Author: Ben Pope, senior editor 2014-2015
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Valedictorian Jung pursues dream
In Korean, “freshwater” is 민물의. “Forest cycle” is 숲 주기. “Igneous rock” is 화성암. This is how Seeun Jung taught herself Honors Earth Science sophomore year. Jung, who transferred to Leesville from South Korea…
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Leesville Baseball eliminated in state quarterfinals
In front a raucous and packed Friday night crowd, traditional rivals Millbrook and Leesville dueled pitch by pitch, hit by hit for a spot in next week’s 4A East Finals. Leesville, riding a 16-game…
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Lacrosse cruises past Green Hope in playoffs
Eric Fitz factored in on seven goals, scoring four and assisting on three, to lead the Leesville lacrosse team to its first playoff win in program history. Fed by the energy of an engaged…
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Leesville Lacrosse captures conference title with win over Enloe
By the time that Conner New, the lone four-year letterman on the Leesville Lacrosse, scored his only goal of Tuesday’s Senior Night game, the celebration of Leesville’s conference title was well under way. Griffin…
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Leesville Library trail lives up to some expectations
It has been almost a year since the completion of the paved trail by the Leesville Community Library, which provides a convenient shortcut between Whitley Drive and the Leesville school complex. Last April, I…
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Brad Wilson bringing community focus to Leesville football
When the Leesville football team takes the field next autumn to the roar of the Loonies student section, a new man will be there to hear the sound for the first time. That man…
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Baseball competes against nation’s best
While most of Leesville enjoyed spring break far away from the Triangle, the Leesville baseball team spent theirs embracing a special stage: the USA Baseball High School Invitational tournament in Cary. The opportunity to…
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Wake County students displeased with Saturday School decision
The Wake County School Board’s decision to make up school days missed to snow on Good Friday and two future Saturdays upset many high schoolers throughout the county. School was cancelled on Tuesday through…
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Leesville Basketball falls to East Wake in playoffs
The Leesville men’s basketball team rallied from a large second-half deficit but fell in the closing minutes to East Wake in the first round of the 4A state playoffs, ending their 2014-15 season on…
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Wake County inundated by snow and ice
[View the story “Wake County Inundated by Ice, Snow” on Storify] Ben Pope, senior editor 2014-2015
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Heritage stuns Leesville Basketball in final seconds
For 31 minutes of basketball on Friday night, Leesville and Heritage played to a deadlocked 58-58 tie in a battle for third place in the Cap-8 Conference. Then the most mocked man on the…
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Leesville swimming concludes regular season
The Leesville swimming team will enter next week’s Cap-8 Conference championships with momentum after another strong showing in Wednesday’s meet. Facing teams from Cary, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina at the Triangle Aquatic Center in…
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Mike Hobgood out as Leesville football coach
For the second consecutive offseason, the Leesville football program will experience a head coaching change. Mike Hobgood, who came to Leesville from South Granville High in May 2014 and went 5-7 in his first and…
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Leesville Band enjoys Raleigh Christmas Parade experience
In front of more than 60,000 spectators crowded along the streets of downtown Raleigh, the Leesville Symphonic Band and Colorguard marched among 115 floats, bands and groups in the 70th annual Raleigh Christmas Parade…
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Leesville Swimming embraces unusual coaching situation
Two of the most well-known figures in Leesville’s Athletics Department — Jack Rogers, athletic director, and Guy Civitello, head baseball coach — are taking on a new and different responsibility this winter. They’re co-coaching…
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Leesville Basketball defeats Panther Creek, enters Thanksgiving Break 2-2
Ben Zemonek scored 21 points from the floor, interim coach Nick Pendergraft re-focused his team’s excitement after some early foul troubles and Leesville men’s basketball team downed Panther Creek 71-49 on Tuesday for their…
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Reflecting on the 2014 Leesville Football season
Mike Hobgood’s first year as Leesville head coach proved a tumultuous one, as the Pride (5-7, 3-4 Cap-8) lost their last four games (allowing 35 or more points in all four) to fall out…
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Leesville Football season ends with loss in playoffs
The offense failed to gain traction until the fourth quarter, the defense again found Bryce Love impossible to contain and the 2014 Leesville football season ended with a 42-13 loss at Wake Forest on…
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Turnovers doom Leesville Football to third straight loss
Eight seconds into Friday’s regular season finale, the Leesville football team committed its first turnover, fumbling on the opening kickoff return to give Wakefield the ball. The first play proved an accurate foreshadow of…
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Leesville Football can’t contain Marshall, loses to Millbrook
In a game of big plays and prolific offense, Leesville’s passing attack proved slightly inferior to Millbrook’s running game, and the contrast made all the difference in Friday’s rivalry game. Led by 328 total…
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Leesville Football falls short in Wake Forest
Clay Vick, junior quarterback, rolled out to his right, evaded a Wake Forest lineman and threw a nine-yard pass to Trey Keeney, senior tight end, in the endzone. Leesville now trailed by 17 points…
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Leesville Football downs Enloe for homecoming win
Clinging to a 14-13 lead late in the third quarter, the Leesville offense — backed up on their own 20-yard line after two threatening Enloe drives produced no points — desperately needed a big…
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Leesville Football overcomes Sanderson, Mother Nature
Seventy-one hours and 18 minutes after the opening kickoff at Sanderson, the Leesville football team made one last tackle, the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard and the Pride secured a crucial conference win.…
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Inside Leesville Football 2014: The new generation
For the second consecutive year, we spent the first game week of the 2014 season immersed inside the Leesville football team. What happens when the team isn’t under the spotlights of Friday night? Read…
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Q&A with new lacrosse coach
Last month, the Leesville men’s lacrosse team landed a new head coach: Franklin Zirkle, a former state champion coach at East Chapel Hill and an administrator for the Carolina Hilltoppers club lacrosse program. The…
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Leesville Football rallies to spoil Broughton’s homecoming
When the Pride needed it most, Leesville’s stars took the initiative and led their team to a critical comeback win on Friday night at Broughton. Mike Dehaney, senior running back, rushed for 136 yards…
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Leesville Football can’t find offense against Heritage
For the second consecutive game, the Leesville offense failed to create any momentum or find the endzone, cursing the Pride to a 14-3 loss to Heritage on Friday, Sept. 26 at Hamilton Stadium. In…
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Leesville Football shut down by injuries, turnovers and Panther Creek
A woefully depleted Leesville offense committed six turnovers and sputtered to just five first downs as the Pride lost 27-0 to Panther Creek on Friday, Sept. 19. After leading 13-0 at halftime, a 50-yard…
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Leesville Football surges past Athens Drive
A critical defensive stop and ensuing 99-yard drive helped the Leesville football team earn a 27-16 win over Athens Drive on Friday, Sept. 12 at Hamilton Stadium. 6:11 remained in the third quarter when the…
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Leesville Football thrashed by Apex
The away sideline and visitors’ bleachers sat in hushed disbelief and concern as Khamari Alexander, senior running back, lay motionless and surrounded by paramedics. The scoreboard clock read 6:25 remaining in the second quarter,…
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Leesville Football victorious in season opener
Quarterback Clay Vick threw three touchdowns to lead Leesville to a season-opening 34-12 win over Durham Jordan on Friday at Hamilton Stadium. Vick, junior, completed 13 of 16 passes for 241 yards, three TDs and no interceptions…
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Mike Hobgood brings new coaching perspective to Leesville Football
The reins of the Leesville football program have found a new Santa. Mike Hobgood, former UNC lineman and South Granville head coach, will take over the coaching duties for the upcoming 2014 season. Hobgood…
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Investigation: Leesville students speeding through Springdale
A popular shortcut route to the Leesville campus has become a haven for speeding. The so-called “Springdale Loop” — a 1.4-mile section of O’Neal Rd. often used to escape the half-mile morning traffic jam…
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“Turn Blue” launches Black Keys to new high
If Danger Mouse didn’t spoil the Black Keys’ individuality, if the profit lures of pop didn’t corrupt the Black Keys’ unique genre, if fanbase impatience didn’t force the Black Keys into a rushed production,…
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Coming of El Nino could disrupt Raleigh weather
In the winter of 2014, the “Polar Vortex” brought historic snowfall and near-zero temperatures to North Carolina. Now that sunny skies and 70 degrees have banished polar weather back to the poles, a new…
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Future trail would expand Leesville accessibility
For Leesville community members living in neighborhoods to the south of the library, park and school complex, a new route to the area’s public facilities may soon begin construction. A new 10-foot-wide path could…
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McGarry, Espinal continuing career journeys
Two popular Leesville teachers are now enjoying their transitions to administrator. Both Amy McGarry, former Leesville English teacher, and Jose Espinal, former art teacher, are in the midst of principal internships at other Wake…
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Broken Bells establishes identity with “After the Disco”
The music identity has always longed to define the Broken Bells as a spinoff of established sounds: lead singer James Mercer’s own The Shins, ‘70s alternative pioneer band Bee Gees, recent electronica breakout Passion…
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Leesville Basketball stuns Jordan to advance in playoffs
Brandon Staves, Leesville senior and basketball team captain, just “wanted to play one more day.” Monday, he accomplished that goal one more time. Staves exploded for 13 points in the second half as the 21st-seeded…
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Leesville Basketball defeats Wakefield, concludes regular season
An explosive second-half jump led the Leesville Men’s Varsity Basketball team convincingly over Wakefield on Friday, Feb. 21, as the Pride clinched third place in the Cap-8 Conference. Leesville scored 15 of the first…
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Leesville Basketball cruises past Enloe
Jumpstarted by a decisive start and balanced scoring attack, the Leesville Men’s basketball team defeated Enloe 74-58 on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Pride (5-4, 9-10) jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the game’s…
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Wake County paralyzed by snow
With most of Wake County hunkered down in anticipation of a 3-6 inch snowstorm Tuesday night, the official 1.4 inches of powdery snow which blanketed the Triangle came as a disappointment to many. However,…
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Leesville Basketball loses double-overtime thriller
The Leesville Mens’ Varsity Basketball team fell 79-75 to Cap-8 rival Sanderson in double overtime on Friday, Jan. 3, failing to translate a rousing second-half comeback and double-overtime lead into a much-needed conference victory.…
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Students need longer breaks
For months, Winter Break tantalizes the minds of Leesville students like a pie on a windowsill: the sole motivation to slog through the bitter, five-day weeks of autumn. In recent decades, however, Winter Break’s…
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Winter Sports updates
View on the online compilation of our brief articles on each winter sport, as seen on page 16 of Monday’s paper, below: Swimming The Leesville swimming team has begun the winter with several…
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Basketball: behind the scenes
For the first full week of the regular season, we followed every move of the Leesville Men’s Varsity Basketball team. From the high-energy drills of practice to the prime-time plays of the game, every…
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Leesville Basketball rallies to win home opener
The Leesville Mens Varsity Basketball team beat Apex for the second time in two weeks Tuesday, scoring 16 of the game’s final 18 points to capture a 47-43 victory. Trailing 41-31 early in the…
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Leesville Football’s season concludes with loss to Millbrook
Marshall L. Hamilton stadium was silent. Gone was the steady beat of the band, the roar of the student section, the shriek of the referee’s whistle, all the sounds of the game of the…
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Leesville football falls to Wakefield in final seconds
One by one, the seniors of the 2013 Leesville football team walked out with tears streaming down their faces. Elation over an apparent Braxton Berrios game-winning touchdown catch with no time left turned to…
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Leesville football grinds past Millbrook
As the rain poured down and the hoards of Wildcat fans filed quietly from the stands, the Leesville football team celebrated a crucial 7-3 win over rival Millbrook without an ounce of gloom. A…