Vance's boys & girls looks ready for 4A state title runs
Vance began the day with a victory in the girl's 4x800, running 9:57. They are the 1st team under 10:00 this season. This start for the girls began what was a successful day as they won the meet with 92 points. Second place, Weddington, scored 54. The girl's went on to win the the 4x100m relay, the 4x400m relay, and the shot put relay. There were also other performances to note from Vance's girls:
- 2 girls under 27.0 in the 200
- Kiara Benson was 2nd in 46.94c in the 300h
- 3 girls under 1:02.5 in the 400 led by Shannon Lee
- Amy Neilson was 4th in 5:26 in the 1600
- SMR team finished 2nd
- 3 girls over 85' in the discus
Not to be out done, however, the boys also had a special day as they won with 90 points. Second place was Ragsdale with 57. The boys only won the shot put relay, but they had many 2nd place performances which pushed them far out front. Here are some outstanding performances by Vance's boys:
- 2 boys in the top 7 of the 200, both under 23.00 in the prelims
- Issac McReynolds took 2nd in the 300h with a time of 40.64c
- Marcus McClary was 7th in the 400
- boys 4x100 ran 53.14c for 2nd
- 2nd in the SMR in 3:37
- 2nd in 4x400 with 3:26
- 3 guys over 40' in the shot led by Mark Blakeney's 2nd in 47' 4"
- Blakeney took 2nd in the discus
Look out for Vance come May!
Notable performances
- 5 girls teams ran faster than the previous #1 time in the state of 10:12. They were: Vance, East Forsyth, Weddington, Chapel Hill, & Green Hope
- Girl's 4x800 - Amanda Jones led off for East Forsyth in about 2:22ish. She hammered the first lap and never looked back. Lindsay Ester split 2:24 for Williams.
- Chapel Hill and East Forsyth had quite a battle in the 4x800. The lead off legs were fast as Dylan Ferris ran around 1:54 and Taylor Gilland 1:57. East held the lead through the 2nd legs as both ran about 2:03/4. The 3rd legs is where the race really became exciting as both teams began passing one another. Finally, CH was anchored with a 1:57 and East's anchor ran 2:01 . . . sorry I don't have names.
- Mount Tabor's Taylor Dewberry won the 200 and ran 25.64c in the prelims
- Ariel Darden of Winston Salem Prep finished 2nd with an identical clocking to Taylor in the finals of 25.84c
- Hunter Furr of Forsyth Country Day ran away from the field in the final 100m in both the prelims and the finals. Hunter ran 21.84c in the prelims and 22.14c in the finals.
- 15 boys in the 200 met the NCRunners.com elite standard of 23.5
- Naadia Crutchfield of Ragsdale dominated the prelims of the 300h with a time of 46.34c. The finals was a bit closer as Kiara Benson of Vance closed the gap to only 3 tenths of a second. 5 girls broke 50 seconds on the day.
- Charles Lindsay of Parkland proved he's one of the best in the state over the 300h. He ran under 40 seconds in both the prelims and the finals with a fastest time of 39.64c. Issac McReynolds of Vance made a race out of this one like his female counterpart as he ran 40.64c in the finals.
- Forsyth Country Day had 3 guys under 45 seconds in the 300h. Look out NCISAA.
- Ericka Charles won the 400 with a quick time of 58.74c. She actually ran 58.64c in the prelims. Amanda Jones of East Forsyth also ran under 60 seconds with a fastest of 59.64.
- The guys 400 looked like a dead heat as they were coming down the straightaway. Jarrell Elliot of Parkland pulled away for the win in 49.74c. 5 athletes ran under 50 seconds during the prelims and finals. Mike Eddy of Asheboro clocked the fastest time of 49.44c during his heat of the prelims.
- Jonathan Sunde ran under 16:00 for the 1st time and on the hot track, running 15:57.3.
- Broughton had 3 guys break 17:00, led by Burk Staub's 16:36.
- 4 girl's 4x100 teams met the NCRunners.com elite standard: Vance, Ragsdale, Parkland, and Williams
- It was a battle b/w Carver and Vance in the 4x100 as Vance took the final hand off in the lead, but couldn't quite hang one. Carver won by 1 tenth of a second.
- Marley Burns of Carolina Day won the 1600 easily with a time of 5:17. She was all alone for the entire race.
- 3 other girls broke 5:30: Courtney Whittington of Mt. Tabor, Lindsay Ester of Williams, and Amy Neilson of Vance
- In another exciting race, Taylor Gilland of CH and Sam Mordecai of Broughton simply ran away from the field in the 1600. Taylor led from start to finish and took it out very hard. They came through the 1st 400 in about 60, then 800 in about 2:06, 1200 in about 3:13. Gilland pulled away just enough to win by 2 seconds in the last 300 meters of the race. Taylor is the 1st boy under 4:20 this outdoor season.
- SMR was won by Tabor's girls in an impressive 4:21.3. Vacne was close behind in 4:23.
- Dylan Ferris ran another solid 800, 1:53/4 to anchor the East Forsyth boys to a win in the SMR.
- Weddinton's Nathan Carter went under 2:00 to win the 800 in 1:59.1. He made me eat my words. Way to go!
- 4 girls teams ran under 4:20 in the 4x400 after a long day in the sun. Vance won in 4:12.
- Parkland ran a very fast time of 3:22 in the 4x400.
- 5 girls in the shot and discus met the NCRunners.com elite standard
- Brittany McCain of Weddington won both the shot and the discus
- Jake Deaton of Mooresville won a close won the shot by 4.25 inches.
- Omar Gilchrist of Ragsdale won the discus by about 2 feet with a throw of 136' 1.5"