Back in high school, I covered Western Harnett High School athletics as part of an ongoing, self-published sports blog I created as a stand-in for my school’s lack of a newspaper and third party media coverage. Local media is hard to come by in Harnett County.

My experiences as the sole proprietor of “The Eagle Times” are what I believe to have led to the major sense of déjà vu I experienced Tuesday, March 29 in my first day as an intern for Wilmington’s StarNews.

StarNews, the largest daily newspaper in Wilmington and North Carolina’s oldest, has been in operation since 1867. It offers national, state and local coverage that extends beyond New Hanover County into Pender and Brunswick counties. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to come in contact with Dan Spears, StarNews’s sports editor.

Tuesday afternoon, I arrived at StarNews offices for the first time and found myself in awe. For someone who has wanted to be a sportswriter since he was in middle school, being in a real life newspaper office was a delightful experience.

Lobbying for a part time position as a freelance reporter, my first assignment was to follow high school beat writer Alex Riley to a doubleheader lacrosse event at Ashley High School, home of the Screamin’ Eagles. Both the men’s team and women’s team were hosting the Laney Buccaneers, alma mater to a semi-famous individual named Michael Jordan.

Alex and I made our way over to Ashley to catch the first game, the women’s. By the time they had reached halftime, Laney was leading 5-3. A hat trick from Hailey Sanderson led the Bucs in the first half.

It was right after halftime when things began to change. Averee Gerold, a standout sophomore for the Eagles, came out with a relentless attack that netted her seven goals in the final 20 minutes of action.

Ashley’s turnaround became too much for Laney to handle. The Buccaneers conceded victory, taking a 10-7 loss, their first of the season. Laney’s head coach could be heard telling his team afterward that they had been playing great, but then they “Let number 20 [Gerold] happen.”

My first ever lacrosse game had not been a disappointment. Not having the sport in high schools in my area of the state, the game was largely unfamiliar to me outside of what I had seen on television. I was excited to see what the men’s game had to offer.

Carson Conklin led the way for Ashley, finding the back of the net four times, including a game clinching goal in the final three minutes, to secure a 8-6 win for Ashley and a sweep of the rival Buccaneers.

Defense was the key for Ashley throughout. Colton Smith recorded 16 saves in the goal on the night, proving to be a key asset for the Eagles.

I was asked toward the end of the night what I thought of it all-how did it feel to be out at a sporting event as a media member? When I answered, I said it felt like I had done it all before.

After spending two and a half years covering high school sports and then making the jump to college and working for an amazing newspaper and editorial staff, it felt great going back to what got me started in sports coverage in the first place.

I always consider myself lucky that I get to be so heavily involved in things like sports coverage and news writing. Those are things I have always wanted to do, and to be able to do them at a professional level so early in my career tends to make things feel a little more surreal.