Layla White anchored Cary to the national championship in the 800 SMR on the final day of competition, which also featured numerous NC All-Americans.
Day three of New Balance Nationals Outdoor brought the highest total of North Carolina All-Americans yet, even though the overall participation from our state was significantly down this year.
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Day 3 Highlights
- Cary's girls rallied to the win in the 800 SMR, thanks in large part to a strong anchor leg by Layla White, who went from 4th to first on the 400 leg. The time was 1:44.52 US #5, but it was fast enough to earn a national championship! It was the culmination of a busy 24 hours for White, who ran 2:15.24 on the 4x8 Saturday night and followed with a 55.28 to bring home the SMR win. In the same race, Wakefield finished 4th in 1:46.50 US #17, also earning the title of All-American.
- Ryen Frazier completed the triple win with a 4:45.23 win in the Mile, becoming only the second athlete in meet history to win all 3 distance races. The first, of course, was Wesley Frazier, who earned the trifecta in 2013. Frazier ends her high school career with 5 national titles to go with 5 all-time state records, but she was kind enough to leave two of Wesley's records in place.
- Anna Cockrell finished 3rd in the Championship 400 Hurdles, running 57.70 US #3 to set a new NC All-Time State Record! Of course, the performance also earned her second All-American crown of the meet.
- Christopher Garrick was one of four in the Championship High Jump to clear 6' 9.5". Garrick finished 3rd based on misses, making him an All-American.
- Sydnei Murphy finished 3rd in the long jump for the second straight year, this time with a mark of 20' 4.25" US #9 all-conditions, but there wasn't really anything more she could have done. Silver medalist Courtney Corrin jumped 21' 5.25", which would have made her the 4th-best in US history if it wasn't slightly wind-aided. On the very next jump, Kate Hall broke the 39-year-old national record, set by Hoke County's Kathy McMillan, with a leap of 22' 5"! Murphy ends her career as an All-American, and with the knowledge that she produced the best jump of her career on the biggest stage.
- Talk about a clutch performance! After entering the finals in 5th, Khayla Dawson had fallen to 7th when she came up for her final throw. She produced her best mark of the day, 47' 2.5", which was enough to move her into 4th place and earn her All-American status.
- After running a 53.14 anchor split while leading Parkland to 2nd place in the Swedish Relay, McKinley McNeill ran 53.40 NC #1 US #12 NC #2 All-Time in the Championship 400 and finished 5th overall, getting on the All-American podium.
- Tamara Clark ran 24.10 in the Championship Girls 200 final, finishing 5th to earn an All-American crown.
- Running in heat 2 of 4, Vincent Crisp clocked 1:50.71 NC #3 US #13 NC #9 All-Time to finish 6th overall. That makes him an All-American!
- Mallard Creek's girls finished 6th in the Championship 4x100, earning All-American status while running 47.11.
- Ardrey Kell's boys finished 2nd in the Emerging Elite 4x400 with a time of 3:20.74 NC #4.
- Amaka Awuruonye (Olympic) finished 4th in the Emerging Elite Girls 400 Hurdles, running 1:02.04 NC #3.