Well, we got one signed

Not what you were expecting though.

[QUOTE][B]Roberts shoots for success at Charlotte
[I]By Steve Hanf, Enterprise Sports Writer[/I][/B]

HIGH POINT – At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Jason Roberts doesn’t exactly fit into the “small” category.
But when measuring himself against his muscle-bound opponents standing around the shot put circle, the Southwest Guilford senior admitted he doubted himself at times.

“I’d wonder how far this guy can throw, or that guy. Once I threw I started calming down,” Roberts said. “As I continued to throw and people saw me, it would be, ‘That dude can throw.’ They would compare themselves to me.”

Few have matched Roberts’ skills, and on Friday morning he swept aside any remaining skeptics by signing a scholarship package to join the track team at UNC Charlotte. Roberts picked the 49ers over UNC Wilmington and N.C. State thanks in large part to his familiarity with the UNCC program and track coaches through AAU events.

“A lot of meets there,” said Roberts, competing in sum*mer track since the age of 9. “Coach (Robert) Olesen has seen me since I was young.”

The first assignment for Roberts with the Atlantic 10 Conference team is to get bigger.

Roberts said he’d like to end up in the 240-, 250-pound range. And the extra bulk will come in handy since the college shot put weighs four pounds heavier than the 12-pound high school shot, said Cowboys coach Charlie Brown.

“The weight room will make a huge difference,” Brown explained. “Our weight room (at Southwest) is smaller than some people’s master bedrooms.”

Roberts managed pretty well with the facilities available to him. He owns the school record in the shot put at 53 feet, 3-1⁄2 inches – a mark he’s held and broken several times – and placed second in the 3A state championship last spring with a throw of 49-9. His best effort last year was 51-11, and his goal for the end of this season is 55 feet.

“They told me I’ll hit the weight room real hard, get some muscle mass,” Roberts said. “I’m not the biggest thrower around. But they’re going to make sure I maintain my speed.”

How fast is he? Brown joked that he’s tried to get Roberts to run the 100-meter dash, to which Roberts responds with a smile: “I say I’ll quit the day he makes me run the 100.”

But Roberts’ speed and agility in the circle has helped him achieve the distances he’s hit, and it also helped on the football field, where he was solid enough at offensive tackle and defensive end to get several offers at the Division II and DIII levels.

“Coming up, I was real heavy into football,” Roberts said. “Once I picked up track I figured out that was what I wanted to do. There’s more freedom than if I did football.”

Besides, being a track star runs in the family.

Tiffany Roberts graduated from Southwest in 2003 and is about to cap her four-year career at Virginia. “I saw my sister go through (the recruiting process) and I thought it wouldn’t be that bad,” Roberts said. “She was real stressed about the whole thing. I was nervous. The whole process is tiring.”

But rewarding in the end. Now, Roberts can focus on his drive to 55 and winning a state title next month. The UNCC weight room, experience of college track and task of majoring in business or finance will be along soon enough for the Southwest standout.

“Besides being a great athlete, he’s truly a nice guy,” Brown said. “He’s the same person on the track as he is in the class room.[/QUOTE]
[B][COLOR=Green]Welcome to Niner Nation, Jason![/COLOR][/B]

Cool, now we’re a track/field and baseball school.

If Lutz knows the kid has a range of 53’ 3 1/2 inches, he’ll stay and put him on the basketball team.

[QUOTE=SilvioDante;232607]Cool, now we’re a track/field, tennis, golf, and baseball school.[/QUOTE]

FIXED.