Adams, Shuler shine at state championship meet
Greensboro – One successfully defended his crown, while another fully redeemed a pair of second-place finishes from 2021.
Black Knights junior Brock Adams and Lady Knights sophomore Zoie Shuler dominated their individual events at the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A state track meet, which was held Saturday at N.C. A&T University.
Adams won his second-straight 110-meter hurdles championship (15.43 seconds, ahead of North Moore’s Michael Copeland, who ran a 16.14) and captured the 300-meter honor for the first time (40.78, which bested Albermarle’s Slay Jackson, who turned in a 42.83 finish).
“A lot of hard work and dedication went into this,” Adams said. “I didn’t really focus on what everybody else was doing; I was focused on improving myself and getting better. It turned into two state championships, and I am so grateful. To be able to compete is a blessing.”
Adams also leapt to a third-place finish in the high jump (6 feet, 2 inches).
Meanwhile, Shuler reset her own Robbinsville school records in both the long (18 feet, 7 inches) and triple (39 feet, 9 ¼ inches) jumps, to pick up a pair of titles that evaded her freshman campaign.
In the latter, she also recorded a new 1A state standard, which was previously set by Louisburg’s Vanisha Wilshire in 2015 (39 feet, 4 inches).
“It’s crazy. I can’t really wrap my head around this,” Shuler said. “I’ve been working really hard. I ran indoor (winning a 1A/2A state title in long jump in February) to stay in shape and I’ve been doing a bunch of drills that (coach) Jeremy (Lunsford) and Caylin (Lunsford) showed me. Caylin is the one that got me interested in jumping, and she even taught me how to triple jump, so I give all the kudos to her.”
Shuler currently holds three individual records for Robbinsville – in the long and triple jumps, as well as the 200-meter dash – and is a member of the Lady Knights’ 4x100 and 4x200 trendsetters that have set new school standards this season.