By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — Sadie Featherstone had scored 68 career points for East Rowan heading into her senior year of hoops.

She set two goals — to turn herself into a good basketball player and to compete in indoor track for the first time while she was playing basketball.

Running and hurdling is Featherstone’s thing. It’s what she is almost certain to do in college as it comes more naturally to her than roundball. She was the Post’s Cross Country Runner of the Year 2023 and is being recruited by schools such as Catawba and Pfeiffer. Guilford talked to her about track and basketball, which put a smile on her face.

High school indoor track and basketball are both winter sports, but they can be done at the same time with the cooperation of coaches willing to share an athlete. North Rowan thrower Brittany Ellis was a basketball/indoor track success story for years.

East indoor track coach Cris Leckonby and East basketball coach Bri Evans were happy to share Featherstone and encouraged her to be the best she could be at both sports. Featherstone only missed one basketball game due to a track meet.

The Featherstone basketball transformation that took place you’re probably already aware of. The girl who had scored 68 career points scored 268 as a senior and made All-South Piedmont Conference, and there’s no way East’s 21-win season happens without that transformation.

Featherstone went from frantically collecting floor burns and fouls to being a poised person who could put the ball in the hoop with some regularity. She was outstanding in the Christmas Tournament. She averaged 10 points per game for the season and handled the ball quite a bit. She’s so athletic she always guarded the opposing team’s best player with serious energy, and she really didn’t care if that player was 5-foot-3 or 6-foot-3.

While her senior basketball season was rewarding, Featherstone never stopped working on indoor track as a hurdler and sprinter. She toiled on the track after basketball practice. She worked out on Saturdays after exhausting and physical Friday basketball games.

Featherstone ran 9 flat in the 55-meter hurdles to place 10th in the 3A Indoor State Championships. That may not sound amazing, but for a basketball player to compete at that level, well, that’s pretty strong.

No Rowan County girls scored in the state meet — the top eight places score — although there were top-10 finishes by South’s young distance runner Hope Julian and by Salisbury high jumper Kimora Chawlk.

One last note on Featherstone. Jumping over those hurdles all winter despite the basketball bruises may lead to a spectacular season for her in outdoor track.

She qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles in her first outdoor meet. In her second meet, she broke school records. She posted a USA top-50 time in the 300 hurdles with a PR of 45.10 seconds.

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Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Year — Sadie Featherstone, East

Coach of the Year — Cris Leckonby, East