Falcons Nest

Laura Jackson
The Falcons continue to push ahead as post-season play is in full swing.
Senior Athlete Spotlight
The athletics department would like to extend congratulations to our senior student-athletes. The department is very proud of their accomplishments and the bright futures ahead of them. This week we honor Anderson “Andy” Jenkins with a spotlight on his career as an O’Neal athlete.

Andy Jenkins, Varsity Soccer
Accolades from Head Varsity Soccer coach James Franklin: “Andy worked hard throughout his career in soccer and basketball. He has been a 4-year starter in both and given his all for the Falcon shirt. He’s incredibly passionate for O’Neal and has performed wonderfully for four years.”

Quick Facts about Andy
:

Number of years at O’Neal
: 13
 
Sports played at O’Neal: Basketball and soccer
 
College or University he plans to or wants to attend: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Appalachian State University, University of Georgia
 
Major or preferred course of study: Accounting
 
Favorite quote: “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.” – Matthew McConaughey
 
Best O’Neal Athletics memory: Hitting the game-winning buzzer beater at Grace of Raleigh freshman year.
 
 
 
News from the Falcon’s Nest

“F
ollow
One
Course
Until
Success

Varsity Cross Country
O'Neal Cross Country didn't compete last week as they honed in on final preparations for the Tri-TAC Conference Championship meet on Monday, 10/15. On Tuesday, the Falcons went across the street to one of their staple workout locations - the Sandhills Community College grass fields. There, around a marked out 1/4 mile loop, the team did a variety of workouts. For runners whose competitive season will come to a conclusion on Monday, their taper towards peaking began with a workout that consisted of 3 sets of 3 hard 300m repeats, followed by six, faster 200m repeats, all with minimal recovery. For runners on O'Neal's state team (top-7 boys and girls), they completed a challenging workout, at a pace faster than race effort, comprised of 6-8 x 800m (.5 mile) repeats with 90 seconds of rest between.  Senior Bryce Samples was the lone outlier, completing a "ladder" workout that went: 1/4 mile - 1/4 mile - 1/2 mile - 1/2 mile - 3/4 mile - 1/2 mile - 1/2 mile - 1/4 mile - 1/4 mile. Upon conclusion, he then tacked on an additional 1 mile at anaerobic threshold effort. 
 
Following two days of steady-state distance running, ranging anywhere from four to seven miles per day, the team was back at it with one final tune-up workout on Friday prior to a full team debrief about the team's objectives at Conference. The workout, which consisted of anywhere from 6-12 x 400m (1/4 mile) repeats with 200m-jog recovery between, demonstrated that the Falcons are rounding in to form at just the right time. With cooler temperatures in the forecast, the Falcons expected to bring home not only strong performances, but also potentially some team and individual hardware this Monday, and their expectations were met.
On Monday, October 15th both the boys and girls teams ran away with the 2018 Tri-Tac conference championships. This is the first Conference Championship in school history for both the girls and boys teams. Congratulations to the athletes and coaches for this outstanding achievement! Below are the results of the meet:
 
- Boys Team Conference Champions
- Girls Team Conference Champions 
- Boys Individual Champion: Bryce Samples ‘19
- Girls Individual Champion: Molly Kuzma  ‘21
- Boys All-Conference Winners: Bryce Samples (1st), Stefan Woolley ‘19 (7th), Isiah Huffman ‘22 (9th)
- Girls All-Conference Winners: Molly Kuzma (1st), Annika Stark ‘24 (5th), Talia Ferrerio ’19 (8th)
 
The team looks to ride this momentum and continue putting in the work to prepare for states next Friday, October 26th. Go Falcons!
 
 
Varsity Girl’s Golf
The O'Neal girls’ golf team completed their regular season with a trip to Charlotte on Tuesday to play No. 2 ranked Carmel Christian.  Playing a super strong team is daunting in itself but to do so without its leader, captain, and star, junior Nicole Adam, was a new experience for these Lady Falcons.  Carmel Christian dominated play at Raintree Country Club North Course winning 122 - 173.  Despite the lopsided outcome, Lauren Kuhn ‘24 provided a strong performance, shooting 54 on a difficult course.  Lauren's round was punctuated by a birdie 2 on the closing ninth par 3.  
 
Coach Buck Warren commented on the final match experience, "this was a tough day for our team but I was proud of them for keeping their chins up and smiles on their faces.  That resiliency will take them far in life.  Lauren's performance was not a surprise at all. In her first year of competitive golf, she has been our most consistent performer, outside of Nicole, and her improvement from last year to this year has been tremendous.  She has an unflappable approach to the game and was never intimidated when paired with some of the very best players in the state.  I am excited to see how she continues to progress this off-season."
 
O'Neal Scores vs. Carmel Christian
Lauren Kuhn - 54
Molly Haarlow - 59
Mary Earhart - 60
Lauren Husing - 61
 
The Lady Falcons finished the season 3-4. Junior Nicole Adam will represent Falcon Nation next week at the NCISAA Championships at the Country Club of Whispering Pines.  Adam enters next week's championship as the Division II low qualifier with a stroke average below par (.-0.37).  GO, Nicole!
 
 
Varsity Boy’s Soccer
The O’Neal School Boys Varsity Soccer team received a bid to the NCISAA State Play-Offs for the 4th straight year after earning the Tri-Tac Conference automatic bid. 
 
Last Friday, O’Neal became back-to-back conference champions for first time in program history after an overtime victory versus Trinity School of Durham. Senior Bennett Moore scored the goal with a rasping drive to earn the golden goal victory. 
 
O’Neal seeded as the number 8 team in the Championships, opened their play-off bid with a scorching performance, the best of the year. Six different players scored goals as O’Neal ran out 10-1 winners over Westminster Catawba. 
 
O’Neal returned to action two days later to face their fellow co-conference champions, Trinity Academy of Raleigh. In a fantastic game, closely contested, senior Spencer Sullivan’s lone goal in the first half separated the sides. It was the third time the two teams played each other and as in the first two games, wholesome competition and great sportsmanship prevailed. 
 
O’Neal advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament winning 1-0. O’Neal will travel to Fayetteville to compete against Fayetteville Academy for a place in the final four, on Saturday, October 20th at 5:00 PM. 
 
 
Varsity Girl’s Tennis
What a week it was for the Falcons varsity tennis team! The ladies received a #3 seed bid into the NCISAA 2A State Championship tournament and played a marathon match Thursday evening versus Wayne Country Day School.  They came out strong securing 2 victories at #1 and #3 doubles, just falling short on the #2 doubles court.  Then singles began, and that is when the action really started! Senior Sarah McInnis won easily at the #1 singles position, but all the other courts had hard-fought battles, two of which lasted late into the evening.  There was even a venue change once the courts became too dark to play on and the remaining two matches moved to play under the lights at Rassie Wicker Park in Pinehurst. Sophomore Tea Walt secured the 5th and final deciding match victory at #3 singles, winning in a 3rd-set tiebreaker. 7th grader Hannah Saye playing #2 singles was still on the court (did not finish), and she did a fantastic job fighting and making her match go the distance to keep Tea's momentum going.  
A note from the team: “A special THANK YOU and shout out to our O'Neal community...parents, teachers, administrators, fellow Falcon athletes and students, fellow coaches...the love and support you showed the team was simply incredible, the love was definitely felt and no doubt motivated the team.”
The team awaits the winner of the Trinity Academy of Raleigh and Trinity Academy of Durham and Chapel Hill match, which will be played tomorrow.  
CONGRATS to the tennis team on earning a spot in the state semi-finals! GO FALCONS! 
 
 
Middle School Soccer
The Middle School Boys Soccer Team defeated Freedom Christian 7-2 on Monday to advance to the SEMSAC finals against Fayetteville Christian.  The boys started the game in excellent form, building a 4-0 lead in the first ten minutes and cruised to victory.  The finals should be an excellent game as the teams previously played to a 2-2 draw with O’Neal winning on penalty kicks to clinch the regular season title. The boys will host Fayetteville Christian school today, Friday, October 18th at 3:30 PM. Go Falcons!!
 
Middle School Volleyball
The Falcons took on the Knights of Village Christian on Monday afternoon in the semi-finals of the SEMSAC tournament. In a spirited and hard fought game, the Falcon’s matched rally for rally with the Knights. In the end, it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory, as the Falcons dropped the game in 2 sets.
 
Despite the disappointing end to the season, the Falcons have much to be proud of this Fall. The ladies compiled a total 19-4 record this fall finishing second overall in the SEMSAC. More impressive than their record, is the true joy and passion the girls played with each and every day. Coach Brase, Hancock and Tighe thank each of the wonderful 18 young ladies for the passion, enthusiasm, and will to compete they brought to the court each day. They have been a pleasure to coach and we are enjoying our final days of practices this fall together!
 
  
 
 
 
 
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