Phoenix, NC Leadership girls make top 5 in tightly contested 1A girls track state meet
Phoenix Academy won four events Thursday, including the final 4x400 relay, to finish fourth in an NCHSAA 1A girls state championship track meet that saw five teams within seven points of each other at the top.
The Phoenix's victory in the final event of the day at North Carolina A&T made them the area's top team finisher with 60.5 points, just a half-point ahead of fifth place NC Leadership, who was tied with eventual winner Thomas Jefferson Classical for the lead late at 56 points but finished with 60.
Both Phoenix and NC Leadership were going for their first state championship in girls track.
Thomas Jefferson Classical won with 67 points, followed by Robbinsville with 66 and Morganton North Carolina Science and Math with 65. CPLA was sixth with 44 points to finish third among area teams.
"Well, since we are seniors and this is our last meet besides nationals, we just wanted to come out and run hard and win, so we did," said Ava Batten while speaking next to fellow senior Callie You.
You won the 400 meters in 1:02.42, in addition to being on the winning 4x200 and 4x400 relays, which Batten was also a part of. Last weekend, they were a part of Phoenix's first-ever regional championship team.
"It's been really good," said You on her time with Phoenix. "We've been lucky because our school is quite small, so our team is really like our family. We treat everyone like siblings."
The NC Leadership girls had three event victories, with sophomore Medara Patron winning both the 200 meters and the 300-meter hurdles. Her personal-best 300-meter hurdles time of 44.15 broke her previous best of 45.39 by over a full second and ranked her 10th in the state for the season.
In boys competition, McMichael was the only area program to score in either the boys or girls 3A state meet, which also occurred at A&T on Thursday. NC Leadership was the highest-scoring boys program, placing seventh in the 1A meet with 34 points.
Here are the top area finishers and team points for area participants.
200: 8. Ian Carter, McMichael, 22.90
4x400 Relay: 5. McMichael, 3:40.94
4x800 Relay: 7. McMichael, 8:50.17
Team Points: 25. McMichael, 7
100: 3. Tarique Gayle, Phoenix, 11.12
200: 5. Tarique Gayle, 22.67
1600: 4. Maxwell Marion, NC Leadership, 4:33.95
3200: 2. Kostandinos Mellonas, NC Leadership, 9:58.43
4x100 Relay: 7. Phoenix, 45.74
4x200 Relay: 1. Phoenix, 1:33.37
4x400 Relay: 6. NC Leadership, 3:45.62
4x800 Relay: 2. NC Leadership, 8:26.81
110 hurdles: 4. Jackson Blackburn, NC Leadership, 16.69; 6. Sean Tonyon, CPLA, 17.69
Discus: 7. Ethan Munger, NC Leadership, 104-08
High Jump: 6. Jackson Blackburn, NC Leadership, 5-08
Long Jump: 4. Joshua Henderson, CPLA, 20-03.75
Triple Jump: 6. Joshua Henderson, CPLA, 39-06; 8. Willie Baker, CPLA, 38-03.50
Team Points: 7. NC Leadership, 34; T13. Phoenix, 22; 18. CPLA, 12
100: 1. Saniah Sapp, Phoenix, 12.31; 2. Kya Keels, NC Leadership, 12.90; 7. Cherish Alston, CPLA, 13.18
200: 1. Medara Patron, NC Leadership, 25.13; 3. Saniah Sapp, Phoenix, 26.20; 4. Kya Keels, NC Leadership, 26.42
400: 1. Callie You, Phoenix, 1:02.42; 4. Madison You, Phoenix, 1:03.95
4x100 Relay: 1. NC Leadership, 51.76; 3. Phoenix, 52.74; 8. CPLA, 54.16
4x200 Relay: 1. Phoenix, 1:48.98; 3. CPLA, 1:54.33; 5. NC Leadership, 1:56.32
4x400 Relay: 1. Phoenix, 4:25.10; 5. NC Leadership, 4:59.27; 8. CPLA, 5:03.46
4x800 Relay: 6. NC Leadership, 11:37.48; 8. Phoenix, 12:01.13
100 Hurdles: 8. Kamora Gladden, CPLA, 20.13
300 Hurdles: 1. Medara Patton, NC Leadership, 44.15; 8. Morgan Boratyn, NC Leadership, 55.82
Shot Put: 1. Melissa Massanet, CPLA, 38-07.75; 3. Nafi Kanoute, CPLA, 33-11.25
Discus: 1. Melissa Massanet, CPLA, 107-06; 6. Nafi Kanoute, CPLA, 91-11
High Jump: 4. Elly Morehead, NC Leadership, 4-10; 6. Allison Shi, Phoenix, 4-06
Triple Jump: 5. Taylor Bradshaw, CPLA, 30-04
Team Points: 4. Phoenix, 60.5; 5. NC Leadership, 60; 6. CPLA, 44
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