Providence basketball player finds time to chase an indoor track title
The basketball state playoffs are weeks away, but starting Providence High School guard Isabella Hall can win a state championship Friday evening — just, not in basketball.
Hall will be moonlighting with her other winter athletic interest, competing on Providence’s 4x800-meter relay team at the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s indoor track and field championships in Winston-Salem.
The 4A meet begins at 4 p.m. Friday, with 1A-2A at 9 a.m. Saturday, and 3A at 4 p.m. Saturday. The competition will be at the JDL Fast Track facilities.
Hall’s participation with the relay team is the story of well-planned cooperation between girls’ basketball coach Rachael Petrie and track coach Drew Ward.
“Izzy was going to concentrate on track this year,” Petrie said of Hall, a 5-4 senior who earned all-conference basketball honors a year ago.
Petrie contacted the track coaches and asked if it would be possible for Hall to compete in both sports. Ward signed off on the idea.
Hall, of course, had the last say.
“I really enjoy both sports,” said Hall, who runs cross-country in the fall and outdoor track in the spring. “So if the coaches were OK with it, I was too.”
Ward said an arrangement like this requires “nearly constant communication.”
“We coaches kept in close contact with one another and planned her schedule,” he said.
Assistant track coach Steve Touranjoe added that Petrie’s background as a track coach helped. “She understood what it would take to work,” he said.
Friday’s basketball game against Rocky River will be the second this season that Hall misses because of a schedule conflict with indoor track. She missed a game last month against Independence because her relay team was running in a major indoor meet at Liberty University.
“It’s hard to be away from the team, but it’s only happened twice,” Hall said. “The schedule worked out pretty well on that.”
During the week, Hall first runs with the track team after school, then moves over to basketball practice.
“When I’ve missed anything in basketball practice, the coaches and my teammates have been great about helping me out,” Hall said.
Ward said not everyone can do what Hall is doing this winter.
“I never recommend an athlete doing two sports in one season,” he said. “It’s not for everyone. But she’s worked hard at it and made it happen.”
Touranjoe said it takes a gifted student-athlete to handle two sports plus a class load that includes Advanced Placement courses.
“She’s just a disciplined kid,” he said. “And being a senior helps. She’s learned how to schedule her time.”
Hall is careful in allotting her time.
“I try to get some of my school work done during the day,” she said. “The rest, I have to fit in at night.”
Another concern has been her health. Competing all-out in two sports might be a recipe for injury, and Hall said she is aware of that.
“I do a lot of band strengthening with my legs,” she said. “It takes a lot of strength training. And I try to make sure I get an ice bath at least once a week.”
Petrie said she’s proud of what Hall has done.
“She’s gotten all-conference honors in basketball, is a really good 800 (meter) runner, and she’s kicking butt in the classroom,” Petrie said. “She’s remarkable.”
Ward said Hall’s determination has helped a lot.
“When she wants something, she goes after it,” he said. “She is hard-working and determined, and she has made this happen.”
Indoor track and field
This weekend’s state championships will be the JDL Fast Track facility in Winston-Salem. The 4A meet is at 4 p.m. Friday; the 1A-2A meet at 9 a.m. Saturday; and the 3A meet at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Cuthbertson has swept the 4A boys’ and girls’ state championships the past two years. And Cuthbertson won four 3A titles in a row before that.
Other defending champions are: Franklin (3A boys), Dudley (3A girls), East Burke (1A-2A boys), and Swain County (1A-2A girls).
