Whether it’s because each had the other to push towards a common goal, twin sisters Caroline and Kathryn Adkins set extremely high standards for themselves — and each other — and achieved most of their goals as graduation from Fike High awaits.
The twins, who sit atop the all-time wins pile for Fike girls tennis and are tied for No. 2 in their graduating class with, well, twin GPAs of 4.64, got to share again Tuesday at Fike’s Awards Day. Caroline Adkins and Kathryn Adkins each received the Farris & Thomas Law Female Student-Athlete of the Year as presented by The Wilson Times for their accomplishments — together and separate.
“It’s such an honor, it truly is a blessing,” said Caroline. “So many students here work just as hard in the classroom or on the court or on the field. … It’s an honor to be recognized for our success in the classroom and on the field. We put a lot of work and hours into it and so it just means a lot that we can be recognized together, just as we went through our tennis history together and all our success has come together, so to be recognized one final time obviously is special.”
The Adkins sisters reached the NCHSAA 3-A doubles championship again last fall after winning it as juniors. They lost to Fayetteville Terry Sanford’s Pauline Bui-Loren Galaviz in the final but it didn’t put a damper on their careers. They won four straight 3-A East Regional and conference doubles championships.
The twins share the Fike record for doubles wins with 102 each, all but one coming with each other, and combined wins in a season with 53. Kathryn. who always played No. 2 singles, has the career wins mark with 169, two more than Caroline in second place.
They led the Golden Demons to four straight conference titles, the last three in the 3-A Quad County Conference, and to the NCHSAA dual-team playoffs each year, except 2021 when there was no dual-team after COVID. Fike reached the 3-A semifinals, or fifth round of the playoffs, in 2022 and the fourth round last fall.
“They have been so dedicated for four years and so committed to what they were about, you could depend on them every time,” Fike head coach Lee Matthews. “Every time the bell rang, they answered. They were ready to go.”
ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The academic accomplishments of the daughters of Christy and Greg Adkins of Wilson may be even more staggering. Both are enrolled in the International Baccalaureate full diploma program as well as the AP Capstone program.
“You don’t just receive this award because you’re part of this program, you still have to excel in the classroom and I’m just grateful to have received this alongside my twin and my classmate, and on behalf of Fike,” said Kathryn.
She will attend East Carolina University on a scholarship to the Brinkley-Lane Scholars Program, the “most prestigious award program” offered by ECU. Caroline Adkins is headed to North Carolina State University on a full ride at the highest level via the Park Scholarship.
The sisters planned to play lacrosse this spring but when Fike didn’t field a girls lacrosse team, Caroline opted to play soccer for the first time since the girls were standouts at Elm City Middle.
Kathryn, who ran indoor track earlier in her Fike career, focused on her budding sports photography career, including shooting events for the Times.
The sisters are co-presidents of Fike’s Student Government Association, co-presidents of the Kindness Club, Fike Youth and Government members as well as National Honor Society, Spanish Club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They co-founded Project Please Stay as well as their own busines, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
They were also probably the co-No. 1 fans for the Fike boys tennis team that reached the state 3-A championship match last week.
“It was just super special people to bond with and have them support us and we supported them,” Caroline Adkins said of their friends on the Fike boys team. “There are several moments where I would call them up to go out and hit and just kind of get a different perspective on the court. I think that’s really what built us all up as players is you want to, you know, play against each other and base those competitions and challenges, but also really support each other when we are struggling and when we’re succeeding.”
MANAGING THE WORKLOAD
Managing their busy schedules and still meeting their lofty goals is a daily challenge that the twins come at from different directions.
“I’m very organized,” Kathryn said. “I’m more of the organizer in the family. I like to keep things organized on calendars and all this stuff.”
Caroline admitted with a grin: “Yeah, I would say I’m a little bit more go-with-the-flow than Kathryn is, a little less organized than she is.”
She looked inward to meet the pressure of her demanding schedule.
“I think as far as time management goes, I found a way to balance both my work on the court, on the field and in the classroom, by really trying to focus on my personal life,” Caroline said. “I think for me, it’s having a foundation based on my faith and belief in God and be able to know that, outside my performance in the classroom or on the court, that I still will be joyful and happy in those endeavors and my faith. I think that’s something that’s really super helpful for retaining my time is that I know like, really what is important to me and being able to kind of focus on that when things challenge me.”
Both are eyeing a career in sports marketing after graduation from college, which looms as a major challenge in their lives. They won’t be playing competitive tennis for the first time in years and they will be apart for the first time ever.
They’re both naturally curious about the experience.
“I’m excited to see how we are like independently, because we always are sharing, are always are associated with one another,” Kathryn said. “But it is going to be hard because you do spend 18 years together and so stepping away from one another is going to be a different experience, but one that I know will help us develop in our own ways.”
With their tennis careers over, Caroline is eager to discover new interests on her own as well.
“Yeah, I think it’s important that all through high school and since we were young and born, we’ve kind of been dependent on each other, so it’s important for us to, not really find our own identities in college, but kind of find our own individual passions that we can continue exploring,” she said. “I know Kathryn’s picked up photography, that’s super fun for her but I think it’s just being able to enjoy stuff separately, then be able to come together and share that.
“And also, I guess like, I don’t know, we have FaceTime …”
Farris & Thomas Law Female Student-Athlete of the Year, 2016-24
2016 — Elery Williams, Fike
2017 — Megan Westbrook, Hunt
2018 — Barrett Davis, North Johnston
2019 — Christy Jones, Wilson Christian
2020 — Kaelyn Wall, Greenfield
2021 — Abbey Thomas, C.B. Ayco*ck
2022 — Madison Mercer, Hunt
2023 — Avery Lentz, Fike
2024 — Caroline & Kathryn Adkins, Fike
