Josiah Elliot (Parkland) ran the nation's fastest 500 time so far this winter, with Barry Harris (SE Guilford) right behind.
(Complete Results)
On Saturday, North Carolina athletes traveled to Lynchburg for the Liberty Elite Meet. This is most likely one of only two times that large numbers of our athletes will compete against Virginia soil this year (the other being the Virginia Tech Invitational on the first weekend of February). The depth of the NC teams was evident in the relays, where 5 of the 6 winning teams were from the Tar Heel State. Parkland's girls won the 4x200 in 1:45.78 (with Southeast Guilford second), and the Mustangs also won the 4x400 in 4:04.49 (Southeast Raleigh finished third in the race). Southeast Raleigh's boys led a sweep of the 4x400 by clocking 3:31.32, with North Mecklenburg and Asheville close behind them. Speaking of the Bulldogs, they brought both of the 4x800 titles back to Raleigh; the girls ran 10:13.73 and the boys 8:30.32 (with North Meck in second).
North Carolina athletes also produced some tremendous individual performances, including the race of the day between Josiah Elliot (Parkland) and Barry Harris in the 500. Elliot came out on top with a US #1 mark of 1:04.53 (NC #8 all time), while Harris was close behind with his US #2 1:04.69 (NC #9 all time). That wasn't all that Harris accomplished on the day, though: the Southeast Guilford senior was named the boys' MVP of the meet after winning the 300 in 35.88 and finishing 3rd in the 55 in addition to his huge 500 time. Harris was not the only North Carolinian to claim more than one medal, though. Sabrina Moore (North Mecklenburg) finished second in the 55 with a time of 7.24 and was also the runner-up in the long jump, leaping 17' 7.25".
Several other NC athletes brought home top-3 finished in the track events during the one-day meet. William Cameron (Southern Durham) ran 6.47 to win the 55 dash, with Hopewell's Dajuan Massey in second and Harris third. Isaiah Moore (Cummings) continued his dominance in the 55 Hurdles, winning in 7.41 to lead a 1-2-3 sweep, as teammate Thomas Jones II finished second and Caleb Mathis (Davie) was third. Rodaijah Faucette (Cummings) won the 300 with a mark of 41.99, although she hasn't found her rhythm in the triple jump yet (she will!). Ariel Shores (Southeast Guilford) ran 2:42.50 to finish third in the 1000, while Michael Parkins (North Meck) took the same place in the 500 with his time of 1:06.97. Parkland teammates Ebony Williams (8.53 for 55 Hurdles) and Brianna Mitchell (1:21.82 in the 500) also earned bronze medals for their efforts.
In field events, Amara Bell (Southeast Raleigh) cleared 5' 4" to win the high jump, Noah Tyson (Asheville) took the triple jump with a 44' 6.5" effort, and Sharmani Hall (Southeast Raleigh) claimed the shot put with a throw of 36' 9.5". Tyson's brother Nate finished second in the high jump, getting over 6', while Hall's teammate was third in the long jump (17' 0.25"). Samirah Stevens (Cummings) set a new PR of 35' 11.5" to finish second in the triple jump. Finally, Jalen Peterkin (Southern Durham) threw 51' 1.5" to finish third in the shot put.
