THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Triangle Math and Science Academy Athletics

Elliott Childress is in his 6th year as Athletic Director at Triangle Math & Science Academy. He oversees all aspects of the Tiger Athletics program at the high school and middle school levels. In addition to his Athletic Director responsibilities, he also serves as the Healthful Living Department Chair.

Coach Childress graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Physical Education K-12 and a minor in Human Studies. He also played baseball while at ASU. He spent 8 years coaching baseball at the high school and American Legion levels before obtaining his Master’s Degree in Physical Education from East Carolina University and pursuing a career in Athletic Administration.

Under Childress’ leadership, Triangle Math & Science Academy made the successful transition from the CAASC Athletic Conference to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) in the fall of 2019 - as part of the North Central 1A Athletic Conference. In 2021, TMSA joined the Central Tar Heel 1A Athletic Conference. In the Spring of 2022, Coach Childress founded the Greater Triangle Athletic Conference (GTAC) for middle school. He currently serves as the President.

In March of 2024, Coach Childress received the North Carolina Athletic Director's Association Citation Award. This award is presented to individuals who have made a significant impact in their school, conference, and/or region - within the arena of interscholastic athletics.

In the Fall of 2021, TMSA earned its first state championship berth in an individual sport (Cross Country) by earning 3 state qualifying times (Mina Cayli, Courtney McCloughan, and Essey Beraki). Cayli (54th) holds the record for highest place finish for our Women's team to date and Beraki set the school record for highest place finish for our Men's team at the time (93rd).

In the Winter of 2021-2022, both of TMSA's Varsity Basketball teams made the playoffs for the first time in school history. The Women's team earned the #25 seed while the men's team earned the #20 seed - both in the 1A East.

In the Spring of 2022, the Men’s Tennis secured TMSA’s first team championship in school history. Two pairs of double teams (Prahalad Srinivasan/Eric Wu and Alex Rhodes/Harvik Kolla) qualified for 1A East Regional play. As a team, TMSA earned the #1 seed for NCHSAA Dual-Team playoffs.

During the 2021-2022 athletic year, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, and Men's Tennis set school records for wins in their respective sports and all teams qualified for the NCHSAA state tournament for the first time in school history.

In the Fall of 2022, Nishant Srinivasa qualified as an individual for the State Championship meet in Cross Country. His 88th place finish (20:48.12) was the highest place finish for the Men's team to date.

During the Winter of 2022-2023, the Women's Basketball team earned the #16 seed in the NCHSAA 1A East playoffs. As a result, TMSA hosted its first-ever playoff game and, later, recorded their first playoff win in NCHSAA history (a 65-35 win over Weldon High School). They also set a school record for wins in a season (16).

In the Spring of 2023, the Men’s Tennis secured another Central Tar Heel Conference championship. This was the first back-to-back championship in school history. After setting a season record for wins, TMSA earned the #2 seed for NCHSAA Dual-Team playoffs in the 1A East. They went on to finish as Regional Runner-Up, dropping a close 5-4 match to Riverside-Martin. This was the first time in school history that a TMSA team made a regional final. They also set another season-high wins total in 2023.

On the individual side of Men's Tennis, Prahalad Srinivasan was named Central Tar Heel Conference Player of the Year, along with winning the 1A East Regional Individual title - and qualifying for the 1A State Championship (all are respective firsts in TMSA Men's Tennis history). Additionally, Eric Wu also qualified for regionals in singles and the duo of Harvik Kolla and Alex Rhodes qualified for regional play in doubles as well.

In addition to Men's Tennis success in the Spring of 2023, the Women's Soccer team also set records of their own - setting a program record for victories and capturing the first Women's Soccer playoff win (a 3-2 PK win at Southside HS) in school history. The Baseball team also set program records for wins.

In the Fall of 2023, TMSA reached new heights in an athletic season - bringing home 2 Conference Championships (Men's Cross Country and Women's Tennis), a team state berth (Men's Cross Country), an individual regional championship (Women's Tennis - Doubles), and the school's first individual state championship (Women's Tennis - Doubles).

In Cross Country, the Men's team edged out Woods Charter for the Central Tar Heel Conference crown. Nishant Srinivasa (Runner of the Year) paced the Tigers - finishing in 1st place, followed by Ashvin Manoj (3rd place), and Sina Dehghani (4th place). Following their CTHC success, the men's team finished 4th in the 1A Mideast Regional - advancing to the state meet for the first time as a team in school history. Srinivasa (2nd) and Manoj (8th) earned All-Region accolades for their top-10 finishes. Srinivasa would go on to beat his previous year's finish - placing 42nd - setting a new school record with a time of 17:56.83 (beating his time from 2022 by almost 3 minutes). Ashvin Manoj (68) also captured a top-100 finish with a time of 18:35.60. As a team, TMSA finished in the top 15 (#14).

In their inaugural season, Women's Tennis captured the Central Tar Heel Conference crown - going undefeated in the league. As a team, the Tigers earned the #3 seed for the 1A East and advanced to the 1A East Semifinals.

On the individual side of Women's Tennis, Brianna Viets (CTHC Player of the Year) and Sasha Korjova (All-CTHC Conference) won the doubles conference championship, followed that up by winning the 1A East Regional title, and culminated their dominant run with 3 convincing NCHSAA State Tournament wins - where they dropped only 4 games in their 3 matches at Cary Tennis Park. This was the first individual state title in the history of TMSA Athletics. Both Viets and Korjova were named to the North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches Association All-State team as well.

During the Winter of 2023-2024, the Women's Basketball team earned the #15 seed in the NCHSAA 1A East playoffs. As a result, TMSA hosted a home playoff game in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the history of the basketball program (Men's or Women's). They also broke their own record (set just a year ago) for wins in a season.

Also in the Winter of 2023-2024, Samrita Sriram notched her 1,000th career point in her team's 64-18 win over Ascend Leadership Academy on January 19th. She is TMSA's first-ever 1,000 point scorer (Men's or Women's).

In the Spring of 2024, the Men’s Tennis captured another Central Tar Heel Conference championship. This made them back-to-back-to-back champions - another first in school history. On the back of an undefeated conference season and a tough non-conference schedule, TMSA earned the #1 seed for NCHSAA Dual-Team playoffs in the 1A East. They defeated Eno River in the Eastern Regional Final to bring home the school's first-ever Regional Championship. The following week, TMSA dropped a tough match against the #1 seed from the West - Elkin High School - to finish their season as NCHSAA 1A Dual-Team Runner Up.

On the individual side of Men's Tennis, Prahalad Srinivasan was named Central Tar Heel Conference Player of the Year for the second year in a row. He was also part of the doubles team (with Cooper Fielding) to capture the CTHC Doubles Championship. Eric Wu captured the individual crown at the CTHC Tournament. Soham Kela and Rayyan Neikar also qualified for the 1A East Regional in Goldsboro with their top-4 finish. Srinivasan and Fielding continued their winning ways at the 1A East Regional - not dropping a set en route to a 1A East Doubles crown.

Srinivasan and Fielding entered the 1A Individual State Championship as the top-seed from the East. Fielding and Srinivasan won both of their matches the opening day of the 1A Doubles State Tournament on Friday, May 10th (a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy's Tanner Richards and Hunter Plaster and a come-from-behind triumph over Julian Monzavifar and Josh Banchik from NCSSM-Morganton), to advance to the title match against Aidan and Connor Ballard from Elkin High School. In the title match on Saturday, May 11th, Ballard and Ballard proved to be a formidable force, taking the championship match 6-3, 6-2.
In addition to their State Runner-Up finish, Fielding and Srinivasan were both named to the North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches Association All-State team.

Soham Kela and Rayyan Neikar also advanced to the 1A State Championship, where they were defeated in the first round by the eventual state champions (Ballard/Ballard) as well.

TMSA's Baseball team also set a record for wins in 2024 with 6 (surpassing last years total of 2 wins) and hosted a conference tournament game for the first time in school history. They finished the season ranked #33 in 1A - one spot away from the playoffs.

TMSA's Women's Soccer team also qualified for the playoffs again in 2024 - making it the second year in a row they have qualified for postseason play.

In the Fall of 2024, TMSA continued to build on their past success - bringing home 2 more Conference Championships (Men's Cross Country and Men's Soccer), a team state championship berth (Men's and Women's Cross Country), an individual regional championship, and a NCHSAA 1A Individual State Tennis Runner-Up.

In Men's Soccer, TMSA went undefeated in conference play (11-0-1) to claim its first-ever conference championship. They also set a record for wins in a season (12), hosted their first-ever playoff game, and won their first ever playoff game (9-0 over Ascend Leadership Academy).

In Men's Cross Country, the Tigers ran the table - finishing in first place in all Central Tar Heel Conference races - on their way to back-to-back CTHC Championships. Nishant Srinivasa (Runner of the Year) paced the Tigers at the CTHC Championship meet - finishing in 1st place, followed by Ashvin Manoj (2nd place), and Angelus Jones (7th place). Following their CTHC success, the men's team finished 2nd in the 1A Mideast Regional - advancing to the state meet for the second time as a team in school history. Srinivasa (1st) and Manoj (3rd) earned All-Region accolades for their top-10 finishes. Srinivasa set a new school record for highest finish in a state championship meet (20th) - setting a new school record with a time of 17:36.41 (beating his time from 2023 by 20 seconds). Ashvin Manoj captured a top-25 finish (24th) with a time of 17:44.59. As a team, TMSA finished 10th.

In Women's Cross Country, the Tigers finished 2nd in the conference and finished in 3rd place in the 1A Mideast Regional - qualifying them for the state championship meet for the first time in school history. Yashika Jagadeesh earned a top-15 finish at the 1A Mideast Regional (13th) with a time of 23:43.00. She was followed closely by Mina Cayli (17th) and Ailani Jones (18th). At the 1A State Championship meet, Jagadeesh would go on to finish 47th - TMSA's highest finish at the state championship to date.

On the individual side of Women's Tennis, Sasha Korjova (CTHC Player of the Year) won the singles conference championship, followed that up by winning the 1A East Regional title, and made a strong showing at the NCHSAA 1A State Tournament wins - where she finished as state runner-up. This was the first individual state runner-up finish in the history of TMSA Athletics.

During the Winter of 2024-2025, the Women's Basketball team captured its first-ever conference championship - compiling a 10-2 record in the Central Tar Heel Conference. They went on to defeat Chatham Charter 41-31 in the CTHC Conference Championship game to claim TMSA's first-ever conference tournament championship in school history. The Tigers earned the #10 seed in the East Region of NCHSAA 1A State Tournament. They hosted a home playoff game for the second year in a row - another first for TMSA.

In the Spring, Men's Tennis captured their 4th Central Tar Heel Conference Championship in as many years. They are the first team to go back-to-back-to-back-to-back in school history.

On the individual side of Men's Tennis, Prahalad Srinivasan was named Central Tar Heel Conference Player of the Year for the second year in a row. He was also part of the doubles team (with Cooper Fielding) to capture the CTHC Doubles Championship (also champions in 2024).

As a result of the school's strong showing over the course of the 2024-2025 school year, TMSA captured its first-ever Region 3 Wells Fargo Cup. The Wells Fargo Cup is based on regular-season performances within conference play and is designed to recognize the best interscholastic athletic performance in each NCHSAA conference.

At the middle school level, both our girls (spring 2023) and boys (fall 2023) soccer teams have won GTAC Championships.

"My ultimate goal as TMSA's Athletic Director is to provide an athletic program that extends the learning experience beyond the classroom, while creating a culture of excellence both on and off the field. I firmly believe that participation in athletics is a transformative experience that teaches the values of teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship. I want to continue cultivating an environment where students develop physically, socially, as well as mentally, while ensuring each one feels valued, empowered, and reaches their fullest potential as a student-athlete.”

“As a former high school and collegiate athlete, as well as a coach, I understand the value that education-based athletics affords our student-athletes. Not only does participation in sports improve fitness levels and sport-specific performance, it also teaches student-athletes how to lead, how be a better teammate, how to handle adversity, and how persistence paves the way to becoming a better person - on and off their respective playing fields. Education-based athletics also has a positive impact on academic success, as well as help students learn how to manage their time and develop leadership skills that will transcend the realm of athletics and help prepare them for their future.”

#BERELENTLESS