How Tennessee signee Zoie Shuler starred in softball and track for Robbinsville in one day

Zoie Shuler barely had time to celebrate winning three events at the Smoky Mountain Conference track and field championships on May 1.

She was named the MVP for taking first in the long jump, triple jump and the 100-meter dash, but was long gone by the time the awards were handed out.

Shuler was in the car with her dad, making the hour-long drive between Cherokee, where she had just helped Robbinsville finish second in the conference championships, and Murphy, where she was set to bat leadoff and play shortstop for the Black Knights’ softball game.

If her day in Cherokee wasn’t good enough, she went 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple and three RBIs to help Robbinsville beat Murphy 11-2 and clinch the Smoky Mountain Conference title.

“It’s a pretty busy day every day,” Shuler said. “I just learned time management and to make sure I get everything done.”

Shuler also finished second in the high jump. She also normally runs the 200 but wouldn’t have been able to run the race and make the softball game.

Tennessee signee and cousin of Heat Shuler

Softball is the sport which caught the attention of Tennessee. A career batting average of .572 will do it. And being the cousin of former Tennessee and NFL quarterback Heath Shuler, who was a high school star in North Carolina.

Shuler entered the playoffs needing only six runs to set a single-season NCHSAA record, and she’ll sit in the top 50 of plenty single-season and career records.

“It would be awesome if I did (set the record),” Shuler said. “It definitely is my teammates that help me score all these runs, so it would be cool if I get that record because it won’t just be on me.”

Her track and field career has been just as impressive, and she holds the 1A NCHSAA state meet record with her triple jump mark of 39 feet, 9.25 inches in 2022.

Shuler won the long jump, triple jump and high jump at last year’s outdoor state track and field championship, adding onto her 2022 triple jump and long jump title. She’s a two-time state champion in the indoor long jump in 1A/2A, winning in 2022 and 2023, and won the indoor triple jump in 2023 and 2024.

“I’ve never had anyone like her that’s doing everything she’s doing at the level she’s doing it,” softball coach Billy Knight said.

Shuler is in the weight room with track and field coach Dale Farr at 6:30 a.m. four times a week. She can’t practice as much as the average track athlete, since she has to leave after 45 minutes to get to softball practice, so sometimes Farr said they practice things during meets.

“I don’t know if there’s a wasted minute in that child’s day,” Knight said.

All of that will help Shuler succeed with the Lady Vols.

Knight, who has had daughters play collegiately, including Charlotte utility player Abigail Knight, said Shuler’s current schedule will help prepare her for the pressure of sports and academics.

“Everybody can’t do it, but not everybody is near the athlete that Zoie is,” Farr said.

Shuler isn’t Robbinsville's only athlete to play softball and run track. Knight said he and Farr work together to build schedules around the other’s sports. Wednesdays are track meet days, so Shuler and her teammates miss practice. Knight avoids scheduling Wednesday games as much as possible.

“That’s the only way we can survive at a small school and be competitive,” Farr said.

Last week, however, was an exception. Robbinsville was supposed to play Murphy on Tuesday, but it got rained out, so Shuler competed in both sports on the same day for the first time. Knight worked with Murphy’s coach, who also had players competing in track, to make the schedule work.

Shuler used the car ride to switch her mindset from track to softball. She ate a candy bar and drank a couple Gatorades to refuel for the game and said she was back to her normal self by her second at-bat after striking out in her first. By the end of the day, Shuler said she was exhausted.

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Farr called Shuler the best competitor he’s coached in 41 years.

“She’s a once in a generational type of talent,” Knight said. “I’ve never coached a kid better than this kid. In my personal opinion, she’s the best athlete this county has ever produced.”

Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How Robbinsville's Zoie Shuler balances track and softball stardom