Sunday, Warren will be inducted into the Greater Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame along with six others for her contributions as a three-sport athlete for the Granite Bears from 1986 to 1990.
Warren walked the halls of Mount Airy during a time when Granite Bear sports teams were full of top-flight women athletes, including Natalie Nester, Carrie Whitehead Campbell and Angela Harbor.
But Warren certainly made her mark as much as her peers, highlighted by a trio of state doubles tennis championships and Northwest 2A Conference player of the year awards.
After tennis season concluded in her senior season of 1989, Warren came down with an undiagnosed blood disorder, derailing what looked to have been a promising college tennis career.
While she said the news came as a shock at the time, she doesn’t look back with a negative view.
“It was a little bit of a disappointment for sure, but at the same time I almost was ready for a little bit of a break,” she said. “I had been pushing hard for all those years playing tournaments and when we were winning those state titles there was a lot of pressure to come back and win. I almost kind of needed a break.”
Instead of pursuing a scholarship, she chose to attend Chapel Hill as a normal student.
After a short sabbatical from competitive tennis, Warren got her health in order and soon found herself playing for the Tar Heels club tennis team, a group of former high school players who not only played other club teams but small area colleges as well.
After 20 years, Warren still competes at a high level, as a highly-rated USTA amateur for the past six years. Warren also captured a few more titles, as her team based out of Charlotte won the state team championship in 2008 and her Lake Norman team won a state championship and was a finalist in the southeastern sectional, comprised of 11 states in 2006.
Warren began her tennis odyssey around the age of 8, during a summer at camp. Afterwards, tennis became a central part of her life, helped by her parents, with lessons from Wake Forest University’s men’s and women’s tennis coaches shortly followed by trips to Chapel Hill to work with a private coach.
When Warren finally made it to high school, she was obviously well prepared to dominate. Even with all the training and time spent on the court, Warren said she didn’t realize she could be truly competitive on a high level until her freshman year.
“I think I never believed in myself as much as I should have, but when I was 15 or 16, I started randomly beating people that were always ranked high and I won some matches here or there that I probably shouldn’t have won and I realized that if I really stuck to it I could beat anyone,” she said.
After focusing on singles in her freshman season, Warren said coaches James Hayes and Betty Smith began to work with her and Carrie Whitehead Campbell on a doubles strategy and things began to fall into place.
The work paid off in 1987 when the duo won its first of three consecutive 2A doubles titles.
Warren said the title in her sophomore year was unexpected.
“We went in being a complete underdog, seeded about fifth or sixth and ended up coming through all of the top seeds,” she said. “The final did go to three sets and we won the third set 6-3. I kind of just remember being there in Southern Pines and after it was over being in shock that we had actually won.”
The shock would obviously wear off, as Warren and Campbell went from surprise underdog to the doubles team to beat.
During her career, Warren compiled an impressive tennis resume. On top of the three state doubles titles and the three player of the year awards, Warren finished 74-2 in singles, 86-3 in doubles play and was ranked No. 11 by the North Carolina Tennis Association during her junior year.
While tennis was her best sport, Warren was by no means a one-sport athlete. She was voted to the Northwest 2A all-conference basketball team in 1987 and 1988 and was named the team’s best defensive player her junior year.
She also was a three-time all-conference softball player (1987, 1988, 1989) and was voted the team’s best hitter in three seasons.
Warren said coach Eddie Cobb and her junior high coach Tom Dickinson were instrumental in her development as a basketball player. A 5-6 power forward, Warren was a player who left it all on the court and wasn’t afraid to scrap with much bigger competition.
“Coach Dickinson was the first one to teach me how to box out and I’ll never forget it,” Warren said. “And as I moved up it definitely continued on with coach Cobb.”
At North Carolina, Warren majored in Spanish and came back to Mount Airy for one year following her graduation to teach Spanish and coach the Bears’ girls tennis team.
Now Warren, a stay-at-home mom since 1999, and her husband, Eric, enjoy watching their 12 year-old son, Eric Jr., and 9-year-old daughter, Emily, play recreational and AAU sports.
She said she wants her children to be able to choose for themselves what sports they pursue and how hard, but that if not for athletics, her life would have certainly been different.
“I don’t know what I would have done without it,” she said. “I definitely think it keeps kids out of trouble and you’ve got instant friends with your teammates. Now, watching our kids truly keeps us entertained. I don’t know what we would do without that. I like watching them and supporting them. I just have that competitive nature.”
As for her induction into the Hall of Fame, Warren said she is flattered and hopes to regale some of her glory days down the road when the time is right.
“I am very honored and very excited about it,” she said. “It’s a huge privilege to me, and I look forward to seeing it on the monument and being able to show my grandchildren one day.”
Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.
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