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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Cooper Williams went out in grand fashion.
In the Adidas Nationals at N.C. A&T on June 21, the 2025 Davie graduate put a big, beautiful bow around his prep career by capturing first place in the shot put.
His fairytale run included three state championships as a member of the War Eagles – indoor titles in 2024 and 2025 and the outdoor crown in May.
“I went out on a bang,” Williams said.
Williams had to overcome a pressure-packed situation to do it. Nse Uffort of Swain County took the lead with a throw of 60-8.3. That was not going to be easy to beat. For perspective, Williams’ winning toss in the 4-A state meet was 58-11.75.
“He’s a really good thrower and a really nice guy, too,” Williams said of Uffort. “He’s going to Chapel Hill with me. We’ll be teammates next year.
“We were talking it up. We’ve been going back and forth this whole season. He was the 1-A state champion. He won the state by a good margin.”
Williams went 58 feet, 57, foul, 57, 56 on his first five attempts. Now it was crunch time. The last throw of his high school career was absurd and glorious – 61-9 and good enough for first place.
As if that wasn’t enough, Williams finished third in the discus.
“I was in second place (in the shot put) until that last throw,” he said. “I like to get some hype going when I throw – I like some claps and noise – but on that last one I knew the pressure was on, so I shut up and I wanted no claps. I just wanted full focus on throwing. So I was definitely locked in the moment. That was definitely the best throw I’ve had this whole year. For the situation – I was super tired; I had been out in the sun for seven hours – I would say that’s the best throw I’ve ever had in my life.”
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Williams wasn’t the only All-American from Davie in Greensboro. Clara Phelps claimed seventh in the pole vault, a great outcome for someone who had never achieved 11-6 before this day.
“It was really surprising,” she said. “Walking into the meet I was excited but wasn’t expecting anything. I was just going for height and not worrying about place or anything because we knew there were a bunch of good girls there. I was just gonna have fun, but walking away I was super excited and seventh was unexpected.”
The rising senior was all smiles, and she couldn’t say enough about her coaches.
“Before nationals my highest height was 11, and at nationals I jumped 11-6,” she said. “I felt good because my coaches (Marc Sweet and Eric Morell) were feeling good. They believed in my ability and that gave me more confidence. Every meet I try to not go into it confident or cocky, but I had a good feeling prior to nationals. (Sweet and Morell) are both very helpful and I’m thankful and I’m very grateful. Good coaching makes all the difference when someone has confidence in you.”
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Davie sent 15 athletes to the Adidas Nationals, including Austin Sweet (10th in the decathlon) and a 4×200 relay team that finished 25th out of 80 teams. That foursome was Shaheem Cunningham, Ethan Driver, David Patton and Joshuaray Jones.
The others who competed from Davie: America Stockton (high jump); Alyssa Marion (high jump); Carrington Pitcher (100 meters); Drannin Gooden, Kadden Cole, Bryson Lantz and Landon Faison in the 4×100 relay; and Stockton, Pitcher, Phelps and Lexi Marion in the medley relay.
“It’s an honor and a testament to their hard work this season to even qualify for this meet,” Tracey Sweet said.