When girls could run no farther than 880 yards, the desire to be a runner and basketball player saw Robin Evans leave the Carroll School District where track was not a part of the program, to the high school of Manilla and a home away from home with the Hennessays. You might say this was a primitive form of open enrollment. A small person in size with a big heart, this individual became a giant in the area of track and field under the coaching of Larry Bullock. Robin very modestly told of some of her accomplishments. They are:
- State Cross country Champions two years.
- Only Iowa high school girl to ever run the mile under 5 minutes.
- One of the first four high school girls in the U.S. to run the mile under 5 minutes at the National A.A.U. in Los Angeles in 1970.
- Holds the 1500 meter record of 4:36 for an all time high school record.
- The Drake Relays Committee was nice enough to start a mile run so that Robin would have a chance to run and she ran 4:55, an all time high school record. This was before Iowa girls ran more than 880.
- Robin was a member of 13 State and National event championships- Distance Medley – Mile Relay – 880 Run.
- National Federation 880 champion at Wichita in 1970, running 2:15. Ran 2:13 in Iowa the same year.
- Robin was rated in the top ten women miler’s for 3 years, 1970, ’71, ’72. For Robin, the one thing that stands above all these accomplishments is that she has been told that she helped speed up the spread of girls sports in Iowa, especially in the area of distance running in Track and Field.