Owen celebrates with ‘high five’
Quintet of Warhorses and Warlassies sign with collegiate programs
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
April 21, 2022
Five Owen High School athletes committed to college programs, April 21, in a signing ceremony held in the school’s gym. Photo by Fred McCormick
Celebratory hand gestures are a regular occurrence at Owen athletic events, but the school gave new meaning to the term ‘high five,’ April 21, when family, friends, teammates, teachers and coaches cheered on a quintet of student-athletes.
The event honored a group of Warhorses, Warlassies and Seahorses, as Zeke Grabowski, Aidan Noonan, Chloe Little, Jason Gun and Bailee Worley officially announced plans to continue their respective playing careers at the collegiate level.
Zeke Grabowski and Aidan Noonan
Owen seniors and longtime friends Zeke Grabowski, left, and Aidan Noonan will continue their wrestling careers at Montreat College. Photo by Fred McCormick
Longtime friends, Grabowski and Noonan, won’t have to travel far to continue their wrestling careers together at Montreat College, and that was the plan all along, according to Noonan.
“We set this goal in our tenth-grade year, which was the first year Montreat had a wrestling program,” he said. “I wanted to keep wrestling with him for however long we can, and we both wanted to stay close to home.”
Marking the occasion next to Noonan was a “great feeling,” said Grabowski, who finished fourth in the state in the 120-pound weight division in February.
“This is something we’ve talked about for a long time,” he said. “Now I’m sitting here next to my best friend, knowing we’re going to wrestle together in college, and I’m proud that we were able to reach that goal.”
Attending Montreat College will also allow Grabowski to remain close to his grandmother, who was seated to his right when he signed the letter of intent.
“These are fantastic kids,” she said of Grabowski and Noonan. “One of the reasons they wanted to stay close to home was to take care of me, because I’m in poor health. And, I just think that’s such an amazing thing for them to do.”
Chloe Little
Owen swimmer Chloe Little, who finished eighth in the state in the 100-meter breaststroke, will continue her athlete career at Campbellsville University. Photo by Fred McCormick
Little, who finished eighth in the state in the 100-meter breaststroke, played a huge role in the success of the 2021-22 Owen Seahorses swim team, which won the Western Highlands Conference championship before earning a trip to the state championship meet in February.
The standout swimmer will be back in the pool when she attends Campbellsville University in Kentucky.
“Around my sophomore year, I completely fell in love with swimming and knew I wanted to compete in college,” Little said. “I started looking around, and had some trouble finding the right fit. This small school in Kentucky reached out, and that was the first tour I went on.”
She quickly felt at home on the campus.
“I met the coach and the team, and they were all amazing. I was so happy I went there,” Little said. “I knew immediately that was where I wanted to be.”
Little, a silver medalist in the Western Regionals, began swimming in the Black Mountain Stingrays youth organization.
“My parents signed me up, just for fun, and it’s something that allowed me to get where I am right now,” she said. “It really helped me focus on growing as a swimmer, and it’s still doing the same thing for a lot of kids around here today.”
As she looks ahead to her personal goals with the Tigers, Little has a simple plan.
“Honestly, I just want to keep dropping time,” she said. “That sounds so simple, but it can be overwhelming when you put too many expectations on yourself, so my goal is just to improve.”
Jason Gun
Owen standout and current member of the Asheville City Soccer Club, Jason Gun, commits to continue his playing career at East Tennessee State University. Photo by Fred McCormick
Fans of Owen soccer have been watching Gun score goals in bunches since he emerged a starter for the varsity program as a freshman in 2018. Fans of the Asheville City Soccer Club are anticipating his return to the pitch in Memorial Stadium when they kick off the 2022 season in May.
His next move will take him to Johnson City this fall, where he’ll join the program at East Tennessee State University.
“The community there was unlike any other school I saw,” Gun said. “The people were all really nice, and they have a great campus. I was really impressed by the college and soccer program.”
What Gun brings to the Buccaneers, according to Owen head coach David Fiest, is a unique ability to adapt while working tirelessly to earn playing time.
“You don’t get a lot of opportunities to coach kids that have the drive Jason does,” Fiest said. “He showed every year that he wanted it, and he was willing to do whatever he had to do to accomplish the goals he set for himself. He really pushed the team to be better.”
Bailee Worley
Owen multi-sport athlete Bailee Worley will join the softball program at Pfeiffer University. Photo by Fred McCormick
With six games left to play in her final season with the Warlassies softball team, the starting catcher signed to continue her career in the Piedmont. After committing to Carolina University as a junior, Worley, a multi-sport athlete at Owen, will attend Pfeiffer University.
“I started to feel like (Carolina University) might not be the right fit for me,” she said. “I decommitted, and the coach told me the coach from Pfeiffer was interested in me possibly playing there.”
After visiting Pfeiffer in the fall, Worley was convinced she had found the right college.
“I fell in love with it,” she said. “I knew it was the one place I really wanted to go.”
The Falcons are currently 28-8 under head coach Monte Sherrill, who entered the season with a career record of 194-49. The leadership of the program stood out to Worley.
“I’m looking forward to developing a better understanding of the game,” she said. “I really want to learn more about the analytical aspects of softball, and I know that’s something Coach Sherrill focuses on.”
Continuing her softball career at the collegiate level will fulfill a lifelong dream for Worley, who also started on the Warlassies volleyball and basketball teams.
“Softball has always been the sport I wanted to play in college,” she said. “It was the last sport I tried out, other than track, and as soon as I picked up a ball and bat I knew it was what I wanted to do. I started playing travel ball, I play year-round, and I’ve never stopped loving it.”