ABSS leaders, athletes honored at NCHSAA state awards ceremony
Southeast Alamance Principal Eric Yarbrough and veteran sportswriter Bob Sutton were honored in Greensboro as ABSS programs earned statewide recognition.
Alamance County’s high school sports profile got a statewide lift in Greensboro on Wednesday as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association honored Southeast Alamance Principal Eric Yarbrough and veteran sportswriter Bob Sutton. The ceremony placed Alamance-Burlington School System in the same spotlight as the state’s top coaches, administrators, media representatives and student-athletes.
Yarbrough received the Bob Deaton Principal of the Year Award, a recognition that reflects more than one school’s trophy case. During the 2025-26 school year, Southeast Alamance reached the state semifinals or better in three sports and recorded state playoff victories in eight different team sports, giving the Burlington-area campus one of the clearest statewide footprints in ABSS athletics.
That kind of success matters because the NCHSAA’s annual awards are designed to honor the parts of school sports that often happen away from the scoreboard. The association recognizes excellence in coaching, athletic administration, school leadership, media coverage and student-athlete achievement, and it says its mission is to provide governance and leadership for interscholastic athletic programs that support and enrich students’ educational experiences.
Bob Sutton also carried Alamance County onto the list of honorees. The longtime Burlington Times-News sports editor was named the 2025-2026 Tim Stevens Media Representative of the Year after 25 years as sports editor and additional work with the Greensboro News & Record, Randolph Record and The Alamance News. His recognition underscored the role local coverage plays in building community memory around school sports, from regular-season games to postseason runs.
The NCHSAA also planned to recognize commissioner’s trophy recipients at the same June 10 celebration, adding another layer to an event that reaches beyond individual awards. For Alamance County, the honors signaled something bigger than ceremony: ABSS athletes, leaders and chroniclers are being recognized in a statewide setting that measures reputation as much as results.
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