7 Robbinsville athletes qualify for 1A championship
Connelly Springs – Another meet, another strong showing for Robbinsville.
What is becoming an industry standard panned out again at the 1A Western Regional Championship on Saturday, which was held at East Burke High School. Four individual regional championships were attained from Robbinsville – two from Brock Adams and Zoie Shuler – and six Knights qualified for the state meet, which will be held at N.C. A&T University in Greensboro this weekend.
“Big accomplishments for winning regional titles for Zoie and Brock, especially with how strong the region was this year and since they won it in two events each,” coach Kaitlyn Carringer-Adams said.
Adams conquered both the 110- (15.41 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles event to win regional gold and is looking to successfully defend his 110-meter state crown in Greensboro. Shuler leapt to the front of the pack in both the long (18 feet) and triple (37 feet, 2 ¼ inches) jumps at East Burke. She finished as state runner-up in both events as a freshman last season.
In order to qualify for state, an athlete (or relay unit) had to finish fourth or better at the regional meet. Adams also qualified in the high jump – placing second Saturday, with a height of 6 feet – while senior Caylin Lunsford finished second in the triple jump (33 feet, 10 ¼ inches) and fourth in the long jump (16 feet, 2 ½ inches). The Lady Knights’ 4x200 relay combination of Lunsford, Kensley Phillips, Delaney Brooms and Shuler broke the school record they set March 23 – posting a time of 1:48.69, which was good for second place. Yeika Jimenez tagged in for Shuler in the 4x100, as Robbinsville clocked in at the 52.82 mark for another second-place finish.
Brooms (7 feet) and Caden Lail (10 feet, 6 inches) also reached the qualifying threshold in the pole vault.
“A lot of the main competition was in our region, which really pushed our athletes – with Brock running a PR (personal record) in the 300-meter hurdles and our girls 4x200 relay breaking the school record again, plus many other PRs,” Carringer-Adams said. “Performances from all the qualifiers should give them a good seed for the state meet.
“Also, big accomplishments for both pole vaulters since this is the first year for both of them competing in this event.”