Coach Jackson talks Dudley boys and girls program after NCHSAA 3A State Championships
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The Dudley Panthers came into the NCHSAA 3A Indoor State Championships as big favorites to win team titles on both the boys and the girls side. They were able to win both sides by wide margins scoring 90 points on the girls side to an impressive 57 from North Lincoln and 82 points on the boys side where Croatan took 2nd with 57.5 points.
Both the boys and the girls teams would be tested early and need to rely on their depth. Nilijah Darden was 2nd in the 55m Dash Prelims and would false start in the Finals and Adeniyi Adegorioye was the top seed in the 55m Dash Finals and pulled up to cross in 8th place. The boys would soon after have to turn to two alternates for the 4x200m relay that was just after the 55m Finals and would still run 1:32.94 for 2nd place with few minutes of notice.
Jalee Brown was the star for the program on the girls side winning the 55m Dash in a seasons best of 7.00 as well as the 300m Dash where she'd run 38.62 to win in a seasons best. Darden would also finish in 4th in the 300m Dash as well as Bridgette Dow who placed 8th in 40.37 and 41.29 respectively.
Madison Crowder would finish as runner-up in the 55m Hurdles running a seasons best of 8.25 with Jordan Johnson and Aaliyah Raleigh running seasons best for 4th and 6th place in 8.41 and 8.43. Johnson would also finish 3rd in the Triple Jump and 7th in the Long Jump with marks of 36-4 and 18-1.5. Serenitie Johnson was fourth in the Triple Jump just behind Jordan with a jump of 36-1.
The Panthers would also sweep the 4x200m and 4x400m relay titles running 1:40.33 and 4:01.82 respectively.
On the boys side Le'Ezra Brown and Tayman Howell would set the tone for the Panthers early running 7.29 and 7.31 in the 55m Hurdle Finals to score 18 points with a 1-2 finish. Brown would double back moments later with a runner-up finish in the 55m Dash finals at 6.42. Howell would come back in the 500m to run 1:06.25 for a third place finish just behind teammate Derrick Hicks who ran 1:05.14. Howell would also place 2nd in the 300m Dash running 35.48.
Darion Coleman would score in the 55m Hurdles and the Long Jump with a 7th and 4th place finish running 7.79 in the Finals and Jumping 21-4.75.
The Panthers would round out the event with a 4x400m win running 3:29.45.