FAYETTEVILLE BYRD WINS MEN’S TITLE IN FINAL EVENT;
SOUTH CENTRAL TAKES WOMEN’S 3-A TRACK AND FIELD
GREENSBORO— It went down to the last event, and Fayetteville Douglas Byrd’s victory in the four by 400 men’s relay lifted the Eagles to a thrilling one-point decision and the team championship in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A track and field championships at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University on Friday.
Eight points out of first entering the final event, Byrd raced to victory in the relay in a winning time of 3:24.14, with the team of Donte’ Smith, Justice Boykin, Frank Quarles and Eric Winfrey earning a margin of two and a half seconds over Nash Central and 2.80 over Waxhaw Marvin Ridge, which was also in the hunt for the team title.
Byrd wound up with 42 team points to 41 for runner-up Burlington Williams, with Marvin Ridge third with 36 points. Kings Mountain and Chapel Hill tied for fourth with 32 points and Crest was sixth with 30. A total of 48 teams scored in the men’s meet.
Winfrey, who also took top honors in the 400 and was second in the 200, was named the meet’s Most Valuable Performer.
Harvey McSwain II of Crest won both the 100 and 200 meters.
In the women’s meet, Danielle Butts helped lead Winterville South Central to the team championship. She won both the triple jump and the high jump as well as running the lead leg on the winning four by 100 meter relay team as South Central tallied 51 team points. Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons was second with 45, with North Buncombe and Concord Cox Mill knotted at third with 42 points. Franklin was fifth with 35 points as 51 teams tallied.
Tori Elliot of Cox Mill was the women’s MVP as she won the long jump, finished second in both the 100 and 200 and ran a leg on the state runner-up four by 100 relay team.
Sarah Rapp led the way for Cardinal Gibbons, winning both the 1600 and 3200 while also running anchor on the victorious 3200 meter relay team.
Kayla Padgett of West Brunswick was a double winner, taking both the shot put and discus and setting a new state 3-A record in the shot, while Nyshedra Brown of West Craven captured top honors in the 100 and 200.
COMPLETE HTML RESULTS ARE POSTED UNDER THE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS LINK
