When all four Burke County high school football teams opened practice for the 2026 season on Wednesday, one team had a particular chip on its shoulder.
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There may be no regular-season games taking place, but summers have become a key period of growth and learning for high school teams statewide spanning multiple sports over recent years.
The Freedom High School 2026 youth softball camp hosted around 30 girls from the area at Freedom Park from July 6-8. Instructors at the camp included the Lady Patriots coaching staff, led by head coach Connor Townsend, as well as current and former FHS players. “A huge shout out to my player…
Hickory Motor Speedway was the only racetrack in the Catawba Valley to hold an event on Saturday, July 18, with six divisions participating in races that totaled nearly 300 laps of action.
After spending most of the last half-century involved in some capacity with the sport of track and field, Robert McGimpsey retired as a teacher and coach at Freedom High School following the 2026 spring semester.
Mother Nature is the only thing that has slowed down the Hickory Crawdads as of late, as Tuesday’s 1-0 home win over the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans was their sixth victory in a row but was sandwiched between a pair of games that were affected by rain.
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