83 Wilmington-area athletes to watch this spring in track and field, golf and tennis
After looking at baseball, softball, girls soccer and lacrosse, it's time to focus on Wilmington-area athletes in the remaining three spring sports.
Boys tennis, boys golf, and track and field make up a significant amount of area athletes, and this spring has plenty to look forward to.
Here are the 83 Wilmington-area spring sports athletes to watch in 2024.
GIRLS SOCCER 61 Wilmington-area high school girls soccer players to watch in 2024
LACROSSE 59 Wilmington-area high school lacrosse players to watch in 2024
BASEBALL 42 Wilmington-area high school baseball players to watch in 2024
Track and field
Makayla Grice, Sr., Ashley
Grice is back for the Screaming Eagles, finishing second in the 100, 200, and 400-meter dashes at the Mideastern Conference track and field championship last spring.
Fellow senior Mackenzie Morton, who specializes in the 300-meter hurdles, also returns for Ashley.
Hannah Grace, Jr., Coastal Christian
Grace returns as North Carolina's top girl's pole vaulter across any classification this spring.
Recording a record-high 14-foot, two-inch pole vault this winter, the Centurions junior could set the all-time high school girls pole vault record in 2024.
Junior boys runners Corban Cazier and senior Aiden Garrett join Grace. The duo earned top-four finishes at the New Hanover County track and field championships last spring. Seniors Thad O'Neil and Chase Pruitt round out an experienced class of Centurian runners this season.
Isaiah Gibson, Jr., Cape Fear Academy
Gibson is fresh off an NCISAA Division II state championship in the long jump, making him one of the Hurricanes’ most accomplished returning athletes this spring.
Distance runner Pennie Utnage returns for the Hurricanes after earning a top-10 finish in the 800 at states in 2023. Fellow runners Kylie Petrides and Priya Belle will look to improve after strong freshman and sophomore seasons.
Jackson Travis, Jr., Hoggard
Travis continued to shine as a sophomore last spring by logging the area's best high jump of 6 feet, 2 inches and earning an MEC title in the event.
Junior sprinter William Holmes returns after leading the area in the 800, an event he finished second in at regionals last spring. Senior Pierson Gurrant is also back after claiming the MEC title in the 3,200 last season.
Luke Adams, who took home the MEC title in the 1,600 and finished fifth in the 3,200 at regionals last season, will look to continue his dominance in 2024.
Girls runners Sage Terkaken, Charlotte Melroy and Rhodes Gould will compete as some of the area's best in the 100, 200, and 400-meter dashes.
Bailey Willard, Sr., Laney
Willard returns as the area's best girls discus athlete, throwing an area furthest 131-2 last spring as she won every discus event until the 4A state championship, where she placed fifth.
She's joined by cross-country star Daniel Kelmer, who logged an area-best performance in the boys 1,600 in the 2023 4A state championship.
Junior sprinters Lukas Maleek and Bennet Casper round out Laney's field of talented athletes for 2024.
Cashmere James., Sr., New Hanover
James claimed MEC titles in the 200 and 400 a season ago and should be a frontrunner for the area's best time in the 100 this spring.
Fellow sprinter Au'Wann Gary and long jumper David Montague round out some of the Wildcats most talented boys athletes this spring.
Senior girls runner Meagan Lundin returns after totaling 24 first-place finishes across six events last spring.
Jasmine Colwell, Sr., North Brunswick
Colwell claimed a MEC title in shot put and finished second at regionals in the event in 2023.
The senior is joined by Macie Inman and boys sprinters Reade Frink, Timothy White and Dytrick Whiters.
Aidan Murray, Jr., Pender
Murray is back after claiming a Waccamaw Conference title in the 800 and 1,600 last spring.
Fellow sprinters Julius Yasir and Damonte Hill return after both earned top-two finishes in the Waccamaw Conference championship in 2023.
Olivia Gurganus is back after securing conference titles in the long and triple jumps last season. Sprinter Grace Bordeaux is also back after claiming the Waccamaw Conference title in the 400.
Ellie Harrington, Sr., South Brunswick
Harrington returns as one of the Cougars’ top distance runners in 2024. She is joined by fellow distance runner Ella Grace Moffit and senior shot put specialist Caleb Combs.
Transfer student Teerapun Chanaman joins junior Alyssa Fisher and sophomore Kimber Cook and will compete in sprints and the long jump.
Owen Reece, Soph., Topsail
Reece is Topsail's top returning distance runner this spring, claiming top-four finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200 last season.
Fellow long-distance runners Jonathan Salene and James Pickelsimer will look to follow in Reece's footsteps this spring. Joining them are senior runners Nick Anders, Jude Cayton and Robert Tellez.
Yahir Sanchez Santiago, Jr., Trask
The junior distance runner is coming off a big 2023 season that saw him earn top-3 finishes in three events, including first place in the 3,200 in the Waccamaw Conference championship last season.
Fellow junior Jayden Hoffman is back as one of the Titans’ most experienced girls runners in 2024. Hoffman finished fourth in the 400 at last year's regionals regionals.
Senior Miguel Flores returns after earning a Waccamaw Conference title in the high jump last season. Seniors Kyle Moore and Camden Heflin will look to improve in the 800 as they finished second and fourth in the event in the Waccamaw Conference championship in 2023.
Nickalas Brown, Soph., West Brunswick
Brown showed his speed as a freshman, earning a top-10 finish in the 400 in the MEC championship.
He's joined bysenior Kaden Bryant, who also runs the 400. Sophomore Bryan Hollis and senior John Nguyen return as two of the Trojans top distance runners this spring.
Other track and field athletes to watch: Jack Macdonald, Topsail; Jordan Fuller, Topsail; Chloe Davis, New Hanover; Cara Egan, New Hanover; Ava Grant, West Brunswick.
Boys tennis
Hayes Gilbert, Sr., Cape Fear Academy
Gilbert embarks on his senior season after going 9-0 as a junior and defeating every Wilmington-area boys player in 2023.
Grant Kleppinger, Fr., Cape Fear Academy
Kleppinger went 4-0 at No. 3 Singles and teamed up with senior Cole Stockman to go 5-0 at No. 1 Doubles last season.
Augie Ballantine, Sr., New Hanover
The Mideastern Conference's best boys player in 2023, Ballantine went 12-1 at No. 1 Singles last spring.
Brett Li, Soph., Hoggard
After leading Hoggard to a 13-4 record and MEC title last spring, Li returns as one of the MEC's top players.
Langston Friedhoff, Sr., Topsail
Friedhoff is one of the Pirates’ most experienced players this spring, going 7-5 at No. 4 Singles in 2023.
Boys golf
Maddox Cook, Jr., Hoggard
Cook returns as one of the area's best golfers after medaling in three MEC matches last spring and finishing third overall at regionals.
Teammate Dylan Lewis is back afterfinishing No. 32 in last year's state championship.
Carson Etters, Jr., New Hanover
Etters finished 16th at regionals last spring and was the only Wildcat to place at states.
He's joined by a strong field of New Hanover golfers, including sophomores Will Cherry (Who had the MEC's lowest stroke count in 2023), William Davis, and senior Frank Averitt.
Cash Scerri, Fr., Cape Fear
Scerri tied for 17th in the NCISAA Division II boys golf state championship last spring as an eighth grader.
Fellow freshman Spencer Mills is also looking to make a splash in 2024 after finishing tied for 22 at the event. Sophomore William Wells also tied for 17th at the state championship, helping Cape Fear Academy finish fifth overall.
Gregor Brock, South Brunswick
Brock finished just outside the top 10 in the first MEC golf match of the 2024 season on Feb. 26.
Teammates Nolan Bumgarner and Anthony Mintz will look to help South Brunswick advance to a 3A state championship this spring.
Other golfers to watch: Sterrett Farmer, Topsail; Ethan Trezler, North Brunswick; Liam Rountree, Ashley; Parker Joyner, Laney.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: 83 Wilmington-area tennis, track and field athletes to watch in 2024
