Welcome to the Mountain Amateur Athletic Club
Our Mission Statement:
The Mountain Amateur Athletic Club seeks to recognize and honor the talents of our local athletes and their successes both in sports and in life.
We are a non-profit organization that fulfills its mission by presenting the annual High School Sports Awards Banquet and Western North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony through generous sponsors.
WNC Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Moved to Dec. 8
The Mountain Amateur Athletic Club has rescheduled the 2024 WNC Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This year’s Hall of Fame class will be inducted on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the Omni Grove Park Inn starting at 5 p.m. Limited tickets are still available for $60.
This year’s class includes former Western Carolina women’s basketball star Jayne Arledge, former college football coach Paul Johnson, former major league standout Cameron Maybin, and legendary high school baseball coach Tom Smith.
Larry Pope, the longtime sport editor and executive editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times will receive the Gene Oschenreiter Lifetime achievement award.
MAAC ANNOUNCES WINNERS AT WNC AWARDS BANQUET
The Mountain Amateur Athletics Club hosted its 62nd annual awards banquet Sunday May 19 at the Grove Park Inn as the club honored the top high school student-athletes from Western North Carolina for the past year.
It was a big night for the Robbinsville athletic program as it had three individuals capture five awards. Robbinsville wrestler Kage Williams and Robbinsville softball standout Zoie Shuler each took home two awards on the night. Football player Cuttler Adams earned the Division II Male Athlete for a Major Sport.
The Riley Howell Courage Award was presented to Brevard boys basketball coach Paul Whitt. The award is named after Riley Howell, the Roberson graduate who saved lives with his selfless act during a mass shooting at UNC Charlotte in 2019.
The Keith Jarrett Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Quinn Roberts of Roberson. Jarrett was a legendary sportswriter for the Asheville Citizen-Times from 1986-2015 before passing away in 2021. The scholarship goes to a student-athlete interested in journalism.
The Pat Ryan Memorial Scholarship went to Henry Stuart of Christ School. Ryan was a sports talk show host for close to 20 years at Asheville Media Group before passing away in 2022. His scholarship is awarded to a student-athlete interested in radio or television journalism.
Lana Foster of Hayesville was tapped with the Special Olympics Award.
Here are the winners in each category:
Wells Fargo Advisors/Aiken, Meyer Whatley Division II Female Athlete Major Sport: Zoie Shuler (Robbinsville).
Northwestern Mutual/Carole Martin Division II Female Athlete Olympic Sport: Virginia Thorsen (Asheville School).
Homewood Suites Division II Female Team Major Sport: Cherokee Basketball.
Mills Manufacturing Division II Female Team Olympic Sport: Hendersonville Tennis.
Nicole and Kyte Ferrell Division II Male Athlete Major Sport: Cuttler Adams (Robbinsville).
Tara and Frank Burdette Division II Male Athlete Olympic Sport: Kage Williams (Robbinsville).
Fields Auto Group Division II Male Team Major Sport: Christ School Basketball.
Blue Ridge Division of EmergeOrtho Division II Male Olympic Sport: Robbinsville Wrestling.
Ann Brandis Division I Female Athlete Major Sport: Marianne Maxon (West Henderson)
First Citizens Bank Division I Female Athlete Olympic Sport: Emma Hall (West Henderson)
HomeTrust Bank Division I Female Team Major Sport: Reynolds Basketball.
Nat & Carolyn Arthur Division I Female Team Olympic Sport: Franklin Outdoor Track and Field.
Goforth Builders Inc., Division I Male Athlete Major Sport: Jackson Lyda (West Henderson).
Massasoit of North Carolina, Inc., Division I Male Athlete Olympic Sport: Elijah Cochran (Franklin)
McKinney Insurance Services Division I Male Team Major Sport: Roberson Baseball & West Henderson Baseball.
Rodeway Inn & Suites Division I Male Team Olympic Sport: Franklin Outdoor Track and Field.
Paramount Kia Division II Female Academic Award: Lily Fender (Mountain Heritage).
Blue Ridge Imaging Technologies Division I Female Academic Award: Katie Johnson (North Buncombe).
Heath & Nikol Shuler Division II Male Academic Award: Josiah LaNave (Chase).
Allen Tate/Beverly Hanks Realty Division I Male Academic Award: Evan Byrd (Pisgah).
Apollo Flame Division II Female Athlete of the Year: Zoie Shuler (Robbinsville).
Young Transportation Division II Male Athlete of the Year: Kage Williams (Robbinsville).
Lary & Jan Schulhof Division I Female Athlete of the Year: Tori Ensley (Franklin)
Henry Logan Division I Male Athlete of the Year: Truitt Manuel (West Henderson)
The following student-athletes were awarded academic scholarships of $1,500: Eden Barnwell (North Buncombe); Elijah Cochran (Franklin); Emmy Everhardt (Swain); Memory Frapp (Robbinsville); Carson Heath (Roberson); Joshua Hernandez-Gomez (Andrews); Laura Holland (Franklin); Lydia Holland (Franklin); Aaron Jennings (Franklin); Connor Lambert (Swain); Avery Mays (North Buncombe); Bodhi McCormack (Enka); Avery Moffitt (Franklin); Nancy Perez Ortega (North Henderson); Quinn Roberts (Roberson); Hope Smith (Franklin); Henry Stuart (Christ School); Connor Warren (Mitchell); Anna Wilcox (Reynolds); Kage Williams (Robbinsville).
HOF Member Peterson Passes Away
The Mountain Amateur Athletic Committee was sad to learn that one of its Hall of Fame members Bruce Peterson passed away in early March.
Bruce was a legend in the sports community in Asheville and at one time spearheaded our committee. He was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2004 and you’ll have to look far and wide for someone more deserving. He was a five-sport athlete at Lee Edwards HS and then earned 11 letters at Western Carolina in football, basketball, and tennis.
Bruce would go on to become an outstanding football coach at Asheville HS where he led the Cougars to the state playoffs seven times in an 11-year period. Coach Peterson would leave coaching becoming an excellent high school administrator. He was Principal at Enka HS where he was named Principal of the Year and earned an award from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association for his contributions to high school athletics.
Bruce and his wife Carol worked tirelessly for the Asheville sports community. They helped form the Asheville Buncombe Sports Commission and with a hard-working committee brought back the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament along with many other events including the Billie Jean Cup. He also served at UNC Asheville on the Board of Trustees and was the athletic department’s liaison.
Bruce worked right until the end. He helped run last year’s Southern Conference Tournament and attended last fall’s Western North Carolina Hall of Fame banquet. One of the great moments at the banquet was when fellow Hall of Fame member Kenny Ford came over to Bruce’s table and talked to him for a while. Two great legends talking about football though Bruce said afterwards he was doing a lot of listening with Kenny!
This year’s committee would like to say thank you to Bruce Peterson for his amazing life and contributions to sports in the WNC community. One of the reasons we’re still an organization is because of Bruce Peterson.