More than 65 punters, kickers and long-snappers converged on the camp which annually attracts a big crowd.

Here are the competition Winners:
Long distance field goal: Trey Rich (60 yds)
Long distance kick-off: Thomas Blakey (69 yds)
Hang time punt: Arron Shiffler (4.43- 45 yds) and Reed Roberts (4.59- 43 yds)
Out of bounds punt: Kory Waller (.5 yds on R) and Oscar Silva Reta (.5 yds on L)
Fastest single snap: Seth Oliver (.89)
Most accurate snapper: Seth Oliver (19/30 points)

Top Kicker: Trey Tully (Oklahoma, class of 2014)
Top Punter: Arron Shiffler (Texas, class of 2014)
Top Long Snapper: Seth Oliver (Texas, class of 2014)
Top Kicker/Punter Combo: Trey Rich (Texas, class of 2014)
Top Punter/ Kick-off Specialist: Trey Rich (Texas, class of 2014)
Top Kick-off Specialist: Andrew Macpherson-Lesnick (Oklahoma, class of 2014)

Ray Guy Prokicker.com All-American long-snapper Ike Powell committed to Vanderbilt University last Thursday.

Powell, a 6-foot-3 and 250-pound long-snapper, as been at the top of the Prokicker.com class for several years and is considered one of the best at his position in the nation.

A senior-to-be at Tift County High School in Georgia, Powell has been raising eyebrows at Prokicker.com camps for several years.

Powell was the Ray Guy Prokicker.com National Championship runner-up for 2011 and was the national winner in the underclassman division.

Powell is Prokicker.com’s top-ranked long-snapper in the class of 2014. He registered a fast snap of .75 with an average of .80. He also scored 25 on accuracy.

While long-snappers are often an anonymous position, they are a key to the special teams.

Powell’s precision and crisp snapping skills give Vanderbilt reason to believe they won’t have to worry about hearing his named called for a bad snap. Vandy wasn’t along in the recruitment of Powell, who was also pursued by Florida, Florida State and Auburn.

The scholarship offer from coach James Franklin was enough for Powell, who is considered a potential Under Armour All-American as a long-snapper.

Special teams have been a strong area for Franklin’s teams in Nashville and Powell certainly looks good enough to make that part of the game even better.

With his commitment, Powell becomes the ninth verbal pledge in Vanderbilt’s 2014 class.

Kickers Corbin Peeper and Ivy Wall and punters Tuck Borie, Winston Smith and Wall were selected as top prospects by camp coaches.

Here are the competition winners:

#1 Kicker and Kickoff Specialist:  Corbin Peeper, Class of 2014, Tennessee

#1 Punter:  Tuck Borie, Class of 2014, Alabama

#1 Long Snapper:  Alex King, Class of 2016, Alabama

#1 Kicker/Punter Combo and Punter/Kickoff Combo:  Adam Shepherd, Class of 2014, Alabama

Long Distance Field Goal Winner:  Ivy Wall, 52 yds

Long Distance Field Goal Middle School Winner:  Barrett Pickering, 40 yds

Long Distance Kickoff Winner:  Adam Shepherd, 68 yds. 3.46 sec hang time

Hang Time Punt Winner:  Ivy Wall, 4.93 sec.

Out of Bounds Punt Right Winner:  Jody Purnell, 2.5 yd line

Out of Bounds Punt Left Winner:  Tuck Borie, 2 yd line

Fastest Single Snap:  Dru Ford, .84 sec.

Most Accurate Snapper:  Alex King, 11/30

Top Prospects:

Tuck Borie, P, Class of 2014

Corbin Peeper, K, Class of 2014

Winston Smith, P, Class of 2015

Ivy Wall, K/P, Class of 2015

Andrew Upton (kicker), Michael Sehlinger (long-snapper) and Jack Werner (long-snapper) were named top prospects by camp coaches.

Here are the competition winners:

-Long Distance Field Goal Winner: Joshua Litherland, 50 yes.
-Long Distance Kickoff Winner: Sam Stevens, 62 yds, 3.45 sec hang time
-Hang Time Punt Winner: Sam Stevens, 4.53 sec, 35 yds
-Out of Bounds Punt Right Winner: Joshua Litherland, 3 yd line
-Out of Bounds Punt Left Winner: Alex Conlin, 10 yd line
-Fastest Single Snap: Michael Sehlinger/ Jack Werner, .82 sec
-Most Accurate Snapper: Austin McElwain, 18/30

Brands, who is in the class of 2015, had the fastest snap and most accurate snap at camp.

While Brands was the top long-snapper, two other class of 2015 campers took top kicking honors.

Brader Dufrene was the top kicker and kickoff specialist and Ivy Wall was the top punter and combo kicker.

Here are the camp winners:

Long Distance Field Goal Winner: Brock Ronsonet, 45 yards

Long Distance Field Goal Winner (Middle School): Brady Becker, 25 yds

Long Distance Kickoff Winner: Brader Dufrene, 64 yds, 3.58 hang time

 Hang Time Punt Winner: Ivy Wall, 40 yd punt, 4.59 hang time

Out of Bounds Punt Winner Right: Bryce Horton, 1 yd line

Out of Bounds Punt Winner Left: Bryce Horton, 1 yd line

Fastest Single Snap: Michael Brands, .77

Most Accurate Snapper: Michael Brands, 17/30

It was a bit of a youth movement – three of the prospects were from the class of 2014 and two from 2015.

Long-snappers Nick Reinhardt (2014), Nick Maxey (2015) and C.J. Keller (2015) impressed instructors with their skills and work ethic as did punter D.J. Arnson and kicker Garrison Schwartz.

Here are the competition results:

#1 kicker:  Garrison Schwartz, 2014, Arizona
#1 punter:  D.J. Arnson, 2014, Arizona
#1 long snapper:  C.J. Keller, 2014, Arizona
#1 kicker punter combo:  Scott Knudson, 2014, Arizona
#1 punter kickoff specialist:  Christopher Baker, 2015, Arizona
#1 kickoff specialist:  Connor Culp, 2016, Arizona

Long Distance Field Goal winner:  Chris Baker, 45 yds
Long Distance Kickoff Winner:  Connor Culp, 67 yds
Hang Time Punt Winner:  DJ Arnson, 4.20 sec
Out of Bounds punt winner right:  Vincent Silvas, 7 yd line
Out of Bounds punt winner left:  Chris Baker, 1 yd line
Fastest Single Snap:  Nick Reinhardt, .79 sec
Most Accurate Snap:  CJ Keller, 24/30 pts

Two of the three top prospects identified were long-snappers from the class of 2017 – Ben Reeder and Cody Griffith. The other was kicker Andrew Weil, a middle school student who will graduate high school in 2019.

Here are the competition results:

No. 1 Kicker, Punter, Combo Specialist, and Kickoff Specialist:  Brett Norton, South Carolina Class of 2015

No. 1 Long Snapper:  Cody Griffith, South Carolina Class of 2014

Long Distance Field Goal Winner:  Ashton Hughes, 51 yds

Long Distance Kickoff Winner:  Ben Thomas, 67 yds, 3.57 hangtime

Hang Time Punt Winner:  Jordan Bates and Brett Norton, 4.27 sec hangtime

Out of Bounds Right Punt Winner:  Knox Kiernan, 6 yd line

Out of Bounds Left Punt Winner:  Jordan Bates, 6 yd line

Fastest Single Snap:  Justin Carson, .70 sec.

Most Accurate Snapper:  Cody Griffith, 20/30 points

A couple of rising North Carolina seniors, kickers Patrick Woods of Pine Forest High School and Topher Kline of Charlotte Catholic High School impressed instructors with strong legs.

Woods, who will be beginning his fourth year of kicking for Pine Forest this fall, blasted a 71-yard kickoff to win the long distance kickoff competition.

“He’s got a real strong leg,” said Ryan Guy, a camp instructor. “He’s been to our camp before. He did well on the kickoffs and pretty well with field goals. The kid definitely has a strong leg.”

Woods was the top kickoff specialist, top kicker-punter combo and top kicker-kickoff specialist in the camp, which drew 47 to the college campus near Charlotte.

Woods, who punts and kicks for his high school team, had a Charlotte Prokicker.com camp record 4.94 hang time on punts. His top punt traveled 44 yards.

Kline drew some praise from Prokicker.com instructor Logan O’Connor, who was impressed with the kicker’s field goal accuracy and leg strength.

Kline made 90 percent of his field goals and had a long kickoff of 69 yards. “All of his kickoffs were in the fringe end zone, which is kind of the bar we look for. I told him to work on the hang-time a little bit.

“He strikes the ball well and was consistent on his field goals. He had a nice swing.”

Tre Jackson, a rising junior at Avery County High School in North Carolina, did an outstanding job punting at the camp, Guy said.

“He has the potential to be a good combo guy,” Guy said. “I like what I saw from his leg strength.”

Here are the camp results:

No. 1 Kicker, Combo Specialist and Kickoff Specialist:  Patrick Woods, Class of 2014, North Carolina
No. 1 Punter:  Hunter Lent, Class of 2015, North Carolina
No. 1 Long Snapper:   Jesse Medford, Class of 2014, North Carolina

Competition winners:
Long Distance Field Goal Winner:  Noah Shively,  40 yds
Long Distance Kickoff Winner:  Patrick Woods, 70 yds, 3.44 sec
Hang Time Punt Winner:  Patrick Woods, 4.94 hangtime
Out of bounds punt right winner:  Caiden Norman, 5 yd line
Out of bounds punt left winner:  Stockton McGuire, 11 yd line
Fastest Single Snap:  Conrad Mueller/William Hayes  .77 sec
Most Accurate Snapper:  Jesse Medford, 18/30 pts

Top Prospects:
Topher Kline, K, 2014, North Carolina
Hunter Lent, P, 2015, North Carolina
Patrick Woods, K, 2014, North Carolina
Tre’ Jackson, P, 2015, North Carolina

The camp attracted 17 long-snappers on the first of two days. This was the third Prokicker.com camp of the spring season. The next stopover will be in Summerville, S.C., beginning Saturday. Go to Prokicker.com to register for the camp.

JOSEPH PERSON / CharlotteObserver.com

John Kasay retired as a Carolina Panther on Tuesday, a fitting send-off for a kicker who played in more games than anyone in team history.

Kasay signed a one-day contract at Bank of America Stadium, then spoke to reporters at a reception attended by his family, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, members of the team’s front office and several of Kasay’s former teammates.

“I’ve been to these and lots of times they come off more like funerals than they do celebrations. And it really is (a celebration),” Kasay said. “I told Mr. Richardson the reason I wanted to do this is simply I can’t write 70,000 thank you notes. I wish that I could. But this is my feeble attempt to tell everybody thank you.”

Kasay, 43, teared up while talking about his wife Laura, who later described the “nervous Sundays” she spent inside NFL stadiums over her husband’s 21-year career.

Kasay holds more than 20 team records, including the marks for games played (221) and points scored in a season (145 in 1996) and overall (1,482).

Per team policy, Kasay must wait five years before becoming eligible for the Panthers’ Hall of Honor. Kasay said individual honors were never his motivation.

“It’s not why I played,” he said. “I think there are some people that that is a really huge deal for them. I came here to kick.”

Kasay recently was named the athletics director at Charlotte Christian, where two of his four children are enrolled. Kasay also will coach the Knights’ special teams.

Kasay was with Carolina for 15 seasons after playing four years in Seattle, which drafted Kasay in the fourth round in 1991. He signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Panthers in 1995, the team’s inaugural season.

The left-footed Kasay ranks sixth in league history in field goals made (461) and attempted (563), and is tied for second with 42 career field goals of 50 yards or longer.

Kasay said his most memorable kick was the 32-yard field goal that iced a 26-17 win against Dallas on Jan. 5, 1997, in the first playoff game in team history. He agonized over another playoff moment – his kickoff that went out of bounds in Super Bowl XXXVIII, giving New England good field position for Tom Brady’s game-winning drive.

Kickoffs were part of the reason the Panthers released Kasay in the summer of 2011. Former general manager Marty Hurney said the move was made to save a roster spot because Kasay had not kicked off his last couple of years in Charlotte.

After watching a number of veterans get cut as teams prepared for the lockout in 2011, Kasay said his release from the Panthers did not surprise him.

“I was actually joking during that time. During the lockout, a lot of the teams went young. So I said, ‘Well, they put in the database that anybody in their 30s had to be gone.’ Well, I was already over 40 so I didn’t fit,” Kasay said.

“That’s a reality for every one of those guys, especially when you hit 30. You’re just year to year, and that’s just the way it is. I lasted way longer than I thought I would.”

Kasay kicked for New Orleans in 2011 when Garrett Hartley was injured. Kasay said a team called him last season, but he did not want to uproot his family.

Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman said his favorite Kasay moment came in a preseason game in 1999 – for purely selfish reasons. Gettleman, then a Giants’ scout, was scouting the Carolina-New England game the final week of the preseason.

With the score tied late, Kasay drilled a 61-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Panthers to a 23-20 victory and send the scouts home happy.

“Nobody wants to go to overtime in a preseason game,” Gettleman said. “The Panthers got the ball back, and I think John hit a (61-yard) field goal to end the game. Right then and there, if we’d been on the field we would’ve put him on our shoulders. John is a tremendous kicker.”

Bruce DeHaven, the Panthers’ new assistant special teams coach, stopped by the reception Tuesday to wish Kasay well. DeHaven, then with Buffalo, recalled the private workout he gave Kasay in a pop-up rainstorm in Athens, Ga., a few days before the 1991 draft.

“He had to kick in some inclement weather, and he was just perfect,” DeHaven said. “There was no question in my mind that he was going to be a great kicker after that day.”

DeHaven said it broke his heart when Seattle picked Kasay, who played at Georgia, before the Bills could get him in the fifth. Bill Polian was Buffalo’s GM at the time, and was in the same position with the Panthers when they signed Kasay.

“Bill told me four or five years later, ‘I missed you the first time. I’m not going to miss you this time,’ ” Kasay said.

Panthers offensive lineman Jordan Gross said Kasay used to say kickers were to be seen, not heard.

“He never talked in front of the team until he was asked to, and then he would deliver the perfect speech with the perfect voice inflection and the perfect message,” Gross said. “He understood his position so well and his place on the team. And the respect that everybody had (for him) wasn’t through words or force or intimidation. It was because the guy was such a professional and did his job so well.”