The participation is up from 6 athletes total in last winter's event, which includes returners Dylan Floyd and Desmond Jackson.
When the NCHSAA state meet weekend kicks off tomorrow at 4:00, the participation numbers will be greater almost across the board in the 2nd year of the 1A/2A meet. Although adjusted standards helped increase the numbers in many events, there's no getting around the fact that there are simply twice as many wheelchair athletes competing in the meet than there were last year. Bryce Floyd (South Lenoir) and Dylan Pinder (North Johnston) are back to renew their friendly rivalry, and they will be joined by Antoine Perry (Franklinton) and Kenny Korff (North Brunswick). With all four entered into the shot put, this will be the largest amount of wheelchair athletes to ever compete in a single event or classification. In addition, adaptive sprinter Hanna O'Brien (Polk County) will be in the girls 55 Dash, bringing the total for this classification alone to 5 - almost equal to the total for all three classifications last year.
This boom in adaptive participation is not confined to the 1A/2A meet. Returner Taylor Kirk (East Rowan) is the lone adaptive athlete in the 3A meet, but Jordan Maddox (Southeast Raleigh), Omar Sanchez (Broughton), and Cara King (Apex) will make their state meet debuts in the 4A meet alongside longtime competitor Desmond Jackson (Hillside). All of this comes despite a slight raising of the qualifying standards for adaptive athletes this fall, a change for which the NCHSAA has never provided a clear rationale given the low participation numbers last year. The state's public-school sanctioning body has adjusted the event categories in which adaptive athletes can compete, adding events for above-the-knee and below-the-knee amputees, which brings our competition more in line with national and international standards used in such events as the Paralympics.
I have had the opportunity to speak to several of the wheelchair athletes in our state, including Bryce Floyd, graduated multi-time state champion Catherine Armstrong, and Mount Tabor's Marcus Luamba (Mount Tabor) - who tried out for wrestling this winter. The common theme through all those conversations is the same as it is for any athlete: they want to compete, they want to improve, they want to achieve goals and then set new ones. More than anything, they want to be apart of something - a team, a sport, an identity. The term "athlete" is not given lightly, but instead earned first in practice and then in competition. One of the great treats of this winter season for me has been the opportunity to watch amputee athletes compete in the 55 dash alongside able-bodied athletes, but this weekend is the chance for all of the state's hard-working adaptive athletes to shine.