Hendersonville – Rising Hendersonville Bearcat senior Cooper King now has the rare feat of being all-state in two sports that play in the same season, while new HHS grad Dwight Canady will soon play in an all-star game as his high school encore.
West Henderson track and field and HHS girls’ tennis both sport state titles in 2022, pacing teams in Henderson County.
Tracking Gold
The Lady Falcons won their first state outdoor track and field crown ever. They edged Dudley 49-46 for the 3A title on May 20 by medaling in three of the four sprint relays. West won the four-girl relay in 800 meters and medaled in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash relays.
Falcon Emma Hall accounted for 34 of the team’s 49 points as a sophomore. She won titles in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles and was in both sprint relays. Breanna Budzinski put West over the top in points in the meet’s final event by finishing fourth in the 3200-meter run. Faith Stoker is West’s head coach.
Hall recently won a WNC Sports Award from the Mountain Amateur Athletic Club as the best female athlete in an Olympic sport, among higher-populated (Division 1/D1) teams. She was a finalist for the overall best female athlete.
Along with West indoor track and Asheville High swimming, her team was nominated for best Olympic sport female squad.The winner is West cross country, coached by James Galloway. Both the male and female Falcons won Mountain Seven Conference team titles.
Falcon sprinter Brendan Henby was chosen as the best area D1 male athlete in an Olympic sport. Henby was second in the state in the 100-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash. The rising senior won the 3A region in both events, peaking with times of 10.69 (sixth fastest among all runners statewide) and 21.81 seconds.
Fellow Falcon Tayman Howell, as a freshman, was second at state in the boys’ 110m hurdles, which he won at the regional meet.
Other locals shined at the state outdoor track meet. Sydney Sewell was the West Region’s highest pole vaulter at 10-6, then was fourth at the 3A state meet. Third place statewide in the triple jump was achieved by North Henderson’s Jaylen Croft (the regional champ and a football and hoops star) among 3A boys, and Hendersonville’s A.J. Jackson among 2A girls.
Queens of the Court
The other state title in local award cabinets is for the Hendersonville Lady Bearcats (18-0) in 2A tennis. The Court Cats (18-0) were unbeaten for the third straight season. They won dual-team crowns in 2019 under Jessica Eblen and this past fall, when coached by Chris Bull. In spring 2021, the delayed ‘20 season was shortened and dual-team playoffs scrapped. Still, HHS did best of all as a team in the state individual tourney then.
This time, Hendersonville won the dual-team finals 5-2 over Research Triangle. HHS first seed Olivia Pursley won, 6-1, 6-2. Third-fifth seeds Lindsay Bull, Ramsey Ross, and Ava Hefner also won in straight sets. The other singles players were second seed Eliza Perry and freshman Reese Redden. HHS swept doubles with Pursley-Bull, Perry Ross, and Heffner-Redden.
Bull was the sole senior, making HHS a threat to four-repeat as 2A queens of the court.
Gosnell, Canady
In contrast, HHS just graduated quarterback Gavin Gosnell and career basketball scoring leader Dwight Canaday. Gosnell led WNC in passing yards with 2,592 in the regular season and 3,367 in the playoffs. For HHS (10-2), he threw 30 touchdowns to only five interceptions.
Gosnell has 5,283 yards in merely two HHS seasons, after transferring from East. Only Michael Schmidt (6,923) and Alex Williford (6,916) out-did him among Bearcats. Gosnell is now a South Florida Bull.
Canady (26.1 ppg.) is committed to USC-Aiken. He and fellow guard Keenan Wilkins led HHS to a state runner-up finish in 2020-21. Gritty can-do Canady is adept at shooting from the outside and driving against bigger foes.
Canady will play on July 22 in the statewide East-West All-Star Game in Greensboro. He recently played in the Carolinas All-Star Classic between the top ten seniors from the two Carolinas. The Tribune calls him “Prez” since his surname “CAN-a-dee” sounds like (Jack) Kennedy’s (“KEN-a-dee).
King of Dietz Field
Cooper King has been named an all-state soccer player, adding to his two all-state seasons as a football kicker.He and the other Bearcats get to use Dietz Field’s newly-installed artificial turf this fall. The rising senior boots extra points and field goals on fall Friday nights—with a range exceeding 50 yards.
On weeknights, he kicks a soccer ball—often into enemy nets. The swift 6-foot-2 striker-forward led WNC with 39 goals in 2021. King averaged two goals per game. He had 17 assists. “Coop” had a four-goal, two-assist outburst in the playoff opener. He scored four goals each in three successive games in mid-September and 15 goals in four straight contests.
Rising HHS junior Harrison Moss (15 assists, 9G) is poised to step up in scoring.
The soccer Lady Bearcats (18-5, 12-0) were named the best major sports D2 team. They were unbeaten in Mountain Foothills contests. Newly graduated forward Ali Garcia was all-state in 2A. She scored 20 goals. Maggie Bish, who scored 15 times, and rising senior goalkeeper Laura Shelton are among many returning HHS standouts. Shelton (4.5 adjusted GPA) and HHS swimming and cross country star Taryn Keyzer (4.7 GPA) were finalists for the female D2 academic award.
Soaring Falcons
West Henderson returns two of the area’s most prolific athletes following their sophomore feats. Marianne Maxon scored 57 soccer goals. Maxon and rising senior Emma Chavez were all-state for the M7 champ Lady Falcons (20-4-1, 11-0-1). They won three playoff matches.
Three-sport star Truitt Manuel reaches 91 mph in pitching. He hits and runs well, and he throws out runners from right field. He caught 80 football passes for 865 yards and nine TDs, and he is also gritty in basketball.
Falcon wrestler Damon Landreth was fourth at state, at 120 pounds. The rising senior was a finalist for best Olympic male athlete.
Eagle and Knight Wrestlers
The Eagle wrestlers were 19-3 and tied for second in the M7 at 4-2. Tucker Marshall won the 3A regional title at 170 pounds.
North Henderson shined in many sports, and did best on the mat. The Knights were an impressive seventh in the 3A final rankings in the state — the best of all WNC squads. They won the M7 6-0 and finished 24-5, or 21-7 overall. They were nominated for best Olympic sport, male D1 team. They should excel again this fall with Reese Meadows, Henry Portella, and others back.