Full Meet Results: PDF | AP Text
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Cuthbertson Cavaliers swept the men’s and women’s team titles for the second straight year. The Women blasted past Olympic on the strength of their distance events while the men scrapped past Western Guilford with a balanced effort.
Cuthbertson women dominated the distance events grabbing a total of 24 team points in the 1000 Meters, 23 in the 1600 Meters and another 13 combining efforts in the 3200 Meter Run and 3200 Meter Relay. The Cavalier pacers were led by Charlotte Bell who set a new all classification State Meet Record in the 1600 Meters, crossing in 4:45.19. She clipped the old mark of 4:53.08 set by Lake Norman’s Maddie Huecker in last year’s meet. Justine Preisano also picked up an individual win in the 1000 Meters for Cuthbertson, finishing the distance in 2:54.73.
Mary Bonner Dalton blazed to a new all class State Meet Record in the 3200 Meters as she broke the line at 10:26.49. Her victory took down the previous mark of 10:31.57 set by Ragsdale’s Sara Platek in 2017. The other all class State Meet Record to fall on the women’s side was the 3200 Meter Relay. Mount Tabor’s quartet of Bronwyn Parks, Hannah Riley, Eeliza Brand, and Katie McFerrin cut more than five seconds off the 2022 Cuthbertson record of 9:24.12. The Spartan racers combined for an impression 9:18.98 total.
The Most Outstanding Performer for the women’s meet went to Marvin Ridge’s Aria Wegh. Wegh won the 55 Meter Hurdles with a time of 7.86 seconds. She also finished second in three other events, clearing 5’ 4” in the High Jump, racing to a time of 6.98 seconds in the 55 Meter Dash, and completing the 300 Meters in just 39.22 seconds.
The Cuthbertson men did not win a single individual event until the last event of the night, the 1600 Meter Relay, but managed to outscore Western Guilford 51-43 to win another 4A State Championship. The Cavalier relay of Reece Morgan, Keenan Jackson, Amari Burrow, and Kllian Fahy outdueled the foursome from Reagan, crossing in 3:26.96 to bring home gold in the final event of the night.
Parkland’s Antwan Hughes Jr. took down the oldest Indoor Record in the book, winning the 55 Meter Dash in 6.19 seconds. Hughes lightning-fast sprint nipped the 1996 record of 6.21 seconds set by Grimsley’s Chris Justice. Hughes also ran the leadoff leg for Parkland’s victorious 800 Meter Relay team. He combined with Kobe Mack, Micah Walker, and Justin Powell on a winning time of 1:29.51.
Jordan’s Jordan Polk was one of two athletes to win a pair of individual events, bringing home gold medals in the 500 Meters and 300 Meters. Polk scampered to victory in 1:04.25 in the 500 and 34.94 seconds in the 300 Meters. Polk was selected as the men’s meet Most Outstanding Performer.
Another notable performance was the 3200 Meter victory by Porter Ridge runner, Jacob Laney, who crossed in 9:11.19 to set a new 4A State Meet Record in the event, trimming the 9:14.71 time of Watauga’s Ricky Brookshire in the 2000 State Meet. Laney also won the 1600 Meters, pacing the distance in 4:11.21.
The NCHSAA is committed to promoting good sportsmanship at all athletic events and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to present the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards to two athletes from each NCHSAA Championship Event. The 4AA Women’s Sportsmanship Award Winners were Rebecca Cornett from Cuthbertson and T’Sheylah Moore from Olympic. The Sportsmanship Award Winners on the Men’s side were Gatlin Lundy from Cuthbertson and Jordan Good from Western Guilford.
