 seconds ahead of Hibriten’s Rylan Sedlacek (17:52.00). Noah Farmer (18:05) came in at No. 3, followed by Parker Bowman (18:26) of South Caldwell and Thomas Campbell (18.39) of Alexander Central in the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, respectively.

The Pioneers had eight runners finish in the top 15 and 12 of the top 20. In addition to Bradbury, they were Collin Anderson (No. 6), Jonah Norris (No. 8), Roman Sibaja (No. 9), Sam Nixon (No. 10), Elliott Taft (No. 11), Calvin Zwetsloot (No. 13), and Maxwell DePriest  (No. 14).

Rounding out the Pioneers finishing in the top 20 were Sam Rex (No. 16), Wesley Coatney (No. 18), Davis Crymes (No. 19), and Silas Powell (No. 20).

Six Northwestern Conference schools were represented by 75 athletes in the Men’s Varsity division of the event.

“This event was more about familiarizing all of the schools and their athletes with the course,” explained Watauga head coach Randy MacDonough, “because the conference meet will be run on the same course in roughly two weeks. Some of the guys were racing for finishing positions and times, but a lot were just checking out the course. You had schools like Freedom, who had a competition meet just yesterday, so they were basically jogging. Our guys were using it as a training run.”

The Northwestern Conference Cross Country Championships event is scheduled for Oct. 18, at Watauga High School, beginning at 4:30 p.m.

TEAM SCORING

1. Watauga 34
2. Alexander Central 57
3. Ashe County 81
4. South Caldwell 96
5. Hibriten 110
6. Freedom 154

By David Rogers. VALLE CRUCIS, N.C. — While Hardin Park volleyball was doing what was needed for the Eagles to remain undefeated for the regular season, Parkway secured its No. 2 position in the standings — having lost only to HP, twice — by dispatching host Valle Crucis and Blowing Rock in a tri-match.

Except for the Bethel vs. Green Valley tilt at Bethel, a closely contested match that ended 2-1 in Bethel’s favor (25-22, 24-26, 15-13) it was a night of sweeps all across the county.

Hardin Park had little trouble in defeating Green Valley, 2-0 (25-9, 25-9), then jumping past host Bethel, 2-0 (25-7, 25-20).

At Valle Crucis, Blowing Rock rallied from a 6-point deficit in the second set to complete a 2-0 sweep of the host school (25-19, 25-16). In turn, Parkway ousted the Rockets with a 2-0 sweep (25-8, 25-20) before doing the same to Valle Crucis (25-13, 25-20).

The only dual match of the night was Cove Creek at Mabel, where the visiting Raiders swept Mabel, 2-0 (25-14, 25-13).

The final regular season standings:

1. Hardin Park (14-0)
2. Parkway (12-2)
3. Cove Creek (9-5)
4. Blowing Rock (7-7)
5. Mabel (5-9)
6. Bethel (4-10)
7. Valle Crucis (3-11)
8. Green Valley (2-12)

The Watauga Middle Schools post-season volleyball tournament begins on Thursday, Oct. 6, with all matches to be played at Watauga High School’s Lentz Eggers Gym.

UPPER BRACKET

• 4:00 p.m. — No. 1 Hardin Park vs. No. 8 Green Valley
• 7:00 p.m. — No. 4 Blowing Rock vs. No. 5 Mabel

LOWER BRACKET

• 5:00 p.m. — No. 2 Parkway vs. No. 7 Valle Crucis
• 6:00 p.m. — No. 3 Cove Creek vs. No. 6 Bethel

By David Rogers. MORGANTON, N.C. — Continuing its tennis domination so far in Northwestern Conference play, Watauga High School’s women’s tennis team had another dominating performance on Oct. 3, 9-0, against Freedom High School, on the Patriots’ home court.

In one of the closest matches, Watauga’s No. 1 singles player, sophomore Sienna Davidson closed out Freedom’s Ellie Deacon, 6-1, 6-3.

At No. 2 singles, WHS senior Madison Ogden defeated Patriot sophomore Emily Kania, 6-2, 6-2.

Pioneer senior Amira Younce dispatched Freedom senior Sara Byrd Succop at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-1.

No. 4 singles saw Watauga sophomore Larisa Muse get by Freedom sophomore Leah Kirksey, 6-1, 6-0.

Alaina Muse, a Pioneer senior, played at No. 5 singles and had little trouble with Freedom freshman Zofia Losada, 6-0, 6-0.

Pioneer freshman Fiona Russell won the No. 6 singles match, 6-0, 6-0.

For the No. 1 doubles match, Watauga’s Ogen and Younce teamed up to defeat Deacon-Succop, 8-2. The Pioneers’ freshmen tandem of Kennedy Moore and Larson Berry defeated Kania-Kirksey, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles, while the Watauga team of Abbi Shuman and Elsie Davis defeated Freedom’s Delaney Dellinger and Siashi Xiong, 8-3.

Now 12-1 overall and an undefeated 9-0 in Northwestern Conference play, Watauga closes out regular season play at home on Oct. 5, vs. Ashe County.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was a chilly, early autumn night at Jack Groce Stadium on Oct. 3, but the action was fast and furious as the Watauga men’s soccer team scored late in the first half against visiting Hibriten, then held on for a 1-0 Northwestern Conference win over the Panthers.

Emmitt Coffey was credited with the first half goal, with an assist from Curtis Sevensky.

It was a match marred by confusing referee calls by both sides. During the match there were vocal protests from both sidelines as well as from the grandstands. Thankfully, both teams maintained their composure without mishap as the referee changed calls, sometimes without letting the teams reset when he re-awarded a free kick, the teams having to scramble back into defensive positions.

As frustrating as the officiating might have been, it did not take away from an entertaining, hard-fought match. Hibriten came into the tilt 2-0 after dominating, Northwestern Conference wins over Freedom (Sept. 26, 7-0) and Ashe County (Sept. 28, 5-1) while Watauga was bouncing back from a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Alexander Central on Sept. 28, after prevailing over South Caldwell, 1-0, on Sept. 26.

“The conversation I had with the Hibriten coach after the game focused primarily on the horrific officiating, which seems to be the only consistency that we can find this year. Unfortunately, that is not a good consistency to have,” said Watauga head coach Josh Honeycutt after the match. “That said, credit to Hibriten because they are a great side representing an excellent program. They do a lot of really good things on the soccer field.

“We were able to find our consistency tonight, along with our passion and intensity and outwork them,” Honeycutt added. “That is really what it was tonight. We outworked them.”

Honeycutt conceded that Hibriten did a commendable job of taking his Pioneers off their normal one-touch and two-touch passing game.

“The first half was a little better, maybe, but in the second half we seemed to be happy just getting the ball out. When you have a lead, that is easy to do, but I want us to stay consistent with our connectivity, finding feet and connect those one-two passes and get the ball in and out. To Hibriten’s credit, they are a scrappy group that pressures really well. That makes it more difficult to make quick decisions and to maintain quick play with accurate passes, when they are pressing so much.” said the veteran Pioneer coach.

“I knew it was going to be a battle,” said Honeycutt. “They are sitting among the conference leaders for a reason. It was going to be a tough, scrappy, physical battle. But I also knew that we could play with them. That is what I told the boys leading into tonight’s game, that just because Hibriten has 10 wins and one loss doesn’t mean that we are not as good as they are. We proved that tonight and if we bring tonight’s passion and intensity to every game, we are not going to lose to Alexander Central, 3-0. But we have to find that consistency.”

Overall records, including non-conference results can be pretty deceiving. Watauga came into the match vs. Hibriten with a 3-8-1 overall record, but played some of the state’s toughest opponents in the non-conference portion of the Pioneers’ regular season schedule.

“That is why we do it,” said Honeycutt, “to prepare us for the conference schedule and, hopefully, the state playoffs. If we are 10-1 coming into conference play and we haven’t played any good competition, then what good has that done us? We intentionally scheduled one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the state and I think it is beneficial, looking beyond the records. We are battle-tested, having played with the best of the best. As a result, we are finally able to execute the way we should with some consistency. And we are finding wins.”

The Pioneers return to the friendly confines of Jack Groce Stadium on Oct. 5 against Freedom High School (Morganton), then travel to Ashe County on Oct. 10, as they reach the halfway point in the regular season schedule.

After the win, Watauga shares the No. 1 spot in the NWC standings with Hibriten and South Caldwell, all 2-1 in conference play. Alexander Central (1-1-1) is close behind, with Ashe County (0-1-2) and Freedom (0-2-1) rounding out the conference.