Lindsey Huntsinger Bercume: (2004-2008) Lindsey played softball all four years that she was at Roberson. She was a 4-time All Conference selection, a 4-time All District selection, a 4-time All Western North Carolina selection and a 4-time All State (softball Coaches Association) selection. She was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player on her team in her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. She was named the Most Valuable Player in her senior season. In her senior season, Lindsey set the state individual homerun record of 24 which has since been broken. Her career batting average was .344. Her teams finished with an overall record of 79-21. She led her teams to the first conference tournament championship in school history as well as the first conference championship in school history. She was named captain of her teams in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. In her senior season, she was named the Conference Player of the Year. Following her senior season, Lindsey was named the TCR Outstanding Athlete in a Team Sport. She also received the TCR Outstanding Academic Athlete Award. She was also named the Most Outstanding Athlete in a team sport at the WNC Amateur Sports Awards program. She received the Skyland Volunteer Fire and Rescue Scholarship, the Juan Chesson Memorial Scholarship and the US Army National Scholar-Athlete Award. Lindsey continued her softball career at Lees McRae College. She was named as the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week numerous times and was named a First Team All Conference Carolinas Player. She was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Lindsey was a NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete and was inducted into the National Society of College Athletes. Lindsey holds the record at Lees McRae for homeruns in a season and finished second in homeruns in a career. She graduated summa cum laude from Lees McRae with a degree in Health and Physical Education. Since graduating from Lees McRae, Lindsey began her coaching career at Hendersonville High School where she coached softball and volleyball. She was part of a volleyball coaching staff whose teams won three consecutive state 2-A championships. Lindsey is married to Eric Bercume, and they have two sons.
Nijel Jones: (2006-2010) Nijel was a three-sport athlete, participating in JV and varsity football, wrestling and track for all four years that he was at Roberson. In football, Nijel was selected to the All Conference team. In wrestling, Nijel finished his career with 155 wins against 55 losses, which was a school record at that time. He was a 2-time regional qualifier and a 4-A Regional Champion his senior year. He was a 2-tme state qualifier and was a 4-A State Runner Up his senior year. Nijel was a 2-time High School All-American. He held school records for most wins, pins, takedowns and escapes. He also held the record for the most tournament wins in a career. His wrestling teams finished with an overall record of 93-45 over his four years and 51-15 over his last two years. In track, Nijel was a state meet qualifier in the 4 x 400 m relay and the individual 400 sprint. The relay team was the 3-A State Runner ups. After graduation from Roberson, Nijel attended NC State University where he was a four year starter in wrestling. He was named as team captain two times. He was a NCAA qualifier in his junior year. Also in his junior year, Nijel finished in the top 5 in wins in the country with 35 wins. He led his NCSU team in pins for two years. After graduating from NC State, Nijel became an assistant coach for a Raleigh wrestling club team that has contributed 15 (and still counting!) athletes into collegiate wrestling. Nijel currently lives in Raleigh and works as a Cloud Engineer at Google.
Caroline Kirby: (2004-2008) Caroline ran Cross Country and Indoor Track all four years that she was at Roberson. She ran Outdoor Track in her junior and senior years. In her very decorated career, Caroline achieved five individual state championships, 1 relay team state championship and five team state championships! In Cross Country, she was a 2-time 3-A State Individual Champion and a 2-time 3-A State Individual Runner-Up. She led her teams to four consecutive 3-A State Championships. Two of those teams were ranked 43 rd and 97 th in the nation. In Indoor Track, Caroline was the 3200 State Champion in her sophomore season with all divisions combined. After dividing into classifications, she was the 3-A State Runner-up in the 3200 in her senior season. In addition to these state champion and runner-up finishes, Caroline was a 4-time All State performer by finishing either 3 rd or 4 th in her events. She led her teams to a 3-A State Championship in her sophomore year and a 3-A State Runner-up finish in her senior year. In Outdoor Track, Caroline was a 2-time 3-A State Champion in the 3200 meter run in her junior and senior seasons. She was also a 3-A, 4 x 800 relay team State Champion in her senior season. That relay team set the state record for all classifications. Her team won the 3-A State Championship in her junior year and finished at 3-A State Runner-up in her senior year. Caroline was a 2-time All State performer in outdoor track by finishing either 3 rd or 4 th in her events. After graduating from Roberson, Caroline attended NC State University where she ran Cross Country. After a stellar freshman season at NC State where she finished as the 2 nd highest finisher for NCSU at the ACC Championships and the NCAA SE Regionals, Caroline transferred to UNC-Chapel Hill. After a “red-shirt” year at Carolina, Caroline placed for UNC at both the ACC and the NCAA National Championships in her junior year. In her senior year, Caroline was a top 6 finisher for UNC at the NCAA Regionals. She was also named to the All-ACC Academic Cross Country Team in her senior season. Caroline currently lives in Denver, CO where she works as a trauma Physician Assistant at St. Anthony Hospital.
Rich Larson: (1988-2021) Rich began his association with the soccer program at TC Roberson in the late 1980’s with an invitation by then head soccer coach Alfred Randall. Coach Randall asked Rich if he would mow the grass on the field where the soccer teams practiced and played at that time. Rich obliged, and a new partnership was forged that would last for the next thirty plus years. Over that time, Rich began helping the soccer program doing all sorts of odd jobs around practices and games. Soon, he began to keep score and stats for both the men’s and women’s teams. He faithfully attended each practice and game as a volunteer. He was responsible for reporting game scores and stats to the newspaper after each game. Rarely did Rich ever miss a practice or a game. He also rarely missed a chance to offer his unique criticism of an official’s call on the field either! Eventually, Rich moved from the sidelines to the press box as the PA announcer and clock operator for soccer games. He still kept the score book and the stats for each game. At some point, Rich did make it onto the Roberson coaching staff payroll, but his assistant’s supplement did not put a dent into the incredible amount of time and effort that Rich gave back to the soccer program. Rich’s volunteerism was not relegated to only the soccer program. He regularly attended games for many other sports, always offering to help with scorekeeping or clock operating. Rich spent many hours volunteering in the Rams Club concession stand at other games. Rich’s heart has always belonged to the Roberson soccer program, its players and coaches. For all of his dedication to Roberson athletics, Rich Larson is the Tommy Koontz Heart of Gold recipient for 2022.
Rob Wilcher: (1995-2015) Coach Wilcher coached men’s and women’s soccer from 1995 through 2015. Over that period of time, the Rams’ teams, both men and women, became one of the top soccer programs in the state of North Carolina. Coach Wilcher finished his men’s coaching career with an overall 557-73-24 record. His Roberson men’s teams won 15 conference championships and were 5-time state 3-A and 4-A regional runners-up. Roberson finished as the 3-A state runner up in 1996. His men’s teams were 3-A State Champions in 2002 and 2003. The 2002 team finished 28-0 and were the #1 ranked team in the nation in the NSCAA poll. The men’s team was also the 4-A State Champions in 2013. Coach Wilcher finished his women’s coaching career with an overall record of 441-79-27. His women’s teams won 16 conference championships and were 6-time 3-A and 4-A state regional runners-up. His women’s teams were also 6-time 3-A and 4-A state runners-up. Coach Wilcher’s men’s program produced five All-Americans and eleven All-South players. Several of his former players have played professionally. For the women, there were five All-South players and twenty one All-State players. Coach Wilcher has been named the Conference Coach of the Year several times as well as the WNC Coach of the Year. He was named the state Coach of the Year eight times and the South Regional Coach of the Year twice. In 2002, Coach Wilcher was named the National Coach of the Year for the men. He earned a similar national Coach of the Year award for the women in 2008. In 2014, he was named the Sectional Coach of the Year by the National Federation of High Schools. Coach Wilcher coached in the East-West All Star game, the Clash of the Carolinas and the NSCAA All American game. He has been an active member of the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association for many years and helped start the High School State Games Soccer Event in which he coached the West team from 1998-2000. Coach Wilcher retired from his full time teaching and coaching careers in 2015. Since that time, he has served as a substitute teacher and part time soccer coach at Roberson at various times. He and his wife, Andie, live in Fletcher.