NCHSAA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
SET FOR IRWIN BELK TRACK AT NORTH CAROLINA A&T
GREENSBORO — Top athletes from across the state of North Carolina will compete in a busy weekend of track and field as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association begins its state championships in the sport.
The weekend of competition features 1-A championships for both men and women on Friday, and then on Saturday the 3-A championships will be held, all at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.
The 2-A and 4-A meets will be held next weekend.
Action in the field events will begin at 10 am and running events will start at 11 am. It will be the 93rd annual men’s championships and the 42nd annual renewal of the women’s event.
Monroe is the defending 1-A state champion in women’s competition while North Rowan captured the men’s crown for the second year in a row. North Rowan has been a perennial power with nine state 2-A titles when it was in that classification from 1994 to 2007.
This year’s 1-A regionals in men’s competition included some very close battles. Murphy edged Robbinsville by 3.5 points to win the West title, while Monroe and North Rowan finished in a dead heat in the Midwest Regional. Rocky Point Heide Trask won the Mideast and Lejeune captured top honors in the East.
Regional champions in women’s competition included Robbinsville, Monroe, North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham and Lejeune.
Hailey Cook of Hendersonville, who was named winner of the Pat Best Memorial Award for the NCHSAA’s top female athlete of the year last week, won both the shot and the discus in the 1-A Western Regional.
Berry Academy won the 3-A men’s team title last year while North Buncombe was the women’s champion. The regional men’s winners on Saturday included Asheville, Waxhaw Marvin Ridge, Northern Guilford and Cleveland, while the women’s regional titles were won by Waynesville Tuscola in the West, Berry Academy in the Midwest and West Carteret in the East. The Mideast ended in an amazing three-way deadlock among Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons, Chapel Hill and Western Alamance.
T.J. Logan of Northern Guilford helped lead his team to the regional title in the Mideast. Logan, who last week was named the NCHSAA’s Male Athlete of the Year, won both the 100 and 200 and participated on two strong relay teams. Enka’s Andrew Crowell won two titles in the West, taking the 800 and 1600.
Colin Minor of South Brunswick was a double winner in the shot put and discus in the Eastern Regional and Ian West of Wilson Fike cleared 14-6 in the pole vault.
Admission to the championships each day is six dollars.
The Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greensboro Sports Commission are serving as the host city sponsors for the event.
NCHSAA FastFacts
Event: NCHSAA Track and Field Championships, 1-A and 3-A classifications
Date: May 10-11, 2013, with 1-A men and women on May 10 and 3-A men and women on May 11
Site: Irwin Belk Track, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro
First Held: 1913 for men, 1972 for women
Qualifiers: The top four finishers in each event, including relays, qualified from the regional level to the state championship meet
Defending champions: women: 1-A, Monroe; 3-A, North Buncombe; men: 1-A, North Rowan; 3-A, Berry Academy.
Of Interest: The NCHSAA overall men’s track state record which has lasted the longest is the 400 meters, with the record established back in 1983 by Delton Hall of Greensboro Grimsley in 46.41 seconds.
Host City Sponsors: Greensboro Sports Commission, Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau
