Mount Airy earned the title of top athletic program in the Northwest 1A Conference for the third-consecutive year, while fellow Surry County school Elkin secured the No. 2 spot.
The Wells Fargo Conference Cup awards points based on a school’s finish in the conference standings for each sport. The Conference Cup is a companion to the Wells Fargo State Cup, which awards points to schools based on postseason performances.
The NW1A Conference made its announcement a few weeks after Mount Airy was named the winner of the Wells Fargo State Cup for the 1A Division.
Each conference determines its own method of point distribution. Since the NW1A Conference is composed of seven schools, teams were awarded seven points for each conference championship victory, six points for second place, and one fewer through seventh place. Schools that did not have enough participants to compete as a team weren’t given any points in that sport.
Teams were awarded an equal number of points in the event of a tie.
NW1A Conference Cup scores were determined using the results from 21 varsity sports. The conference omitted results from girls wrestling due to low participation in its first sanctioned season in the NCHSAA. The omission didn’t change the final standings as Mount Airy won the sport’s inaugural NW1A Championship.
2023-24 NW1A Conference Cup Final Standings
1. Mount Airy 119.5
2. Elkin 106.5
3. East Wilkes 87.5
4. South Stokes 68.5
5. Starmount 65
6. North Stokes 57.5
7. Alleghany 49.5
Mount Airy is not the only school to maintain its standing in the NW1A Conference Cup since the most recent realignment three years ago. Elkin has finished runner-up three times, while North Stokes and Alleghany have maintained the sixth and seventh spots, respectively.
East Wilkes is the only school that moved spots each year; the Cardinals finished fifth in 2021-22, fourth in 2022-23 and third this year.
South Stokes and Starmount have each moved position twice. South finished third in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before dropping to fourth this year, while Starmount was fourth in 2021-22 before finishing fifth each of the last two years.
Mount Airy
Before making deep postseason runs that helped the school win the Wells Fargo 1A State Cup, Mount Airy set the tone by winning a league-high 12 NW1A Championships.
The Granite Bears’ best season in both Cups was fall. Mount Airy had one runner-up finish in girls cross country, then won conference titles in the season’s six remaining sports: boys soccer, volleyball (tied), boys cross country, girls golf, girls tennis and football.
Mount Airy’s 47.5 points in the fall were the most by an NW1A team in a single season.
The Bears followed up with two conference titles in the winter – boys and girls wrestling – then added four titles in the spring: baseball, boys golf, girls soccer (tied) and boys outdoor track. Mount Airy also posted second place finishes in girls swimming, boys swimming, boys indoor track and boys tennis, while also finishing third in boys basketball.
Mount Airy fielded a team in all 21 varsity sports and only finished outside the top three on four occasions, including two seventh-place finishes.
Elkin
The Buckin’ Elks joined the Granite Bears as top finishers in both the Wells Fargo State Cup and Conference Cup. Elkin finished seventh overall and third among traditional public 1A schools in the State Cup.
Elkin only trailed Mount Airy in the NW1A Cup with eight league championships.
The Elks won their fewest league titles in the fall, during which the team accumulated 33 points. This point total was Elkin’s lowest in the three seasons, but still ranked second in the league for the fall.
Elkin won the girls cross country league title to spoil Mount Airy’s attempted sweep in fall 2023. The Elks also had two of their three second-place finishes that season, with those coming in boys cross country and boys soccer, as well as one third-place finish in girls tennis (tied).
The Elks and Bears tied for the most points in the winter with 36. Elkin swept both the boys and girls’ swimming championships, as well as the boys and girls indoor track championships.
Elkin won its final three conference titles during its best overall season with 37.5 points: spring. While the Elks finished with just three league titles in the spring – girls soccer (tied), boys tennis and girls outdoor track – as compared to four in winter, they finished in the top three in 6-of-7 total sports.
Elkin and Mount Airy were the only NW1A schools to field a team in every sport. The Elks finished outside the top three seven times, including two seventh-place finishes.
East Wilkes
The Cardinals were the only other NW1A athletic program to win multiple conference championships.
East Wilkes’ slowest season was the fall. The Cards finished with 26 points, which was led by second-place finishes in girls golf and girls tennis as well as third-place finishes in girls cross country and football (tied).
East won its first league title in the winter by winning girls basketball. The Cardinals added a runner-up finish in girls indoor track and a third-place finish in boys wrestling, but were hurt by not fielding a team in two winter sports.
Like Elkin, East Wilkes’ best season came in the spring where it tied with Mount Airy with 36 points. The Cardinals won the NW1A Championship in softball, finished second in boys golf and girls outdoor track, then took third in baseball and boys tennis.
East Wilkes finished outside the top three in six sports. East was the only NW1A school that didn’t finish seventh all year, but also didn’t field a team in three sports.
South Stokes
The Sauras’ school year was highlighted by a stellar winter campaign.
After finishing in the top three just once in the fall, doing so in girls golf, South Stokes had four top-3 finishes in the winter – including the school’s only conference title in boys basketball. South added third-place finishes in girls basketball, boys swimming and girls swimming.
South’s final top-3 appearance was in girls soccer this past spring.
The Sauras finished outside the top three in 13 sports, including one seventh-place finish, and didn’t field a team in two sports. South obtained 20.5 points in fall sports, 26 in winter sports and 22 in spring sports.
Starmount
The Rams didn’t win a conference title during the 2023-24 school year but did finish second in both football and baseball. Starmount also finished third in boys soccer and girls soccer.
Starmount finished outside the top-3 in 13 sports, including one seventh-place finish, and didn’t field a team in three sports.
The Rams obtained 15 points in fall sports, 22 in winter sports and 28 in spring sports.
North Stokes
Despite not winning a conference title during the 2023-24 school year, North Stokes sat in the middle of the pack in top-3 finishes with eight, which was more than South Stokes, Starmount and Alleghany.
North Stokes finished second in three sports – boys basketball, girls basketball and girls outdoor track – and tied for the most third-place finishes with five: cross country, girls tennis, volleyball, boys indoor track and girls indoor track.
North Stokes’ best season came in the winter. This included second-place finishes for both basketball teams and third-place finishes for both indoor track teams, but the Vikings’ were hurt by one seventh-place finish and failed to field teams in two sports that season. North led the NW1A Conference by not fielding a team in six sports, and also tied Alleghany for the most seventh-place finishes with three.
The Vikings obtained 17.5 points in fall sports, 23 in winter sports and 17 in spring sports.
Alleghany
Alleghany joined Mount Airy, Elkin, East Wilkes and South Stokes as teams to win a conference title in 2023-24; the Trojans shared the volleyball title with Mount Airy.
Alleghany added a second-place finish in boys wrestling and finished third in both football (tied) and girls outdoor track.
The Trojans finished outside the top-3 in 12 sports, including three seventh-place finishes, and didn’t field a team in five sports.
Alleghany obtained 17 points in fall sports, 15 in winter sports and 17.5 in spring sports.
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