Robbinsville overcomes the odds
Cherokee – Numbers might have dwindled, but Robbinsville is still sending a fearsome foursome to the state indoor track meet Friday.
Coming off an impressive showing at the Smoky Mountain Conference championship meet Feb. 2 at Cherokee, the Lady Knights’ 4x200 relay team – and a couple of individual members from the quartet – are on pace to bring home Robbinsville’s first girls indoor track state championship.
“We are hoping for some All-State awards and possibly a state champion,” head coach Kaitlyn Carringer-Adams said. “Zoie Shuler is ranked either first (long and triple jump, 55-meter dash) or in the top three (55-meter dash) in all of her four events, as well as the 4x200 relay (Robbinsville is ranked third in the state).
“Caylin Lunsford also has a shot of earning All-State in the triple jump (in which she is ranked 7th). Only Caylin and Kensley Phillips have competed at an indoor facility, so it will be a new experience for the other two girls (Shuler and Delaney Brooms).
“However, all four of them have competed at large AAU track meet – or outdoor (track) state, so that will help. Each of these girls have huge accomplishments listed by their names when it comes to track and we hope that we can add more to that list Friday.”
At the Feb. 2 divisional title meet, Robbinsville listed seven on the All-Conference list by virtue of winning the event: Shuler in the long jump, triple jump and 55-meter dash; Haize Moore in the 55-meter hurdles, where she set a new school record – Delaney Brooms in the 300-meter dash; the aforementioned 4x200 relay team; and William Cable in the 3,200-meter run.
Honorable mentions (second-place finishes) went to Lunsford, in the long jump and 55-meter dash; Roman Jones, in the boys long jump; Brooms in the high jump; and Cable in the 1,600-meter run, where another school record was set.
“What is extremely impressive is that our girls team came in second place – with 61.5 points – while all the other teams in our conference were significantly larger,” Carringer-Adams said. “For being the first official Robbinsville indoor track team, they have really set a standard for the future of this program.”
It has been a roller-coaster season for indoor track, conference-wide. Until Jan. 26, Robbinsville was unable to compete in a single meet over five weeks. Weather and other cancellations – combined with some of the original members of Robbinsville’s roster departing, for various reasons – might have deterred other programs, but the Knights have remained focused and look to make history Friday.
“Conference’s (championship) weather was definitely not the best and it wasn’t just our team that was a little bit off, but the other teams as well, compared to our meets in the warmer weather,” Carringer-Adams said. “I’m sure the weather and the fact that there was a month gap between meets played a role in that.
“However, we did have a few PRs and sometimes it’s not about time/distance; it’s about competing against the competition there.”
Robbinsville competes at 4 p.m. Friday in the 1A/2A state championship meet, which will be held at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.