Bunn’s Tainasha Vines N.C. female athlete of year

Tainasha Vines couldn’t quite understand why she had been told by administrators at Bunn High School to attend a recent meeting in Chapel Hill – especially on a school day.

“Nobody told me what it was for, so I just showed up,” Vines said. “I thought it was for some scholarship I had applied for.”

The surprise was spoiled when Vines, sitting on the front row, noticed her name engraved on a trophy at a nearby table.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw that,” Vines said.

Vines, a senior three-sport standout at Bunn, was moments away from being saluted as the 2015 recipient of the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Female Athlete of the Year.

The male award went to Chaz Surratt from East Lincoln. A junior, Surratt has verbally committed to play football at Duke.

Vines and Surratt were picked from over 200,000 high school athletes across the state earlier this month.

Vines became the first Bunn athlete – and first from Franklin County – to receive the award in its 30-year history.

Bunn has produced its share of high-level athletes over the years, and Vines is destined to be remembered as one of the school’s all-time greats.

Vines ended her career as a four-time gold medalist at the Class 2-A state track and field championships, including three consecutive victories in the triple jump, the last of which came last Saturday in Greensboro.

Vines won the long jump as a junior and finished in third place at that event during this year’s meet.

Her track and field success has earned Vines a scholarship to attend North Carolina, but she also excelled in basketball and volleyball.

Vines is Bunn’s all-time leader in kills and was the Northern Carolina Conference Volleyball Player of the Year as a sophomore.

In basketball, Vines averaged 20.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game last season while helping the Wildcats to a 25-1 record.

A two-time NCC Basketball Player of the Year (as both a junior and senior), Vines became only the fourth player in NCHSAA history to record a quadruple double during a game her final season.

“I just love being an athlete,” Vines said. “I feel like that is what I was born to do.”

Vines was also known for her strong classroom work at Bunn, and she has rarely missed a day of school in 12 years.

BHS coaches rave not just about Vines’ competitive desire, but her humility.

After she won two state track titles last spring, Vines was surprised – and embarrassed – when she arrived at school the next Monday to see that a banner was displayed to commemorate her heroics.

“Tainasha is not one to brag,” said Bunn girls track and field coach Eleanor Bradley. “If you were in class with her or saw her on the street, you wouldn’t know what she has accomplished. You won’t hear it from her.

“But on the field, she doesn’t aspire to be just awesome. She isn’t just satisfied being the best – she wants to be the best she can possibly be.”

Said Bunn girls hoops coach Matt Keith: “We may never see another athlete like her (at Bunn).”

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Bunn’s Tainasha Vines N.C. female athlete of year."