HEADLINE STORY
Friday, November 4th, 2005

Congratulations Crusader State Champions!

The Shannon Forest Christian School Athletic Program ran and spiked their way to an unprecedented THREE North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) State Championship titles this past weekend. Boys' and Girls' Cross Country and Lady Crusaders Volleyball teams are still celebrating their weekend State victories. 'To compete and win at the State level for one team is an honor,' said SFCS Athletic Director Rita Harrell. 'To bring home three State Championships in one weekend speaks volumes for the talents and dedication of our players and coaching staff. I couldn't be more proud.'

SFCS Boys' Cross Country NCISAA 1A State Champions! Cross Country action took place on Friday, October 28, in Hendersonville, North Carolina where the Crusader Boys' team left the competition in the dust, scoring 20 points to take the 1A State Championship. The closest competitor was Covenant Day School with 89 points. SFCS' domination was evident with four
runners placing in the top five, including a one-two finish from Joe Sell and Adam
Groblewski. Sell's winning time was 17:30. Joining Sell and Groblewski on the all-state team were Robert Hawthorne (4th place), Adam Pitts (5th place), Chris Tate (8th place) and Andrew Holmes (11th place).

SFCS Girls' Cross Country - NCISAA 1A State Champions!
The Cross Country victories continued when the Lady Crusaders ran away with another state championship trophy edging out Covenant Day 48 - 50. SFCS top runner, Simone Clayton finished in 3rd place and Catherine Funk brought in a 6th place finish. Both girls
earned all-state recognition.

SFCS Volleyball Team - NCISAA 1A State Champions!
The road to the NCISAA 1A State championship began at Shannon
Forest, this year's state tournament host school, on Tuesday, October 25, when the 5th
seeded SFCS easily defeated 12th seeded Flora MacDonald.

SFCS 25 Flora MacDonald 9
SFCS 25 Flora MacDonald 8
SFCS 25 Flora MacDonald 19
Kayla O'Kelley dominated on the court with 19 kills and 6 service points. Katherine
Carter added her 10 kills to the win and Savannah Boccio racked up 33 assists and
10 service points. Ariel Seppala recorded 5 kills and 8 services points and Laurie Lusk
had a good showing scoring 13 service points.

SFCS vs. Statesville Christian
The team was poised for a tough fight in game two when they faced the number 4th seeded Statesville Christian on Friday, October 28. The Lady Crusaders had lost a nail-biting, five game match to their opponent in an early season tournament in Statesville. The contest
was close and competitive, but SFCS emerged victorious in four games:
SFCS 25 Statesville 16
SFCS 25 Statesville 27
SFCS 25 Statesville 22
SFCS 25 Statesville 14
O'Kelley, again was on her game with 16 kills, 8 blocks and 14 service points. Boccio played her game with 30 assists and Carter came on strong with 10 kills and 7 blocks. Halina Wilusz played to win with 6 kills and 11 service points.

SFCS vs. High Point - Championship Game!
With the top-seeded teams out of the way, the Championship game was a contest between 5th seeded SFCS and 6th seeded High Point. The scrappy and tough High Point team emerged victorious in a surprising upset over last years State Champions - Cresset Christian. The action was again very competitive with neither team willing to back down under the pressure of the final contest. The Lady Crusaders tasted victory and liked it, battling their way to a three game victory.
SFCS 25 High Point 21
SFCS 25 High Point 22
SFCS 25 High Point 18

O'Kelley showed why she was named to the all-state team by once again dominating on the court with 19 kills. Carter shined in her final game at SFCS with 14 kills and 7 blocks. Boccio recorded 26 assists and Ariel Seppala dug out 6 times. Wilusz recorded 11 service points for the victory. 'This championship was a culmination of a lot of hard work, dedication
and team work that took place over the last several years, commented SFCS Assistant Coach Ryan Godsey.

The SFCS 1A NCISAA State Champions will say goodbye to six seniors this year:
Savannah Boccio, Ariel Seppala, Katherine Carter, Laura Cornett, Laurie Lusk and Caroline Hopkins. The SFCS Athletic Program is looking forward to strong players moving up from the Junior Varsity squad for a winning season next year. Check out www.tribunetimes.com, click on sports, read the great write-up on the SFCS victories and then click on photo galleries to view Gwinn Davis' wonderful photos of the NCISAA State Volleyball victory!

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