It has been a bit of weird year in North Carolina, mostly because of difficult weather that prevented both practices and meets from happening more often than usual. Between that loss of training time and the losses of many strong athletes to graduation last spring, the talent at the NCISAA 3A state meet was just a bit thinner than in some recent years. Despite those factors, though, much about the state championship remained the same, from the elite individuals that this classification always produces to the team champions at the end: Providence Day won both boys and girls team titles for the third consecutive year.
And when all was said and done, the meet concluded in the way that all NCISAA state meets conclude (at least, all the ones that I have attended) - with the traditional awards ceremony, which is among the best of its kind that I have ever witnessed. With nearly all the teams and athletes sticking around for the final presentations, there is a sense of fellowship and community that is absent at the end of the public school state meets. Check out the other highlights from the meet below!
More NCISAA 3A State Meet Coverage
- Complete Results
- Photos:
- Videos:
Girls Team Champions: Providence Day
Boys Team Champions: Providence Day
Girls Team Runners-Up: Cary Academy
Boys Team Runners-Up: Charlotte Latin
Highlights:
- Anna Cockrell (Providence Day) was expected to dominate, but nobody quite expected her to run and ALL-TIME STATE RECORD of 41.31 NC #1 US #2 in the 300 Hurdles - including Anna herself (she was stunned when she heard the time). That result almost made her 13.53 in the 100 Hurdles and her 11.93 in the 100 Dash (both wins) seem pedestrian in comparison! Anna also ran a sub-56 anchor split on the Chargers' 4x400 relay.
- Nick Linder (Providence Day), coming off of an injury earlier this season, competed in 4 events and came away with 3 gold medals. He anchored the Chargers to victory in the 4x800 on Friday night, then turned around to win the 3200 in 9:33.60 a few hours later. On Saturday, he won the 1600 in 4:20.31 NC #6 after a furious final sprint with Ryan Speer (North Raleigh Christian), and then Linder finished 4th in the 800.
- Eliza Dekker (Durham Academy) won the girls 1600 (5:09.04) and 800 (2:16.85).
- Chaston Raye (Providence Day) won the long jump (21' 11.5") and the triple jump (46' 5" NC #9)
- Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah (Rabun Gap) won the high jump (5' 0") and the shot put (39' 1.5").
- Chantz Sawyers (High Point Christian) won the 400 (49.62) and the 200 (22.43).
