Telegram's Area Athletes Of Year

I don't think there is any doubt that the staff of the Rocky Mount Telegram got it right when they made their All Area Picks for Athletes of the year in the fall sports.

Football being the fall glamour sport has two picks of offensive player of the year in Tarboro's Todd Gurley.  If he is the player of the year across the state you would expect him to be offensive player of year in the area.  Nash Central's Jalen Hendricks was the top pick on defense but he is also the quarterback on the All Area offense.  Since Hendricks is the only players in the area to make it on both offense and defense then you would expect maybe Hendricks was the All Area Player of the year?  The Telegram didn't have to worry with that by having both and offensive and defensive players of the year.   Brings up a great question of what if doesn't it?

There is no doubt that there were several easy picks as players of the year in the different sports but none was easier than Girls Tennis where the Price sisters share the title.  I think the night I had them on the Stretchlon Sports Show they told me between them in singles and doubles they lost one regular season singles match between them all year. Randi and Kaley will be back as a senior and junior next year so we can argue again next year which is the best.  Too bad for all the other teams in the Big East.

The most dominating girl in Volleyball was none other than Rocky Mount's  Tia Hudgins.  If you watch during warm ups Tia at only five feet seven inches was hidden behind the net.  But, when the action started she was always the one above the net and my guess Rocky Mount scored 80% of their points any time she was along the front line on the net.  She could jump but she had that innate ability to know where you were going to try to hit it over the net and was there to get blocks.

I don't care what you do in life any one who walks three miles a day I say that is a great thing to do.  But the two cross country runners ran three plus miles under twenty minutes ( I have a hard time walking one mile in twenty minutes) for every day and for Nash Central's Michae'la Willimas she was by far the most dominating girls runner each week.  Southern Nash's  Nepolian Patel  push the seventeen minute barrier every time he ran.

Southern Nash has two players who makes the All Area team  and the second one comes in soccer. Moises Gonzalez help lead Southern Nash to one of their best years in quite a while.  Tarboro has two on the All Area best players when Katie King makes it in golf.  Especially for girls it is rare than you find a girl who can shoot under 100 and I doubt Katie  even thought about shooting 100 at any time during the year.

The Telegram sport staff of Jessie, Justin and Nick did a great job on their picks  and before you know it, it will be time for the winter sports picks.