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WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 4A Indoor Track & Field State Championships went to Cuthbertson, as both the men’s and women’s teams powered their way to team titles. The Cuthbertson women claimed their fifth consecutive Indoor Track & Field Championship while the men earned the Cavaliers’ first Indoor title in school history.
The Cuthbertson women dominated the field, outscoring second place Marvin Ridge 91-40 in the team competition on the way to their fifth straight state Indoor title. The Cavalier women only won a pair of events but were prominent on the podium in team victory. Stella Kermes was the lone individual title winner for Cuthbertson rolling to individual gold in the 1000 Meter Run with a time of 2:54.76.
The Cavalier 3200 Meter Relay set a new all-Classification State Meet Record by clipping the tape in 9:24.12, nearly 13 seconds faster than the second-place quartet from Mount Tabor. The Cavalier’s time replaces the record set in 2015 of 9:25.42 by Leesville Road’s team of Taylor Hemming, Nevada Mareno, Sydney Winchel, and Jasmine Butler.
The 4A Women’s Most Outstanding Performer was Akala Garrett from Harding University High. She won the 55 Meter Hurdles in 7.88 seconds and brought home the victory in the 500 Meter Run in 1:14.37. She also finished second in the 300 Meter Dash, clipping the line in 39.94 seconds just behind Wakefield’s Shawnti Jackson who won the event in 38.30 seconds.
Jackson won a pair of events, including her win in the 300 Meters, earning the victory in the 55 Meter Dash in 6.76 and setting a new all-Classification meet record replacing the 2007 mark of 6.87 seconds set by Southeast Raleigh’s Gabby Mayo in 2007. The other all-Classification record to fall in the 4A meet was the 1600 Meter Run which Maddie Huecker from Lake Norman knocked down by crossing in 4:53.08. Huecker led a pack of six racers who all eclipsed the old State Meet Record of 4:57.77 set by Nevada Mareno of Leesville Road in 2015.
The Men’s team title was a much closer competition as Cuthbertson edged Porter Ridge 45-44 with third place Weddington nipping on their cross-county rival’s heels at 42 points. Cavalier relays helped lift the team to the men’s program’s first Indoor State Championship, earning victories in the 800 Meter Relay and the 1600 Meter Relay. The Cavalier 800 Meter Relay team posted a mark of 1:31.75 while the 1600 Meter quartet raced to a 3:28.05 mark.
Jacob Laney helped lift Porter Ridge to the runner up finish, earning 20 points in his events by winning the 1600 Meter and 3200 Meter Runs. Laney clipped the tape in 4:15.33 to win his heat in the 1600 Meters and cruised to a winning time of 9:20.96 in the 3200 Meter race. Mount Tabor’s Terrell Robinson, Jr. also won a pair of events. The Spartan sprinter flew to a 6.24 second win in the 55 Meter Dash before a 35.25 second triumph in the 300 Meter Dash.
Only one all-Classification State Meet Record went down in the competition. Cleveland’s Kyziah Stone exceeded the record in the High Jump when he cleared 7’ 1”. His jump bested the old record of 7’ 0” set by Broughton’s Jesse Williams in 2002.
The NCHSAA is committed to promoting and recognizing outstanding sportsmanship and the Association has partnered with NC Farm Bureau to recognize two athletes in each NCHSAA State Championship who have demonstrated the ideals of sportsmanship throughout the season with the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards. The Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2022 4A Women’s State Championship were Ava Studney from Cuthbertson and Aria Wegh from Marvin Ridge. The Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2022 4A Men’s State Championship were Brad Sweeter from Cuthbertson and Jacob Laney from Porter Ridge.
