By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
When Western Alamance held its annual WESPY Awards ceremony for athletics near the end of the school year, consider the predicament in selecting the winner in the “best team” category.
“How do you do that?” athletics director Sean Quinn said.
Indeed, Western embraced good problems to have during the 2024-25 school year.
The Warriors captured team state championships in three sports, making them one of the winningest schools in North Carolina.
And none of the success occurred by accident. The boys’ soccer, girls’ basketball, and girls’ soccer teams were strong throughout their seasons on the way to securing titles.
With one team champion in the fall, one in the winter, and another on the final weekend of the spring season, they were spread out in such a way that Western fans had something to cheer for all year long.
“It’s fairly historic in the history of the school,” Quinn said of the championships. “For a smaller community school, it’s pretty cool.”
Because each of the championship teams had put together strong postseasons in recent years, there was a sense that it could be a special stretch.
[Story continues below photos from Western’s 2024-2025 championship teams.]
“Going into the year, we felt like we were going to have some chances,” Quinn said.
Still, it all has to work out and it’s a process. Each of the state champions captured Central 3-A Conference titles on the way to the postseason.
“It’s a community deal, and the community is very connected,” Quinn said. “You can see these things develop and those things pay off.”
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In the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, only seven schools captured three or more team championships during the school year. Of those, the Warriors were one of three schools to do so in sports that had full brackets for state playoffs.
Quinn said the right combinations are in place at Western. He pointed to involvement and interest from parents, driven and determined athletes, dedicated coaches, and supportive administration and community.
“I don’t think you can have that (level of success) if you don’t have all of that,” he said.
Back-to-back for Brooks
The common thread in the soccer championships was Camden Brooks. He coaches the boys and girls.
“I’m relieved it’s all over and all we accomplished,” Brooks said.
For the school year, Western’s two soccer teams combined for a 49-1-1 record.
The boys’ team avenged its only loss by defeating Asheboro in the championship game. The tie came for the girls at Eastern Alamance after the Warriors won 6-1 earlier in the season against the Eagles.
“Cam knew both of the [soccer teams] were going to be pretty good,” Quinn said. “That’s what makes him a great coach that he can coach different teams.”
The Western boys won their second state championship in four years. Quinn said school officials trusted Brooks to have similar success with the girls’ team, which he began coaching in 2022.
For Brooks, the dual championships went from a vision to reality.
“Once we won it with the guys and we knew we had a good (girls’) team,” he said. “It just drives the other groups. The boys encourage the girls and vice versa.”
Yet the state playoffs can be unpredictable. The Western boys won the 2021 title as the No. 21 seed in the East Region.
The 2024 girls’ team came one victory away from reaching the state final. But there were numerous new contributors or players with heightened roles this year.
“It helps when they saw the boys do it. They saw what it took,” Brooks said. “Maybe felt normal because teams around them were achieving that.”
He wants to maintain the championship mindset.
“We need to progress and keep on aiming (for big things),” Brooks said. “What’s exciting is the girls’ team is so young.”
Do it now
The girls’ basketball team was on its own mission.
The Warriors came up short in the East Region semifinals in 2024, ending the longest march in the postseason for the program in more than two decades.
Quinn had been the coach and he stepped aside following the season. Western alum Tooey Loy, a former college women’s basketball coach, was hired for the job.
The Western roster remained stocked, including some additions. Quinn said all the pieces were there.
“That’s pressure,” he said. “You got to get it done. You got a one-year window.”
Loy achieved that as the Warriors won four home games and two neutral-site games in the postseason to claim top hardware.
“The only choice he had was to win the state championship in the eyes of the community,” Quinn said.
And there’s more …
Western had an individual state champion in girls’ swimming and diving. Michaela Bentley, a junior, won the Class 3-A diving title.
The Warriors also were contenders for state honors in boys’ tennis. That team reached the East Region finals in Class 3-A dual team playoffs.
“A win away from being in the state championship with a bunch of kids coming back,” Quinn said. “The tennis team was kind of the quiet team in all this.”
Coach Rich Dowler’s team has five potential returnees for 2026 out of the top six from this spring’s team.
