NEWS

Owen High School update: 'Excitement' for football season, student-athletes 'adapted'

Ty Roush
Black Mountain News
Owen High School held its first football practice on Feb. 8, 2021.

BLACK MOUNTAIN - Owen High School is more than a week out from its football season.

The Warhorses host West Henderson High School for their season opener on Feb. 26.  Football practices started Feb. 8, with workouts held from July through December before being picked up again in January.

Athletic director Anthony Lynn said he's looking forward to students returning to classrooms as well as the field.

"It's been a challenge," Lynn said. "All of our students being remote, we've been able to communicate with them, but it's just been difficult not building those one-on-one relationships."

Through the fall and into the new year, the school has "learned what seems like something new every day," with athletics working with smaller organized groups of student-athletes for practices and workouts.

Bleachers are now marked by green tape to spread attendees horizontally and vertically. All parents are screened before each event, and, Lynn says, all precautions are followed through.

"The players, as well as the parents, they've all adapted and everybody's just been doing their part to help these student-athletes try to have a modified season," Lynn said.

For football, attendance is limited to 100 home fans with "a lot of those tickets (being) awarded to our football parents."

An emphasis on safety measures was necessary.

"We're glad to be able to do our part with the safety measures up so these student-athletes can have some sort of normalcy as a high school," Lynn said.

And being able to get out of the house helps, too.

"I will say, kids have looked forward to athletics because they've been kind of isolated a lot at home, and athletics has been an outlet for them to get out of the house and to see some of their friends or create that little bit of socialization as well," Lynn added.

Season updates

Swimming

Senior Sam Hey finished with a 2:06.53 at the 200-yard individual medley at regional competition on Feb. 5. His third-place finish qualified him for one of 12 spots competing for a 1A/2A state championship on Feb. 12.

Hey participated in two regional events following a Western Highlands Conference championship run.

Cross Country

Both the Warlassies and Warhorses won conference titles in January.

Hannah Larios led the Warlassies with a first-place finish in 20:49.6. Of the seven who finished the race, four placed in the top 10 and all seven placed in the top 15.

Five of seven Warhorses finished in the top 15. Elijah Harris led with 17:47.3, followed by Jaheem Ohara in 18:02.4 and Trevor Nail in 13:34.4.

Schedules

Football

  1. Feb. 26: Season opener vs. West Henderson
  2. March 5: Home vs. East Henderson
  3. March 12: Away vs. Mitchell
  4. March 19: Home vs. Polk County
  5. March 26: Home vs. Mountain Heritage
  6. April 2: Home vs. Avery County
  7. April 9: Away vs. Madison

Boys basketball

  1. Jan. 7: Season-opening loss at home to Pisgah, 76-34
  2. Jan. 11: Home loss vs. Haywood Christian Academy, 59-54
  3. Jan. 15: Home win vs. Mitchell, 81-76
  4. Jan. 18: Home loss vs. Polk County, 61-56
  5. Jan. 21: Road loss vs. Mountain Heritage, 52-51
  6. Jan. 27: Road win vs. Avery County, 65-50
  7. Jan. 29: Home win vs. Madison, 80-78
  8. Feb. 3: Road loss vs. Mitchell, 71-63
  9. Feb. 4: Road loss vs. Polk County, 56-52
  10. Feb. 9: Home vs. Mountain Heritage
  11. Feb. 12: Home vs. Avery County
  12. Feb. 15: Away vs. Madison

Girls basketball

  1. Jan. 4: Season-opening loss vs. Hendersonville, 53-45
  2. Jan. 8: Home loss vs. Pisgah, 61-26
  3. Jan. 11: Home win vs. Haywood Christian, 66-44
  4. Jan. 15: Home loss vs. Mitchell, 62-45
  5. Jan. 18: Home win vs. Polk County, 43-26
  6. Jan. 21: Road loss vs. Mountain Heritage, 62-42
  7. Jan. 27: Road loss vs. Avery County, 57-52
  8. Jan. 29: Home win vs. Madison, 52-41
  9. Feb. 3: Road loss vs. Mitchell, 71-28
  10. Feb. 9: Home vs. Mountain Heritage
  11. Feb. 12: Home vs. Avery County
  12. Feb. 15: Away vs. Madison

Boys soccer

  1. Jan. 25: Season-opening tie at Smoky Mountain, 3-3
  2. Feb. 1: Home loss vs. Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, 0-2
  3. Feb. 8: Home vs. Mitchell
  4. Feb. 10: Home vs. Polk County
  5. Feb. 15: At Mountain Heritage
  6. Feb. 22: Home vs. Madison
  7. Feb. 24: At Mitchell
  8. March 1: At Polk County
  9. March 3: Home vs. Mountain Heritage
  10. March 8: Home vs. Avery County
  11. March 10: At Madison
  12. March 12: Home vs. McDowell

Upcoming seasons

  • March 1: Softball, girls soccer, boys tennis and golf to start practices
  • April 12: Baseball and track and field to start practices
  • Wrestling: Season to come at end of the school year because of concerns with increased body contact