First Posted: 4/5/2014

ST. PAULS — Last May, Alexis Roberson helped her school continue a dynasty.

As part of a relay team with Gabby Currie and sisters Tia and Tamara Glover, the then-junior helped St. Pauls win its fourth straight state title in the 4×200 meter relay.

When the girls received their awards, the emotion came full steam.

“I was crying,” Roberson said. “It was just exciting. It just felt good, all the hard work paying off.”

Now a senior, Roberson is nearing another payoff of her hard work. Not only is she guaranteed to leave the school as a state champion, she’s also on pace to finish with a 4.7 weighted grade point average and is expected to be the class valedictorian.

Her high achievements both athletically and academically were among the reasons she was chosen as March’s Mountaire Farms/Civitas Media Scholar Athlete of the Month.

The program’s mission is to highlight male and female senior student-athletes within Robeson, Scotland and Bladen counties who carry a 3.0 GPA or higher. Nominees need to also be recognized by their coaches for outstanding sportsmanship and perform with superior ability in athletic competition.

Each monthly winner receives a $1,000 college scholarship and becomes eligible for an additional $1,500 in college funds that is awarded in June to the male and female scholar athletes of the year.

Roberson is a three-sport athlete who was a cheerleader last fall, made All-County three times in basketball. The ongoing track season will wrap up her high school career.

Just as impressive is her work off the field of play.

In addition to her 4.7 GPA, she’s involved in numerous on-campus clubs. She’s the president of the school’s National Honor Society chapter and is the Student Government Association vice president. As such, she’s donated her time to projects including roadside cleanup, toy drives for hospitals and more.

The goal is all about the big picture.

“I just want a lot out of life and I know that not a lot will happen if I don’t work for it,” Roberson said.

She said her drive came early in life. With two parents she describes as “school crazy”, she was pushed to excel. Even as she got older, her schoolwork continued to be the top priority.

“I put school before everything, so I know if I don’t have time to do my schoolwork then I’m not going to go hang out or go to practice, I might have to stay for tutoring or something,” she said.

Much like on the track, she’s seeing the work pay off.

She’s been offered a full academic scholarship to Xavier University in New Orleans and Howard University in Washington, D.C., and has been accepted into numerous other schools including the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Spelman College in Atlanta.

She hasn’t decided where to go, but hopes to become a doctor.

Despite her athletic accolades, she didn’t consider extending athletic career, again keeping the focus on her education.

“I don’t think I’d want to because I’d be too busy,” she said. “It’d be too much with biology and chemistry and all that crazy stuff.”

With track season this spring, Roberson has found herself in a leadership role with a new class of girls looking to continue the school’s success in sprint relays.

“It’s kind of hard,” she said. “Coach (David) Shaw expects so much out of us because we’re used to it and we’re supposed to show the incoming freshman how we’re supposed to be doing it and they look up to you like ‘Oh, she’s a state champion. I’m going to do what she does.’”

But like anything else, Roberson enjoys simply meeting the goal.

“I just like to succeed,” she said. “It makes me feel good.”