* Robbinsville track season preview
Robbinsville – With its most depth in years, the Robbinsville High School track program is destined for greatness.
More than 30 athletes fill out the boys and girls’ rosters, with a large slew of state qualifiers returning from 2021.
Included in that number is the reigning 1A, 110-meter hurdles state champion Brock Adams; the 1A/2A indoor-track long jump champion, Zoie Shuler; and the talented 4x200 relay quartet of Delaney Brooms, Caylin Lunsford, Kensley Phillips and Shuler.
“This year, we have lots of returning talent, but also experienced athletes, which is something we lacked last season due to seasons being cut short from the pandemic,” Robbinsville head coach Stuart Nelms said. “We also have multiple athletes who have competed in AAU meets this past summer – and indoor track this winter – to add experience to our roster this season.”
The program is loaded with seniors. For the Black Knights, Phoenix Brooks, Kamdyn Jordan, Ben Wachacha and Carlos Wesley compete in field events; Sully Shanahan and Hayden Stewart take care of distance running.
“With this large number of boys on the team, we have enough to fill every event, which we haven’t been able to do for a while,” Nelms said. “We see lots of potential for the boys team for growth this season. They have continued to get better and have been building as a team each week.”
On the girls side, seniors Halee Anderson, Montana Buchanan, Dallas Garrett and Ainslee Munro handle field competition; while Lunsford toggles between jumps and relays, with Yeika Jimenez and Haize Moore placing at the top of the pack in dashes and hurdles, respectively.
“Not only are these athletes more experienced this year, but we have had some step up to be leaders to make our team stronger, such as Haize, Caylin and Montana, who have helped recruit student athletes, hold leadership roles on the team and help us run practices smoothly,” Nelms said.
“Along with these experienced athletes, we also have lots of beginners and freshmen added to the team that we look forward to seeing their growth this season.
“The girls team might not have enough to fill every single event, but we do have plenty of quality talent in the events that we can enter that will go far in the championship season.”
Multiple tickets should be punched for transit from Robbinsville to Greensboro in May, where the annual state meet is held at N.C. A&T University.
“The girls talent should lead to many regional qualifiers with high finishes and for our team – with the lack of depth and the bigger the meet – the higher we can place as a team,” Nelms said.