GREENSBORO – The second weekend of North Carolina High School Athletic Association track and field championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
The weekend of competition features 3-A championships for both men and women on Friday, and then on Saturday the 4-A championships will be held, all at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.
The 1-A and 2-A meets were held last weekend.
The Friday schedule will have field events starting at 3 p.m. and running events at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, action in the field events will begin at 10 am and running events will start at 11 am. It will be the 94th annual men’s championships and the 43rd annual renewal of the women’s event.
Berry Academy is the defending women’s 3-A champion, but moved up to 4-A in the new realignment. The 3-A regional champs last weekend included Asheville A.C. Reynolds, Waxhaw Marvin Ridge, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons and West Carteret.
One of the West Carteret leaders is Blake Dodge, who is the NCHSAA Female Athlete of the Year and won both the 800 and 1600 at the regional. Dodge has won 14 different individual state championships during her career, including indoor and outdoor track and relays, and is the three-time Most Valuable Performer in the state 3-A championships.
She is the current NCHSAA state 3-A record holder in both the 800 and the 1600 meter runs and ran a leg on the record-setting four by 800 meter relay team at West Carteret in last year’s championships.
Northern Guilford is the defending 3-A champion in the men’s competition, although the Knighthawks finished third in their regional meet. Regional champions last weekend included Asheville, Marvin Ridge, Fayetteville Terry Sanford and Jacksonville.
In the 4-A classification for women, Southeast Raleigh won last year’s state team title and was the top team in the Mideast Regional last weekend. Other regional champions included Asheville T.C. Roberson, Winston-Salem Parkland and Hope Mills South View. Berry Academy, now at 4-A, is still a threat as it finished second to Roberson in the West Regional.
On the men’s 4-A side, Knightdale will be looking for its fourth consecutive state team title, although the Knights were second to a strong Apex team in the Mideast Regional.
Knightdale is led by NCHSAA Male Athlete of the Year Marquavious Johnson. Johnson is a four-sport athlete who has been a part of seven state championship track teams, indoor and outdoor, and won the individual 400 meters crown outdoors last spring while also participating on the relay team that set a new four by 400 state record.
Other 4-A men’s regional champs last weekend included Hoke, Winston-Salem Mount Tabor and Charlotte Mallard Creek.
Admission to the championships each day is eight dollars.
The Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greensboro Sports Commission are serving as the host city sponsors for the event.
NCHSAA FastFacts
Event: NCHSAA Track and Field Championships, 3-A and 4-A classifications
Date: May 16-17, 2014, with 3-A men and women on May 16 and 4-A men and women on May 17
Site: Irwin Belk Track, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro
First Held: 1913 for men, 1972 for women
Qualifiers: The top four finishers in each event, including relays, qualified from the regional level to the state championship meet
Defending champions: women: 3-A, Berry Academy; 4-A, Southeast Raleigh; men: 3-A,Northern Guilford; 4-A,Knightdale.
Of Interest: The NCHSAA overall men’s track state record which has lasted the longest is the 400 meters, with the record established back in 1983 by Delton Hall of Greensboro Grimsley in 46.41 seconds.
Host City Sponsors: Greensboro Sports Commission, Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau
