CHAPEL HILL — Coaches, administrators and media representatives will be among those receiving awards next Thursday when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association holds its 2013 Annual Meeting.
The event is scheduled for the Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Thursday, May 2, the day after the spring meeting of the NCHSAA’s Board of Directors has concluded.
The Association annually presents these statewide awards in several different categories, all based on those “who have done the most for high school athletics” rather than a single accomplishment or having an outstanding won-loss record.
The awards are named in memory or in honor of outstanding individuals in each category, five of whom are current members of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame. The state winners for 2013 include:
– Doris Howard Female Coach of the Year: Sherry Norris of Chapel Hill High School is one of the state’s top coaches in both volleyball and basketball. She eclipsed the 500-victory mark as a head women’s basketball coach during the 2012-13 season and is the all-time leader in volleyball with a whopping 710 wins, with state championships in both sports. She has coached at Chapel Hill for 36 years and is a National Board Certified Teacher who has taught elementary physical education throughout her career. Sherry has coordinated the Jump Rope for Heart event at Seawell Elementary for many years, raising thousands of dollars for the American Heart Association.
– Harvey Reid Male Coach of the Year: Mike Lambros of North Davidson High School is the all-time leader in victories in softball in state history, with 743 entering the 2013 season. He is in his 33rd year of coahing at North Davidson and has also coached wrestling, track and football in addition to softball. His softball team won the 2010 NCHSAA state 4-A championship with a perfect 33-0 mark, and has finished second seven times to go with 14 appearances in the final four. He was recently voted into the North Carolina Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and in 2012 earned induction to the Davidson County Sports Hall of Fame.
– Dave Harris Athletic Director of the Year: Charles Simmons of Hertford County High School is a graduate of East Rutherford High School and attended Louisburg Junior College before graduating from UNC-Pembroke. He has been teaching and coaching in Hertford County since 1980 and has been the athletic director since 1990. As a men’s head basketball coach, he has earned over 500 victories and has been conference Coach of the Year 14 ties. He served a term on the NCHSAA Board of Directors from 2005-09 and has also served as president of both the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association and the North Carolina Coaches Association. Charles received an NCHSAA Award of Merit in 1995.
– Bob Deaton Principal of the Year: Robert Hurley of Roanoke Rapids High School is a long time educator with 34 years of experience. He has been the principal at Roanoke Rapids for six years, after serving as principal at Pamlico for two years, at Northern Nash for 15, and Southeast Halifax for a year. He also has extensive coaching experience at the high school level, including in football, basketball, golf and soccer, serving as head soccer coach at Hoggard for five years, an assistant football coach at Jacksonville for 10 and also coached varsity basketball there. He was the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District Principal of the Year in 2012.
– Bob McRae Superintendent of the Year: Randy Bledsoe of the Elkin City Schools has been superintendent there since 2008, following three years as principal at Greene Central and 10 and a half years as principal at Charles B. Aycock. He was a teacher and coach at both High Point Central and Aycock before going into administration. Bledsoe is a graduate of Surry Central High School and High Point College, with his master’s and doctorate from East Carolina. He has chaired a special committee this year studying non-traditional schools in the NCHSAA and is current chairman of the High Point University Alumni Association.
– Tim Stevens Media Representative of the Year: Langston Wertz of the Charlotte Observer has been with the Observer for 25 years, and part of his beat has always been high school athletics during his tenure there. He also has covered college sports, professional sports, golf and technology for the paper. A 1984 graduate of West Charlotte and a 1988 graduate of UNC, he has been in charge of coverage of Mecklenburg County athletes since fall of 1989 and took over primary coverage of the high schools in the newspaper’s coverage area, now 133 in two states, in 1993. He has covered more than 200 NCHSAA state championship finals in multiple sports.
– Elton Hawley Athletic Trainer of the Year: Janna Fonseca of Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine is the head trainer there, serving in that role since 2006, and oversees the sports medicine program, including community outreach and in-house sports medicine care, for the 11-provider practice. She earned her undergraduate degree at Southwest Missouri State in 2002 and a masters in educational administration for the University of Nebraska, where she was the athletic trainer for the Cornhusker women’s basketball team. She has served as an athletic trainer at Creighton and was the team trainer for the USA Baseball’s 18U team in the Pan American Games. Fonseca has also worked at a number of NCHSAA state championships.
In terms of background of the award’s names, here are some highlights:
Doris Howard of Fayetteville was one of the state’s most successful female coaches during a 41-year career at Hope Mills, Central and Cape Fear High Schools, winning 533 games in basketball, and is in the NCHSAA Hall of Fame.
Harvey Reid, also an NCHSAA Hall of Famer, is the state’s all-time winningest basketball coach with over 800 victories, most of which came at Wilson Fike.
Dave Harris was the athletic director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools from 1967 to ‘91 after an excellent football coaching career, primarily at Harding. He was a charter member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame.
Bob Deaton was one of the state’s outstanding high school principals during a long career in education, primarily at Winston-Salem R.J. Reynolds, and was president of the NCHSAA in 1977-78.
Bob McRae is the former superintendent in Randolph County after a long career at Kings Mountain and was president of the NCHSAA in 1997-98. He has served as chair of the Realignment Committee as well as in other NCHSAA capacities.
Tim Stevens is the long time prep sports editor at the Raleigh News and Observer and has been recognized nationally for his work covering high school athletics, as a member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Elton Hawley is a native of Dunn who for many years was the athletic training coordinator for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. He was the initial inductee into the North Carolina Athletic Trainer Association Hall of Fame.