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Y! MyWebNEWs-SUN'S TOp 10 NORTH/SOUTH ATHLETES
North's top female athlete: Nettie Carter
Saturday, May 17, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — Wynette Carter was floored when she found out she was named North High School's
No. 1 female athlete of all time.
Wynette Carter, a 1984 graduate known to everyone as Nettie, was a three-year starter for the Panthers. She was the team's co-captain and most valuable player as a junior and senior. Contributed photoThe 1984 North graduate, known to everyone as Nettie, just couldn't believe it.
"You play sports, and you look up to so many other female athletes who set the standards before you, and you hope you can play as well or work as hard as them," Carter said. "It's just amazing and definitely a blessing."
To honor North and its 48 years of athletic achievements, the Springfield News-Sun and a panel of former school coaches and administrators selected the top 10 female athletes in school history.
When it came to the voting process, there wasn't much discussion about who would be No. 1. The choice was Carter, hands down.
"As far as I'm concerned, she was the most outstanding athlete that I've seen at North High School," said Nancy Sherwood, Carter's softball coach.
Carter starred on the volleyball court and on the softball field, but she put her heart and soul into basketball from an early age.
"I was 12 when my dad (William Carter Sr.) told me if I work hard enough, I could get a scholarship for school," Carter said. "That did it for me. It was like hitting the lottery."
Growing up, she was the youngest of five siblings. She would play basketball with brother Donald, twin brother, William Jr., and the other boys around her neighborhood.
"They would take me to play basketball and toughen me up," Carter said. "In the '80s, most girls didn't play with guys. It really helps you as a young woman make your game better."
In high school, she was a three-year starter for the Panthers. She was the team's co-captain and most valuable player as a junior and senior.
She averaged 20.5 points and 11.5 rebounds as a 5-foot-8 senior center in 1984. She was named the News-Sun All-County Player of the Year, first team All-Western Ohio League and Class AAA All-Ohio.
Carter will be remembered for a tournament game at Wright State University her senior year in which the Panthers beat Beavercreek 49-48 in four overtimes. With the Panthers trailing 48-47 with two seconds left, Carter got the ball inside and was fouled. She made both free throws for the win.
"She's our money player. Everyone knows that," said then-North coach Jim Thompson after the team's victory in the Tuesday, Feb. 21, 1984, edition of the Springfield News-Sun.
It was that game, Carter said, that punched her ticket to Wright State. At the time, Beavercreek coach Ed Zink saw Carter play and mentioned her name to Mike Zink, who worked in the Raiders' athletic department.
The rest is history. Carter was the Raiders' captain during her junior and senior seasons. They advanced to the Division II tournament in 1986-87, and were ranked No. 1 in the nation for 12 weeks.
She is 10th on North's all-time scoring list with 1,104 points, third in rebounds (756), tied for first in assists (446), second in steals (273), ninth all-time in games played (110), fourth in minutes played (3,361) and eighth in blocked shots (46).
"I got to do something for four years that I loved," Carter said of her college playing days. "It was like I was living a dream for four years."
She was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
Carter currently serves as the Chief Probation Officer for the Clark County Juvenile Court.
The one thing she remembers most about her days at North were the coaches, including Sherwood, Thompson and Eddie Ford among others.
"They instilled in us to work hard and never give up," Carter said.
But most importantly, Carter said she wouldn't be the person she is today without great parents, William and Carol Carter.
"They set the expectation high for all of us," Carter said. "We're nothing but a sheer reflection of them."
