Clay, Catawba cross country squad make history at nationals
Catawba College senior Madison Clay (center in white), a Morganton native who graduated from Patton High School in 2022, finished 42nd overall during the NCAA Division II cross country national championship meet on Nov. 22 at Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wis. In doing so, Clay broke her own program record for best individual finish, and she also helped the Indians’ women’s team finish 17th in the team standings, which is a program record as well.
The indoor track and field season begins soon, and Madison Clay is expected to compete once again for the Catawba College women’s team.
But the senior, who grew up in Morganton and is a 2022 Patton High School graduate, has already made an impact during the 2025-26 academic year.
Clay most recently came in 42nd out of 262 female finishers — the top finish among Catawba runners — during the NCAA Division II cross country national championship meet on Nov. 22 at Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wis. She posted a time of 21:05.90, helping the Indians finish 17th out of 34 teams to set a new program record for highest team finish at nationals.
Clay’s 42nd-place finish also broke her own program record for best individual finish at nationals after she took 48th a year ago, 44th as a sophomore, and 87th as a freshman. And she previously helped the Catawba women finish second as a team during the Southeast Regional championship meet on Nov. 8 at Wingate, where she came in first overall with a time of 21:17.06.
VOLLEYBALL
Fortenberry at Averett
Fortenberry
Addy Fortenberry (East Burke 2025) played in eight matches as a freshman setter/right side hitter for the Cougars (6-19, 2-9 NCAA D-III Old Dominion Athletic Conference) this fall.
In 28 total sets, Fortenberry recorded 101 assists (third on team), 47 digs, 11 aces, and two kills.
SOCCER
Diaz, Castrejon at Sweet Briar
Diaz
Castrejon
The Vixens (4-11, 0-10 NCAA D-III ODAC) recently completed their season, with 2023 Draughn graduate Alexis Diaz, a junior midfielder, scoring a team-high six goals to go with four assists (second on team) while starting all 15 matches.
Diaz also totaled team highs in shots (66), shots on goal (38), game-winning goals (two), and minutes played (1,292).
Sophomore defender/midfielder Yadira Castrejon (Draughn 2024) was another key player for Sweet Briar. She scored two goals, dished out one assist, took 16 shots, and put nine shots on goal in 514 total minutes played.
Powell at Salem
Powell
Serenity Powell (East Burke 2022) saw action in 13 contests (10 starts) for the Spirits (5-8-4, 2-5-2 NCAA D-III USA South Athletic Conference) as a senior defender, totaling 896 minutes on the pitch.
In addition to being an important member of Salem’s back line for the fourth year in a row, Powell also took one shot in 2025.
Ollis at Pfeiffer
Ollis
Senior Kaylee Ollis (Freedom 2022) was the Falcons’ starting goalkeeper all season, finishing with 83 saves in 1,328 minutes of playing time.
Ollis allowed 3.05 goals per match for Pfeiffer (2-12-1, 1-7-1 NCAA D-III USA South Athletic Conference), also posting a save percentage of 64.8% and one shutout.
FOOTBALL
Abernathy at Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Abernathy
The Titans (5-5, 3-4 NCAA D-III Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) lost three of their final four games to finish at .500 overall, but junior punter John Robert Abernathy (Draughn 2023) was solid throughout the season.
In fact, after recording a career-high 334 yards on eight punts (41.75 average) — including a season-best 56-yard punt — at Wisconsin-Platteville on Nov. 1, Abernathy was named the WIAC Special Teams Athlete of the Week. And for the season, he punted 51 times for 1,987 yards (38.96 average), with six of his punts traveling at least 50 yards and 12 pinning opposing teams inside their own 20-yard line.
Rector at Gardner-Webb
Rector
Junior Luke Rector (Draughn 2023) was a starting offensive lineman in every contest for the Runnin’ Bulldogs (7-5, 5-3 NCAA D-I OVC-Big South Football Association), who were 7-3 when they scored more than 12 points.
Gardner-Webb scored 330 points (second in conference) on the year, also finishing second in total yards (5,013), passing yards (2,858), rushing yards (2,155), and average yards per play (6.0) while tying for second in touchdowns (41).
Bostain at L-R
Bostain
A starting offensive lineman in each of Lenoir-Rhyne’s final 10 games, redshirt freshman Brady Bostain (East Burke 2024) helped the Bears (6-5, 5-4 NCAA D-II South Atlantic Conference) finish fifth in their conference in points (317), touchdowns (43), total yards (4,158), and passing yards (2,658).
L-R also picked up 210 first downs on the season to finish fifth in that category as well, while their 77 third-down conversions ranked first among SAC teams and their 10 fourth-down conversions were tied for first.
Morrison at Brevard
Morrison
In seven appearances for the Tornados (6-4, 4-3 NCAA D-III USA South Athletic Conference) as a freshman defensive back, Cannon Morrison (East Burke 2025) had four tackles including three solo stops.
Morrison made his collegiate debut on Oct. 4 at Belhaven, and he also played in each of Brevard’s next six games to end the season.
Josh McKinney can be reached at 828-445-8595 or josh@thepaper.media.
