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High-fives for UA athletics program MONROE – Union Academy was awarded the 2021-22 Jack C. Gaster, Jr. Excellence in Athletics Award for the Yadkin Valley 1A/2A Conference. The award is in honor of longtime Albemarle High School football coach, Jack C. Gaster, Jr. for his commitment to high school athletics. The award is presented each year to a team within Albemarle’s conference for outstanding performance during the season. Points are awarded for
all sports on the basis how each team finishes within the conference and in the state playoffs. “Union Academy athletic teams have had an exceptional year in our new 1A/2A split conference. Swim and volleyball along with several other successful teams were instrumental in leading UA,” Phifer said. Championship seasons by volleyball and an individual state champion in swim were highlights of
the 2021-22 season along with conference championships in men's and women’s swim, women’s soccer and women’s track. “I am very proud of the perseverance our coaches and athletes have shown in our first full year of regular play after the abrupt suspension of athletics in the spring of 2020,” Phifer said. “Their commitment to building successful programs is evident on the field and in the classroom.”
Athletic Director Michelle Phifer received the trophy May 12 during the conference AD meeting. Photo courtesy of UA
Barker: Be bold
Girls on the Run founder gives grads lessons learned
Of the Wingate University students earning degrees May 17, 60 majored in biology or environmental biology, 42 in exercise science, 41 in psychology and 26 in sport management. Photos courtesy of Wingate University
Exercise science major uses research to help mother recover from cancer WINGATE – For Wingate University exercise science major Gracie Moree, the opportunity to do research that could address an immediate need within her family was both rewarding and inspiring. Her mother, an ER nurse who had fostered her interest in a healthcare career, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, when Moree was a sophomore. “I was taking Principles of Resistance Training, and we had to do a project,” Moree said. “My mom was really weak after her cancer treatments, so I talked to my professor, Dr. [Bill] Steffen, about cre-
ating an exercise program for my mom.” The program she created not only helped her mother gain strength and return to work, but it sparked more curiosity in Moree, who decided to take it to the next level with a senior Honors project in Jenny Bond’s Exercise Prescription for Special Populations class. The result was a 20-page paper about whether physical activity can potentially decrease the risk of developing cancer and what benefits there are to exercising after a see CANCER, Page 5A
Gracie Moree has connected what she was taught in the classroom to life outside school.
WINGATE – Wingate University graduates picking up their bachelor’s degrees May 17 got seven bits of wisdom from third- through eighth-grade students via Girls on the Run founder Molly Barker. The Charlotte native shared bits of her personal story and challenged the Class of 2022, 416 members strong, to live bold and Barker authentic lives, despite the tension she described as two sides of the human experience coin. “On the one side … is our essence, the unique us, the us that is perfectly ourselves,” Barker said, “and on the other side is this deep desire for belonging so much that we literally and metaphorically photoshop, filter and cover up who we really are, to fit in, to be pretty, or beautiful, rich or buff, athletic or successful – to be all the things society tells us we should be instead of who we really are.” Speaking to a crowd of thousands on the Academic Quad during a 9 a.m. ceremony, Barker said her encounters with Girls on the Run participants over the past quarter century had helped her learn that sometimes you will really suck at something and that’s OK. “We have to step outside our comfort zone and do things that show us what we are, by showing us what we are not,” Barker said, describing her conversation with a last-place runner in a GOTR 5K who realized that walking, not running, was her forte.
University works to create welcoming vibe for incoming families
Bill Crowder speaks at the dedication. Photo courtesy of Wingate University
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WINGATE – Wingate University dedicated the Crowder Welcome Center on May 11, honoring trustee and alum Bill Crowder; retiree Cindy Jordan; the families of C.C. Dickson, Frank Davis and Fulton Huntley; and others who played roles in the building’s history. The Crowder Welcome Center opened in spring 2021, but lingering COVID-19 concerns delayed the dedication until now. “To Pam and Bill Crowder, this incredible iteration of an iconic campus place wouldn’t have been possible without your generosity,” Wingate President Rhett Brown told the crowd of trustees, employ-
ees, students and special guests. “Bill, I am appreciative of your friendship and for your leadership and for how engaged you are in so many parts of campus life. You’ve given your time, talents and treasure to our students and they are better for it – whether it has been mentoring our student veterans, taking a hands-on approach with our One Day One Dog service projects or inspiring others to give to Wingate by giving first.” Built in 1977 with help from the Cannon Charitable Trust and named the Dickson-Palmer Center in honor of dedicated supporters Dickson and Fannie Palmer,
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the nearly 30,000-square-foot facility in the heart of campus has been reimagined as the university’s front door for incoming families. In addition to the Frank Davis Admissions suite, the building includes a glass-walled demonstration classroom, relaxation and study areas such as Huntley Commons, a student organization suite and a veteran student office. Over the years, the Dickson-Palmer Center included a host of different offices related to student life as well as the book store, the mailroom, a snack bar, a workout center and a bowling alley.