Admiral King track coach Kelvin Jackson remembers when he first met Sheral Robinson.

“It was spring break her eighth grade year,” Jackson said. “She wasn’t allowed to hurdle at Whittier, but she told me she wanted to learn to hurdle. I told her that would not be a problem.”

It certainly wasn’t.

Robinson just missed qualifying for state last season in the 100 meter hurdles as junior and her talent led Bowling Green State University to offer her a scholarship.

Robinson signed her National Letter of Intent yesterday in the Admiral King Library in front of family, teammates, coaches, teachers and even some former Whittier teammates who now are competitors at Southview.

“I wasn’t so fast at sprints so I decided I wanted to jump hurdles because I wasn’t scared,” Robinson said. “They wouldn’t let me jump hurdles in middle school so I decided I would jump in high school. Coach was a hurdler so he taught me well.”

Jackson said Robinson was a quick and determined learner.

“She had a knack for it from the beginning but it wasn’t all that easy,” Jackson said. “I remember that first year she wouldn’t let me leave practice, ‘No, no I still have to get it right.’ She caught on pretty quickly and has a lot of talent and has improved every year. I still think there is more room for more improvement before she leaves Admiral King.”

That determination is also evident in the classroom.

“I had her as a student freshman year and she always very serious about her grades and working hard about her grades,” Jackson said.

Robinson’s mother, Shelia Robinson, attempted to speak at the signing but was overcome with emotion. So Robinson’s father Andre Washington helped her out.

“I believe what she is trying to say is we are very proud of her,” Washington said. “Sheral has worked really hard all four years. You get nowhere without hard work.”

Robinson is also a very talented basketball player. As a starter for the Admirals this season, she was second on the team with 10.2 points. She also averaged four rebounds, 3.1 steals and two assists per game.

“Basketball was my first love but track became it when I started to do hurdles,” Robinson said. “When I got good at track I started focusing more on track.”Robinson choose Bowling Green for academics and track.

“I like the faculty and the coach was really nice,” said Robinson, who will study pre-dentistry. “I liked everything about Bowling Green.”

Her basketball coach Cheryl Bansek joked that Robinson had the whitest teeth of anyone she has ever coached.

“I like white teeth,” Robinson said with a smile. “My auntie is a dentist and got me interested in it.”

Robinson said there were a lot of people who helped her succeed while at Admiral King.

“A lot of teachers, all of my coaches, my parents, my friends and counselor. Everyone helped,” Robinson said.

Courtesy of Zachary Dzurick