Elite, Even Among the Elite: 4A State Meet Recap

Girls Team Champions: Parkland

Despite two major injuries this season, the Parkland juggernaut rolled on with 89 points, and they did it in typical fashion. The Mustangs claimed the 4x2 and 4x4 (the latter after having long since sewn up the meet), and they scored heavily in everything 500 and down. Ila Mumford returned to action in the long and triple after an injury layoff, and whatever she may have lost while out was more than picked up by Nateja Hale (2nd in the triple) and Jahnae Bowman (6th in the long jump) - between them, the three scored 20 points. Everyone contributed: Katlyn Sherman took 3rd in the 55 and 2nd in the 300, McKinley McNeill finished 2nd in the 500, and of course Ebony Williams did darn near everything.


Girls Team Runners-Up: Apex

Powered by Sydnei Murphy's 30 points, Apex supported that with 16 points in the pole vault and what turned out to be 1 crucial point from Kara King in the Wheelchair 55 Dash. The Cougars had to sweat out the final few events, as they had no scorers left - and they had to watch conference rival Cary come oh-so-close to snatching away the silver trophy by winning the 4x400, only to have Parkland reclaim the lead in the final straight. Aside from Parkland, the top 6 was entirely a Wake County affair: Leesville finished 4th, followed by Green Hope and Wakefield.