PREPS
Wildcats win Conference Cup
With the Top of the Hill Cup already in hand, signifying the town's top high school athletic program, East Chapel Hill has now won the Wachovia Conference Cup for the PAC-6, NCHSAA officials announced last week.

The Wachovia Conference Cup -- formerly known as the Wachovia Trophy -- is a companion to the Wachovia Cup, a statewide award given to schools with the best overall interscholastic athletic performance in each of the four classifications. In most conferences, points are awarded based on participation and standings in conference play. Each conference determines its own method of awarding points.

East took the Cup with championships in women's cross country, field hockey, women's tennis, men's tennis, men's and women's swimming and women's soccer, plus second-place finishes in lacrosse and softball, and third places in baseball, golf, and women's track.

CHHS led after fall and winter sports, winning men's cross country and tying for first in football, plus finishing second in women's cross country, field hockey, men's soccer, and women's tennis. Despite winning men's lacrosse and a runner-up finish in men's tennis in the spring, the Tigers ended up second (114.5 points) behind East (121).

Jordan was third (111.5) with a women's track title and second-place finishes in baseball, women's soccer and men's track. Riverside (100.5) was fourth, followed by Northern Durham (98.5), Person (61.5), Southern Durham (40), Hillside (35.5).

League crowns in men's golf, tennis, track, and women's soccer helped propel Cardinal Gibbons to the Mid-State 1-A/2-A Wachovia title. Orange was the second place team after ending the spring as the runner-up in baseball, softball, and women's track. Northwood was third, thanks to a conference title in softball. Cedar Ridge was fourth, followed by Carrboro, N.C. School of Science and Math, Durham School of the Arts, Graham, Raleigh Charter and Cummings.

CHHS golf tryouts
Tryouts for the Chapel Hill High School women's golf team at have been scheduled to start Aug. 7, at 1 p.m. at the Chapel Hill Country Club. Practice sessions will be held 3-6 p.m. each weekday from then until the beginning of classes, with the team roster selected before the start of school.

The tryouts are open to all girls in grades 9 through 12 in the 2009-10 school year. Players must have a physician's exam and have submitted completed medical and permission forms before participating in any practices.

Forms can be obtained from the CHHS web site. For more information, see the web site or contact CHHS head coach Jim Williams at 270-8920.

Metro Soccer camps in June
The Metros Soccer Academy camp series for boys and girls ages 8-15 will continue this summer with two sessions. Week one will be held June 22-26 at Durham's Woodcroft Soccer Fields. Week two will be July 13-16 at Chapel Hill High School Field. Each day's camp will run 8 a.m. to noon. Financial aid is available for selected youth.For more information call 929-1949 or email msa21@earthlink.net/.

Hocker to Henderson for Junior championship
Chapel Hillian Michael Hocker II carded a 74 Thursday at the Cardinal Country Club in Selma in sectional qualifying for the N.C. Junior Championship. Hocker was in a seven-way tie for fourth in the one-day event and was one of 20 young golfers to qualify our of a field of 72 entrants. Another sectional qualifier drew 85 to Sapona Country Club in Lexington on Thursday, but none were from Orange County.

The 42nd N.C. Junior Championship of the Carolinas Golf Association will be contested Tuesday through Friday at Henderson Country Club in Vance County. Past champions include Barden Berry (2002, 2003) and Dustin Bray (1999), both of whom went on to play for the UNC varsity.

COLLEGES

Bolas just barely off the pace
Wisconsin junior Jack Bolas finished fourth in heat No. 2 of the men's 1,500 meters Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, just outside the top three who automatically advanced from each heat. His fate rested in his time of 3:45.13, looking for one of the three at-large spots. In the end, his time was seventh-fastest out of the non-automatic group, bumping the Chapel Hill High alum out of the final.

Gilliam faces choice after MLB draft
Former East Chapel Hill High School pitcher Rob Gilliam was picked in the eighth round of the MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics with the 243rd overall pick. He joins former Chapel Hill High's Patrick Currin, Northern Durham's Ryan Falcon and Riverside's Lee Land as the fourth UNC-Greensboro pitcher drafted in the last three years. Currin, a right-hander like Gilliam, was taken by Oakland in the 22nd round of the 2006 First-Year Draft. Land went to Oakland and Falcon to Texas in the 2007 Draft.

"It is truly an honor be drafted by the Oakland Athletics," Gilliam said. "It has always been a dream of mine to play professional baseball and this just brings me one step closer to that goal."

Sporting a low- to mid-90s fastball, Gilliam began this past season at UNC Greensboro as a starter before returning to his more natural position in the bullpen. He struck out 66 batters in 54 2/3 innings of relief while yielding just 16 walks. Opposing hitters also batted just .193 against Gilliam when he came out of the bullpen.

Gilliam's efforts were the best this year in the Southern Conference in opponents' average, with hitters batting just .224 against him. His 78 total strikeouts this season were seventh in the conference, and he struck out a league-high 35 batters looking.

In his three years at UNCG, Gilliam has already stamped his place in the school record books. His seven saves in 2008 were the fifth-most saves in a single season by a Spartan and his four saves this season tied him for 10th all-time in the same category. Those 11 total saves ranks him fourth in school history in career saves, and he is currently tied for ninth for the most games relieved with 62.

Gilliam will have until Aug. 17 to decide whether to sign a professional contract or return to UNCG for his senior season.

Currin is currently with Oakland's team in Stockton, where he's 2-2 in 18 appearances so far this spring, with an ERA of 4.73 and 24 strikeouts against just nine walks in 32.1 innings pitched.

Honors for Carolina golfers
University of North Carolina sophomore Kevin O'Connell has been named to the 2009 Ping East All-East Team. O'Connell, a two-time All-ACC performer from Cary, was one of 24 players chosen for regional honors, as announced Monday by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

O'Connell was earlier selected to this year's All-ACC squad for the second consecutive year and was the 2008 ACC Freshman of the Year. Last summer, he played for the United States team in the USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship.

Two UNC female freshman, Catherine O'Donnell and Allie White, have been named 2009 Golfweek All-America Honorable Mention selections. O'Donnell and White were earlier selected to the 2009 All-Atlantic Coast Conference women's golf team and O'Donnell was chosen the ACC Freshman of the Year.

The freshman duo led the Tar Heels to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championship, their highest NCAA finish in school history.

O'Donnell, from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., picked up her first collegiate win in just her second tournament as a Tar Heel, tying for medalist honors at last fall's Tar Heel Invitational. This spring, she has carded three top-10 finishes and five in the top 20. She tied for 15th place at the NCAA East Regional played at the University of Florida's Mark Bostick Course.

White, from Lancaster, Ohio, has carded eight top-20 finishes this year, five in the spring. White tied for 15th place at the NCAA East Regional and tied for 16th at the NCAA Championship. White led the Tar Heels with a 73.78 stroke average while O'Donnell boasts a 74.03 average.

Too early to set the DVR
Just in case your already getting the shakes from going so long in between football games, Atlantic Coast Conference is letting you know ... waaaay in advance ... that North Carolina's home football game with East Carolina at noon on Saturday, Sept. 19, will be televised nationally by ESPN or ESPN2. (A decision on the specific network will be made at a later date.)

On Thursday, the ACC announced game times and television broadcasts for the first three weeks of the 2009 schedule. The UNC-ECU game is then only one during that time span with a set TV time.

North Carolina will kick off the 2009 football season versus The Citadel at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5., in a game that will not be televised but will be available on ESPN360.com. Carolina's game Sept. 12 at Connecticut is under control of the Big East Conference, and the start time will be announced at a later date.

Game times were announced for North Carolina's two Thursday night ESPN games. The Tar Heels will play host to Florida State on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. in the first Thursday night game in Kenan Stadium history. (Noteworthy: Carolina dedicated Kenan Stadium with a Thanksgiving Day game on Nov. 24, 1927, beating Virginia 14-13 in front of an overflow crowd.) The following week, Carolina travels to Virginia Tech for a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday, Oct. 29

Once the season begins, game times and TV will be announced each week by the Atlantic Coast Conference after discussions with the league's television partners: ESPN/ABC and Raycom Sports. The league's television partners will make their choices with a 12-day advanced notice beginning on Monday, Sept. 14 (for games on Saturday, Sept. 26).

FATHER'S DAY

Some late gift ideas for sports
For Father's Day this year, the Wyndham Championship (Aug. 17-23 in Greensboro) is offering two weekly grounds badges or ticket books, one VIP parking permit, a Wyndham Championship Fairway and Greene golf shirt and a sleeve of Titleist Pro V1 golf balls for just $200. (... a savings of $140.) The Father's Day package is available at the discounted price through Friday, June 19. To purchase the Father's Day package, visit www.wyndhamchampionship.com, download the order form and follow the ordering instructions.

Payne Stewart won the 1999 U.S. Open on Father's Day in Pinehurst, so, fittingly, the resort is offering a weekend special for dads, starting at $750. The event June 19-23 includes a caddied round on Pinehurst No. 2 (plus another round on another resort course), three nights accommodations, dinners and breakfasts, plus an opening night reception with author James Dodson, who wrote "A Son of the Game."

If baseball's your game, the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary will host a Father's Day Parent/Child Camp on June 20, with a fee of $50 ($20 for each extra sibling).For more information, contact USA Baseball at (919) 474-8721, ext. 219, or email camps@ usabaseball.com or see www.usabaseball.com/.

- chn -