East Surry wins 6th straight Conference Cup

East Surry was recently named the 2023-24 Wells Fargo Conference Cup winner for the Foothills 2A Conference (FH2A).

The Cardinals have won a Conference Cup each of the past six school years. East captured the Northwest 1A Conference Cup for the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, then won the FH2A Conference Cup in 2021-22, 2022-23 and now 2023-24.

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.

Each conference determines its own method of point distribution.

Since the FH2A Conference is composed of seven schools, teams were awarded seven points for each conference championship victory. Second-place finishes earned a school six points, third-place finishes earned five points, and one fewer through seventh place. Teams were awarded an equal amount of points if there was a tie in the final standings.

Schools that did not have enough participants to compete as a team weren’t given any points in that sport.

The top three schools all finished within three points. East Surry won the FH2A Cup with 98.5 points, followed closely by Forbush at 96.5 and North Surry at 95.5.

In the three years since the last realignment, East Surry and Forbush are the only schools to finish in the top three each year. Surry Central previously finished runner-up in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 but dropped to fifth this year.

Final standings for the 2023-24 FH2A Conference Cup

1. East Surry 98.5 (first in 2021-22, first in 2022-23)

2. Forbush 96.5 (third in 2021-22, third in 2022-23)

3. North Surry 95.5 (fourth in 2021-22, fifth in 2022-23)

4. Wilkes Central 83.5 (fifth in 2021-22, fourth in 2022-23)

5. Surry Central 81.5 (second in 2021-22, second in 2022-23)

6. West Wilkes 69 (sixth in 2021-22, seventh in 2022-23)

7. North Wilkes 52.5 (seventh in 2021-22, sixth in 2022-23)

According to the NCHSAA’s Average Daily Membership (ADM) report for the 2023-24 school year, North Surry was the largest FH2A school with an ADM of 813 and East Surry was the smallest FH2A school with an ADM of 592.

From highest ADM to lowest in the conference: North Surry 813, Forbush 811, Wilkes Central 809, West Wilkes 711, Surry Central 662, North Wilkes 633 and East Surry 592.

East Surry

The Cardinals won five conference championships out of 21 varsity sports: volleyball, girls golf, girls swimming, boys golf and boys tennis.

East also finished second in three sports — football, girls indoor track and girls tennis (tied) — and third in three sports — boys basketball, boys swimming and girls basketball (tied). East Surry was the only FH2A school to win multiple conference titles in each season. The Cardinals also had the most fourth place finishes of any FH2A team with six.

The Cards fielded a team in all 21 sports and only finished in seventh once. The Cardinals also fielded a women’s wrestling team, but the FH2A Conference didn’t include the sport in the Conference Cup standings due to low participation in the league.

East finished outside the top-3 in 10 sports.

East Surry obtained 36 points in fall sports, a league-high 33.5 in winter sports and 29 in spring sports.

Forbush

The FH2A Conference Cup Runner-up Falcons won conference championships in four sports: boys soccer, girls tennis, boys swimming and baseball.

Forbush led the conference in second place finishes with four: boys golf, softball, girls soccer and girls outdoor track. The Falcons also posted third place finishes in girls basketball (tied), boys outdoor track, and both boys and girls’ cross country. Forbush’s 12 top-3 finishes was second in the conference behind North Surry.

Forbush finished outside the top-3 in eight sports.

The Falcons fielded teams in 20-of-21 sports. They obtained 30 points in fall sports, 26 in winter sports and a league-high 40.5 in spring sports.

North Surry

The Greyhounds won conference championships in two sports: football and boys basketball.

North Surry added four runner-up finishes in girls tennis (tied), girls cross country, girls basketball and baseball, then well as a league-high seven third place finishes in: girls golf, boys soccer, volleyball, girls swimming, girls indoor track, boys golf and girls soccer.

North’s 12 top-3 finishes led the FH2A Conference.

North Surry joined East Surry as the only schools to field teams in all 21 sports. They obtained a league-high 37 points in fall sports, then added 31 in the winter and 27.5 in the spring.

Wilkes Central

The Wilkes County Eagles led the FH2A Conference with seven league titles: boys cross country, girls cross country, boys indoor track, girls indoor track, boys outdoor track, girls outdoor track and girls soccer.

Wilkes Central only had one second place finish, girls golf, and one third place finish, football. The Eagles finished outside the top-3 in 11 sports.

The Eagles fielded a team in 20-of-21 sports. They obtained 29 points in fall sports, then added 26 in winter sports and 28.5 in spring sports.

Surry Central

The Golden Eagles were the only FH2A school that didn’t win a conference championship that was included in the Cup, but did win the inaugural FH2A Girls Wrestling Championship.

Central was able to make up ground by finishing second a league-high eight times. Central finished runner-up in: boys cross country, boys soccer, girls tennis (tied), boys basketball, boys swimming, girls swimming, boys wrestling and boys tennis. Central also finished third in boys indoor track.

Surry Central finished outside the top-3 in 11 sports.

The Eagles fielded a team in 20-of-21 sports. They obtained 27 points in fall sports, 32.5 points in winter sports — which only trailed East Surry — and 22 in spring sports.

West Wilkes

The Blackhawks finished the year with one conference title in softball. West added two second place finishes in boys indoor track and boys outdoor track, as well as three third place finishes in: boys tennis (tied), boys wrestling and girls outdoor track.

The Hawks finished outside the top-3 in 13 sports.

West Wilkes fielded a team in 19-of-21 sports. They obtained 14 points in fall sports, 24.5 in winter sports and 30.5 in spring sports.

North Wilkes

The Vikings finished the year with two conference titles by winning the league crown in girls basketball and boys wrestling. North Wilkes added a second place finish in volleyball, as well as a third place finish in softball.

North finished outside the top-3 in 16 sports.

The Vikings fielded a team in 20-of-21 sports. They obtained 13 points in fall sports, 21.5 in winter sports and 18 in spring sports.