Among the eight who will enter this year's hall was longtime area sports anchor Tom Suiter.

He is more than deserving. Look no further than his creation and production of the local television show "Football Friday" and the "Extra Effort Award."

And the great thing is the personality you see on television is the one you get when you meet him.

He's one of two staples of high school sports media in the Triangle. You don't have to look too far to find the other one, as News & Observer reporter Tim Stevens was inducted into the same hall in 2008.

Between Tim and Tom - two great guys who I've had the pleasure of working with and learning from - they have almost 80 combined years of service.

If anything, it just shows that the Triangle has been in great hands the last few decades when it comes to high school sports.

Clark's big summer: Ashley Clark, a recent graduate of Panther Creek and a Campbell University girls soccer recruit, is having quite a summer.

Clark scored in a 4-2 win in the "Clash of the Carolinas" all-star soccer game, notched an assist in the N.C. Coaches Association East-West all-star game and can now add scoring the winning goal of the United Soccer League Women's Super-20 North American championship to the list.

Clark scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime to give Triangle FC a 4-3 championship victory against Reading (Pa.) United AC on July 24. She finished with five goals in the tournament, which was held in Brandon, Fla.

Triangle FC, which has now won three of these titles in the last four years, had a number of other area athletes on its roster, including Cary's Kelly Glendenning.

Reckert scores in national title: Triangle FC wasn't the only club girls soccer team claiming a national championship this summer.

The under-16 girls CASL Spartan Elite Black soccer team won the Elite Clubs National League on July 16, defeating Real So Cal (California) in the final 4-1.

Forward Paige Reckert, a rising junior at Apex High, had a hat trick in the final, and Joanna Boyles, a rising junior at Sanderson High, scored the team's other goal.

"I couldn't tell you the last time I had a hat trick," Reckert said. "My teammates set me up perfectly. I couldn't have done it without them."

The victory completed a three-day tournament in Aurora, Colo., in which Spartan Elite Black defeated its three opponents by a total of 11-5. The eight teams in the tournament were selected after finishing at the top of a 26-team league that started play in December.

The rest of the roster is flush with other rising stars from the area, including Panther Creek's Claire Wagner and Taylor Francis, Green Hope's Maya Worth, Alexis Shaffer, Sydney Curtis, Cameron Sigmon and Alexis Degler as well as Cary's Maya Worth.

The team won't have too much time to bask in the glory of its championship. Spartan Elite Black will move up to the under 17 division of the ECNL, which starts play next month.

Mitchell qualifies: Recent Cary High graduate Victoria Mitchell, the N&O's 2010-11 high school scholar-athlete of the year, is one of five area athletes qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic swimming trials, which are being held this week at Stanford University.

Mitchell qualified by swimming the 200-meter backstroke in 2:16.13 during the Southeastern Senior Sectionals at the University of Georgia.

Mitchell plans to attend the University of Louisville in the fall. She will compete in the 200, 400 and 800 free as well as the 200 backstroke, 200 and 400 IM.

Also competing will be Middle Creek rising senior Ben Miller (400 and 1,500 free), Cary rising junior Lillie Smith (100 and 200 backstroke) and Cary Academy graduate Katelyn Linker (400 IM and 200 fly).

Bae wins tournament: Athens Drive's Sarah Bae, the N&O 2010-11 girls golfer of the year, won the Big "I" Junior Classic girls state golf tournament at Pine Needles Golf Resort in Southern Pines. Bae shot rounds of 69-70 to win by four strokes over Casey Ward of Chapel Hill.

The top three finishers qualified for the Big "I" national championship this week at the Reunion Golf and Country Club in Madison, Miss.

Bae was not expected to go to the nationals, but Ward, third-place Mary-Katelyn Holanek of Cary Christian (72-74) will attend.