Carole Ball: (1968-2000) Coached cheerleading, gymnastics, volleyball, softball and track. Over her 23 years as a coach at Roberson, Carole began sports for girls in gymnastics, volleyball, track and softball as well as gymnastics for boys. She organized the Girls Athletic Association to provide girls an opportunity to participate in camping, hiking, bowling, skating, skiing, bicycling and intramurals in basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton and tag football. Gymnastics began as a club sport and then evolved through AAU into some interscholastic competition. Several of Carole’s gymnastic participants went on to win numerous awards and scholarships. Carole organized track before there was even a track to run on! County track meets started in 1970 with sectional, regional and state meets beginning in 1975. Carole also helped to organize the first softball team in 1970. Perhaps her best-known sport was volleyball. Over the 20 years that Carole coached volleyball, she achieved an overall record of 213-81. She helped organize volleyball in 1972 and competed in the first state tournament in 1976 finishing 2nd in the state. This was the first Roberson team to compete at the state level. Her teams earned 10 conference championships and were also state runner-up in 1982. Her 1979 team won the state volleyball championship becoming TC Roberson’s first state championship team. Her teams were chosen the WNC Outstanding minor sports team in 1980 and 1981. Several of her players earned college scholarships. Carole coached two High School All-Americans. She was chosen the Region 8 female coach of the year in 1988 and has been inducted into the NC High School Sports Hall of Fame. Since her tenure at Roberson High School, Carole has devoted most of her time in service to her church, Trinity Presbyterian in Hendersonville. She has received certification in youth ministry and theology becoming a certified lay pastor in 2003. She has served as Director of Youth and as an Elder. Carole has participated in or led 20 mission trips to Guatemala, Mexico, Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi. She continues to serve her church by working with other Presbyterian churches to establish scholarships for children in Guatemala.
Jake Bowen: (1992-1996) Played football, wrestled, and ran track for all four years that he was at Roberson High School, earning 10 varsity letters. In football, Jake was All-Conference twice and All-WNC his senior season. He also received the Golden Helmet Award twice and finished 2nd in tackles made in WNC twice. In wrestling, Jake was the MVP in the conference tournament, the TCR Invitational, and the Buncombe County Championships. In his senior year, Jake won the 3-A State Championship in the 215 weight class. Following that, Jake competed as a heavyweight in the National High School Championships in Pittsburgh. Jake was awarded a football scholarship and appointment to the US Naval Academy. Jake played for the Naval Academy for four years. As a senior, Jake was chosen as the defensive team captain. Perhaps one of the most notable achievements for Jake was his decision to accept a two-year mission assignment after his sophomore year at the Naval Academy. For these two years, Jake served as a missionary in Northern Brazil. He returned after this mission trip to resume his football career at the Naval Academy. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Jake was commissioned a 2nd LT in the US Air Force in a rather unique arrangement. He has served in Utah, Alaska, Chile, Kuwait, Haiti and is now serving in Afghanistan as an Air Force Captain near Kabul. Through his years of service, Jake has become fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and Urdu (the predominant language of Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan).
Rick Elingburg: (1967-1971 & 1987-2007) Played baseball and basketball for the four years that he was at TC Roberson. Rick became an assistant basketball coach in 1987 and continued to 2001. He worked as a clock operator for both football (1977-2007) and basketball (1977-1989) games. Rick has served for the past 48 years in the South Buncombe Sports programs as a player, coach, board member, league official and volunteer that has served thousands of youth in the Roberson district that have gone on to participate in athletic programs at TC Roberson High School. Rick was recognized as a “Legend in the South Buncombe baseball & softball program” by the Asheville Citizen- Times. He remains active in the South Buncombe programs today. Rick is one among many in the Roberson community that just does not say “no” when asked to serve the students and staff of TC Roberson High School. After graduating from Roberson in 1971, Rick went on to AB Tech, graduating in 1975. He has been employed with the North Carolina Employment Security Commission since 1975. He has been the manager of the Asheville office since 1995.
Mike Hemphill: (1994-1998) Played soccer for all four years at TC Roberson. Mike earned All-Conference honors his last three years. As a junior, Mike was selected to the All-State second team. Mike’s best year was his senior year as he was chosen as the Conference Player of the Year, WNC Player of the Year, and The Outstanding Male Athlete in WNC in a minor sport. He was also named to the East-West All Star Game where he was selected as the MVP. Mike was then chosen as the NC Player of the Year for his senior season. He was also named a NC Academic All-Star and an Umbro/NSCAA High School All-American. During his high school years, Mike also participated in the Olympic Development Program, earning All-Region and All-State honors each year. He was named to the US National Team pool in 1997. After high school, Mike played and started for four years at UNC-Greensboro. During this time, UNC-G was nationally ranked making the NCAA tournament final “sixteen” in 1998. He was selected to the All-Southern Conference team in 1999. After graduation, Mike played with the Greensboro Dynamo professional team. He currently is employed by Linder Company selling heavy construction equipment where he has won top salesman awards.
Will Montgomery: (1994-1998) Wrestled for one year and ran track for four years. As a junior, Will led his team to a state 3-A championship by winning both the high jump and long jump and placing second in the triple jump. His senior year, he won state 3-A championships in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. He set the school record, which still stands, in the long jump and high jump. He was named the MVP of the state Track & Field Championships. When he graduated, he was ranked 3rd in the nation in high school long jump. Will attended UNC Charlotte and ran track for all four years there, competing in the long jump, high jump and triple jump. There he became Conference USA champion in the long jump breaking school records in the high jump and long jump. As a sophomore, Will jumped an NCAA automatic qualifying length of 26’1” which enabled him to compete in the USATF National Championships where he made it to the final round. As a junior and senior, Will qualified for all of the NCAA and USATF national championships, making it to the finals each year. He finished his collegiate career with a total of 3 All-American awards. He represented the United States in 2002 in the North American Central American and Caribbean Championships where he received a silver medal. He was named to the Conference USA All-Decade team. Will currently lives and works in Charlotte, NC for Maersk, a global logistics company where he is a country operations manager. Will has also been a volunteer coach for the Charlotte Flights Track and Field Club as well as a volunteer with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Charlotte. He also serves as the Public Relations Correspondent for the African-American Recruitment Task force.
Josh Tucker: (1992-1996) Played football for four years, three years on the varsity team and ran track for four years. Josh was All-Conference, All WNC and All-State in football his senior year. He was selected to play in the 1996 Shrine Bowl. Josh was granted and accepted a full four-year football scholarship to the University of Tennessee. While at UT, Josh was part of 2 SEC championship teams and the first BCS National Championship team. He was also named to the All-SEC Academic Team for three years. He was selected as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Week in 1998. In 2000, Josh was selected to play in the 2000 Hula Bowl which is the college All-Star Game. After playing for UT, Josh played in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts and the Oakland Raiders for two years until injuring his knee. After his NFL career, Josh returned to UT and finished his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He currently is a Quality Program Manager with GE Energy in Atlanta, GA.
Greg Whiteside: (1967-1971 & 1976-1984) Ran track one year, played baseball for three years – state runner-up in his senior year, played football for four years and wrestled his senior year. As a football player, Greg was All-Conference, All-County, and All-Region. He was captain of his team his senior year and also won the Golden Helmet Award. He was chosen as an alternate to the Shrine Bowl game and played in the state East-West All Star game. He also was chosen as the captain of his wrestling team. Greg began his collegiate football career at NC State but ended up at Western Carolina University where he won numerous awards. In his senior year, he was named the MVP of his football team. Greg returned to TC Roberson in the fall of 1975 as a math teacher and coach. He coached football and tennis as well as sponsored the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group here at TCR and volunteered with the area Young Life program. His boys’ tennis teams were state runner-ups in 1982, 3rd in both 1982 & 1983 and were state champions in 1984. Greg left teaching and coaching to attend seminary in 1984 receiving his Master’s of Religious Education. He started the Young Life program in the Hickory area. He has been active in Young Life since that time in Hickory, Durham and Chapel Hill. He received his Master’s of Divinity in 1995 and became the associate pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Hickory. Greg currently teaches math at Hickory High School and remains active in Young Life.