Brooks Brannon had an award-winning high school career with Randleman. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
RANDLEMAN – Catcher Brooks Brannon of Randleman was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the ninth round of baseball’s amateur draft Monday.
“It felt like a dream come true,” Brannon said Monday night. “Excited isn’t even the word. It was ecstasy.”
Brannon, 18, is enrolled at North Carolina, where he’ll play for the Tar Heels if he decides to pass on this pro opportunity.
Brannon was selected with the 279th pick overall during the second day of the three-day draft that concludes Tuesday. In that spot, the projected signing bonus is about $158,000, but he could be in line to sign for over slot because draft projections had him going in earlier rounds.
Brannon said he expects a decision about his next steps to be revealed this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday.
Pro scouts were regulars at Randleman games this season to watch Brannon. The Tigers posted a 33-1 record, winning the Class 2-A state championship for the second year in a row.
Brannon was the 20th catcher picked in the draft, and the first taken by the Red Sox. Only one other high school catcher was selected ahead of Brannon, with Lamar King Jr. out of Calvert Hall College High School in Maryland going in the fourth round to the San Diego Padres. King, a Georgia Tech signee, is a native of Canada.
Red Sox scout Spencer Brown had a good attendance rate at Randleman games.
“He was at so many games,” Brannon said. “Some of the scouts joked that he was there so much that he was going to get a locker (in the field house).”
Brannon watched the draft unfold on television from his Randleman home.
“There were definitely some anxious moments, for sure,” Brannon said. “God rewards people’s patience.”
Brannon’s draft status had been a curiosity for many of his now-former Randleman teammates.
“I feel like he’s going to get out there and do his thing and he’s going to work his butt to the majors,” said center fielder Braylen Hayes, a classmate. “That’s what I want to see.”
Randleman coach Jake Smith said Brannon did so much through his high school days that he’s in position to pick between two good choices.
“He has the hard part out of the way because he has a great opportunity at Carolina to go in and make an impact right away,” Smith said. “He’s in a win-win situation the way I look at it.”
Since Randleman won the state title in early June, Brannon stayed away from playing.
“Summer school at Carolina and then whatever happens after that,” he said following the championship series. “I’m just excited to get to Carolina.”
Brannon said his five weeks in Chapel Hill were worthwhile. He was limited to individual workouts, but he said he got better through those.
Brannon had gained scouts’ attention well before the record-setting 2022 season. His 20 home runs were the most in the nation among high school players this year, tying the single-season North Carolina record set by his father, Paul Brannon. He also set state records for a season with 91 runs batted in and 70 hits.
Brooks Brannon had a record-setting high school season with some incredible power-hitting numbers. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Randleman catcher awaits draft after season filled with thrills
RANDLEMAN — For all the noise Brooks Brannon can bring to a ballpark, it might be a level of calmness that helped him – and his teammates – most.
Yet there could be more commotion connected to his baseball career this weekend
when baseball’s amateur draft begins, and the Randleman catcher is bound to be among those selected.
Whether he goes from high school to the pros – or chooses a route playing college baseball for North Carolina – his high school career might be unmatched.
Reaching this next opportunity unfolded, in part, because of an approach that extended beyond allowing raw talent and energy to define him.
“The biggest thing I’ve done (last) offseason is trying to quiet my mind and just calm everything down a little bit, and it has been working this year, and I hope to keep doing it,” Brannon said. “It was hard because I’m 100 percent go all the time. It’s pretty hard to rein the horse back, if you know what I mean.
“So doing that was difficult, but I feel I’m getting a better grasp of it, and so that’s important. It’s not something anybody else can do for me; you have to do it yourself and learn it yourself.”
Those lessons translated into team and personal success. As Randleman was on its way to a second consecutive Class 2-A state championship, Brannon set single-season state records for hits (70) and runs batted in (91) and tied the mark for home runs (20) in 34 games.
Batting in the No. 3 spot in a lineup jammed with college prospects, Brannon became the focal point. In the field, he was behind the plate for a pitching staff that routinely dealt shutouts.
That was an ideal composition for coach Jake Smith.
“He’s a great leader. He’s an even-keeled guy,” Smith said. “He’s a mentally tough kid. He doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He understands the game well as far as knowing that failure is going to come. He understands that you can’t do anything about it. Just move on to the next at-bat.”
Brannon said he found the right mix.
“I guess I know when to ramp it up and when to draw it back a little bit,” he said. “Learning that was important. I try to be a leader for the guys and a leader for the team and hope I’m doing a good job. I think I’m doing a good job.”
In what became his final prep game, he went to the plate in Randleman’s 12-5 victory against Whiteville in the top of the seventh inning last month. He drove a ball to deep right-center field for a flyout at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
Then he trotted back to the dugout following his last high school at-bat, though he said he didn’t comprehend what was happening with the ensuing ovation, which seemed to be an acknowledgment of his record-setting season and stellar career.
A night earlier in Game 1 of the state finals, Brannon ripped a second-inning single to set the single-season state record for hits. Smith retrieved the ball.
“He deserves it,” the coach said. “It’s something special.”
With each accomplishment, his teammates seemed to take increasing joy.
“He’s the most humble guy I know,” second baseman Kaden Ethier said.
For pitcher Drake Purvis, who just finished his sophomore season and is committed to North Carolina State, Brannon provided a reassuring presence and ideal example.
“Brooks has always been like that,” Purvis said. “He wants to be the best. He’ll calm everything down.”
Brannon enrolled for summer classes last month at North Carolina as he awaits the draft. His prospects range somewhere within the first five rounds. So Smith’s message was to cherish those final months of the high school season.
“He needs to relax and enjoy it because probably after this, it’s a little different,” Smith said. “It turns into his job. I think he’ll get drafted high enough where he’s going to have to make a decision.”
They’re watching
By last October, in a showcase event in Jupiter, Fla., it was clear that Brannon had caught the attention of just about every major-league organization.
That resulted in a steady stream of scouts showing up at Randleman games this season.
“It’s a lot of pressure every time you go out there; there’s all of that,” said Paul Brannon, his father.
The younger Brannon knew the scouts had eyes fixed on him. He deflected that on game nights.
“It hasn’t affected me playing,” he said. “It hasn’t affected me mentally – and it shouldn’t. I’m just here to have fun. Here to have fun and play with my brothers one last time.”
Pro prospect Brooks Brannon was a mainstay behind the plate as Randleman’s catcher. (PJ WARD-BROWN / RANDOLPH RECORD)
His teammates appreciated how he’s unfazed.
“He doesn’t feel the pressure,” senior pitcher Ryan White said. “He’s calm, cool, collected. He does his job. He’s just out there to do what he can do to help the team win.”
Scouts usually gathered behind the backstop, often ending up down the first-base line for a vantage point on the right-handed batter. They’ve gone through this drill before, perhaps a few decades ago at Kings Mountain.
“A lot of scouts who scouted me in high school are scouting him,” Paul Brannon said.
Brooks Brannon kept doing his thing, no matter who was watching.
“To me, that’s the most impressive thing — you’ve got numerous scouts out here every night just watching him. He’s a 17-year-old kid out there,” Smith said earlier this spring. “That’s a lot of pressure. He doesn’t let it get to him. He enjoys it. I think he understands; he’s not playing for them. They’re here to watch him.”
At a certain point, amid the lineup of big-bashing Tigers, this all seemed normal to Brannon.
“Just trying to see it and hit it right now. Nothing too crazy,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay unconscious and keep hitting. I’m not really thinking about anything. I’m just seeing the ball and hitting the ball.”
There already was a Brannon in the state record books — Paul Brannon. He held the North Carolina single-season record for home runs with 20 in 1989 for Kings Mountain.
The specifics of the record pursuit weren’t discussed much.
“I call it chasing the ghost,” Paul Brannon said, “and I was the ghost.”
When the record-tying homer sailed over the fence in the opening game of the Class 2-A regional finals against visiting Community School of Davidson, it came with quite a response.
“(People) were talking about when it happened, he jumped out of his seat with both hands, and he ran down the steps,” the catcher said of his father. “I haven’t ever seen him run. Seeing him happy, it just made my night.”
While the home run standard is certainly a topic that’s connected to family, the RBI mark has a special place.
“The RBI record is a team record,” Brannon said. “So I think my guys who scored should have their name up there just as (much) as mine. Driving in runs is the name of the game. More runs equals more wins, so I think that record means more than the home run record.”
Power production
Brannon has a 220-pound frame, seemingly made for a catcher.
Regardless of hitting home runs at a rapid rate, Brannon refuses to make it complicated.
“I’m hitting it where they’re pitching it, I guess. I don’t know how else to describe it,” he said. “I’ve always had power. I was always really, really strong for my age. Just the refined approach, I don’t have to muscle up to hit the ball. If I just stay smooth and I stick to my approach, I’ll hit it. I figured that when I stay loose, I’ll hit it a lot farther than when I try to hit it far.”
So, where does this power stem from?
“My butt, my legs,” he said. “I feel like I’m a pretty big kid, and most of my weight is down there, and that’s where I generate most of my power. Hip rotation.”
Third baseman Hunter Atkins batted a spot in front of Brannon in Randleman’s order. He often was on base with the slugger at the plate.
“You’ve just got to be ready for it,” Atkins said. “You’ve got to keep your feet going because he hits the ball so hard. You’ve got to read the ball as hard as he hits it. Line shots, that’s what he does best. The way the ball jumps off the bat.”
Atkins also benefited from taking a slower pace around the bases after Brannon deposited balls over fences. He marvels at the source of the power.
“His legs, for sure. His legs and his hips,” Atkins said. “A big factor in baseball is your legs. If I’d have them legs, I’d love it. Definitely his legs, and his hands.”
When reference was made to an outdated roster listing him at 190 pounds, Brannon smiled.
“Maybe like freshman year,” he said. “Not now; I’m a little bit heavier now.”
Probably wiser, too.
It was no secret that Brannon had developed talents to put him on major-college scouting radars and eventually on pro scouts’ must-see lists. Then other parts fell into place.
“He has always had the skill set as far as physical ability, but he has learned a lot,” said Trey Cooper, a former Randleman teammate and now a Division I pitcher. “You can tell; now he has the IQ behind the plate.”
It was clear through the 2022 season that Brannon’s preferred topic was the Tigers and not individual accolades coming from all directions.
“It’s just a great way to cap off senior year,” he said. “I’m just happy that we won a state championship. I’m OK with the fact that I did what I needed to do to help my team win. Records or not, I did what I needed to do to help us win.”
That might be an understatement.
“He’s just special. He’s a special kid,” Smith said. “He deserves everything he gets because he works so hard, and he does the right things. I’m happy for him, excited for his future.”
Blake Marsh has been a factor for Randolph County Post 45 in the American Legion baseball playoffs. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Randolph County Post 45 and Eastern Randolph Post 81 took different paths to reach the Area 3 playoff semifinals for American Legion baseball.
Both ways worked out.
Post 45 rolled to 14-0 and 9-0 victories against Mooresville Post 66 in the best-of-3 quarterfinals.
Post 81 lost its series opener against Stanley County, then recovered to win twice Thursday night to keep its season alive.
Due to field availability issues in Asheboro, Game 1 was played at Mooresville, with Post 45 using Trey Way’s 3-for-4 effort at the plate along with four runs batted in from both Drew Harmon and Tanner Marsh. Robert Garner threw four innings and Braylen Hayes worked the fifth to complete the mercy-shortened five-inning romp.
In Game 2 at McCrary Park, Randolph County rode the pitching of Way, Blake Marsh and Connor Adams to secure another shutout and clinch the series.
Blake Marsh supplied a three-run triple in the second inning after Post 45 scored twice in the first inning on Tanner Marsh’s run-scoring double and Way’s RBI single. Adam Cole and Tatum Marsh had two-out singles in the third to stretch the gap to 8-0. Carson Whitehead’s single drove in a fifth-inning run.
Next for Randolph County (24-8) is the best-of-5 series against Kannapolis, with Games 1 and 2 at home Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (8 p.m.)
Eastern Randolph had to wait a day to qualify for the next round after Wednesday night’s Game 2 was postponed because of weather. As it turned out, all three games were played at Craven Stadium in Ramseur because Stanly County’s field was deemed unplayable after Wednesday’s storms.
Post 81 needed to win twice Thursday, doing so by 13-3 and 13-4 scores. In Game 2, Luke Thomas struck out 10 in five innings. Samuel Asbill was the winning pitcher in Game 3.
Chance Terry, who drove in six runs, and Carson Rickman each had five hits in the two games combined. Thomas was 4-for-8 at the plate.
In Tuesday night’s Game 1, Post 81 rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game only to fall 7-6 when visiting Stanly County scored a run in the top of the seventh. Parker Evans drove in two runs and Thomas notched two hits.
Post 81 (16-11) takes on Rowan County in the semifinal round, set to begin Saturday at Catawba College in Salisbury.
Coming in the next Randolph Record edition:
** Find out how Randolph County Post 45 turned around its season after a slow start.
** It has been a breakthrough season for Eastern Randolph Post 81.
School leaders gathered last winter when Eastern Randolph High School received the Lighthouse Award. Pictured, left to right, are Cecil Mock, former assistant principal; Cathy Waddell, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction with the Randolph County School System; principal Susan Chappell; RCSS superintendent Stephen Gainey; math teacher Ashley Inman; and retired JROTC advisor Lt. Col. Mike Williams. (Courtesy photo)
School’s deep staff of alums helps define culture
RAMSEUR – As principal Susan Chappell of Eastern Randolph High School reflected on the school receiving a major award on a statewide level during the past school year, one thing stood out.
That’s because many people responsible for the school’s success have roots within the district.
Eastern Randolph was one of two schools statewide to receive the 2021-22 Lighthouse School Award, which was presented by the North Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Almost half of the school’s 78 staff members are Eastern Randolph alums.
In the nomination from the Randolph County School System, the memo pointed out that the school motto of “We are … ER” is so appropriate.
Among those with ties to the school is Chappell, a 1991 graduate.
“This is my home,” she said. “I grew up here.”
Chappell said that often data is used to promote accomplishments for a school, but she chose a different tactic.
“What I chose to focus on was our school culture and how we were able to navigate the pandemic,” Chappell said. “We wanted to show what makes our school special.”
The Lighthouse Award is presented to schools that have furthered student achievement in innovative and creative ways and nurtured a positive and supportive school and community climate.
Eastern Randolph has about 600 students in the high school, making it the smallest RCSS high school.
“I was pleased that people recognized there are various ways to demonstrate success,” Chappell said.
Chappell became an assistant principal at the school in 2015. For the past 2 ½ years, she has been the principal. A few months after moving to the new role, the pandemic hit.
That’s when she said Eastern Randolph was able to stand tall.
“We problem-solved and we got through it and we’re better for it,” Chappell said.
That involved taking care of staff and students.
Staff members delivered food and study materials to students. They helped establish internet hot spots in the community, particularly because of the many rural areas within the district.
But the impact extended beyond those types of services.
“Making sure we were meeting their social and emotional needs,” Chappell said. “That need is still out there. It opened our eyes to some of the things our students are dealing with.”
Through receiving the Lighthouse Award, Chappell said she hopes that school pride has flourished and that what was achieved the past couple of years can be expanded.
“ ‘We are … ER’ may be a simple motto, but its meaning has roots that run deep,” the RCSS nomination read. “Those roots will ensure the success and fulfillment of generations of Wildcats to come.”
The other Lighthouse Award recipient for the past school year was Cedar Ridge Elementary School of the Surry County Schools.
Eastern Randolph Post 81’s Anthony Lopossey throws a pitch during the series-clinching game in the first round of the Area 3 playoffs. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Forfeit costs Eastern Randolph in playoff pecking order
RAMSEUR – Changing lineups have been part of the formula for the Eastern Randolph Post 81 baseball team.
While that took a cruel twist at the end of the regular season, the team has no choice but to focus on what’s ahead with the American Legion Area 3 playoffs beginning.
“Whoever is there, we’re going to go with,” head coach Nate Cockman said. “What happened in the regular season kind of prepared us for this. You’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly, which we’ve done all season. Just kind of going with the flow.”
Post 81 began the playoffs by sweeping a first-round series against Concord Post 51 with games Friday night and Saturday afternoon. This came after the team figured it had the weekend off.
But following Thursday night’s regular-season finale at Foothills, a ruling came that the team must forfeit that result because of ineligible players.
Three players were deemed eligible based on their residencies. So that knocked Post 81 from the Southern Division’s top seed and a first-round bye to the second-place spot.
Randolph County Post 45 moved to first place in the division.
“Just an unfortunate situation,” Cockman said. “They’ve been with us since May. We weren’t hiding anything.”
Next for Post 81 comes a best-of-3 quarterfinals matchup with Stanly County, set to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Craven Stadium in Ramseur and Game 2 the next night at West Stanly High School.
There wasn’t much time for Post 81 players to dwell on the developments.
“They’re definitely upset about it, the whole situation, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Cockman said. “We told them we’re going to address it one time and not let it become a distraction.”
The eligibility issue stemmed from a protest lodged by another Area 3 team regarding out-of-county players T.J. McGraw, Jacob Bates and Maddoc Glines. It was determined that they reside closer to other American Legion teams – as far away as Richmond County – that meant they would be required to play for those teams unless waivers were granted.
Cockman said it became a paperwork issue because he wasn’t aware the three players live closer to other American Legion teams. Cockman said that after the issue surfaced late last week that permission was sought and granted from those teams, but Post 81 team officials were told it was too late.
McGraw batted No. 2 in the order and played a variety of positions. Bates was the No. 2 pitcher and Glines was an outfielder. The trio accounted for 192 at-bats.
“A big chunk of our team is gone,” Cockman said.
All three players will have American Legion eligibility next season. With the proper paperwork, they would be cleared to play for Post 81, Cockman said. McGraw and Bates live in Moore County and attend O’Neill School in Southern Pines. Glines plays for Lee Christian.
Post 81 has gone 16-8 on the field, but with two forfeits – the other from a non-league game – that puts the team’s mark at 14-10. Because of the forfeit, Post 81 ended up 7-3 in Area 3 Southern Division play, a game behind Post 45. Eastern Randolph held the tiebreaker if the teams had been deadlocked in the standings, though the teams split two meetings.
The only games forfeited were victories since June 25, which was the deadline for formal roster submissions.
Post 81 clinched the series with Concord with a 10-4 road result Saturday, with Anthony Lopossey logging 6 2/3 innings. Nate Gardner rapped two doubles, Parker Evans drove in three runs and Aidan Allred added two RBI.
In the series opener in Ramseur, Post 81 won 11-3 behind Samuel Asbill’s complete game, while Luke Thomas homered and Joaquin Gordon rapped a two-run double.
Before the result was overturned, Post 81 capped the regular season with a 14-0 victory at Foothills in Thursday night’s make-up game. Thomas, the team’s ace, struck out nine in a five-inning complete game and Brody Gardner knocked in three runs.
As it turned out, Thomas wouldn’t have been used on the mound, Cockman said, had it been known the game wouldn’t count.
Often during the regular season, fluctuating player available meant that Post 81 took the field with anywhere from nine to 15 available players.
“We do have a committed core group,” Cockman said. “We wanted to have depth and that meant we had multi-position players. … Our pitching has kept us in games. We’ve done a pretty good job of getting length out of our pitchers.”
Post 81 defeated Stanly County 4-2 in a non-league game (the other outcome overturned) on June 26, punctuated by McGraw’s game-winning two-run homer. Bates was the winning pitcher.
Stanly County didn’t have a first-round series because winless Sandy Ridge opted to skip the postseason.
Post 45 (22-8) embarks on the playoffs Tuesday against the winner of the Greensboro/Mooresville series.
ASHEBORO – Mike Headen has never been a head coach of a high school program, but taking that role with the Asheboro girls’ basketball team seems natural.
“It’s a new experience, but I think it’s a good thing,” Headen said.
Headen is moving up from assistant coach to replace Don Corry, who has stepped aside after two seasons in his second go-around in charge of the team.
“We felt like we had the best guy right here in front of us to be our girls’ basketball coach,” athletics director Wes Berrier said. “He has a lot of passion for the sport.”
Headen has spent 14 years on the Asheboro football staff and four seasons with girls’ basketball. His first basketball assignment came with helping the junior varsity girls when David Hayes was running the program.
Berrier said this latest transition comes at a good time because of some of the developing younger players in the Asheboro program.
The Blue Comets played in the Class 3-A state championship game in 2021. But with a roster overhaul last season, the team dipped to a 4-20 record.
“We’re hoping to make it a little brighter,” Headen said. “The girls have to get used to me as a head coach instead of an assistant.”
Headen, who turns 43 in August, is a dock worker for Old Dominion Freight Line in Greensboro. That work schedule enables him to be available for late-afternoon practices, something that has been part of his routine for more than a dozen years.
He had directed the Asheboro entry in the recent summer league held at Uwharrie Charter Academy. That was a good step toward this next role.
“Every game we got a little better,” he said.
As for style changes on the court, Headen said he’s inclined in implement a more aggressive defensive strategy than the Blue Comets have used in the past.
Headen’s son, DJ Headen, plays football and basketball for the Blue Comets.
Asheboro’s Arhman Tyson makes a stop last season on Providence Grove’s Zane Cheek. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Tyson set to play in North Carolina East-West All-Star Game
ASHEBORO – While college football isn’t in Arhman Tyson’s immediate future, he’s not done on the football field.
The Asheboro standout will give it at least one more go-around in a showcase event.
“Since I was 7, I’ve been doing it,” Tyson said of playing football. “I kept getting better at it and wanted to see how far that could take me. It was something I was really good at. I learned football pretty quickly.”
Tyson said he also learned plenty during the past year when there were personal challenges after his father’s death during the football season.
Tyson is Randolph County’s lone representative in the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game for football. He’ll play for the West team at 8 p.m. July 13 at Jamieson Stadium on the Grimsley High School campus in Greensboro.
His version of playing through pain was different from many other players last year.
Lewis Tyson Jr. died at age 49 on Sept. 23. Arhman Tyson had just left football practice and was with his father in a Ramseur store, where he collapsed from a heart attack.
Yet the next night, the senior played in a home game against Southwestern Randolph. That was part of what he referred to as becoming “a man of my business.”
He found outlets to work through the grief.
“It hurt a lot,” he said. “Even then, I realized that can’t get me all the way down. I still had things I had to get done.”
Asheboro coach Blake Brewer praised Tyson’s maturity on and off the field. He said he’s glad the lineman has a chance to run onto a football field again next week.
“No matter if you’re going to college to play or this is your last hurrah, it’s a chance to perform for yourself and your family,” Brewer said. “To show you’re one of the best of the best.”
Tyson will be Asheboro’s first North Carolina East-West Game participant in any sport since 2016.
He’s a 285-pound defensive lineman who was able to carve out significant credentials last fall despite playing on a struggling team. He was named the Lineman of the Year in the Mid-Piedmont Conference, overcoming Asheboro’s 1-9 record and winless mark – without a result closer than a 20-point margin – in league play.
Tyson said he realized there were times the Blue Comets needed an impact play, and he was glad to provide those.
“I just stepped up,” he said. “When something needed to happen, you got to step up.”
Brewer said he received inquiries from colleges about Tyson’s availability. Instead, he’s heading to North Carolina A&T, where he’ll major in biology. He isn’t going to pursue football right away.
“I was thinking about not playing college football my freshman year of college,” he said. “I want to learn college and get all that down.”
Going into high school, Tyson said he was also interested in playing basketball, but through peer pressure, he ended up on the wrestling team. He carved out a solid portfolio on the mats, becoming the county’s top heavyweight.
His time with wrestling was cut short by an injury in February’s Class 3-A regionals, but there were lessons learned in that sport.
“The bonding aspect (was the best),” he said, also noting the grind of a season. “Everything else was dreadful.”
Yet he liked how he could showcase certain abilities.
“People think he’s big and slow, and you show that you can do whatever anybody else can do,” he said.
Sheriff’s department member reaches rare fitness territory
ASHEBORO — When Luke Wible saw the list of physical tests from the National Tactical Officers Association, he noted the value for a SWAT team member.
That might have been just part of what led the Randolph County Sheriff’s deputy to achieve a rare score on the test.
“I’m a newer guy, but I could see how those things you do in the test could translate when you’re on duty in a real situation,” he said.
Wible, a patrol deputy, basically aced the Physical Fitness Qualification Challenge.
“He’s such a motivator,” Lt. Eric Wilson of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department said. “He has a way about him to motivate others.”
The challenge test is offered to SWAT officers. A perfect score is considered 50, but Wible compiled 13 additional points for a 63.
“I’m just really into fitness,” he said. “It’s kind of therapeutic for me.”
He runs several times a week with other officers. He also takes part in a Jiu-Jitsu class along with other workouts.
Wible, 26, is 5-foot-9 and 170, shedding about 20 pounds from when he was a teenager before he became entrenched in workouts. His background includes time in the Marines.
Now he’s going to be the source of positive attention for the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department. His name and the agency’s name will be recognized in “The Tactical Edge” magazine, a publication of the NTOA. That will be a first for Randolph County.
“He knew that he wanted to max out on it,” Wilson said. “We suspected that he was going to probably get a perfect score. … This was taking it a step further. It’s a very rigorous test.”
Wible said the intent wasn’t to gain notoriety but to push himself and hopefully elevate others along the way.
Luke Wible of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department demonstrates a squat that he completed during a National Tactical Officers Association fitness challenge last week. (PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL)
“It’s really cool to be a part of that,” Wible said. “Everyone on the SWAT team has been very encouraging. Not just the SWAT team, but the sheriff’s department as a whole.”
Wible is on the department’s 15-member SWAT team, which joins forces with agencies in Archdale and Liberty.
The NTOA is the standard for SWAT teams, Wilson said.
“That’s where we get our guidelines on how we operate,” he said. “We use that when we’re drafting our training.”
The test, conducted in uniform and boots, includes an 800-meter run; a 400-meter run while carrying two 25-pound weights, wearing a weighted vest and a gas mask (no filter); three minutes of burpees (ups and downs or a combination of squat thrust and squat jump); two minutes of air squats in weighted vest and gas mask; and one minute of pull-ups. There are three-minute recovery times between events.
“To wear all that equipment and go do something so intense, it looked challenging,” Wible said. “I had to train specifically for (wearing the gas mask). The first time I went through the test during training, I threw up after working out.”
His drills were conducted last week at Randolph Community College’s emergency services training center. Wilson said NTOA members administered the test with extra scrutiny because of the potential for a record score.
Wible is from New Jersey and then met his future wife, who was from Greensboro, at Fort Lee in Virginia. The couple wanted to live in North Carolina but in a more rural setting than Greensboro and ended up in Asheboro.
Wible spent more than 2 ½ years with the Asheboro Police Department before joining the county’s department in November 2020.
He’s in his first year on the SWAT team, which involves a part-time commitment within the department. With the sheriff’s department, he already made an impact as the recipient of the 2021 Eagle Award based on strength, honor, and integrity, with a presentation from Wilson.
“There’s no assignment that I’ve given him that’s too big,” Wilson said.
ARCHDALE — One year into serving as mayor of Archdale, Lewis Dorsett has a new appreciation for how much time the job consumes.
He wants to stay busy doing that.
Dorsett has filed to run for the office of one of Randolph County’s rapidly growing cities.
“My role changed from being a councilman,” Dorsett said. “A lot more meetings. This takes more time, a lot of meetings. There’s a lot of development going on and a lot of potential going on.”
Dorsett said the city’s growth was the biggest issue during the past year. He said the council approved the construction of up to 1,000 townhouses or single-family sites.
“It has just really taken off,” Dorsett said. “The city is just growing, and a lot of folks don’t like that. Archdale is booming and is growing. We’re trying to manage that.”
Archdale has openings for mayor, city council at large, City Council Ward 1, and City Council Ward 4. The Ward 1 incumbent is Larry Warlick, and Ward 4 incumbent is mayor pro tem John Glass.
Dorsett, 66, had been the mayor pro tem. The city council appointed him to fill the remainder of the mayor’s term beginning July 1, 2021, upon the retirement of Bert Stone, who had been the city’s mayor for more than 20 years and either in that seat or on the city council for nearly 30 years.
“Bert was such a mentor for me,” Dorsett said.
Glass held the at-large spot until Dorsett moved to mayor, with Glass shifting to the Ward 4 spot. Lorie McCroskey was appointed to fill the at-large spot.
All incumbents are expected to be on the ballot. Dorsett, Warlick, and McCroskey filed Friday when the filing period opened. Kelly Grooms also filed for the at-large spot on the first day.
Dorsett said the Randolph-Guilford megasite has greatly influenced the city, even as much of the impact might be in its infancy. Archdale is about a 25-minute drive from the megasite.
“The megasite has changed Randolph County, and it’s changing Archdale,” Dorsett said.
Other work that city officials are addressing includes re-writing planning and zoning ordinances, the mayor said.
Dorsett, who graduated from Asheboro High School in 1974, is a retired carpentry teacher from Trinity High School, where he spent more than 20 years. He continues in a part-time role as a driver’s education teacher for the Randolph County School System.
Candidates must file by noon July 15. It’s a two-year term for the mayor and a four-year term for council members.
Archdale extends into a sliver of Guilford County, with about 220 voters eligible in the adjacent county.
Khyland Hadley-Lindsay of Asheboro intends to play basketball in college. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Here’s where some members of the Class of 2022 intend on playing on college:
From Asheboro: Khyland Hadley-Lindsay and Tramir Martin are set to play basketball for Pfeiffer. Hadley-Lindsay was Asheboro’s starting quarterback for the football team.
Charles Perry IV decided to play football for Averett. Alexander Spruill is heading to Methodist to play football.
Boys’ soccer players Alex Cruz and Irving Velazquez-Luna will go to Carolina University in Winston-Salem.
From Eastern Randolph: Softball player Charlise Phillips selected Guilford College.
From Providence Grove: Edi Austin, a standout in softball, is going to Louisburg College, a two-year school.
Zane Caudle, who was the Player of the Year for the Piedmont Athletic Conference in boys’ basketball, is going to Brevard.
From Randleman: Lineman Jann Ortiz is going to Guilford College for football.
From Southwestern Randolph: Payton Shiflet of the Class 2-A state championship volleyball team is going to Greensboro College. She was a conference Player of the Year or co-Player of the Year each of the past two season.
From Trinity: Michael Connelly announced that he would go to High Point to participate in track and field. He was the PAC champion in the 110-meter hurdles this year.
From Wheatmore: Baseball player Rylan Smith picked Guilford College.
Bryson Coltrane, also a wrestler and track and field participant, is slated to join the Catawba College football team. He’s a lineman.
