National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Team Champions: Mt. Tabor boys, Parkland girls

• BOYS: With distance runner Ian Milder winning the 1,600 and 3,200 and anchoring a winning 4x800 and 2nd-place 4x400, Mt. Tabor came from behind in the last event to win with 63 points – their first state title since 2002.  Apex, with 20 points in the pole vault and others from numerous other places, was 2nd with 57, followed by Mallard Creek with 45 (Quashawn Cunningham 100/200 double, 4x1 win) and Southeast Raleigh with 32 (Jamaree Murray 400 and 4x4 wins).
• GIRLS: Parkland swept the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays, and got a 100/200 double from Katlin Sherman to dominate the meet, defend their 2013 crown and win with 89 points – and a whopping 38-point margin.  In turn, the battle for 2nd was very close as Wakefield tallied 51 – scoring high in relays and fueled by Ama-Selina Tchume and Breanne Bygrave – followed by T.C. Roberson 48, Cary 47 and Apex and Southeast Raleigh each with 46.

Most Valuable Performers: Ian Milder and Katlin Sherman

• 4:15.63 1,600m run, 9:08.99 3,200m boys’ distance double for Ian Milder (Mt. Tabor senior), who also started the day with a 1:50.29 anchor of his team’s winning 4x800 (7:48.33) and finished it with a 50.20 anchor of Mt. Tabor’s runner-up 4x400 – winning the meet.  In the 1,600, Milder finished in 59.45 to win by more than two seconds over Mihret Coulter (Apex senior) at 4:18.37.  In the 3,200, his final 400 was an even faster 58.44, surpassing in the final stretch William Roberson (Broughton senior) – whose own 1:00.66 finish yielded a 9:10.96.
• 11.88(+0.6w) 100m dash, 24.05w(+3.6) 200m girls’ sprint double for Katlin Sherman (Parkland).  She also ran a leg on the winning 4x200 (1:36.99) and anchored the winning 4x100 (46.99).  In the 100, Sherman overtook Sydnei Murphy (Apex junior), 2nd in 11.97, in the final meters.  In the 200, she won by a third of a second over 400 champ Layla White (Cary junior) at 24.39w.  Ama-Selina Tchume (Wakefield senior) was 3rd in both dashes at 12.06 and 24.40w.

State records

• 46.99 state 4A record 4x100m, US#5 state all-class record 1:36.99 4x200m, 3:47.88 4x400m relay triple by team champion Parkland.  They were particularly impressive in the early 4x2 with the team of 100/200 champ Katlin Sherman, Ebony Williams, Miaysha Bryant and Erin Morrison.  Dudley was 2nd at 1:41.63 and Wakefield 3rd from the 1st section at 1:42.04 – with three 2nd section teams not finishing or DQ.  The 4x1 followed, with Ila Mumford, Myshale Spigner, Miaysha Bryant and Sherman combining for the decisive win (just .05 off state record), followed by Wakefield 47.45 and SE Raleigh 47.88.  Finally in the 4x4 (just .16 off state record), it was Spigner, Morrison, McNeill and Williams winning by nearly seven seconds over Cary 3:54.72 and Sanderson 3:54.82.
• 13.52w(+3.4) state all-class record 100m hurdles, 44.67 300mH girls’ double by Jacklyn Howell (SE Raleigh senior).  She finished ahead of Ebony Williams (Parkland junior) at 13.76w, Breanne Bygrave (Wakefield soph) 14.02w and Gabrielle Cunningham (Mallard Creek junior) at 14.12w in the high-caliber 100H.  Second place in the 300H was Amaka Awurunonye (Olympic junior), while strong contender and 100H runner-up Ebony Williams suffered a fall and finished 8th in the fast section.
• 159-1 state all-class record girls’ discus throw by Bryanna Hames (Myers Park senior), just off her US#7 159-5 PR, and winning by nearly 30 feet over Alycia Springs (Mallard Creek soph) at 129-10.  Hames was also 5th in the shot put.

More outstanding doubles

• 10.61(-2.2w) 100m dash, 21.53 200m boys’ sprint double by Quashawn Cunningham (Mallard Creek senior).  He also anchored Mallard Creek’s winning 4x100 (41.48).  In the 100, Cunningham won by a solid .16 as Nyheim Hines (Garner junior) was 2nd at 10.77.  He also ran 10.56w(+2.2) in the prelims.  In the 200, Cunningham again had room to spare with a .25 victory over 400 champ Jamaree Murray (SE Raleigh senior) at 21.78.  Riding a 3.6 tailwind in the first 200 section, Jalen Tyson (Scotland senior) rose above his seed for 3rd overall at 21.89.
• 19-5.25(+1.7w) long jump, 39-7.5(-1.1w) triple jump girls’ double by Sydnei Murphy (Apex junior) – who was also 2nd in the 100 and 5th in the 200.  She won by more than a foot in both the LJ and TJ, with Ila Mumford (Parkland junior) runner-up in the former at 18-4(+1.5w) and 3rd in the latter at 37-11(-1.8w).  Second place in the TJ was K’Lynn Beal (Broughton junior) at 38-5.5(+0.0w).

More great performances

• 1:26.14 boys’ 4x200m relay for the Butler squad of Anthony Ratliff, Gerald Clark Jr., Christopher Hancock and Chuka Soronadi.  In a great battle, they just nipped Richmond Senior, which ran 1:26.17.  Those are the nation’s 2nd- and 3rd-fastest schools outside of Texas.  Back in 3rd was South Central at 1:27.69.  Mallard Creek, which would later win the 4x1, was DQ’d on an exchange outside the zone and Broughton did not finish.
• 3:16.12 boys’ 4x400m relay for the Southeast Raleigh team of Jayon Woodard, David Conner, Jayquan Williams and Jamaree Murray (47.39 anchor).  They just held off state-leading Knightdale at 3:16.43, which got a 46.67 anchor from Marquavious Johnson.  But Knightdale was then DQ’d for unsportsmanlike conduct and Mt. Tabor – which had finished 3rd off four strong legs anchored by Ian Milder – was moved up to 2nd with their 3:19.36.
• 9:09.58 state leading girls’ 4x800m relay by the Cary team of Julia Brown, Lakeisha Warner, Cayla Rodney and 400 champ Layla White (2:14.62 anchor).  They overtook Green Hope (3rd, 9:15.73) on the final leg, with T.C. Roberson rallying late for 2nd at 9:14.42 with strong 3-4 legs by Lauren Moody and Casey Greenwalt.
• 7:48.33 state leading boys’ 4x800m relay for the Mt. Tabor team of Kenny Kneisel, Brad Walker, Phillip Jolly and Ian Milder (1:50.29 anchor).  They came from behind on that final leg to top Green Hope at 7:50.00.  Well back in 3rd was Lake Norman at 7:57.16.
• 37.38 state leading boys’ 300m hurdles by Xavier Brown (South View senior), followed by Nyheim Hines (Garner junior) at 37.71 and Seth Pierce (Southeast Guilford senior) at 38.10.
• 14.06(+0.5w) boys’ 110m hurdles by Marcus Krah (Hillside soph), winning a good 3-way battle with Emmanuel Jackson (Sanderson junior) at 14.15 and Drew Barker (T.C. Roberson senior) at 14.22.
• 41.48 state leading boys’ 4x100m relay for the Mallard Creek team of Kyle Horton, Cravont Charleston, Vernon Grier and 100/200 champ Quashawn Cunningham.  Also under 42 were 4x200 top finishers Butler at 41.86 and Richmond Senior at 41.95.
• 55.41 girls’ 400m dash by Layla White (Cary junior), with Parkland taking the next two spots with junior Erin Morrison at 56.06 and soph McKinley McNeill at 56.32.
• 47.77 boys’ 400m dash by Jamaree Murray (SE Raleigh senior), outrunning Marquavious Johnson (Knightdale senior) at 48.12.  Victory Jones III (Cape Fear senior) was 3rd at 49.12.  Murray was also 2nd in the 200 and anchored SE Raleigh’s winning 4x400 (3:16.12) with a 47.38.
• 1:52.89 boys’ 800m run by Dakota Schaub (Pine Forest senior), nipping Ryan Hastings (Porter Ridge senior) at 1:53.03, with the rest of the field more than three seconds back.
• 2:12.84 state leading girls’ 800m run by Lauren Moody (T.C. Roberson senior), edging Lakeisha Warner (Cary junior) at 2:13.16.  It was a 4-second PR for Moody, who never ran track before this year.
• 4:57.20 girls’ 1,600m run by Blair Ramsey (Grimsley soph), taking the lead on the 3rd lap and winning by more than two seconds over Elly Henes (Green Hope soph) at 4:59.56.
• 10:47.74 girls’ 3,200m run by Kayla Montgomery (Mt. Tabor senior), holding off Bianca Bishop (Providence senior) at 10:50.25.
• 23-4.5(+0.8w) boys’ long jump for Jeremy Davis (Ben Smith junior), leaping two inches further than Kory Jones (Hoke County senior) at 23-2.5(-1.2w).
• 12-6 state leading girls’ pole vault by Anna Eaton (Apex junior), winning by a foot over Alison Seramur (Watauga senior).
• 44-11 girls’ shot put by Alycia Springs (Mallard Creek soph), winning by six inches over Mohogany Baker (Phillip Berry senior) at 44-5.  Khayla Dawson (Olympic senior) was 3rd with 43-4.5.  Springs was also 2nd in the discus.
• 15-6 boys’ pole vault for Drew Pedersen (Apex junior), who then missed thrice while attempting a 4A state record 16-1.  He led a 1-3-4 finish for Apex, as senior Joe DeVries at 14-6 and junior Michael Utecht also at 14-6 followed after runner-up Luke Ward (Mt. Tabor senior) at 15-0.

More champions

Boys

• HJ: Lamar Nobles (Holly Spring senior) scaled 6-6 to finish ahead of six others who cleared 6-4 (with various number of misses).
• TJ: Reyho Tshiama (Apex senior) bounded 46-5(-1.5w), with Darryl Shaw (Jack Britt junior) next at 46-1.5(-0.9w).
• SP: Elijah Mallory (Wakefield senior) threw 56-0.75 to finish more than a foot ahead of Ryan Davis (Pine Forest junior) at 54-8.
• DT: Ryan Davis (Pine Forest junior) hit 161-5 for the win, with Kevin Alanis (Alexander Central junior) prevailing in a 3-way battle for 2nd at 157-10.

Girls

• HJ: Jordyn Brown (Jordan junior), Sydney Blue (Ardrey Kell junior) and Jocelyn Culbreath (Reagan senior) all cleared 5-4, with Brown winning on misses.