Every year, many different teachers like Joseph Rampey nominate a senior for a Senior Spotlight at Athens. Rampey nominated senior Ainsley Moore this year, who describes herself as determined. The first thing that came to Rampey’s mind to describe Moore was how she stands out in a crowd and is always happy to be there.
“She’s always willing to help, and wants everybody to sit around her. She will continuously do her best and try to strive to get others to do their best,” said Rampey.
Although Moore’s main sport is track & field, she does many other sports and extracurricular activities. Including gymnastics, which she has been doing since she was three. Moore has also done flag football with the school since her sophomore year, the first year it was introduced at Athens. Moore is a part of the Athens student council too, and has had a wonderful time bonding with others and participating in school events.
“Honestly, gymnastics shaped me as a person; it made me who I am, how I’m able to do my work, and be able to manage stuff. I was in the gym four to five days a week for four hours each day. It’s definitely helped me with school as I’ve gotten older. So I would never change that for the world,” said Moore.
Rampey has coached Moore since her freshman year when she joined track, and that bond has stayed strong throughout Moore’s high school years.. Moore is a great track athlete and has been to conference-level meets several times. The first time she went to conference stood out to Rampey as a strong team player..
“[I saw] how excited she was after the conference and being able to run the races she did and do as well as she did and come over and celebrate with the whole team,” Rampey said.
This semester, Moore is a sprinter with her main events being the 100 meter and 200 meter. Her personal record as of the 2026 track season is a 12.39 in the 100 and a 25.85 in the 200. With a 100m time between 13.3–13.7 seconds and a 200m time of 26–27 seconds, Moore consistently beats the North Carolina state average.
Even though high school and the track season are coming to an end, Moore doesn’t want to end her running career here. She’s going to continue running track in college while she studies health and performance at Ferrum College, and hopes to continue running for the rest of her life.
Moore’s studying and schoolwork is going well this year, but overall what is something that didn’t go well.
“[My biggest struggle has been] dealing with teachers and classes that aren’t the best fit for me and just pushing through that, and just having to just do my best,” said Moore.
Rampey believes Moore is a strong choice for Senior Spotlight “because of her energy and personality, she’s always excited to be there, never wanting to complain. Just there to do work,” said Rampey.
