St. Pauls’ Angel Purcell puts the ball in play during an April 12 game against Fairmont in St. Pauls. Purcell was named to the Region 3 roster for the BodyArmor State Games.
Chris Stiles | The Robesonian
Purnell Swett’s Sarah Hunt (4) and Lumberton’s Mackenzie Register (5) battle for possession during a May 3 match in Lumberton. Hunt was named to the North team roster for the BodyArmor State Games.
Chris Stiles | The Robesonian
Purnell Swett’s Brooklyn Jones (11) and Lumberton’s Anahy Carrera (10) run after the ball during a May 3 match in Lumberton. Jones was named to the North team roster for the BodyArmor State Games.
Chris Stiles | The Robesonian
CHARLOTTE — St. Pauls softball player Angel Purcell and Purnell Swett soccer players Sarah Hunt, Brooklyn Jones and Branlon Brooks have been selected to participate in the BodyArmor State Games. The event is going on throughout the month in Charlotte, with both the softball and soccer tournaments taking place next week.
Purcell, a rising junior, will play on the Region 3 softball team with games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each team will play two games Tuesday at the Westmoreland Athletic Complex before placement games are contested Wednesday at UNC Charlotte’s Sue M. Daughtridge Stadium.
Through the high school season at St. Pauls, Purcell hit .586 for the season and compiled 45 RBIs. She hit 13 home runs and 25 extra-base hits, scoring 43 runs. She was named Southeastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earned an All-County selection from The Robesonian.
The Region 3 team is primarily composed of players from the greater Raleigh area; other Sandhills area players on the roster include Hoke County’s Mackenzie Freeman, Gray’s Creek’s Olivia Ayers and Union Pines’ Trinity Whitt. The team is coached by head coach Alexandria Connelly from Green Level and assistant coach Devan Daniel from Lee County.
Hunt and Jones will play on the North team in the State Games girls soccer tournament, while Brooks will also play on the North team in the boys soccer competition. All three are rising sophomores at Purnell Swett.
The boys and girls soccer tournaments will be played June 22-23 at Dickson Field at the Queens University Sports Complex. The North teams will play one game each against the South, West and East teams.
Hunt and Jones were each impactful freshmen for the Purnell Swett girls soccer team this spring as the Rams went 20-2, setting a program wins record, and won a share of the United-8 Conference championship. Hunt had 18 goals and 28 assists and an All-County selection, while Jones was a key defensive piece for the Rams and earned an All-County honorable mention.
Other area selections to the North girls soccer team include Hoke County’s Jianna Gomez and Lee County’s Amberly Centeno, with this team also predominantly made up of Raleigh-area players. Cleveland’s Michael Pritchard is the head coach, assisted by Wake Forest’s Rick Pitarelli.
Brooks made 199 saves for the season for the Purnell Swett boys soccer team, allowing 1.91 goals per game in his freshman campaign and earning Robeson County Goalkeeper of the Year recognition.
Other boys soccer North team selections from the area include: Pinecrest’s Giovanni Patterson, Hoke County’s Joas Hernandez Francisco, Hoke County’s Jose Vasquez, Hoke County’s Ismerlin Santos-Eulogio, Union Pines’ Cole Harkins, Terry Sanford’s Cristiano Sharpe, Union Pines’ Kael Jahn and Terry Sanford’s James Lancaster. The rest of the team is primarily composed of Raleigh-area players. It is coached by Hoke County’s Colin McDavid, who is assisted by Henderson Collegiate’s Alexis Garcia and Hoke County’s Enrique Ramirez.
Players are selected for the BodyArmor State Games after completing a tryout process regionally through the spring. The softball and soccer rosters are open to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors.
