We break down some exciting team battles that went on throughout the day on Friday at the NCHSAA 2A/4A Championships!
NCHSAA 2A/4A Photos Tommy DeLaunay
NCHSAA 2A/4A Photos - Phil Ponder
NCHSAA 2A Archived Race Video & Interview
NCHSAA 4A Archived Race Video & Interview
2A Girls
An Epic rematch between indoor champions T.W. Andrews and outdoor defending champions Cummings was one of the battles I was looking forward to the most coming into this weekend. The battle came do a halt during the first final of the day, the 100m hurdles. Defending champion Kayla Moore was the top prelim qualifier and looked to be on her way to victory early on. But over the 7th hurdle Moore connected with the hurdle and came down funny on her ankle and stumbled down the track 2 lanes in front of teammate Kenyae Majors. Moore tried to finish the event dispite a DQ incoming, but her ankle looked to be bad off. Nicole Barnes of T.W. Andrews took the victory in the event with Kelsia Moore and Kenyae Majors placing 2nd and 3rd. Unfortunately Moore did not race in the 300m Hurdles later in the day, you hate to see an athlete with as much success as Moore has had over the years end her high school career like it went down yesterday. T.W. Andrews were flawless the rest of the day as Barnes won the 100m Hurdles and 100m Dash and took 3rd in the long jump. Peighton Simmons and Zacora McKnight took 1st and 2nd individually in the long jump while McKnight also took the 300m Hurdle crown. They also had Ciseley Brown come up with a big 3rd place finish in the 400 and won the 4x100 & 4x200 totaling 90 points to Cumming 77. Despite Moore's injury it looks like Cummings had an awesome day overall and will be back in years to come.
Women - NCHSAA 2A - Team Rankings - 18 Events Scored
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1) T.W. Andrews 90 2) Cummings, Hugh M. 77
3) Parkwood 49 4) Durham School of the Arts 41.50
5) Lake Norman Charter School 40 6) North Rowan 28
7) Croatan 26 8) Franklin 24
9) Southwest Onslow 23 10) North Brunswick 21
11) First Flight 19 11) Hertford County 19
13) Ayden-Grifton 15 13) Forbush 15
15) Smoky Mountain 13 15) Brevard 13
17) Polk County 12.50 18) Draughn 12
19) West Stokes 11 20) Lincolnton 10
20) Northside (2A) 10 20) Hendersonville 10
20) East Duplin 10 24) Newton-Conover 9
25) Forest Hills 8 25) Monroe 8
27) Surry Central 6 27) Franklinton 6
27) East Lincoln 6 27) Lexington 6
27) Kinston 6 32) Roanoke Rapids 5.50
33) NC School of Science & Mat 5 33) Wilkes Central 5
33) Mount Pleasant 5 33) Bandys 5
37) North Wilkes 4 37) West Stanly 4
39) Bunker Hill 3.50 40) North Lenoir 3
40) Pasquotank County 3 40) Reidsville 3
43) Currituck County 2 43) Carver 2
43) Charles D. Owen 2 46) North Johnston 1
46) Dixon 1 46) St. Pauls 1
2A Boys
Though North Brunswick lost Cameron Barnhill, who pulled up in the 100 prelims, their superstars in Jayhlen Washington and Jc Smith were able to lead them to a commanding NCHSAA 2A victory once again. Washington walked away with MVP honors once again this season (he did so indoors), and by winning the Long Jump, Triple Jump, 110 Hurdles and anchoring their winning 4x200! Washington his senior season with two more team titles and going 8/8 in winning states in relays or individual events this season. Forest Hills took a narrow one point victory over Brevard for second place 43 to 42. Forest Hills came up big getting the win in the 4x100 with contributed their one point victory in bringing home the second place team trophy. We saw much more from North Brunswick this indoor season, but even with Barnhill getting hurt and being somewhat shorthanded to their normal squad, they still won the team title by 26 points!
Men - NCHSAA 2A - Team Rankings - 23 Events Scored
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1) North Brunswick 69 2) Forest Hills 43
3) Brevard 42 4) Croatan 33
5) Carrboro 31 6) Shelby 29
7) Surry Central 24 8) Forbush 23
9) Bunker Hill 22 10) East Bladen 21
10) Reidsville 21 10) Parkwood 21
10) Kinston 21 10) Chase 21
15) T.W. Andrews 17 15) Farmville Central 17
17) Polk County 14 17) First Flight 14
17) Lincolnton 14 20) Hertford County 13
21) St. Pauls 12 22) Hendersonville 11
22) North Pitt 11 22) Smoky Mountain 11
22) Central Academy of Technol 11 26) Franklin 10
27) Durham School of the Arts 9 28) Randleman 8
28) Thomasville 8 28) Pasquotank County 8
28) Monroe 8 28) Beddingfield, E.T. 8
28) Madison 8 34) West Wilkes 7
34) North Johnston 7 36) Southwest Onslow 6
37) Northeastern 5.50 38) Carver 5
38) Lexington 5 38) NC School of Science & Ma 5
41) East Davidson 4.50 42) North Surry 4
42) Graham 4 42) Southwest Edgecombe 4
45) Bandys 3 45) North Wilkes 3
45) Mount Pleasant 3 48) Lake Norman Charter Schoo 2
48) Warren County 2 48) Jordan-Matthews 2
51) Hunter Huss 1 51) R-S Central 1
51) East Duplin 1 51) Draughn 1
51) Red Springs 1 51) Ashe County 1
51) North Rowan 1
4A Girls
Coming into the day I thought only three teams had a shot; High Point Central, Hillside, Southeast Raleigh, and those were the three teams in contention all day. All three teams came in projected to score a lot of points and were programs that are very Sprint, Relay and Throws heavy. Early in the meet Southeast Raleigh's Candice Whitley came up huge winning the girls Discus scoring a massive 10 points for her team. But later on in the shot put Hillsides Kayla Beasley came up big cancelling out those points with a state title and 10 points in the shot put. Meanwhile High Point's Tamara Clark was going to work in the 100, 200 and 4x100 where she took the gold medal in all three events. She posted a massive comeback over Mallard Creek in the 4x100. Jamila McKoy of Hillside came up big time in the 100m Dash placing 3rd overall. Based off projections based off this season she was not projected to be on the podium. Southeast Raleigh had Sierra Fletcher place 3rd and 2nd in the 100m Hurdles and 300m Hurdles respectively cashing in 14 points for her team. As the 800 girls were on the line it seemed like it was between Hillside and HPC. Jessica Wright of Hillside had just won the 300H and teammate Alysia Johnson took 2nd in the 400. But HPC teammates Ticoya Gidderon and Monzerad Creary went 1-2 in the 800 running NC#1 and NC#2 2:11.93 and 2:12.60! 18 team points for the Bison. Going into the 4x400 no team title was locked up and Hillside, HPC and Southeast Raleigh were the top 3 seeds. Hillside was up 4 on Southeast and Southeast was up 4 on HPC. But the would finish in that order with Hillside girls taking home the team title and Southeast taking an impressive 2nd without Kylia Wright and a 4x200.
Women - NCHSAA 4A - Team Rankings - 22 Events Scored
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1) Hillside 71 2) Southeast Raleigh 65
3) High Point Central 59 4) Mallard Creek 42.50
5) Rocky River High School 31 6) Panther Creek 30
7) Hoke County 25 8) T.C. Roberson 24
8) Wakefield 24 10) Reagan, Ronald W 21
10) Mount Tabor 21 12) Cardinal Gibbons 20
13) Southeast Guilford 19 14) Myers Park 17.50
15) West Forsyth 15.50 16) Green Hope 14
17) Providence 12 17) Rose, J.H. 12
17) Apex 12 20) Parkland 11
21) Cary 10 21) Laney 10
21) South View 10 21) Pine Forest 10
25) Berry, Phillip O. 9 25) North Mecklenburg 9
27) Pinecrest 8 27) Leesville Road 8
29) Page 7 30) Ardrey Kell 6
30) Riverside (4A) 6 30) Ragsdale 6
33) Fuquay-Varina 5 33) Heritage 5
33) East Wake 5 36) Broughton 4
36) Watauga 4 36) Smith, E.E. 4
36) Enloe 4 40) Hough, William A 3
40) West Mecklenburg 3 40) Overhills 3
40) Millbrook 3 40) Glenn 3
40) Lake Norman 3 40) Hoggard 3
47) East Chapel Hill 2.50 48) Sanderson 1
48) Independence 1 48) New Hanover 1
48) Southwest Guilford 1 48) Rolesville High School 1
4A Boys
West Forsyth came into these 4A State Championships with a shot, but it seemed to be an outside shot, to win the 4A Team Title. They needed Mallard Creek and Parkland to falter at some point in the day and their 3 throwers and high jumper Seth Clyburn had to be flawless. Austin Harrison is the top thrower in the NCHSAA 4A this year and did his job on Friday. Harrison claimed the shot put title in 57-3.75 with teammate Zach Weinstein in 7th at 49-3, then came back to win the Discus in 169-6 with teammate Nathan Myers taking 5th in 148-4 and Weinstein 8th. In the high jump it was a toss up between a handful of athletes, but as he did indoors Clyburn was a step above the field. Clyburn finally cleared 6-8 for the first time in his career allowing him to sweep both the indoor and outdoor high jump titles in 2017. The X-factor came from Eli Muckelvene in the 100 and also their 4x100 which exceeded expectations. Muckelvene clocked 11.00 to take 5th in the 100 while the 4x100 took 4th in 42.16. That is a ton of points the Titans weren't expected to get. West Forsyth tallied 46 points while Mallard Creek took 2nd with 42. Mallard Creek had their 100m star Brenton Ervin false start in the 100 prelims and that seemed to be the difference between 1st and 2nd on Friday. Also, an unexpected 3rd place finish was North Mecklenburg who had a huge day from two athletes in sophomore Chancellor Crawford in the throws taking 2nd in both, and Ishaq Smith coming up huge in the 200 with a surprise win out of lane 1 and coming up big on a few relays.
Full 4A Team Results
Men - NCHSAA 4A - Team Rankings - 26 Events Scored
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1) West Forsyth 46 2) Mallard Creek 42
3) North Mecklenburg 36 4) Parkland 35
5) Providence 34 6) Hoke County 31
7) Broughton 28 8) Cary 26
9) Hopewell 22 9) Rolesville High School 22
11) Mount Tabor 21 11) Cardinal Gibbons 21
13) Garner 20 13) Pinecrest 20
15) South Central 18 16) Wakefield 16
17) Green Hope 15 18) Millbrook 13
19) Lake Norman 12 19) Southeast Guilford 12
21) Page 11 21) Reagan, Ronald W 11
23) Athens Drive 10 23) Myers Park 10
25) Alexander Central 9 25) Grimsley 9
25) R.J. Reynolds 9 25) Apex 9
29) Apex Friendship 8 29) Northern Durham 8
29) Z.B. Vance 8 29) High Point Central 8
29) Panther Creek 8 29) South View 8
35) Laney 7 36) Northwest Guilford 6
36) East Forsyth 6 36) Porter Ridge 6
36) Dudley 6 36) Rocky River High School 6
41) Hoggard 5 41) Harding University 5
41) A.L. Brown 5 41) Hillside 5
45) Independence 4 45) Ragsdale 4
45) Richmond Senior 4 45) Harnett Central 4
49) Middle Creek 3 49) Swett, Purnell 3
49) Southeast Raleigh 3 49) Jordan 3
49) Jack Britt 3 54) Sanderson 2
54) Hough, William A 2 54) Cape Fear 2
54) Fuquay-Varina 2 54) Pine Forest 2
59) Mooresville 1 59) Ashley High School 1