Patton High School senior two-sport standout Colsyn Queen will play football next season at Lyon College in Arkansas, according to a recent Facebook post from the Robert L. Patton High School Athletics page.
Queen
The post from Jan. 14 reads, “Congratulations to Colsyn Queen on committing to Lyon College to continue his education,” and shows Queen in his PHS football uniform.
Queen was named Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference specialist of the year and was an All-Burke County football selection this past fall as he had 13 touchbacks on 20 kickoffs for the season, punted 29 times for a 33.6-yard average, made all eight of his extra-point attempts, and connected on a 44-yard field goal, the second-longest in program history.
Queen was also named to the All-WPC boys soccer team as the goalkeeper on a Panthers squad that won 20 games and a conference championship and reached at least the third round of the postseason for a fourth consecutive season. The Patton defense limited its opposition to 21 goals in 25 matches, recording 12 shutouts.
NCAA Division III Lyon is in Batesville, Ark., and competes in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Scots finished 2-7 overall (1-4 SCAC) in 2025.
Cozort
Cozort to South Caldwell as assistant
Former Draughn and East Burke baseball coach and Draughn softball coach Chris Cozort is getting back on the diamond at the prep level as he recently accepted an assistant coach position at South Caldwell, according to a Jan. 16 Facebook post on the South Caldwell Lady Spartans Softball page.
Cozort will be joined on head coach Casey Justice’s staff by fellow new assistant Daniel Church, according to the post.
“Coach Church and Coach Cozy will be huge for the development of our kids and incredibly important to the trajectory of our program,” Justice said, according to the post.
Cozort, 55, is a Valdese native, EBHS alum, and former Burke County Post 21 American Legion baseball player and assistant coach who guided EB to multiple NCHSAA state playoff appearances from 1999 to 2008 before he moved over to DHS when the school opened.
With the Wildcats, his baseball teams won 78 games from 2009-2015 before his softball teams won 109 games from 2016-2023.
Cozort led both of those DHS teams plus the girls tennis team to their first-ever conference championships, and he also served on the coaching staffs for the winningest DHS seasons in football and girls basketball earlier this decade. He also helped coach soccer at EBHS.
South Caldwell finished 32-2 overall last spring, winning the 4A state title.
East Burke teams claim archery tourney
Both the East Burke High and East Burke Middle archery teams won the National Archery in the Schools Program’s (NASP) 2026 Cupid’s Clash 10/15-meter state qualifier tournament hosted by Startown Elementary School in Newton on Jan. 15-17.
Garris
In the high school division, EB scored 3,300 points, led by freshman Aubree Garris’ personal-best score of 294 that included 24 perfect 10s as she was both the overall and girls individual champion.
EBHS’ Hudson Lentz (personal-best 289) led all senior boys and was second overall among boys, while freshman Luke Duncan (285) was fourth and classmate Connor Kerley (283) fifth among high school boys.
EB freshman Brielle Hubler (281) placed fourth among high school girls, Natalie Bell (279) led all senior girls, and senior Seth Ward (278) and sophomore Carter Seagle (274) also eclipsed the 270-point mark and placed second among boys archers in their respective classes.
Fourth-place Freedom was led by freshman Simon Hefner (290; 22 10s), who was the overall boys champion.
In middle school, East Burke (3,209 points) was led by Isaac Hubler’s personal-best score of 277 (16 10s) as he placed second among all middle school boys and first in his sixth-grade class.
Josh Whitesides (276) was first among eighth graders and third overall in the middle school boys division, and Miles Seagle (272), Mason Coburn (272), and Paizley Danner (272) all placed inside the top five for their gender among middle schoolers.
Cassidy Gladden (269) was first among sixth-grade girls, and Aureliah Triplett (269) was second among seventh-grade girls.
Bartlett
Heritage placed fifth as a team, paced by eighth grader Emmy Warr (275; third among middle girls), Viollet Sevick (270; first among seventh-grade girls), and Jace Ramsey (personal-best 268; second among sixth-grade boys).
In the elementary division, Valdese finished third, led by Leila Bowman (217; first among fourth-grade girls, ninth among all elementary girls) and William Hudson (211; seventh among elementary boys).
Icard didn’t produce a team score at the event, but Colts fifth grader Bailey Bartlett was the elementary individual champion with a personal-best score of 267 that included nine perfect 10s.
Morganton youth baseball/softball signups
Signups are underway now through Feb. 18 for the Morganton Recreation Department’s youth baseball and softball spring leagues. Baseball is offered for ages 4 through 13, while softball is for ages 7 through 13.
Registration cost is $30 per child for city residents or $40 for all others. Contact Jesse Bunton at 828-438-5371 or jbunton@morgantonnc.gov to sign up or for additional details. Registration is now also available online at morgantonnc.gov/parksrec.
Paul Schenkel can be reached at 828-445-8595 or paul@thepaper.media.
