Best foot forward

For the second week in a row, a Sampson County athlete signed their commitment to play soccer for Chowan University. Clinton’s Larkin Best, a four-sport athlete, signed her paperwork for the Hawks Monday afternoon in the atrium at Clinton High School.

Athletic director Brad Spell, who also serves as the boys’ soccer coach, opened the ceremony with words for the departing Dark Horse. “The most memorable thing about Larkin is her smile,” Spell said. “She’s always positive, always smiling.” Spell complimented the soccer player on her work on the field as well as in the classroom, saying she got “really good grades” during her time at CHS.

Her soccer coach, Adam Smith, was next to deliver his words.

“Larkin is the ultimate teammate,” Smith said. “She’s always encouraging, she’s a hard worker … I’m very proud of her and thankful for her.”

“I’m going to miss her,” said coach Chris Owens, who was Best’s basketball coach during her time at Clinton High.

One thing that everyone who spoke at Best’s ceremony brought up was her ACL tear in her junior season of soccer, noting that she pushed through it and came back for her senior season after having to sit out for the entirety of her final basketball season for the black and gold.

Best, in an interview, said that while the ACL injury last season had coaches of other programs shy away from her recruitment, including going “ghost mode,” the coaching staff of Chowan was unwavered. “I mean, it happens — it’s an injury, and it scares coaches because you don’t know how they’re going to turn out when they come back from an injury,” said Best. “And then Chowan reached out to me, and they know Adam (Smith), they know my travel coach very well, and they gave me some hope. They told me that they’re not scared. They’re willing to take a risk.”

The senior Dark Horse said she chose Chowan because of the community in Murfreesboro, where the school is located, reminds her a lot of Clinton, and she “thrives in a small town environment.”