A video of Hayzes Robinson zooming down the track and finishing ahead of her opponents at last week’s Butler Invitational made its way onto social media shortly after the race.
Robinson’s father, Troy, saw the tweet and replied, “All Robinsons are fast!”
But this wasn’t an example of a parent dishing out praise without merit.
That’s because in the case of the Robinson sisters, their track record — or better yet, their record on the track — speaks for itself.
Hayzes is a senior at Avonworth and the fourth Robinson sister to be a standout sprinter at the school. They have all competed for Avonworth/Northgate, as the two schools have had a cooperative agreement for a number of years.
These speedy sisters have two things in common: One, all of their names start with the letter H, and, two, when they have run a race in high school, it has usually seen them end up with the W. Preceding Hayzes were Hunter (a 2018 graduate), Hayden (2019) and Harris (2021). All four have won gold medals in sprinting events at the WPIAL championships, with Hayzes being the most recent to attain the feat when she took first place in the 100-meter dash at last year’s Class 2A championships. Hunter and Hayden had previously won the 100 at WPIALs, making the Robinsons the first trio of sisters to win gold in the 100 at the WPIAL championships.
Hayzes, who will run at Pitt next season, said her sisters have helped her immensely, adding that some of the assistance has come simply through motivation.
“I’m really competitive, so I want to be faster than them,” she said. “So they’re always pushing me to run a little faster.”
They’ve also given her some advice.
“They always say, ‘You overthink too much,’” Hayzes said with a laugh. “They say, ‘You just need to run and hope for the best.’”
Being this is her final high school season, Hayzes hopes this will be her best season yet. She has gotten off to a great start, which was highlighted by her winning the 100 at the Butler Invitational. After running a time of 12.18 seconds in preliminaries (the top mark by a WPIAL runner this season), Robinson used a time of 12.32 in the final to beat out South Fayette’s Olivia Renk (12.49) and Winchester Thurston’s Monroe Law (12.49). Renk and Law (then running for Franklin Regional) finished 2-3 at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championships.
It was the first gold medal for Hayzes Robinson at the Butler Invitational, and it came after she finished second in the 100 in the event a season earlier. Hunter Robinson won the 100, along with the 200 and 400, three consecutive years from 2016-18. Hunter still holds meet records in the 200 and 400.
“I’m really glad that I finally won because last year I was close, but I didn’t win,” Hayzes said. “I was kind of frustrated that I got second, and this year I was worried because the two girls who I was racing against, they beat me in indoor a few times, and I knew they were really fast. I knew I needed to have a really good race to beat them.”
Robinson later ran a personal record of 25.37 in the 200 but had to settle for second place after Renk used a time of 25.26 to come out on top. Robinson’s PR in the 100 came at last year’s WPIAL championships when she ran a 12.01.
The Robinsons sister act began with Hunter and Hayden, both of whom were decorated sprinters. Hunter won nine WPIAL gold medals, including six in individual events, in addition to four PIAA golds. Hayden captured seven WPIAL gold medals, four coming in individual events, along with one PIAA gold medal. Harris ran track only one season, but she made the most of it, joining Hunter and Hayden on a 1,600-meter relay team that won a WPIAL gold medal in 2018.
All three of Hayzes’ older sisters have competed in sports collegiately. Hunter ran at Tulane and then at Appalachian State, where she is now a graduate student. Hayden ran at Quinnipiac before transferring to California (Pa.) to play basketball. Harris plays basketball at Saint Francis.
Hayzes used to play basketball before giving it up her junior year, yet she still attended many Avonworth basketball games, boys and girls, her senior year. The reason? She returned to cheerleading, something she did as a freshman and for part of her sophomore year.
“My senior year, for fun, I said, ‘I’m just going to do cheer again,’” said Robinson, who plans on studying broadcasting and journalism at Pitt. She’d love to one day work at ESPN, she said.
Among Hayzes’ personal cheerleaders is sister Harper, the fifth and final Robinson sister. Harper, who is in seventh grade, is running track for the first time this season. And as you would expect, she is a sprinter, too.
It’s hard keeping up with the Robinsons, and Hayzes hopes to continue to separate herself from the competition. She will look to add some more gold to the family collection next month after winning a gold medal in the 100 and a silver medal in the 200 at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A championships. She followed that up by placing fourth and eighth in those events at the PIAA championships. Some of Robinson’s top Class 2A competition this season will come from Law and Laurel’s Tori Atkins, last year’s WPIAL runner-up in the 100 and the two-time defending WPIAL champion in the 200.
Hayzes flashed a big smile after joining Hunter as a Butler Invitational 100-meter champ, so one can only imagine how thrilled she would be if she eventually joins Hunter and Hayden as PIAA champs in the race.
“It’s really fun,” Hayzes said. “I’m glad I get to add my name to the list. I’m excited to hopefully do it again at WPIALs and states.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.