Craig County senior Carter Price has two goals this week. The first, of course, is to beat Galax in football Friday night. However, Carter’s long term goal is to attend West Point Military Academy.
First things first, Carter is a two way standout and leader on the Craig County football team. Last year as a junior he was first team All-Pioneer District and first team All-Region 1C on both offense and defense. He’s the “8 man” in Craig’s single wing offense and the strong tackle on defense.
“Carter is a fantastic young man and a great leader,” said Craig County coach Jimmy Fisher. “He’s a very good player. On offense he’ll pull and kick-out on several plays and anchor some interior double teams. And he’ll anchor the defense again this season.”
Price is a hard worker in the weight room. He’s beefed up to 260 pounds on his 6’3” frame and it’s all muscle. He’s one of the strongest kids on the team.
“I was in the weight room three times a week this summer,” he said. “I really like lifting, more in the off-season than once the season starts. The atmosphere is amazing and coach (Jayke) Dowdy is a big part of it. He plays heavy metal music and that’s my favorite in the weight room.”
Carter leads by example. The other players see how hard he works and it’s contagious.
“He has been a leader in a group of leaders,” said Fisher. “I give a ton of credit to this group, and Carter Calfee, for leading the turnaround of this program. Carter has been instrumental to our success. He, and several kids in his grade, have bought into every single thing we have asked them to do.”
Price had a busy summer. He went on a visit to Georgetown University and he attended a football camp at Washington & Lee University in Lexington.
“It’s a beautiful campus, and they have high academic standards,” he said.
The highlight of the summer was his participation in the Summer Leadership Program at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. He was there for five days, living in the dorms and going through exciting exercises.
“We got up every day at five o’clock,” he said. “We ran obstacle courses, repelled off walls and had an entry session to jujitsu. I sat through three classes of psycology.
“One of the days was ‘Military Day’ and they gave us dummy rifles and we experienced stuff like combat. We saw Blackhawk helicopters.”
Carter would like to go back.
“It’s my dream school,” he said.
Price is currently going through the application process to become a cadet at West Point. He has three letters of recommendation from his Math, English and Science teachers. He needs a congressional nomination from 9th District United States Congressman Morgan Griffith, and that would have to be approved along with some other criteria.
“I feel like I have a very good chance,” he said. “I just completed the Army medical fitness exam and I passed that. I’ll have to take another physical, like a sports physical, after the football season.”
Carter is currently studying to get his SAT score higher. He has a 3.9 GPA at Craig County High after earning all A’s the last semester, including two college courses. He won’t learn if he is accepted until January at the earliest, but if he is it might mark a first for a Craig County native.
“I do not know of anyone from Craig that has attended one of the major service academies, but I cannot say for certain,” said coach Fisher, who is somewhat of an expert on county history. “There have been several VMI and Citadel graduates I believe.”
If Carter is accepted into West Point he might even try football.
“I’ve been in contact with the coaches,” he said. “Right now my main goal is to be a cadet, and football would just be a bonus.”
