By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

Ryan McCleney, who earned All-State honors in two sports during his senior year at West Columbus High School, has been named the 57th recipient of the Jiggs Powers Memorial Award.

The award is presented annually in recognition of Columbus County’s most outstanding athlete.

McCleney graduated from West Columbus last spring after helping pace the Viking football and baseball teams to their best finishes in well over 20 years.

McCleney, the son of Mitch McCleney and the late Sheri Le Davenport McCleney, has been involved in sports activities from virtually the day he was born as his father has been longtime high-school and summer league coach.

“I can’t remember when I wasn’t going to games and practices,” said McCleney, who turned 19 earlier this month. “It’s pretty much what my family’s life has been centered around. I had a lot of fun and gained some good opportunities growing up with sports.”

McCleney was presented the 2006 Jiggs Powers Memorial Award last Wednesday by Virginia Haley, daughter of the late Vernon “Jiggs” Powers, who served as publicist for Columbus County sports for over a half-century. Powers, who was sports editor of The News Reporter from 1946 through 1980, first presented the award from 1951 until the time of his death in 1997 at age 81. Haley, who resides in Chadbourn, has continued to present the award in her father’s memory.

“This is really a great honor for me,” McCleney said. “I remember Mr. Powers well and how much he loved writing sports.”

McCleney just finished the first semester of his freshman year at East Carolina University, but he has decided to transfer to Barton College for the spring semester where he will join the baseball team.

“I had the opportunity to walk on in both football and baseball at East Carolina, “ he said, “but now I’m leaning more toward baseball, and I feel I will have a more solid opportunity if I go to Barton and play.”

He is majoring in physical education and hopes to carry on the family tradition as a high school coach. His uncle, Brian McCleney, is also a long-time coach and trainer, and served as Ryan’s kicking tutor on the Viking football team.

McCleney credits his parents and grandparents for much of the success he has obtained in athletics. His paternal grandparents, Hubert and Shirley McCleney, taught and coached for more than 30 years, primarily at West Columbus. His maternal grandmother, Jennifer Poynter Davenport-Boyer of Lake Waccamaw, is also a huge supporter has rarely missed a game in which he has played since his youngest days in Dixie Youth Baseball.

“I had a lot of good coaches and teammates at West Columbus,” he said. ”We worked hard and a lot of good things happened. It’s something I’m always going to remember.”

McCleney’s impact in West Columbus athletics came early, when as a 106-pound freshman, he kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Vikings to a breath-taking 3-0 victory over fierce rival Whiteville in Whiteville’s 2002 Homecoming game.

By his senior season, McCleney was the WCHS starting quarterback and had long been handling all the punting and place-kicking chores. Coach Vernon Brigman’s 2005 Viking football squad finished runnerup in the Southeastern 1A-2A Conference, advanced to the second round of the state 1AA playoffs and finished with an 8-5 record. McCleney was named to both the 1A All-State team as a punter and joined teammate Ricardo Crawford (a defensive lineman) on the All-State team of all classifications.

Then this past spring, McCleney played his third season as a starter for the Viking baseball team that won the Southeastern Conference championship, advanced to the state 1A finals, finishing with a 28-4 record.

Coach Ricky Young’s Vikings bowed to Chatham Central in three games of the state final series held at North Carolina State University’s Doak Field. McCleney played primarily at second base his sophomore and junior seasons and handled the shortstop position his senior season and emerged as one of the team’s top hitters and base-runners.

He also played on the Whiteville Post 137 American Legion team.

“Having a player like Ryan on your team is a big plus,” Coach Brigman said. “He gives it everything he’s got and knows what it takes to win.”

“He’s a real gamer and loves to win,” said Young. “His skills are only part of what make him such a good player. He also provides a tremendous amount of leadership and he is an outstanding individual.”

McCleney’s baseball prowess emerged long before he reached high school as he was part of some record-breaking teams in Dixie Baseball.

In 2000, he was on the Columbus County All-Star team that placed runnerup in the Dixie Youth World Series in Marshall, Texas.

In 2001, he was on he Columbus County All-Star team that won the Jr. Dixie Boys World Series in Sulphur, La.

“I have known the McCleney family for years and years,” Haley said, “and it is really an honor for me to make this presentation to such a fine young man as Ryan. I know my father would be very, very pleased to see Ryan receive this award.”