CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association is proud to announce the State Award winners for the 2017-2018 Academic Year. These seven winners represent positions throughout the NCHSAA and have served with distinction in their respective areas of service.
The Association annually presents these statewide awards in seven different categories, all based on those "who have done the most for high school athletics" rather than a single accomplishment or having an outstanding won-loss record. State awards are presented to a male coach, female coach, athletic director, principal, superintendent, sports medicine representative and a media representative. These awards will be presented at the NCHSAA’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 3rd at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
DORIS HOWARD FEMALE COACH OF THE YEAR – Angela Mayfield, Mount Airy H.S.
This year’s Doris Howard Female Coach of the Year Award is presented to Angela Mayfield, the head women’s basketball coach at Mount Airy. Mayfield graduated from Mt. Airy and returned to her alma mater to teach. She was given an opportunity to be an assistant basketball coach under Howard Mayo in 2009. When Mayo left to take a job in Virginia, Mayfield was promoted to the head coaching job and the Granite Bears have won the last two state championships at the 1A level under her leadership. In addition to her coaching duties, she also serves as co-athletic director for the school that won the 1A Wells Fargo State Cup a year ago.
HARVEY REID MALE COACH OF THE YEAR – Tony Marshburn, Northside-Jacksonville H.S.
This year’s Harvey Reid Male coach of the Year Award is presented to Tony Marshburn, the head men’s basketball coach at Northside-Jacksonville High School. Coach Marshburn attended UNC-Wilmington after graduating from Jacksonville High School. He has coached and taught at Northwood, Rosewood, Southern Wayne, Southwest Onslow, White Oak and Northside-Jacksonville during his career. He just completed his 35thyear of coaching. Marshburn’s Northside Monarchs captured the 2A state championship a year ago, going a perfect 30-0 on the way to the title. His team ripped off 29 straight wins this season to start the year 29-0 this season, winning the 3A Eastern Regional Finals before coming up just a few points shy of Cox Mill in the thrilling 3A State Championship Game. He has posted a career record at Northside of 354 wins to just 100 losses.
DAVE HARRIS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – April Ross, Carrboro H.S.
This year’s Dave Harris Athletic Director of the Year Award is presented to April Ross from Carrboro High School. Ross has been the Athletic Director at Carrboro since 2008. The school has enjoyed immense success with hundreds of scholar athletes, 23 state championships and six Wells Fargo State Cups. Prior to Carrboro, Ross worked as Athletic Director at Briggs High School in Columbus. She is a member of the NIAAA and NCADA and holds a current Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) and Certified Interscholastic Coach (CIC) certifications. When she coached at Tarboro High School for 15 years, her 1990 basketball team reached the 3A state finals. Ross was a four-year letter winner in basketball at Bath High School and East Carolina University.
BOB DEATON PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR – Joe Poletti, East Carteret H.S.
The Bob Deaton Principal of the Year award is presented to Joe Poletti from East Carteret High School. Joe Poletti has served as the Principal at East Carteret for the past two years after a six-year stint as the Principal at Croatan. During his career he has spent 11 years as a high school English teacher, three years as an instructional technology facilitator, and a director of the center for math, science and technology education in addition to several other administrative roles. Poletti has been a member of the NCHSAA board of directors for six years, serving as the organization’s Vice President last year, and the President for this academic year. He has been a mainstay at NCHSAA championships this season and throughout his time on the board, always excited to hand out championship awards, medals and plaques to our student-athletes. His infectious passion for education-based athletics is very evident in his excitement and sacrifices to be a part of NCHSAA events. From East Carteret High School, the Bob Deaton Principal of the Year is Mr. Joe Poletti.
BOB MCRAE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YEAR – Dr. Tony Baldwin, Buncombe Co. Schools
The Bob McRae Superintendent of the Year award is presented to Dr. Tony Baldwin, Superintendent of Buncombe County Schools. Dr. Baldwin has been the Superintendent of Buncombe County Schools since July of 2009. Prior to that he served as an Associate Superintendent for the system for five years after a long career as a Principal in the system. He served on the NCHSAA Board of Directors for four years, receiving a Charlie Adams Distinguished Service Award. In 2008, he approved and funded the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching course to be offered to all Buncombe County coaches. He has worked with Eblen Charities to build and create the Williams-Baldwin Teacher Campus, which opened in 2018 providing 24 units of affordable housing for new teachers in Buncombe County and Asheville City Schools.
TIM STEVENS MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE OF THE YEAR – Nick Stevens, HighSchoolOT.com
The Tim Stevens Media Representative of the Year Award is presented to Nick Stevens the Senior Editor of HighSchoolOT.com at Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) in Raleigh. Stevens began covering high school sports in 2006 when he ran a twice-a-week blog on WRAL.com as he was still in high school. In the spring of 2007, WRAL.com launched a section for high school sports coverage and he began attending NC State University. That blog became HighSchoolOT.com in 2008 and Stevens became a full-time employee of CBC in 2010, prior to graduating from college. Among his detailed coverage of NCHSAA athletics, Stevens and CBC launched an innovative program, “HighSchoolOT Live”, which covers Friday night football in much the same way NFL RedZone Channel covers the NFL, through live look-ins and replays. Recently, Stevens and the HSOT Live team were named the 2018 Edward R. Murrow Regional Award Winners for Innovation.
ELTON HAWLEY ATHLETIC TRAINER/MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR – Dr. Eric Warren, Novant Health (Union Co. Schools)
The Elton Hawley Athletic Trainer or Medical Professional of the Year Award is presented to Dr. Eric Warren, Medical Director from Health Sports Medicine in the greater Charlotte market. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Warren has been practicing medicine with Novant Waxhaw since 2007. Warren has been recognized for the last 6 years as a top doctor in sports medicine by the Charlotte Magazineand was a 2012 Excellence in Healthcare recipient from the Charlotte Business Journal. Dr. Warren continually gives back to his community, serving to oversee a partnership with Union County Schools that has provided full-time athletic trainers for all high schools in the system for the last nine years as well provided sports physicals, free of charge, to all Union County Schools Middle School and High School athletes. He regularly conducts training for Union County coaches and staff relating to concussion training, heat illness, sport nutrition and other topics.
