Feb 12, 2012

NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A Championship

Stories of the Meet

Both team competitions were close throughout, and the team scores were not decided until the final event in both the girls and boys competition. Cummings' girls lived up to their seeding, controlling the hurdles and triple jump while running strong in the long sprints, all led by meet MVP Francesca Evans. They had to survive a moment of panic when their baton hit the track during the last exchange of the 4x400, but they did everything right and recovered to earn enough points to secure the title. North Buncombe's girls were not in the top two in the team scores until the final results were in; they rode second place in the 4x400 and a first-place vault by Sage Proffitt to leap into the runner up spot. Monroe made the most of their small number of talented athletes but fell just short of the podium. In the boys' team competition, they day turned out to be a battle of distance-powered programs. Cardinal Gibbons led off with a 4x800 win, with Marvin Ridge and Science & Math right behind them, and that set the tone for the final scores. None of the three teams had points in any event below 1000 on the track until the 4x4 came around, although all three had competitors in field events. Cardinal Gibbons' depth proved to be the deciding factor, overcoming the front-running of Science & Math and the field event superiority of Marvin Ridge. Despite a tremendous effort by meet MVP Isaiah Moore, Cummings was unable to break into the top three. It was a thrilling day filled with great performances, capped off by the drama of the close team competitions.

1A/2A/3A Girls Team Champions: Cummings

1A/2A/3A Boys Team Champions: Cardinal Gibbons

1A/2A/3A Girls Team Runners-Up: North Buncombe

1A/2A/3A Boys Team Runners-Up: Science & Math

Boys MVP: Isaiah Moore, Cummings

Girls MVP: Francesca Evans, Cummings

NCHSAA 4A Championship

Stories of the Meet

Tremendous individual performances were on display in both the girls' and boys' competition in the evening session. The big difference was that the boys' performances were spread out among several different teams, while the girls' performances were more concentrated. The outcome of the girls' team competition was never really in doubt, although second place did go down to the last event. On the other hand, there were as many as five boys teams with a legitimate chance at getting on the podium entereing the last four events that were scored (triple jump, high jump, 3200, and 4x4). How close was it? Well, Southeast Guilford and Knightdale ended up in a tie for the team title, with thrid-place Southeast Raleigh only 4 points behind them. Both of the co-champion boys teams were diverse: Southeast Guilford scored in the 300, 500, 1600, 55H, 4x400, long jump, and triple jump, while Knightdale earned points in the 55, 300, 500, 4x400, 4x800, high jump, and long jump. Speaking of diverse, the Wakefield girls scored in an amazing 9 of the 14 events, and just missed scoring in a tenth. Along the way, Alexis Perry of Jordan secured MVP honors with her efforts in the hurdles and jumps, while Reagan's Craig Engels earned the boys' MVP by winning two distance races and scoring in a third.