1. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
8 • Thursday, June 2, 2016
DailyNewsDailyNews
WASHINGTON
SPORTS BRIEFS:
ON DECK:
To submit an item to On Deck, email it to
sports@thewashingtondailynews.com
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
Baseball:
XX Bear Grass at Beaufort County
Post 15 7 p.m.
MONDAY, JUNE 6
Baseball:
XX Minor recreation league champion-
ship 6 p.m.
XX Edenton Post 40 at Beaufort County
Post 15 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, JUNE 7
Baseball:
XX Major recreation league champion-
ship 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
Baseball:
XX T-ball championship 11 a.m.
XX Cary Post 67 at Beaufort County
Post 15 4 p.m.
TUESDAY, JUNE 14
Baseball:
XX Windsor Post 37 at Beaufort County
Post 15 7 p.m.
JONES SILS IN NCAA
OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
Senior jumper Avion Jones
became the second member
of the East Carolina track
and field program to qual-
ify for this year’s NCAA
Outdoor Championships
as he tied for the highest
mark in the high jump on
Saturday at the NCAA East
Preliminary inside Hodges
Stadium on the campus of
the University of North
Florida.
Jones reached a height
of 2.17 meters (7-1½) before
the event was ended by meet
officials due to having the
sufficient 12 athletes quali-
fied for the NCAA Outdoor
Championships. He will join
classmate Raqurra Ishmar in
Eugene after Ishmar finished
11th in the discus Friday to
claim her spot.
ECU nearly had a third
entry into nationals, but se-
nior Allen Bordley finished
one spot out of qualification
in the triple jump as he took
13th place with a career-
best mark of 15.78 meters
(51-9¼).
In the shot put, sophomore
Galissia Cause and Ishmar
finished in 37th and 40th
place respectively with tosses
of 14.69 and 14.55 meters.
The Pirate 4-by-100 relay
teams also competed Satur-
day as the men (Tamarack
Bolden, Hakeem Horton,
Jordan Martin, Vincent Rag-
land) took 20th place in a
time of 40.28 and the women
(Madison Rayfield, Amanda
Salami, Cedrina Singletary,
Courtney Warner) claimed
23rd by crossing the line in
46.15.
The NCAA Outdoor Cham-
pionships are scheduled for
June 8-11 at Hayward Stadi-
um in Eugene, Oregon.
RETIRED ‘VOICE OF
THE TAR HEELS’
HAS NEUROCOGNITIVE
DISORDER
CHAPEL HILL (AP) —
Retired North Carolina ra-
dio play-by-play announcer
Woody Durham says he has a
neurocognitive disorder and
will no longer perform public
speaking activities.
In an open letter to fans
released by the school
Wednesday, the former
“Voice of the Tar Heels”
who retired in 2011 says he
was diagnosed last winter
with primary progressive
aphasia, which affects lan-
guage expression.
Durham says he will con-
tinue to travel with his wife
Jean, attend school functions
and sporting events. He also
mentioned raising awareness
and money for research or
treatment of neurocognitive
disorders.
Durham called football
and men’s basketball games
from 1971 through 2011, call-
ing more than 1,800 games
with a voice that became in-
extricably tied to some of the
school’s most unforgettable
victories.
By MICHAEL PRUNKA
Washington Daily News
Whether it was on the grid-
iron, the wrestling mat, the dia-
mond or in the classroom, Neill
Jennings excelled at everything
he did both as a student and
an athlete. He spent countless
hours of his high school career
practicing, competing in games
and matches and representing
Washington the best he could
— all before he’d get home to do
the bulk of his schoolwork.
The result was one of the
most storied careers of any one
athlete in Pam Pack history. He
left an impact on each athletic
program — and the department
as a whole — during his four-
year career. Among the most
memorable heights reached
during his years donning vari-
ous Pam Pack jerseys was his
junior season when the football
team reached the state champi-
onship.
“Going to the state champi-
onship, it was a tough loss but
it was a great ride and a lot of
fun,” Jennings reflected. “We
played some really good foot-
ball. … I came in and we were a
10-win team, so we were pretty
good, but we had to get over the
hump. … We got better and bet-
ter each week, each year.”
Football coach Sport Sawyer
added, “Neill works hard every
day. He has a strong mental-
ity as far as wanting to be suc-
cessful in everything he did.
Football wise, he’d go out there
every day and do the drills real
hard. … Him and the other se-
niors were very good at leading
this team for the last few years.
The record speaks for itself.”
As a wrestler, Jennings played
an important role in what has
evolved into one of the east’s
most dominant programs.
The Pam Pack repeated as 2-A
Eastern Plains Conference
5th
PLACE 2016 STATE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
3TIME ALL-CONFERENCE
PLAYER
2TIME STATE
QUALIFIER
.405BATTING AVG.
(SOPHOMORE)
.380BATTING AVG.
(JUNIOR)
.450CAREER ON-BASE
PERCENTAGE
74-19
CAREER RECORD
Back injuries have plagued Jennings through-
out much of his junior and senior year at Wash-
ington, but he worked through it to become one
of the wrestling team’s most consistent athletes.
The result was the Pam Pack growing into a
group that can hang with the best the eastern
side of the state has to offer.
Jennings proved that in his junior season by
helping lead Washington to a conference cham-
pionship and, as an individual, qualifying for
the state championship. He and his teammates
proved this past year that, despite having targets
on their backs, they have what it takes to defend
their title, which is exactly what they did.
His accomplishments as an individual were
great, too. His goal going into his senior year, as
a wrestler, was to make the podium at the state
championship. He did that by placing fifth.
“He was right there with the best in the state.
He lost a match by three points to a kid that
made the finals,” Penhollow said. “He lost by one
point to the guy that took third. … He’s the first
one to make the podium in my career.”
Washington’s baseball team had struggled
before and throughout most of Jennings’ ten-
ure. The Pam Pack had won just 11 games in
the three seasons prior to his senior campaign.
As one of two seniors on this year’s squad,
Jennings helped lead the team to its first
winning record since well before he came on
board. He burst onto the scene with a .405 bat-
ting average in his sophomore season and fol-
lowed it up by batting .380 as a junior.
The Pam Pack recently wrapped up its sea-
son with a 15-10 record and an even 5-5 slate in
the EPC. Jennings spent most of the season
as the team’s designated hitter and was some-
what held back by his injury.
However, the leadership he brought to the
team was immeasurable.
“He works hard. Three sports, AP classes,
everything else he does in the summer, it’s
hard to do,” Leggett said. “You have to have a
great work ethic and he’s been able to excel in
all those things. You can do nothing but praise
him.”
Washington’s football program had been a con-
tender before Jennings arrived on the scene. Led
by senior quarterback and current ECU receiver
Jimmy Williams, the Pam Pack won 10 games
when Jennings was a freshman in 2012.
Jennings’ elite abilities on the offensive line
helped take Washington’s ground-based offense
to the next level, making it a threat to every other
2-A team in the state. The Pam Pack reached the
regional championship during his sophomore sea-
son, but was handled, 42-15, by T.W. Andrews.
It was disappointing, but it helped fuel the fire
and push Jennings and the Pam Pack to a state-
title match in his junior season.
“We went to High Point and really got it taken
to us by Andrews,” Jennings said. “Then we came
right back and everybody had a sour taste in their
mouthes. We came up to the (regional) final and
won that.”
Sawyer added, “He’s accomplished a whole lot as
a player. His back isn’t allowing him to go further.
For him, all the games he’s won and all his accom-
plishments, he can look back at his high school
days and be very proud.”
Wrestling
Baseball
Football
A MODEL LEGACYA look at
Jennings’
storied Pam
Pack career
See JENNINGS, Page 9
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