Even as Christ School turns the page to a new year, athletes and coaches are receiving more postseason accolades for their work in 2019.
The Asheville Citizen-Times has published its All-Western North Carolina fall sports teams with honors going to nine different Greenies in cross country, football, or soccer.
The newspaper named Andrew Hammel ’20 its Runner of the Year in cross country for the third time. Randy Ashley is now a multiple winner as Coach of the Year, too, following a season in which Christ School won the Buncombe County meet for the first time in school history and its first Carolinas Athletic Association championship in 18 years. Andrew had some company as a first-team selection from Joseph Visconti ’20 and Rocky Hansen ‘23 was an honorable mention pick.
Christ School football’s state-runner team placed four players on the All-WNC Football squad – lineman Will Buchanan ’20 (first team), linebacker Read Sunn ’20 (first team), defensive back/wide receiver Aydan White ’20 (first team), and tight end Charlie Browder ’21 (second team). Jasper Thomas ’20, Kiki Alcime ’20, Cayden Jones ’23, Cade Mintz ’21, Lex Long ’21, Pierce Hammonds ’21, Navy Shuler ’20, and Painter Richards-Barker ’21 were honorable mention selections.
The Greenies went 6-4 in Nick Luhm’s first season as head coach, advancing to the NCISAA Division I state-championship game.
Soccer was the runner-up team in the CAA and advanced to the NCISAA playoffs with a 10-8-0 record. Midfielder Connor Hall ’20 was chosen as a first-team All-WNC player, while goalkeeper Michael Mahoney ’20 and forward Adam Keever ’20 landed spots on the second team. Honorable mention players for the team coached by Guy Campbell ‘00 were: Ethan Rose ‘23, Tyler Bell ‘20, Ollie Searle ‘21, Jack Lee ‘21, Aaron Chen ‘20, Kevin Masson ‘20, Carson Campbell ‘21, and Fox Smith ‘21.
Christ School resumes classes Tuesday following Christmas Break. The JV and varsity basketball teams play their next games Friday at Carmel Christian (5:30 p.m. and 7, respectively). The Little Greenies host St. Joseph’s Catholic (S.C.) that same afternoon at 5:30. Swimming’s next meet is scheduled for January 14, a six-team competition at the Buncombe County Schools Aquatic Center.