A lot has happened in Robeson County sports in 2023, from triumphant accomplishments to changes in personnel and even “bad news” a time or two.

It’s impossible to look back at every big story from the year in one quick review, but a few stood out as the biggest of the year.

Here are The Robesonian’s top 10 sports stories of the past year:

1. Lumberton Dixie Softball wins World Series championship

The Dixie Angels softball team from the Lumberton Softball Association won the Dixie Softball World Series championship in Alexandria, Louisiana on Aug. 1.

The team won all five of its games in World Series play, defeating Florida 7-0 in the championship game.

Lumberton’s Angels team — the 10-and-under age division — joined the 2016 Belles team (15-and-under) as the only teams from the Lumberton Softball Association to win the Dixie Softball World Series.

Lumberton outscored the opposition 35-5 in the tournament.

A parade and celebration was held for the team upon its return to Lumberton.

Team members include Lacie Campbell, Sadie Smith, Taylor Stone, Lucy Connor, Brooke Fleury, Laci Lewis, Caroline Walton, Haven Sampson, Aydan Davis, Zyriannah Rogers, Brookes Baffaro and Khloe Carter. The team is coached by Chris Connor, Nick Baffaro and Amanda Smith.

2. Lumberton girls wrestling wins state championship

Despite having just three wrestlers compete, the Lumberton girls wrestling team won the team championship at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Women’s Invitational on Feb. 4 in Greensboro.

Teresa Canady finished second at 114 pounds and Wyntergale Oxendine was second at 235, with Iesha McCollum placing third at 120.

Lumberton finished with 56 points, with Havelock, Lake Norman and Westover tied for second with 50.

Each of the three had begun wrestling competitively only about 15 months before.

The NCHSAA began officially sanctioned dual-team girls wrestling this fall; Lumberton’s team now has about 10 girls competing.

Two weeks after the girls’ championship, Lumberton boys wrestler Jackson Buck finished second in the 182-pound classification at the 4A state championship.

3. UNCP conference championships

The UNC Pembroke athletic department had a successful 2023 across the board, with several conference championships being claimed by the Braves.

The men’s basketball team clinched the Conference Carolinas regular-season championship with a rout of Belmont Abbey on Feb. 22 on the strength of an 18-game winning streak earlier in the season. This marked the third straight completed season in which the program has won a regular-season conference championship.

The Lady Braves basketball team completed a historic run to the Conference Carolinas Tournament title on March 5, the first in program history. Behind tournament MVP Kalaya Hall, the Braves advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time, marking the first NCAA berth in John Haskins’ combined 29-year tenure coaching the Braves men’s and women’s basketball programs.

UNCP’s women’s golf program won its second straight conference title on April 18 in Snow Hill; the Braves’ Amanda Hamrin beat teammate Georgia Page in a playoff to earn medalist honors.

The success of the Braves athletic programs through the 2022-23 academic year resulted in UNCP claiming the Joby Hawn Cup as the best athletic department in Conference Carolinas, winning the award for the first time since 1991-92.

In the fall sports season, the Braves men’s cross country team won its second-straight conference championship on Oct. 21 in Charlotte, led by the second-place individual finish from Jack Phieffer. The Braves’ Moureen Kimaiyo won the women’s individual title as the team finished second.

UNCP’s women’s soccer team earned its third-straight conference tournament championship on Nov. 12 in Browns Summit, beating Belmont Abbey 2-1 for the title. Mercy Bell was named a second-team All-American and Anna Grossheim was named a third-team All-American and a first-team Academic All-American.

The Braves volleyball team also won a division championship this fall, with Vanja Przulj earning third-team All-American honors.

4. Red Springs Athletic Complex opens

After years in the making, the Red Springs High School Athletic Complex finally opened this spring, with a ribbon cutting held on Jan. 21.

The state-of-the art facility includes baseball and softball fields for the Red Devils teams, as well as a track. A football stadium remains in the works to be completed.

The complex is on land nearly adjacent to the school’s campus, allowing for more convenience for the Red Devils’ teams after decades competing at off-campus venues.

With rave reviews after its opening, the facility hosted the Robeson County Slugfest tournaments in April.

5. Cheerleading state championships

The cheerleading teams from St. Pauls and Purnell Swett each won state championships at the NCHSAA State Cheerleading Invitational held Dec. 2 in Raleigh.

St. Pauls won its second consecutive state championship, though it did so with about half the team being first-time varsity cheerleaders who did not compete on last year’s title-winning team.

Purnell Swett won its first NCHSAA championship after previously winning in North Carolina Coaches Association competition.

The Bulldogs won the Gameday Non-Tumbling Coed championship in Division II; Purnell Swett won in the same format for Division I.

St. Pauls team members include Savannah Curtis, Tyana Fairley, Emily Flores Cortez, Sha’Nia Graham, Trinity Green, Keshaunda Henderson, Jaela Jacobs, J’Lissa Leonard, Dashawn McDonald, Te’myhia Melvin, Patrick Mooney, Garden Orozco, Shy’Anna Pone, Jamaya Simmons, Ny’Asiah Williams and Addison Wilson.

Purnell Swett team members include Alana Bullard, Londyn Clark, Jadalyn Demery, Jolana Hunt, Sarah Hunt, Matthew Lewis, Zoe Lowry, Alliyah Oxendine, Haylee Scott, Jada Sealey, Adara Smith and Ava Woodell.

6. All-Star selections

Robeson County athletes were selected throughout 2023 for multiple East-West All-Star Games, with one additional selection to the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas.

From the class of 2023, Purnell Swett girls basketball players Kylie Chavis and Natalie Evington played in the East-West Basketball Game, where Chavis was named MVP after scoring 13 points with six rebounds and five steals. Lumberton’s J.B. Brockington played in the boys basketball game, while Purnell Swett’s Jacobi Chavis played in the football game.

Lumberton’s Hoslerson Joseph also got to participate in the Clash of the Carolinas All-Star Game in Cary, scoring the game-winning goal for North Carolina, while the Pirates’ Kenny Simmons got to coach in the game.

The East-West football game moved from July to December for the class of 2024, and Robeson County had three representatives on the East team for the first time since 2014: St. Pauls’ Chris Bryant, Red Springs’ Tim Hammonds and Purnell Swett’s Jodi Freeman.

Robeson County also saw a Shrine Bowl selection as St. Pauls’ Jamarcus Smith earned the opportunity to participate in that game in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

7. Lumberton-Red Springs football game shooting

As Lumberton and Red Springs met on the gridiron for the first time on Sept. 8, gunfire interrupted the game just after the second-half kickoff at Alton G. Brooks Stadium in Lumberton.

The shots originated from the stadium’s parking lot; fortunately, no one was injured.

Eleven individuals were charged in connection with the incident, several of which are juveniles.

This marked the second recent shooting incident connected to a football game at Alton G. Brooks Stadium after a shooting, also in the parking lot, just after the Robeson County middle school football championship in Nov. 2022.

The game was suspended at the point of the shooting that Friday night; it resumed on Saturday afternoon with no fans in attendance. Red Springs won the game 19-18.

Following the shooting, each of the five Robeson County high schools announced that elementary- and middle-school students would not be allowed to attend athletic events unless accompanied by a parent/guardian, and additional lighting was installed in the parking lot area around Alton G. Brooks Stadium, with more police officers on duty at future games.

8. Four basketball teams reach third round

Robeson County basketball was represented in the state playoffs by four teams who made runs to the third round.

Lumberton’s boys team defeated Clayton and New Bern at home before falling to eventual 4A East Region champ Richmond in the third round.

After St. Pauls and Fairmont’s girls shared the Southeastern Athletic Conference championship, both reached the third round in the 2A state playoffs. St. Pauls beat Kinston and Roanoke Rapids before falling to Seaforth in a close game, while Fairmont, who ended St. Pauls’ 44-game conference winning streak earlier in the season, earned playoff wins over North Johnston and South Lenoir before a loss at Northeastern.

Purnell Swett’s girls made their deepest run in program history with wins over Southeast Raleigh and South View before a close loss at top-seeded Hillside.

9. UNCP football improvement

UNCP head football coach Mark Hall’s debut season saw the Braves improve from a 5-6 record in 2022 to a 7-3 mark this fall, with the team finishing tied for second in the Mountain East Conference.

The Braves started 1-2 before winning six of their last seven games, including four in a row to end the campaign.

Many individual and team records fell throughout the Braves’ season. The team scored its most points per game for a season (40.4) and set a single-game scoring record with 68 points on Nov. 11 against Concord. Against Fairmont State on Oct. 14, the Braves set school single-game team records for rushing yards, with 470, and rushing touchdowns, with six.

Individually, Jamae Blank set the school record for sacks in a season with 12.5. Trey Dixon had 240 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns, both single-game school records, on Sept. 30 against Wheeling, while Sincere Baines rushed for a single-game record five touchdowns Nov. 11 against Concord.

10. UNCP men’s basketball plays at Houston, Duke

The UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team started its season with the opportunity to play two top-10 programs on the road in preseason exhibitions.

On Oct. 28, the Braves took on Houston, coached by Pembroke native and Braves alum Kelvin Sampson; Houston won 86-47.

The year was a good one for Sampson, with Houston sitting at No. 1 in the AP Poll for seven weeks during the 2022-23 season and the seventh regular-season conference championship of Sampson’s career.

Sampson also returned to Pembroke for a speaking engagement on April 19.

UNCP also played at then-No. 2 Duke on Nov. 1 at the iconic Cameron Indoor Stadium; Duke won 109-64.