East Wilkes earned a share of the Northwest 1A Conference softball championship this spring. (Photo courtesy of Mount Airy High School)
The Mount Airy Granite Bears were named the Northwest 1A Conference Cup Champions for the 2021-22 school year.
This marks Mount Airy’s first Conference Cup since the 2017-18 school year. The Granite Bears most recently finished third in the NW1A Cup in 2020-21.
The Wells Fargo Conference Cup is a companion to the Wells Fargo Cup and recognizes schools with the best overall interscholastic athletic performances within individual conferences. In most conferences, points are awarded based on participation and standings in conference play. Each conference determines its own method of awarding points.
Since the NW1A Conference is composed of seven schools, teams were awarded seven points for each conference championship victory. Second-place finishes earned a school six points, third-place finishes earned five points and one fewer through seventh place.
If schools tied in the final standings, each team would split an equal amount of points. For example: Mount Airy, Elkin and South Stokes tied for first place in girls soccer so all three teams received six points.
Schools that did not have enough participants to compete as a team in a particular sport weren’t given any points in that sport.
Full standings for the NW1A Conference Cup are below:
1. Mount Airy – 110.5
2. Elkin – 100.5
3. South Stokes – 77.0
4. Starmount – 73.5
5. East Wilkes – 71.0
6. North Stokes – 43.5
7. Alleghany – 41.0
Mount Airy won eight conference championships out of 21 total sports; seven of the eight were outright championships, while one was shared. The Bears conference titles came in the following sports: football, boys soccer, girls tennis, girls basketball, wrestling, girls indoor track, girls soccer (tied) and boys tennis.
In addition to winning the most conference titles of any NW1A team, the Granite Bears also had the most second-place finishes in the conference. Mount Airy finished second in seven sports: girls golf, volleyball (tie), boys basketball, boys swim, girls swim, baseball and boys golf. The Bears also finished third in boys indoor track and boys outdoor track.
Mount Airy fielded teams in 19-of-21 total sports and finished in the top three of 17. The school only had one seventh-place finish this school year.
Elkin had the second-most conference championships with seven – six outright and one shared – and tied with East Wilkes for the second-most second-place finishes.
The Buckin’ Elks’ won the following conference titles: boys cross country, girls cross country, volleyball, boys swim, girls swim, girls soccer (tie) and girls outdoor track. Elkin’s four runner-up finishes came in: boys soccer, girls indoor track, boys golf and boys tennis (tie). The school’s three third-place finishes came in girls golf, girls tennis (tie) and softball (tie).
Elkin fielded a team in 20-of-21 sports; no NW1A fielded all 21 sports. The Elks finished outside the top three in six sports, including two seventh-place finishes.
After Elkin was South Stokes. South won five conference championships, including one shared title.
The Sauras five conference titles came in the following sports: girls golf, boys basketball, baseball, boys golf and girls soccer (tie). South finished second in girls cross country and girls outdoor track, and third in both football and softball (tie).
South Stokes fielded teams in 16-of-21 sports. The Sauras finished outside the top three in seven sports, and were seventh in one.
Starmount followed South Stokes in the final standings. The Rams won two conference championships: an outright title in boys outdoor track, and a shared title in softball.
Starmount added two second-place finishes – football and wrestling – and had the most third-place finishes of any NW1A team with six: boys soccer, girls tennis (tie), girls basketball, boys swim, girls swim and baseball.
The Rams fielded teams in 16-of-21 sports. Starmount finished outside the top three in eight sports, and didn’t have any seventh-place finishes.
East Wilkes won its only conference championship by sharing the softball title with Starmount. The Cardinals tied Mount Airy with the most second-place finishes with four, coming in the following sports: girls tennis, girls basketball, boys indoor track and boys tennis (tie).
East Wilkes added third-place finishes in wrestling, girls indoor track and girls outdoor track.
The Cards fielded teams in 17-of-21 sports. East Wilkes finished outside the top three in nine sports, and didn’t have any seventh-place finishes.
North Stokes won its only conference title in boys indoor track. The Vikings added a second-place finish in boys outdoor track, and two third-place finishes in girls tennis (tie) and boys basketball.
North fielded teams in 15-of-21 sports. The Vikings finished outside the top three in 11 sports, including four seventh-place finishes.
Alleghany’s only top three appearance was in volleyball, where the Trojans tied for second with Mount Airy. Alleghany fielded 16-of-21 teams, finished outside the top three in 15 of those and had four seventh-place finishes.
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