When one meets Wheelersburg senior track throwing dynamo Cashton Adkins, the confidence and charisma of Adkins immediately stands out as high qualities of his.
However, Adkins' confidence in his abilities isn't cockiness. It's a simple belief that he can compete with anybody if the senior is at his best.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat perspective and a combination between a terrific mindset and work ethic that has Adkins always seeking out competitive environments has the senior in a terrific position to continue progressing as an athlete at the next level, as Adkins officially signed to compete at the collegiate level with the Marshall track and field program beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.
Having received significant interest and offers from Louisville to Appalachian State and Army along with a litany of Sun Belt Conference programs alongside Marshall and Appalachian State, Adkins chose to stay home in part due to the relationship that was cultivated between himself, Marshall Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Keith Roberts, and Marshall throws coach Derek Stout.
"The recruiting process was definitely a lengthy one," Adkins said. "Coaches had started to call me during my sophomore year. I took a few visits from August to October. Marshall was close to home, and I fell in love with the coaching staff. Everything that I saw on my visit there was terrific. I had a really good relationship with Coach Stout that developed after he got hired at Marshall recently, and I really liked the plan that he had for me for the next four years. I'm excited to get in the Sun Belt and make a big impact at Marshall."
Since taking up throwing starting with his seventh grade year — initially as an aside to football to help stay in shape and work similar muscle groups — Adkins has proven to be a quick study, to the point where field throwing became the sport for him.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWithin a year after beginning to throw at a competitive level, Adkins won the 2022 OHSAA Middle School State Track and Field Championship by posting a 165-foot, three-inch mark in a state meet that was held at Hilliard Darby High School in Hilliard, Ohio — improving his mark by nearly 22 full feet from the year prior after placing second as a seventh-grader in the same meet the year prior.
Adkins later launched a 162-foot, eight-and-three-quarters inch discus throw at the adidas Outdoor Nationals, which were held in Charlotte, N.C. — placing second in a national field of middle school competitors.
Adkins has only blossomed further since that time.
As a sophomore, Adkins placed sixth at the OHSAA Division II, Region 7 Meet — then turned it up multiple notches as a junior by placing third at the OHSAA Division II, Region 7 Meet in 2025 and then coming up large with a massive 169-foot, 11-inch performance at the OHSAA Division II State Championships to reach the podium with a third place finish at the state level. Adkins' personal best in the discus is 172 feet, eight inches.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe only throwers who outperformed Adkins? South Point's Derrick Taylor, who is now at Tennessee, and Norwayne's Brandt Morlock, who is at Ohio State.
For his personal success as a field thrower, Adkins credits Wheelersburg indoor and outdoor track and field head coach Ryan Brown as well as assistant coach Steve Sutton for their continuous dedication.
"I started doing this as a side hobby to football, just to stay active during the spring," Adkins said. "I really fell in love with it during my seventh-grade year. I was second in the state and then was first in the state in my eighth-grade year, so that carried over into high school. I've been training hard with (Ryan) Brown and (Steve) Sutton since my freshman year, and that's been a big help, but that's the dedication that I've really tried to put into it in order to get to where I want to go. Going out there and putting in that time is really showing, and over the past four years, I've just tried to stick to a consistent plan and it's worked."
Behind Brown, Sutton and others, Adkins also praises what he sees at Wheelersburg — which is a program that is never satisfied.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn Adkins, along with fellow senior thrower Ison Emnett and juniors Hunter Lawson and Donavon Ehrhart, the Pirates arguably have the best rotation of throwing talents in the entire OHSAA Division III realm, which is the classification that the Pirates will be competing in at the district, regional and state levels in 2026.
Emnett, who posted a personal best shot put of 58 feet, seven inches at the OHSAA Division II, Region 7 Meet in 2025 to finish second, placed sixth at the OHSAA Division II State Track and Field Championships with a 57-foot, eight-inch mark in 2025.
Lawson and Ehrhart are also expected to make similar leaps as junior in 2026 that Adkins and Emnett did in 2025.
Incoming freshman thrower Case Emnett adds to what is a dynamic and complete Wheelersburg track and field roster from top to bottom that scored 42 points to finish third at the OHSAA Division II, Region 7 Meet in 2025, and finished 15th and tied for 13th at the OHSAA Division II State Championship Meet from a team perspective in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Last year, we came out and had a really big season, and shocked a lot of people," Adkins said. "There weren't very many meets that we lost until we got to the end of the season. We have strong jumps and throws groups that get us ahead to begin the meet, and then we have a lot of good runners and sprinters who come out, fill in at spots, and all get pretty good scores. We're definitely excited for this year. We have a senior class returning with a lot of guys who are ranked high at the state level, so our goal is to get beyond districts this year. We want a regional championship and we want a state championship, too. We're excited. We have three throwers right there with me — Ison Emnett, Hunter Lawson and Donovan Earhardt — who are all amazing throwers. Ison's a six-foot shot putter who just committed to Shawnee State, Donovan is most people's first-man discus thrower on any other team in the conference, and he's our third man, and he's right there with us, keeping us competitive. Then you have Hunter in shot put throwing 49 feet, so we have a four-deep squad in throws and we're only allowed to bring two in each event. That has only allowed us to get better. Every practice for us is like a meet. We're all going at it in every practice and every throw. We're mock meeting on weekday practices when other teams are just going off their own throwing, so those types of things have helped prepare us, and it's just iron sharpening iron, so it's what allowed us to be so good last year."
The competition around the area, however, remains intense, even with the graduation of Taylor, the defending OHSAA Division II State Champion in discus and shot put.
That's evident in Northwest talent Aidden Armbrister alone. Armbrister, himself a state title contender in discus, ripped off a 167-foot, 10-inch throw to place second at the OHSAA Division II State Championship meet in discus, and also qualified for the state championship meet in shot put as well.
Just a junior himself, Adkins anticipates that Armbrister will be a factor at every meet on the schedule in 2026 and 2027.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Ever since my eighth grade year, when Aidden was in seventh grade, he's been right on my back," Adkins said. "It's only helped increase the competition level. Every year, we're PR'ing and every meet, we're coming out and PR'ing. There's that friendly competition there, and we all want to be the best and we all want to win, so just having that in the area, particularly with Derrick Taylor at Tennessee now, is amazing, especially for our small county. Having those elite level athletes and people seeing that we're going up to Columbus and competing at state and taking first places and top-threes is really big for athletes in our area."
Academically, Adkins is already ahead of the game, as well.
Having taken postsecondary classes through the College Credit Plus program, Adkins will finish his senior year of high school with four semesters, or two years, worth of college credit already in the bag at Shawnee State.
Adkins has been accepted into the exercise science program at Marshall, and will go into his academic career there as a junior. Following the completion of that as an athletically-eligible sophomore, Adkins expects to do a three-year physical therapy program while in Huntington.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut Adkins doesn't want to just settle and be the best of the best in the classroom. He wants more than that.
"In two years, we have the Olympics coming up, and in four years, we have world championships," Adkins said. "I'm trying to train beyond just appearing in college meets. My parents really helped me plan this out as a life decision, too, because we have big goals outside of going to Marshall. We want to take track as far as we can, and my family's been so supportive with it. Between them and my friends coming to meets and cheering me on, it's been a super experience and help me achieve more, so it's been amazing."
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