Pinecrest High School won the Wells Fargo Cup for the Sandhills 4-A Athletic Conference, according to a press release from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The cup is awarded to the conference school with the best overall athletic program as determined by points awarded for order of finish in each official conference sport.
Pinecrest capped its championship this year with a strong showing in the spring, taking conference titles in boys and girls track and baseball.
Jack Britt placed second in the chase for the cup. The Buccaneers won boys tennis and placed second in softball this spring.
Richmond Senior placed third with a title in softball and second place in baseball.
Here are the point totals for each school: Pinecrest 138.5, Jack Britt 118.5, Richmond Senior 103.5, Lumberton 73, Scotland 73, Hoke County 64.5, Purnell Swett 48.5, Seventy-First 43.
• Some people were a little surprised to see the name of Pine Forest’s Isaiah Bennett during the closing rounds of the recent Major League Baseball draft. A pitcher for the Trojans, Bennett has seen little action for more than a year as he’s been recuperating from Tommy John surgery.
Bennett had already committed to play baseball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when the San Diego Padres took him in the 36th round of the draft.
The East Village Times said Bennett is the thirdranked player overall in the state of North Carolina despite his injury problems. They called him an athletic right-handed pitcher with a high upside. They said his fastball is between 89 and 91 mph, sometimes hitting 92 or 93.
Multiple sources indicate Bennett will likely decide to decline the draft opportunity with the Padres and enroll at North Carolina to play for the Tar Heels.
• Two players from Terry Sanford were named to the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association 3-A All-State team earlier this month: Davidjohn Herz and Justin Ebert.
Herz decided to forgo playing with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, signing a professional contract with the Chicago Cubs last week. He is awaiting assignment to a Cubs rookie league team, most likely in Arizona. Ebert is committed to play baseball at High Point University in the fall.
• At the most recent meeting of the Cumberland County Board of Education, South View High School’s Isaiah Fultz was recognized for his accomplishments in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4-A track and field meet.
Fultz became the first wheelchair-bound athlete from Cumberland County to both compete and win in the state 4-A track meet. He took the championship in the wheelchair 100-meter competition with a time of 21.91 at the state meet at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro.
South View athletic director Chad Barbour said as far as he’s been able to determine, Fultz is the first wheelchair athlete from Cumberland County to compete in track and field at the state level.
Photo: Isaiah Fultz, left, is the first wheelchair-bound athlete from Cumberland County to both compete and win in the state 4-A track meet. To his right is South View athletic director Chad Barbour