PREP, COLLEGE ROUNDUP: HPU's Heinst captures fourth Big South title

Mar. 6—ROCK HILL, S.C. — High Point University's Famke Heinst became the first runner to win the Big South Conference women's cross-country championship four times.

Heinst completed the 5K course in 17:09.1, finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of second place, on Friday at Winthrop as the Panthers won their fourth straight team championship.

Lindsey Ickes took third in 17:35.9 while Olive Allen was seventh in 18:00.4 and Ashley Jones was ninth in 18:06.7 posted top-10 finishes for High Point, which totaled 29 points as a team — ahead of Radford (50) and UNC Asheville (99) in the eight-team field.

Camryn Harper (12th, 18:13.3), Sydney Bagus (13th, 18:27.1), Julia Hellman (15th, 18:32.1), Tatum Castillo (16th, 18:34.3), Franziska Jakobs (21st, 18:57.3) and Alyssa Deeds (28th, 19:19.9) all place inside the top half of the 62-runner field.

In the men's race, High Point took second both individually and as a team. Spencer Smucker finished the 7.7K course in 24:08.0, just over 13 seconds behind first place, as the Panthers totaled 51 points — behind champion Charleston Southern (21) and ahead of Radford (96) in the nine-team field.

Hocine Bouchrak (24:43.9) finished 10th, while Hunter Steinau (12th, 24:47.6), Siro Pina Cardona (13th, 24:50.7), Stephen Gray (14th, 24:52.8), Ian Miller (15th, 24.54.1) and Philip Sherwin (17th, 25:01.9) were in the top 25. Jack LaSalla (32nd, 26:07.4), Aiden Morrison (34th, 26:13.8) and Patrick Kelly (36th, 26:17) were also in the top half of the 74-runner field.

CURRAN, BANBURY EARN TOP CONFERENCE HONORS

High Point University's Skyler Curran was named the Big South Conference player of the year while Chelsea Banbury was selected coach of the year, the Big South Conference announced in its women's basketball awards Friday.

Curran, a junior guard who starred at West Forsyth, is the second consecutive High Point player to earn Player of the Year and the fifth overall.

Banbury, in her second season at High Point, received nine first-place votes and 29 total points in the voting, ahead of Longwood's Rebecca Tillett (19 points). The Panthers finished the record season 19-6 record overall and 17-3 in the conference, capturing the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

In addition to Curran, who was also named first-team all-conference, redshirt-sophomore guard Jenson Edwards was selected second-team all-conference and earned a spot on the all-academic team. Claire Wyatt, a guard, was also named to the all-freshman team.

BIG SOUTH WOMEN'S TOURNEY CHANGES

The Big South Conference tournament will now feature nine teams after sixth-seeded Radford couldn't meet the minimum number of student-athletes to participate, the conference announced Friday. Top-seeded High Point will still play the winner of the 8/9 game Monday at 6 p.m. in the Millis Center. But that first-round game — now the only game scheduled for Saturday — will be No. 8 USC Upstate versus No. 9 Charleston Southern after the lower seeds moved up to replace Radford. Hampton also dropped out this week after an extended pause due to COVID-19 protocols.

HPU VOLLEYBALL, USC UPSTATE

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — High Point University tallied its sixth-straight sweep, beating USC Upstate 25-12, 25-17, 25-15 in Big South Conference volleyball Thursday at USC Upstate.

Annie Sullivan had 10 kills to lead the Panthers (7-0 overall, 7-0 conference), while Gabrielle Idlebird and Sopheea Mink each had nine. Maria Miggins added 24 assists, while Mackenzi Thornburg had 14. Abby Bottomley had 17 digs, and Macy Miller had 13.

HPU BASEBALL SWITCHES OPPONENT

HIGH POINT — High Point University will now begin its Big South Conference baseball schedule against UNC Asheville, instead of Winthrop. The teams will open today with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. and finish Sunday with a game that also starts at 1.

ROCKERS' HEIMALL PROMOTED

HIGH POINT — Christian Heimall has been promoted to general manager, the High Point Rockers announced Friday. Heimall, who had been in the assistant general position, is in his third year with the team and is the longest tenured member of the professional baseball team's front office. Originally hired in August of 2018, he spearheaded the hiring of staff, sales, fan experience and baseball operations for the Rockers' inaugural season in 2019.

In that time, he also led the promotional and marketing efforts for the club, including developing theme nights and giveaways. As a result, the Rockers earned multiple awards in 2019, including Best Family Entertainment in the Triad from the High Point Enterprise.

SOCCER SW GUILFORD, WESTERN GUILFORD

GREENSBORO — Southwest Guilford kept its championship hopes alive by beating Western Guilford 2-1 in overtime Thursday in Piedmont Triad 3A Conference boys soccer at Western Guilford. The Cowboys, who are in second place but still have first-place Mount Tabor left to play during the final week, improved to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

HP CHRISTIAN, CANNON SCHOOL

CONCORD — High Point Christian lost 7-2 against Cannon in nonconference girls soccer Thursday at Cannon. Anna Wetherington and Keira Stainback each scored for the Cougars (0-1), while Carson Kiefer added an assist. Cameron Martin made six saves in goal.

BISHOP McGUINNESS, S. STOKES

KERNERSVILLE — Bishop McGuinness beat South Stokes 4-1 in overtime Thursday in Northwest 1A Conference boys soccer at Bishop. Ethan Connor scored three goals while Shea Allen-Bolton had one. Will Stoffel had two assists and Johnny Easton had one. Luke Andress got the win in goal. The Villains improved to 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

EAST DAVIDSON, NORTH DAVIDSON

WELCOME — East Davidson scored the lone goal of the match in overtime to beat North Davidson 1-0 in Central Carolina 2A Conference boys soccer Thursday at North.

The Golden Eagles improved to 3-5-2 overall and 3-3 in the CCC.

OAK GROVE, LEXINGTON

LEXINGTON — Oak Grove lost 2-1 against Lexington in Central Carolina 2A Conference boys soccer Thursday at Lexington.

Noah Baab scored off an assist by Ethan Peterson for the Grizzlies (6-4 overall, 4-3 CCC), who led 1-0 at halftime. Aiden Daugherty made eight saves in goal.

BASEBALL HP CHRISTIAN, PROVIDENCE DAY

HIGH POINT — High Point Christian defeated Providence Day 14-3 in five innings Thursday in nonconference baseball at Oak View Baptist Church. Noah Hill went 3 for 4 with a three-run home run for the Cougars (1-1), while Eli Crump went 2 for 3 with two runs and a solo home run. Cole Philbin and Mitch Adams each went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, Bryson King had two hits and an RBI, and Sam Beck had a double. Sam Sapp struck out four and scattered three hits in four shutout innings before Luke Homol came on to pitch the fifth.

LACROSSE BISHOP McGUINNESS, W. GUILFORD

GREENSBORO — Bishop McGuinness beat Western Guilford 20-6 in Conference 14 boys lacrosse Thursday at Western. Frankie Cetrone had four goals and one assist, while Carson Latham had three goals and five assists. Andre Gaylor added three goals and one assist, and Rio O'Hale, Justin Ehming and Miles Feuhler had two goals apiece. The Villains improved to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

JV FOOTBALL LEDFORD, W. DAVIDSON

WALLBURG — Ledford beat West Davidson 39-0 in junior varsity football Thursday at Ledford.

Kam White, Jeremiah Burgess and Winston Ferguson each scored two touchdowns for the Panthers (1-0).

HIGH POINT — Caroline Dougherty scored two goals to help lead High Point Christian past Salem Baptist 4-1 in girls soccer Thursday at HPCA.

Thanh Le (Lana) added a goal and an assist while Kinsley Britton had a goal and Adalyn Carper had an assist. Noelle Sharpe made seven saves in goal.