Pair of Black Knights clean up at state meet
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Brock Adams: State Champion, 110- and 300-meter hurdles; 10th place, high jump. Photos by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com -
Zoie Shuler: State Champion, high, long and triple jumps. -
Kadence Howell: 8th place, Discus Throw.
Greensboro – To Brock Adams and Zoie Shuler, it was simply another day at the office: punch in, handle the task at hand and punch out.
For the record books, Friday’s 1A track & field state championship meet – held at N.C. A&T University’s Aggie Stadium in Greensboro – was five more individual track & field state titles for Robbinsville’s storied program.
Adams capped his career with the Knights by clinching his third-straight, 110-meter hurdles crown; as well as securing back-to-back gold medals in the 300-meter hurdles. He departs Robbinsville with five state crowns to his name.
Meanwhile, Shuler still has one more year to rewrite history. She finished a strong junior campaign with repeat bids as state champion in both the long and triple jumps – but surprised even herself by attaining her first-ever high jump title at the meet, running her Lady Knights tally to eight (counting titles won during indoor track & field, a winter sport).
Adams and Shuler accounted for much of Robbinsville’s team scores at the event: 42 for the Lady Knights (5th place, which is the highest total scored at the state assembly); and 25 for the Black Knights, good for ninth out of 42 boys teams on-hand.
“It was a surprise,” Shuler said of the high jump triumph. “I went into it saying if I didn’t win it, I wouldn’t let it faze me and I would focus on the events I should win. So to win it gave me an extra boost.”
After failing to clear 5 feet, 4 inches at the Western Regional meet May 12, Shuler overcame the odds and vindicated her second-place finish by swooping gracefully over the bar in Greensboro. Swain County’s Gracie Sutton – who won the regional title over
Shuler – placed second on jump attempts.
Favored to win both the long and triple jumps, Shuler more than delivered on the hype. Her marks of 17 feet, 4 inches (long) and 37 feet, 2 1/4 inches (triple) bested the respective second-place finishers, Alleghany’s Phoebe Murphy (16 feet, 5 1/2 inches) and Albemarle’s Amari Baldwin (35 feet, 2 1/2 inches).
Citing a tender ankle from all the leaps and bounds – and with three championships already wrapped up – Shuler opted out of the 200-meter dash.
“It’s cold today and pouring rain,” Shuler noted of the unusually-brisk conditions of mid-May Greensboro. “My ankle has bothered me the past couple of weeks, but it’s because I’ve been jumping on my heel instead of my in-step. But it’s ok; I pulled it out.
“I’m going to do a lot of plyometrics to get my ankle stronger; do some bounding, because I want to get to 40 (feet in triple jump) and 19 (feet in long jump). I need to become more consistent on my approach in high jump, too; that’s my goals (for the offseason).”
Adams and Shuler accounted for much of Robbinsville’s team scores at the event: 42 for the Lady Knights (5th place, which is the highest total scored at the state assembly); and 25 for the Black Knights, good for ninth out of 42 boys teams on-hand.
“Winning five titles in three years is a dream come true,” said Adams, who has signed to play college basketball at Bryan College – and may be venturing onto the track in Dayton as well.
“Every kid has dreams and
wants to leave a legacy anywhere they go and today, I finally submitted mine. Really what it means to me when I think of hurdle titles is bringing it back to Robbinsville and keeping the hurdle titles in Robbinsville. I mean, when you think about it, from Seth Adams to Ty Gibbs and Trey Jones – my cousin and the person who helped me fall in love with hurdles – it’s just been a legacy for Robbinsville to win the hurdles and that was really my driving force overall: to keep the hurdle titles in Robbinsville.”
To reach the pinnacle of the statewide competition, Adams fought off the surge of Tarboro’s Isaiah Jones (15.23 seconds) and Swain County’s Austin Jenkins (15.31) to cross the finish line at the 15.11 mark. The 300-meter win (40.50) was more convincing, with Adams pulling away from the field and triumphing ahead of Mountain Island Charter’s Reggie Daniel (41.00) and Carver’s Derrick Reid, Jr., who punched in at 41.01.
Adams’ wins in the hurdles came after shrugging off a tough finish in the high jump: 10th overall, after only clearing a height of 5 feet, 10 inches.
“I just want every kid to know it doesn’t matter if you are ranked first or last; it’s not about what everyone else does around you, but it’s about what you do,” added the departing senior. “No one can beat you except you, and if you believe you can win and you put your mind to it, then you can win.
“I want to thank coach Ty (Gibbs), (head) coach Kaitlyn (Carringer-Adams), coach (Jeremy) Lunsford – and I want to give a huge thank you out to coaches Ronnie (Carringer) and Brooke Haney – for always pushing me to do my very best, no matter what. Without them, I wouldn’t be a 5-time state champion. Without them, I wouldn’t have won anything. I just want everyone to know they never take credit for anything – when really, they are the ones who pushed me to where I am and because of them, I am a champion.”
More compete
All told, six Robbinsville athletes took part in the 1A state festivities Friday.
The only other Black Knight to check in was Cuttler Adams. The junior looked impressive in the 100-meter dash, defying the steady drizzle of rainfall to clock in at 11.29 seconds; Pamlico County’s Zy’mire Harper zoomed across the line for the win in a mere 10.80 seconds.
Adams also hit the sand in the long jump event, wrapping up eighth place by reaching 19 feet, 8 1/2 inches. Union Academy’s Ezra Martin won the 1A title by recording a distance of 22 feet, 9 1/2 inches.
Senior Kensley Phillips turned in another solid performance in the long jump, riding off into the sunset after placing fifth (15 feet, 4 inches). She was just ahead of sophomore Claire Barlow (6th place, 15 feet, 2 1/2 inches), who also competed in the triple jump and took fifth in the competition (32 feet, 3 inches).
In her state debut, Kadence Howell hurled the discus 94 feet, 5 1/4 inches – good for 8th place. North Rowan’s Brittany Ellis hit 111 feet, 11 inches to secure the 1A crown.
Union Academy crossed by Swain County late to win the 1A boys championship, tallying 63 1/2 team points to the Maroon Devils’ 60. Behind a strong day from Arizona Blankenship – who won the state championship in both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, while also claiming second in the 800-meter run – Swain did hold onto its grip in the 1A girls race, posting 100 team points to blow past second-place Albemarle (83 points).