Crooks hits another scoring milestone for L-R women

Graduate student Blaikley Crooks, a Morganton native, recently surpassed the 1,500-point mark for her career with the Lenoir-Rhyne University women’s basketball team.

The 2020 Freedom High School graduate who is a former Burke County prep player of the year became just the eighth L-R women’s player to hit the milestone in her Bears’ Jan. 22 contest at Limestone as she scored a team-high 14 points.

The effort was part of a seven-game stretch in which the 5-foot-11 Crooks put up double figures consecutively, and she has scored 10 points or more 15 times this season for L-R (9-13, 7-11 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conf.).

A preseason All-SAC selection after earning All-SAC first team accolades last season, Crooks is averaging 13.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting nearly 47 percent from the field and nearly 90 percent at the free-throw line.

Byrd, Fraley break heptathlon records

East Burke High School 2024 graduate KJ Byrd was among five University of Louisville track and field athletes to break overall or freshman program records as the Cardinals hosted the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational meet on Feb. 1.

A 10-time state gold medalist at the prep level who represented the U.S. at the international level last year, Byrd established a new Louisville freshman record with a total of 5,746 points in the men’s heptathlon to finish as the runner-up in the event as he also moved to second in program history.

In the process, Byrd — who has already won ACC freshman of the week honors this season — also climbed up to third place in school history in the men’s pole vault event (17’2¾”) and seventh in the men’s 60-meter hurdles (8.31).

Entering the weekend, Byrd’s heptathlon point total ranks fifth in the NCAA and first in the ACC.

Not to be outdone, fellow EBHS 2024 grad Avery Fraley broke the men’s heptathlon record at East Carolina University as a freshman at Clemson’s Orange & Purple Invite, which was held Jan. 24-25.

Fraley got off to a strong start on day one, besting the Pirates’ heptathlon event mark in the 60-meter dash (7.14) and tying the heptathlon mark in the high jump (6’2¼”). He then on day two shattered the ECU heptathlon mark with a 8.45-second clocking in the 60-meter hurdles and finished the event with a record 4,905 points, breaking a school record that had stood for 11 years.

Tillery transfers to L-R for football

Draughn High School 2024 graduate Eli Tillery will play football next season at Lenoir-Rhyne University, the program recently announced on signing day.

Tillery transfers to L-R from N.C. State University, where he redshirted this past fall after having chosen a preferred walk-on opportunity with the Wolfpack over offers from D-I programs Gardner-Webb (where he originally verbally committed), UNLV, Missouri State, Mississippi Valley State, and Arkansas State, plus nine other smaller college programs.

The 6-foot-6 Tillery played quarterback at DHS but is listed as a wide receiver for the Bears, who finished 10-3 and reached the second round of the NCAA D-II playoffs in 2024.

Tillery is DHS’ all-time leader in passing yardage (6,240) and touchdowns (64) and is a former county and conference player of the year, having led the Wildcats to a program-record 13 wins and first-ever state semifinal appearance in 2022.

McElyea set for season-ending surgery

Freshman pitcher Blake McElyea was slated to open his career with the Queens University baseball team nearby next weekend before recently receiving some bad news on the injury front.

The 2024 Draughn grad McElyea’s father, Shane, posted last week on his Facebook page: “... Blake will be having a season-ending surgery on Monday (on) his ulnar nerve. … He will have (an) 8-to-12 week recovery, then be ready for one last ride of legion baseball.”

The 6-foot-7 right-hander who was county and conference pitcher of the year last spring as a Wildcats senior had originally committed to D-I Longwood and had three other D-I offers as well.

McElyea last spring for the Wildcats did not allow a run (earned or unearned) through his first 41 innings spanning seven starts. He struck out 105 batters and walked just three in 63 total innings, leading the county with both a 1.11 ERA and nine wins from the mound.

Queens opens the season against Appalachian State on Feb. 14 at Hickory’s L.P. Frans Stadium.

Freedom’s Caldwell picked for ASG

Freedom girls basketball senior guard Peyton Caldwell was recently named to the 2025 Rankings Report WNC All-Star Games, Lady Patriots coach Amber Reddick said.

The fifth annual event will take place March 29 at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, with doors opening at 1:30 p.m. and the girls and boys contests starting at 6 and 7:30 p.m., preceded by 3-point and dunk contests.

The 5-foot-8 Caldwell was named FHS’ female athlete of the year, in addition to nabbing all-conference and first team all-county and all-district honors on the hardwood, as a junior after she averaged 22.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. She has four collegiate offers and currently averages 21.3 points as Freedom is on track to nab the top 3A state playoff berth from its league.

Caldwell becomes the sixth Burke County participant in the games over the last three seasons, joining Draughn’s Blake McElyea and Eli Tillery, East Burke’s Aubree Grigg and Kassie Turner, and Freedom’s Ava Whisnant.

EB’s Fox picks up 3rd collegiate offer

East Burke senior football player Jordan Fox recently received his third collegiate offer, he announced on his Facebook page on Wednesday, this one coming from the University of Minnesota Morris, an NCAA Division III member of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

The Cavaliers linebacker, who also has offers from Guilford College and Capital University, this past fall notched a county-high 106 tackles (68 solo) one year after ranking second in the county with 94 tackles.

Fox also finished the season with 11 tackles for loss and added three forced fumbles, two pass deflections, one interception, one sack, and one fumble recovery in his repeat All-Burke County and All-CVAC season.

Minnesota Morris posted a 5-5 overall record (4-3 UMAC) last season.

Straka, Bock stay hot with top-10 finish

Sepp Straka couldn’t finish out another early 2025 PGA Tour victory despite holding the 54-hole lead at last weekend’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, though he continued a stellar start to his season alongside Morganton caddie Duane Bock.

Straka finished with a Sunday 72 for a 16-under par total and a tie for seventh place after having opened with back-to-back 65s last Thursday and Friday in northern California.

The finish was good for $640,000 and came two weeks after Straka took home $1,584,000 for winning the The American Express in La Quinta, Calif.

Straka is currently second, trailing only Justin Thomas, in the tour’s 2025 FedEx Cup rankings, and he is up to 16th in this week’s Official World Golf Rankings. Bock has been on the bag for Straka for around 18 months, and the win at The American Express was the duo’s second together.

Daxton Bennick set for 2nd pro season

Morganton native Daxton Bennick will start his second season in supermotocross in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship series today (Feb. 8) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Bennick, who is part of the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team, has one podium finish in the series after having won twice in the futures division of the same series and earning the 2023 Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award.

Bennick was forced to miss the end of last season due to illness and dealt with injuries during the season as well after a strong start as a rookie but still finished inside the top 10 in the season standings.

Spartans youth football signups underway

The Western Carolina Spartans youth travel football organization is currently holding signups for the 2025 spring season.

The first set of signups and player workouts was held Thursday at Freedom Park, and the teams’ first official practice will be March 1. Additional workouts and in-person signups will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays throughout the month.

Registration fee is $100 per player, and all players must verify their age with state ID and have a physical prior to the first game. For more information, contact Jeremy Davis at 828-403-7371 or Cody Bryant at 828-800-1901.

NAWA returns to Morganton

For the second month in a row, the North American Wrestling Alliance (NAWA) will hold a professional wrestling show at the Burke County Fairgrounds, which are located at 145 Bost Road in Morganton.

The event is scheduled for tonight (Feb. 8) at 7 p.m. — doors open for the preshow meet-and-greet at 6 p.m. — and will include seven different matches, headlined by Silver Fox defending the NAWA Heavyweight Title against “Outlaw” David Sellers. The NAWA Carolinas Title will also be on the line as Justin Kindred-Allen challenges champion George South, while another featured match will pit NAWA Tag Team Champions V.S.P. (Mike Maughan and Curtis Robertson) against American Wrestling League Tag Team Champions Soul Patrol (Deon Johnson and Antonio Morgan).

Today’s show was initially scheduled to take place in Rock Hill, S.C., but the NAWA announced in a Facebook post on Jan. 30 that due to losing its original venue, the event would be moving to Morganton.

General admission tickets for adults are $10, while children ages 6-12 will be admitted for $5 and kids ages 5 and younger get in free. Free parking will also be available, and concessions can be purchased as well.