Girls NCHSAA 3A State Meet Recap
Apparently, Anna Vess (A.C. Reynolds) was not happy with the number of titles she had already won. The senior was determined to close out her career with her biggest state championship day yet, something that became possible with the change to the double-meet schedule this year and the extra rest it creates. Vess was able to bring home three golds despite strong competition in all three events - she won the races by a combined total of just over two seconds! The meet started with a NC #7 5:00.09 1600 in which she outkicked Katherine Dokholyan (Chapel Hill) and Emme Fisher (West Carteret), then she held off a furious challenge from Anna Passannante (Chapel Hill) in the 800, clocking 2:13.28 NC #4. You could tell that race hurt, and yet she was able to return two events later to win the 3200 in 11:19.31 over Sarah LaTour (Cuthbertson). An amazing day to cap off the amazing career of a truly sweet an humble young woman!
The only other athlete to even win two events in this meet was Sydnei Fields (Cleveland), who claimed the 100 Hurdles with a time of 14.98, barely edging Torri Weathers (Cox Mill) in the process, then held off Jorja Medders (Marvin Ridge) to win the 300 Hurdles in 44.59 NC #10. The narrow loss in the 100H prevented Weathers from getting a double, as she won the long jump with a mark of 18' 0". Several other field event athletes stood out for their strong performances; for example, Imani Bennett (Southern Guilford) had a big day in the triple jump, posting a NC #2 39' 1" to lead 5 girls at 36' 10" or better. Tessa Sheets (Northwood) dominated the pole vault by clearing 12' 1", but wasn't able to match her season best of 13 feet. Tiana Taylor (Eastern Guilford) won an incredibly competitive shot put, where there were three other girls within 1 foot of her 39' 7.75" mark.
Although no school won more than one relay, the theme of the day seemed to be two-team duels. It all started with the 4x800, which saw Cuthbertson sneak past Union County rival Marvin Ridge at the line, both teams breaking 9:30 and separated by only 0.02 seconds. Then Eastern Guilford prevailed in a titanic battle with Cleveland in the 4x200, the two teams clocking 1:41.59 and 1:41.94, respectively. Cleveland also fell just short in the 4x100, this time to Cox Mill, who won in 48.27. The meet ended with Nash Central holding off Jacksonville in the 4x400 with a time of 4:03.00. This theme even held true for the individual 100 and 200 dashes, where Taylor Henderson (Eastern Guilford) and Mya Daye (Northern Vance) traded wins. Daye took home the gold in the 100, 12.06 - 12.13 over Henderson, who paid Daye back by winning the 200 in 24.40. Cambria Shuford (Statesville) dominated the 400 while posting a 56.28, just off her season best.
She may have been the only competitor in her event, but Taylor Kirk (East Rowan) still attended her 6th consecutive state championship, counting both indoor and outdoor seasons. She was one of only four female adaptive athletes in the state this spring, and one of only three that competed this past weekend. Let's hope we continue to see this phenomenon grow in North Carolina, so that early pioneers like Kirk can look proudly on what they started.