Mia Roland repeats as Owen High School Overall Athlete of the Year
Warhorses and Warlassies recognize top players of 2024-25
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 22, 2025
Mia Roland was named the Owen High School Overall Athlete of the Year for the second straight year, May 21, becoming the first student-athlete to earn the honor in their first two seasons. Photo by Fred McCormick
Mia Roland’s face displayed little emotion, May 21, when an audience of student-athletes, parents, coaches, teachers and administrators applauded, thunderously, while she walked to the stage in her school’s auditorium. In her typically composed fashion, the sophomore unassumingly completed a feat never achieved in Owen’s storied athletic history.
The multi-sport star, with two years remaining in maroon and white, is now the first to begin a playing career with back-to-back Owen High School Overall Athlete of the Year Awards.
Roland, a member of the Warlassies volleyball, basketball and softball teams, was one of many student-athletes, including Male Athlete of the Year, Davis Kendall, and Female Athlete of the Year, Elly Wright, to attend the school’s 2024-25 Spring and Year-End Athletic Awards Ceremony.
The annual event, hosted by Owen Assistant Principal and Administrator of Athletics Nathan Padgett, recognized a range of the program’s accomplishments in the final season of the academic year. Owen Athletics won three Western Highlands Conference Championships, earned two WHC Coach of the Year honors and claimed multiple WHC Player of the Year recognitions in the Spring.
The school collected a total of five conference titles throughout 2024-25.
The reigning holder of the Wells Fargo Cup, which is awarded by the WHC to the member school with the best overall interscholastic athletic performance, is likely to remain in the Swannanoa Valley, according to Padgett.
“Unofficially, we are in first place to win the Wells Fargo Cup for the fourth year in a row,” Padgett said. “A huge congratulations to all of our players and coaches, because that is a big deal.”
Elly Wright and Davis Kendall are the 2025 Owen High School Female and Male Athletes of the Year. Photo by Fred McCormick
More than 40 Warhorses and Warlassies earned all-conference nods in the spring, when the men’s track & field team earned its fourth consecutive conference crown during a season in which head coach Bob Sadlemire was named WHC Track & Field Coach of the Year. Seven members of the Warhorses and Warlassies qualified for the 2025 NCHSAA 2A State Championship meet.
Owen softball head coach Pete Ledford was awarded the WHC Softball Coach of the Year, leading his team to a flawless 12-0 record against conference opponents. Representing the Warlassies were eight all-conference players, the WHC Pitcher of the Year, senior Sophie Neal, who earned the title for the second straight season. Roland, who batted .600 while led Owen with a .600 batting average, 10 home runs and 36 RBI last season, was named the WHC Player of the Year.
Two of the best tennis players in Owen history, according to coach Chris Barcklow, were recognized for their help in leading the Warhorses to a Co-WHC Tennis Championship in the spring. Seniors Blake Bradley and Rafa Kohn repeated as NCHSAA 2A West Regional Champions, posting a 54-3 career record in doubles competition.
Bradley was named the WHC Tennis Player of the Year, with a 17-1 record in top seeded singles matches.
Owen senior Eli Lewkowicz represented his school as the WHC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. The point guard, who helped lead his basketball team to a 19-7 record and an appearance in the second round of the playoffs, will graduate with 4.42 grade point average before attending Milligan University.
‘A force to be reckoned with’
Mia Roland continues to collect accolades, as the Western Highlands Conference Athlete of the Year earns her second straight Owen Overall Athlete of the Year Award. Photo by Fred McCormick
Roland’s impact on Owen Athletics can be witnessed in the fall, winter and spring. The WHC Athlete of the Year possesses the ability to take over a competition, whether its on the volleyball and basketball courts or the softball diamond.
“She was All-WHC in volleyball, All-WHC in basketball, first in rebounds per game,” Padgett said. “She was All-WHC in softball and led the conference in multiple categories, including batting average, home runs, RBI, runs scored, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.”
Roland is a finalist for the Aiken, Meyer, Whatley/Wells Fargo Advisors Division II Female Athlete Major Sport Award, which will be handed out, Sunday, May 25, at the 63rd WNC Sports Awards Banquet in the Omni Grove Park Inn.
“You’re more than an athlete, you’re a force to be reckoned with,” Padgett said, before announcing Roland as the winner. “The determination you bring to every challenge on the field, off the field and in the classroom reflects your strength, independence and character.”
Earning the award for the second straight year was a “shock,” according to Roland.
“It’s definitely exciting, and it’s definitely a start,” she said. “But, like I said last year, you can’t be comfortable with the comfortable, you have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. You still have to work when no one is watching.”
Remaining committed to the habits that have allowed her to continue growing as an athlete and student.
“Success comes quietly,” Roland said. “Obviously, discipline, hard work and persistence are important, but it’s also really important to choose to see the best in people. Nobody knows your story, and you don’t know anyone else’s.”
That approach, she added, allows the athlete to focus on the challenges ahead.
“There is always some area where you can get better,” Roland said. “Just be humble and keep working hard.”
Davis Kendall goes out on top
Owen senior Davis Kendall, who was won three state championships in three sports and scored 78 career goals, was named the 2025 Owen Male Athlete of the Year. Photo by Fred McCormick
In a high school soccer and sprinting career filled with ups and downs, Kendall, as he has done throughout, finished on top. The senior, who led the Warhorse soccer program to its first state championship in 2022, will graduate as his school’s top male athlete.
Kendall enjoyed a stellar sophomore campaign, earning a state championship in fall, winter and spring on his way to the 2023 Owen Overall Athlete of the Year Award. While he entered his junior year with lofty ambitions, he was sidelined by a knee injury, just three months into the season.
The fiery athlete returned to the soccer field last fall, scoring 10 goals in his first six matches, before Tropical Storm Helene cut the season nearly in half. Kendall responded by leading the Warhorses to a spotless WHC record and a postseason appearance.
The WHC Player of the Year and All-State selection and finalist for the Prescription Pad Pharmacies Division II Male Athlete Major Sport Award in the upcoming WNC Sports Awards Banquet will continue his soccer career at Gardner-Webb University.
Receiving the Male Athlete of the Year Award was bittersweet for Kendall.
“After my sophomore year, it’s hard to top that feeling of winning the overall award, not that I think I deserved it this year,” he said. “But, it’s tough when I think about how fast everything flew by.”
Kendall finishes his career with 78 career goals and state title in the indoor track 500 meter dash and outdoor 4x400 meter relay.
While the accolades he accumulated in a Warhorse uniform are many, his experience has provided him with valuable lessons.
“After my freshman and sophomore years I just thought things were going to keep going up. I had three state championships and thought I’d end up with so many more,” Kendall said. “I really learned that even when success comes quickly, it can be taken away.”
He encourages the next generation of Owen athletes to enjoy their time doing what they love.
“Don’t take it too seriously,” Kendall said. “It goes by fast.”
Elly Wright snags new hardware
Owen junior three-sport athlete Elly Wright recorded a .1000 fielding percentage in 2025, earning an All-Western Highlands Conference nod and the 2025 Owen Female Athlete of the Year Award. Photo by Fred McCormick
The announcement that she was named the 2025 Owen Female Athlete of the Year came upon Wright like a line drive at second base, where she earned all-conference recognition. As she normally does in that scenario, the junior received the news, seemingly effortlessly.
The three-sport athlete, who competed in golf, basketball and softball, earned two all-conference selections this year and led the Warlassies basketball team in scoring. Wright was also recognized by her softball coaches as the team’s Defensive Player of the Year Award winner.
Her performance in the field was remarkably consistent. according to Ledford.
“Her fielding percentage was .1000, which means no errors,” he said. “She had 40 put outs and three double plays, so the DPOY goes to Elly Wright.”
At the plate, Wright batted .328, drove in 23 runs and tallied 3 home runs, but she never imagined herself as being considered the school’s top female athlete.
“I didn’t think I would get this,” she said. “All thanks to my coaches. I was very surprised.”
Surrounded by her teammates, she was caught off-guard by the announcement.
“I think my heart stopped for a second,” Wright said. “I was still nervous coming up here, so it took me a minute to process it.”
The recognition, she added, validates her commitment to improving as an athlete.
“Hard work and dedication is what this represents to me,” Wright said. “It shows me that if I keep pushing myself, anything can happen.”