NCHSAA 4A Girls Recap
Coming into the meet, the question was whether Southeast Raleigh would be challenged or win going away. The answer was clear midway through the meet: this was the Bulldog's day, and they were ready for it. In fact, that was pretty obvious from the very first event, when Southeast Raleigh won the 4x800, setting themselves up to take all three relays on the day. In addition to those 30 points, the Bulldogs went 2-3-4 in the 500, led by a 1:15.89 by Kleo Torres, but otherwise they did not have any other first- or second-place finishes on the day! That means they scored their remaining 30 points with third-place finishes and down, which is very impressive.
By contrast, the Green Hope girls made the most of their one star athlete, getting 24 individual points from Elly Henes (and 8 more from her fellow distance runners). Add in another 8 for their 4x800, and those distance runners accounted for 40 of the team's 48 points! That was more than enough to hold off High Point Central and Parkland, who both fell short of 40 points this year.
Henes received MVP options for her efforts, which included 4 second-place finishes: she anchored the 4x800, then earned silver in the 1600, 1000, and 3200, facing a different national-caliber opponent in each race - Blair Ramsey (Grimsley) won the 1600 in 5:01.83, G'Jasmyne Butler (Leesville Road) clocked 2:58.33 NC #1 to take the 1000, and Sara Platek (Ragsdale) improved her US #1 time in the 3200 to 10:31.94.
Other great performances from the meet included a double win by Tamara Clark (High Point Central) in the 55 and 300. McKinley McNeill (Parkland) won the 500 in 1:14.24, Breanne Bygrave (Wakefield) clocked 7.89 to win the 55 Hurdles, and Kayla Dawson (Olympic) threw 47' 6" to take the shot put title. In other field event action, Lauren White (Rolesville) jumped a state leading 18' 6.5" to win the long jump, while Jada Woods (Hopewell) went 37' 11.25" in claiming gold in the triple jump, and Kenya Livingston (Rocky River) improved her NC #1 high jump to 5' 8".
NCHSAA 4A Boys Recap
Let's just say it was a good day to be a Falcon! In addition to taking home the silver trophy in the girls' team competition, Green Hope claimed the championship on the boys' side. It was a much different feeling over the last few events, though, as the boys had to score well in the 4x400 to lock in the title. They were up to the task, as Jayquan Williams powered back from 4th to 1st on the anchor leg to secure his team the win. The Falcons also took second in the 4x200 and 4x800, totaling 26 relay points, and Williams chipped in another 10 with a win in the 1000. Also noteworthy: William Hoffman's 8 points from the 500. All told, Green Hope ended up with 49 points to edge Mount Tabor.
For their part, the Spartans were led by a near-MVP performance by Kenny Kneisel, who won the 1600 in 4:21.76, finished a close 2nd in the 1000 (he would have won a 1020), and then closed the day with a win in the 3200 for a total of 28 individual points. Kneisel also anchored Mount Tabor to the win in the 4x800, giving him a total of 30.5 points.
Despite Kneisel's best efforts to put his team on his back, it wasn't enough to overcome a 3-win effort by Hillside's Marcus Krah. The magnificent Hornet won the 55 Hurdles in a US #2 time of 7.23, and then he took gold in both the horizontal jumps: 22' 4.75" in the long jump, then 47' '1" in the triple jump. Other great field event performances from boys' competition: Joseph Ibrahim (West Forsyth) cleared 6' 8" in the high jump, Daniel McArthur (Mooresville) threw 55' 8.75" in the shot put, and Elijah Cole (Millbrook) cleared 16' US #12 to win the pole vault. On the track, Cravont Charleston (Mallard Creek) continued to tear up the national rankings in the 55 Dash, posting a US #2 6.24 to take the gold, with Jawan Miller (Hopewell) just behind at US #3 6.27.
Finally, Krah's Hillside teammate Desmond Jackson continued to set the standard for adaptive competition in North Carolina, setting season bests in the long jump (12' 10") and the 55 Dash (8.03, an all-time PR) while also clocking 50.69 in the 300. Broughton's Omar Sanchez won both the Wheelchair Shot Put and 55 Dash for the boys, as did Apex's Cara King on the girls' side.
