NCHSAA 4A State Championship Results
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East Mecklenburg senior Kyle Goodman might have been relatively unknown by some prior to Saturday afternoon. He'd had a promising senior year leading up to the state meet including a NCHSAA 4A Runner-Up finish in the indoor 500m running 1:06.47.
Goodman had been undefeated in the 800m so far this season and was coming off a PR of 1:55.36 at the regional meet. He'd also run 48.64 in the 400m proving he had solid wheels in the shorter distance.
Looking back to Goodman's freshman year he yielded PRs of 2:25.65, 4:58.96 and 11:24.84. As a sophomore he had gotten his times down to 2:03.85 and 4:46.56. Solid, but not future state champion like by any means.
Goodman's first event would be the 4x800m relay with his East Mecklenburg team that had run 8:06.31 at the Regional Meet finishing as Runners-Up to Myers Park out of the West.
Lee Campbell would get East Mecklenburg out in good position with a 2:01.49 on the opening leg. Goodman would run on the second leg and bring the Eagles up into the lead with a massive 1:51.52 split.
They'd be in a two team battle with Cary who would pull away for the win in 7:52.90, but East Meck would hold on for 2nd in 7:57.34. Demetrius Martin and Emmanuel Stewart would hold off the rest of the field over the final two legs.
Goodman would later in the day contend for the 800m. He'd have to battle with 1:51 runner Will Atkins (West Forsyth) who wasn't pushed nearly as hard in the 4x800m relay. Goodman had run a 4 second PR and would need to throw down a similar performance hours later into the meet.
Goodman would get out hard as would Atkins, but Goodman would beat him to the break and take the lead. Atkins would sit right on his shoulder.
Goodman would take the pace out in 55.7 with Atkins, and Thomas Vo (Green Hope) holding onto him. With 600m to go Goodman and Atkins would pull ahead of Vo.
Atkins would not let him pull away and swung wide going on the homestretch. But as Atkins swung wide to attempt a pass Goodman, he'd put things into another gear only gaining on him through the line.
Goodman would claim the NCHSAA 4A 800m title in 1:51.97, good for NC No. 3 this season and US No. 15.
Though it was a super exciting moment, Goodman had to refocus for East Mecklenburg's 4x400m relay later in the day.
Goodman would get the baton in 5th place. He had told his teammates prior to the event that if they could keep him within 20 meters of the lead he would bring it home. He did just that.
Goodman would fly from 5th to 1st over the first 200 meters and no one would be able to get past him as he held off Olympic and Hoke County with a 47.70 anchor split.
The 4x400m win was enough to bring East Mecklenburg up to a tie for 2nd place in the 4A State Championships along with West Forsyth at 34 points.
Back in 1999 Irving Hunter (West Charlotte) would edge teammate Darrell Colbeert for the NCHSAA 4A State Championship in 1:57.41. 20 years later now Coach Hunter would see his athlete Kyle Goodman win the 800m state title just as he had previously done.
| BOYS 800 METER RUN FINALS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | WIND | H# | |||
| 1 | Irving Hunter | West Charlotte | 1:57.41 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Darrell Colbeert | West Charlotte | 1:58.05 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | Sean Williams | 12 | Northern Nash | 1:58.09 | 1 | |||
| 4 | Dale Slaughter | Smith, E.E. | 1:58.30 | 1 | ||||
| 5 | Scott Hayes | 12 | Apex | 1:58.59 | 1 | |||
| 6 | Brian Greer | 11 | Watauga | 1:59.05 | 1 | |||
| 7 | Edmund Kelly | 11 | Pinecrest | 1:59.37 | 1 | |||
| 8 | Dennis Wiener | North Forsyth | 1:59.57 | 1 | ||||
Goodman's runs of 1:51.5, 1:51.9 and 47.7 in one meet on a single day is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen at the state championships. It's incredibly difficult to perform to that level in three different events.
Goodman is committed to the University of Alabama where he'll continue his track career.