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Though just now into the fifth year of what is certain to be a long and distinguished history, NCSSM-Morganton is already achieving state-wide recognition for its accomplishments. And not just for its academic program. In an awards ceremony held recently in the school’s newly-opened UNC Health Blue Ridge Student Wellness and Activities Center, NCSSM-Morganton was awarded the Wells Fargo Cup in recognition of having the most successful overall athletic program in the entire state in the 1A classification for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Winners of the Wells Fargo Cup are determined each year through a mathematical points system that awards points for each officially sanctioned athletic team that makes the state playoffs as well as a sliding scale for each team that achieves an eighth place or higher ranking at the end of each season. The school with the highest combined total at the end of the year earns the Cup.
While a tremendous achievement for any high school, such recognition is particularly meaningful at NCSSM-Morganton, which is still in its infancy as a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
Even more impressive is that the school earned the athletic award while primarily being known throughout the state as an institution deeply focused on advanced academics. That its student-athletes achieved such high levels of success on the playing fields and in the classroom is a testament to their incredible work ethic and drive to reach their full potential.
“This is a significant accomplishment and one that all of us can share,” said Ian McMichael, NCSSM-Morganton’s Assistant Athletics Director, who kicked off the event in prepared remarks delivered to the gathered students, faculty, staff, and representatives from Wells Fargo and NCHSAA. “The Wells Fargo Cup is not an individual award, [and] it’s not a single team award. It represents the collective success of our entire athletic program: teams, student-athletes, and coaches working together for this achievement.”
Alex Bass, Director of Development and Special Programs at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, was on hand to help with the presentation of the award. While praising the skill of NCSSM-Morganton’s athletes, he emphasized the collective effort required to ingrain competitive athletics opportunities into the very core of the school’s identity.
“Athletics are a part of the total educational and informational mission of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics here in Morganton,” Bass said, noting the buy-in at all levels of the school’s administration. “[There is] a level of alignment . . . that shows that [athletics] are a part of the school community; it is one and the same, not an add-on.”
Joining McMichael and Bass on stage was LaTrese Lyerly, Branch Manager for Wells Fargo in Morganton. Before addressing the accomplishments of NCSSM-Morganton’s student athletes, Lyerly spoke of the partnership between Wells Fargo and the NCHSAA that was established in 1978, with the first Wells Fargo Cup awarded the following year.
“For generations, Wells Fargo has continued to support the NCHSAA and the educational mission behind high school athletics, helping create opportunities for student-athletes to grow, compete, lead, and succeed,” Lyerly said. “This continued investment reflects a belief that athletics are not separate from education, but an important part of developing well-rounded young people.
“Your accomplishments in the classroom and in competition demonstrate that excellence requires commitment, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork,” Lyerly continued. “You have worked hard to represent your school with pride, and your achievements are worthy of celebration.”
In his remarks to the assembled, Kevin Baxter, Vice Chancellor & Chief Campus Officer for NCSSM-Morganton, thanked Wells Fargo and NCHSAA for their support. He noted that NCSSM-Morganton earned the cup while facing a unique challenge as it competed against schools from throughout the region and state. Because the school was still building out its on-campus facilities in the 2025-2026 academic year, it lacked on-site athletic facilities. Basketball, cheer, and women’s volleyball squads utilized the gymnasium within a short walking distance at the adjacent NC School for the Deaf, but for every other athletic competition the school had to travel throughout the Western North Carolina region. The result is that, officially, NCSSM-Morganton had no home-campus competitions during the year.
“Yet it did not slow us down,” Baxter said of the student-athletes, coaches, and team staff. “Y’all just kept on running faster in whatever sport you were competing in, and you did it as a community, and you did it for our community here at NCSSM and across the region.
“What we appreciate most is the collective that’s gathered here and those that surround you on the field of play,” Baxter added. “So, keep doing what you do best, which is thriving, supporting one another, and making us exceptionally proud of the effort and the way in which you carry yourselves as ambassadors of our school and our state.”
NCSSM-Durham, which in the past has also won Wells Fargo Cups, finished in second place in the 2025-2026 academic year in the 3A division.
