Watch Cuthbertson win the NCHSAA 4A Indoor 4x800m State Championship.
It's been a historic season for the Lady Cavaliers of Cuthbertson, and the team of Stella Kermes, Charlotte Bell, Justine Preisano, and Alyssa Preisano capped it off Friday night at Nike Indoor Nationals with a national championship and state record in the 4x800m running 8:59.85! They are the first team in North Carolina history to go under 9:00, indoors or outdoors! Their mark also puts them US T-No. 14 all-time and US No. 2 this season.
The NCHSAA 4A Indoor state champions held a season best entering the day of 9:14.44 from MONDO Elite, which was NC No. 2 at the time. They had just clocked a NC No. 2 outdoors all-time 9:06 in the 4x800m at their outdoor opener last week, proving they were more than ready to roll.
At Nike they were up front by themselves racing the clock for the majority of the race. Kermes led off with a 2:14.96 and handed off to Justine Preisano with a sizable lead. It's tough to run solo like Preisano did, but she powered through and clocked a strong 2:16.67 on the 2nd leg before handing off to Bell. Preisano had gapped the field, so Bell was once again racing the clock. Bell ran a killer 3rd leg and handed off to their anchor Alyssa Preisano after running 2:14.69. Preisano took off around the first curve and it became clear at that point that the state record of 9:03 was going down, it just became a battle of sub-9:00. She clocked the fastest leg in the entire race, 2:13.51, and led Cavaliers to a state record time of 8:59.85.
They will be back in action this weekend at New Balance competing in the 4xMile Relay and the individual mile run. The quartet all sit within the top 16 all-time for North Carolina in the indoor mile and look to improve on their personal bests!
Cuthbertson ran as the Carolina Cavaliers Track Club
Watch Cuthbertson win the NCHSAA 4A Indoor 4x800m State Championship.
It's been a historic season for the Lady Cavaliers of Cuthbertson, and the team of Stella Kermes, Charlotte Bell, Justine Preisano, and Alyssa Preisano capped it off Friday night at Nike Indoor Nationals with a national championship and state record in the 4x800m running 8:59.85! They are the first team in North Carolina history to go under 9:00, indoors or outdoors! Their mark also puts them US T-No. 14 all-time and US No. 2 this season.