GREENSBORO, NC – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) concluded the 2019 Track & Field Championships with the 1A and 4A Meets at the Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina A&T State University. Team Champions and award winners are listed below, followed by brief recaps of the highlights for each classification.
1A Women’s Championship: Murphy sneaks past East Carteret for team title in final event
The Murphy Bulldogs got a second place finish in the final event of the meet, the 4 X 400 Relay, to edge East Carteret 49.5-47.5 and claim the Bulldogs second straight 1A Women’s Team Championship. The State Championship is the fourth all-time for the Murphy Women’s program.
Murphy’s only individual event win in the meet came in the Discus as Sarah Pullium tossed 126’11” on her way to the top of the podium. The crucial 4 X 400 Relay team of Faith Ann Revis, Lauren Pendley, Grace Nelson, and Brianna Moore knew that they needed six or more points to take the team title, and raced to second place with a time of 4:10.57, less than half a second in front of third place Highland Tech and more than three seconds behind the event winners from Polk County.
Breah Taylor led the charge for East Carteret, earning first place finishes in two individual events and as anchor on the 4 X 100 Meter Relay team. Taylor won the Long Jump spanning 17’10.5” with her best performance. Then she claimed the Triple Jump with a top performance of 38’9.0”. Taylor anchored the victorious Mariners relay team of Latecyia Johnson, Andralyn Livingston, and Makayla Brazelton in the 4 X 100 Relay, winning with a time of 49.88 seconds.
Ja’Ciya Guthrie from Bessemer City was named the 1A Women’s MVP, winning three individual events. Guthrie sped to a new 1A State Meet Record in the 100 Meter Dash, posting a time of 12.08 seconds in the finals to eclipse the previous record time of 12.10 set by Leroya Banks from Perquimans in 2011. Guthrie went on to top honors in the 200 Meter Dash and 100 Meter Hurdles as well, winning those events in a time of 25.30 and 15.04 seconds, respectively.
Victoria Swepson from Research Triangle was the only other individual to claim wins in multiple individual events. Swepson nabbed victory in the 800 and 1600 Meter Runs. She claimed the 800 in 2:18.84 and the 1600 in 5:25.68.
1A Men’s Championship: Holmes gets program’s first team state title with a pair of relay wins
The John A. Holmes Aces sprinted to the 1A Men’s Team Championship, holding off Tarboro 40-36 thanks to a pair of relay event wins in the 4 X 100 and 4 X 200. The team title was the first in program history for the long-time NCHSAA member school from Edenton.
The 4 X 100 Relay team of Nakevin Hill, Zakeem Brooks, Kentreaz Coston, and Aaron Price raced to a victory in 42.14 seconds. Then in the 4 X 200 Relay, Josiah Carter led off for Brooks, Coston and Pryce as the quartet sped to the top of the podium with a time of 1:28.70. Aaron Pryce was the only individual event winner for Holmes, claiming victory in the 300 Meter Hurdles crossing in 40.73 seconds.
Kimani McDaniels from Tarboro was named the 1A Men’s MVP, taking home first place finishes in the 100 and 200 Meter Dashes. McDaniels raced to the win in the 100 Meters with a time of 10.88 seconds. In the 200 Meters, he sped to 21.77 seconds for the win.
Other notable performances during the meet include a pair of new 1A Men’s State Meet Records. South Davidson’s Brent Surratt won the 1600 Meters in a 1A Record time of 4:19.06, besting the record of 4:21.10 set by Raleigh Charter’s Chris O’Brian in 2014. Polk County’s Jake Justice set a new 1A State Meet Record in the Pole Vault as he cleared 15’01”, eclipsing the previous record of 15’0” set by Robbinsville’s Landon Hunt in 2010.
4A Women’s Championship: Panther Creek takes back-to-back titles with strong performances by Smalls
Panther Creek ran past second-place Providence by a final count of 56.5 to 47 on the way to the Catamount’s second straight 4A Team State Championships. Morgan Smalls was once again the meet’s MVP, for the second year in a row, this year earning a pair of victories in individual events and claiming second in another.
Smalls came up short of her record-breaking three State Meet Record performance in this year’s Indoor Championships but won the High Jump and Triple Jump. She cleared 5’10” to win the High Jump, and went to the top of the podium in the Triple Jump with a best performance of 40’09.00”. Smalls came in second place in the Long Jump, finishing second to Rocky River’s Jirah Sidberry who crossed 18’11.75” with her best performance.
Garner’s Jonah Ross claimed a pair of individual event wins in the sprint events. Ross took home the 100 Meter Dash in 11.83 seconds, despite performing better in the preliminary heats with a time of 11.66 seconds. She also won the 200 Meter Dash, crossing in a time of 23.96 seconds.
Ragsdale’s Kaitlyn McGoogan won a pair of individual field events, both of the throwing disciplines. McGoogan’s Shot Put throw of 38’11.75” was the top performance of the day. Her throw of 142’09” in the Discus nabbed top honors as well.
4A Men’s Championship: Cary rolls to school’s first team state title in Men’s Track
Cary outpaced East Mecklenburg 46-38 to win the program’s first Track & Field Team State Championship. The Imps were led by Anton Idhammar who won the 1600 Meter Run in 4:15.55. The Imps also got a relay win from the 4 X 800 Meter Relay team of Ted Sielatycki, Stephen Atkinson, Jackson Martin, and Nathan Flexman.
Chancellor Crawford from Mallard Creek was named the 4A Men’s Meet MVP after winning a pair of field events. Crawford tossed 57’09.75” to win the Shot Put before throwing 174’08” to claim first place in the Discus.
There were several other notable performances including two new All Classification State Meet Records. The new State Meet Record in Pole Vault was claimed by Spencer Evans from Lake Norman who cleared 16’2” on his way to the podium, eclipsing the State Meet Record of 16’1” set in 2016 by Marvin Ridge’s Bailey Frederick.
The other State Meet Record to fall was the 1999 mark of Pamlico County’s 4 X 100 Meter Relay team of Alex Midgette, Darnelle Sawyer, Bobby Minor and Fred Fisher, who combined for a time of 41.19. The Reagan quartet of Keasean Dirks, Tazhae Woods, Zavion Hamilton and Daniel Moyer, Jr. raced to a time of 41.16 seconds in the 4 X 100 Relay for the win and the new record.
Reagan’s 4 X 200 Meter Relay team of Dylan James, Dirks, Woods and Moyer, Jr. set a new 4A State Meet Record when they finished in 1:25.49. The previous record of 1:25.50 was set in 1981 by Northern Durham’s team of Dwayne McDaniel, Arthur Glenn, Greg Neal and Alston Glenn.
Cameron Rose won a pair of individual events for Hickory Ridge. The Ragin’ Bulls sprinter raced to victory in the 100 Meter Dash Finals in a time of 10.58 seconds. He then claimed the 200 Meter Dash in a time of 21.37 seconds.
