Five Burke athletes make college choices

(UPDATED MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2026, AT 4:30 P.M.)

Five Burke County high school senior student-athletes each recently announced plans to play sports at the collegiate level starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

Freedom’s Kaitlyn Hagmann will play volleyball at Lander University and Kaden Michaels will play baseball at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, Draughn’s Daniel Spottswood will play football at N.C. Wesleyan University, and Patton’s Carly Setterlind will play volleyball at Montreat College and Nathan Waters will play basketball at Pfeiffer University.

Hagmann’s announcement, via a Facebook post from her father on March 25, was the first one recently. The 6-foot middle hitter/outside hitter finished her 2025 all-conference season with team-highs of 220 kills and 30 aces while finishing second among FHS players with 151 digs and 28 total blocks.

Hagmann is currently playing softball for the Lady Patriots following a repeat all-county basketball season in which she averaged 7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. She also on March 28 was one of just three county players to play in the WNC All-Star Game for girls hoops.

Lander is an NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference member and finished 20-11 overall in 2025.

Michaels’ announcement came via a March 27 Facebook post from Patton alum Kross Robinson, who is now director of college recruitment at Pro Arena Group, LLC.

Last season, Michaels was an all-county and all-conference selection after hitting for a .403 average with five home runs, seven doubles, 27 RBIs, and 17 runs scored. Entering this week’s eighth annual Tony Causby Classic at Patton, the first baseman/pitcher had a 1.91 ERA with 55 strikeouts in just 22 innings pitched over five appearances this spring while also upping his batting average to .410.

Through last week, the NJCAA Region 10 Division III Cobras sported a 23-8 overall record in 2026.

The Draughn Wildcats Football page on Facebook shared Spottswood’s commitment news on March 29, posting: “Congratulations to Daniel Spottswood on his commitment to NC Wesleyan University. We are proud of you and wish you the best.”

Spottswood is a four-year Wildcats football player who is currently playing golf at DHS this spring. He handled punting and kickoff duties this past fall, averaging nearly 35 yards per punt in an all-county and all-conference season.

Wesleyan was 4-6 overall (and 2-5 in NCAA D-III USA South Conference play) in 2025.

The Setterlind recruitment news was shared to The Paper by Patton athletic director Rob Gregory on April 2. Gregory said Setterlind plans to hold her official signing ceremony at PHS on April 14.

Setterlind tallied a team-high 389 digs plus 103 assists, 49 aces, and 13 kills in 2025 as she helped Patton to a share of the league regular-season title and was named to the all-conference, all-region, and all-state teams. She finished her PHS career north of 1,500 perfect serve receptions and 500 digs.

NAIA Appalachian Athletic Conference program Montreat finished 0-19 overall in 2025.

And Waters’ announcement came via a Facebook post from his father on April 3. A back-to-back all-county and all-conference selection, the 6-foot-3 wing scored 14.3 points per game this past season to go with 7.9 rebounds, a county-high 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per contest.

Waters, who is currently playing baseball for the Panthers and was the only boys hoopster from the county to play in the WNC All-Star Game on March 28, also made 52 3-pointers during his final prep basketball season. He ranks second on Patton’s career lists for rebounds and made 3s, third in assists, and fourth in points.

Pfeiffer completed the 2025-26 season with a 17-9 overall record, ultimately making it to the title game of the USA South tournament.

NCSSM-M leads 1A Wells Fargo Cup race

After a fall athletics season to remember, NCSSM-Morganton is in rarefied air, leading the NCHSAA’s 1A 2025-26 Wells Fargo State Cup standings with just the spring sports seasons remaining.

(The state recently announced the results by classification through fall and winter sports, though it did not announce the Wells Fargo Cup conference standings to date.)

NCSSM-M has 442.5 points for an 85-point lead over conference mate Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy (357.5). The Dragons built the overwhelming lead thanks to state championships in girls tennis and girls cross country coupled with a state semifinal appearance in boys soccer.

Schools leading the other classifications include Community School of Davidson (2A), Pine Lake Prep (3A), Lake Norman Charter (4A), North Lincoln (5A), Watauga (6A), Cardinal Gibbons (7A), and Myers Park (8A).

The Wells Fargo Cup since 1980 has annually recognized schools that achieve the best overall interscholastic athletic performance within each of the state’s classifications and within each conference statewide.

NCHSAA commissioner Tucker set to retire

The NCHSAA recently announced that commissioner Que Tucker will retire, effective Oct. 1 of this year.

A Reidsville native, Tucker joined the NCHSAA staff in 1991 after serving for two years as an assistant women’s basketball coach at N.C. State University under legendary head coach Kay Yow. Tucker in 2015 became the first woman and first African-American to serve as NCHSAA commissioner.

Tucker was a standout basketball player at Mars Hill University, later becoming a charter member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Her career journey began in 1975 as a public school teacher and coach at West McDowell Junior High School for two years, and she later earned her master’s degree from UNC Greensboro in 1977 before teaching and coaching for 12 years at Reidsville High School.

Tucker was inducted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame in 2012 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.