Union County boys, Swain County girls win NCHSAA 1-A track and field state titles

Albemarle’s Akala Garrett wins four events, sets four new state meet records

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA--The Swain County Maroon Devils earned their third consecutive NCHSAA 1A Women's Track and Field State Championship on Friday. Swain County racked up 100 points in the event, 17 points clear of Albemarle in second place. Mountain Island Charter took third place with 51 points, North Rowan placed fourth with 48 points and Robbinsville took fifth place with 42 points.

Albemarle senior Akala Garrett won and set new 1A state championship records in the 200 Meter Dash, 100 Meter Hurdles and 300 Meter Hurdles. Her 300 Meter Hurdles time of 40.26 blistered the old record of 44.55. She was also on the record-setting 4x400 Meter Relay team with Amari Baldwin, Abigail Clayton and Mary Grace Krol.

Swain County took first place in four events and saw a tremendous performance by sophomore Arizona Blankenship. Blankenship won the 1600 Meter and the 3200-meter races, and she won the 4x800 Meter Relay with teammates Amaya Hicks, Gracie Monteith and Annie Lewis. Blankenship also took second in the 800 Meter.

Swain County senior Amelia Rogers took first place in the pole vault with a height of 11-00.25, setting a new 1A state championship meet record in the process.

NCHSAA photo

Mountain Island Charter rode a strong performance in relays to their third-place finish. They won the 4x100 and 4x200 Meter Relays and took second in the 4x800 Meter Relay.

South Stokes' Jalee Brown set a new meet record in the 100 Meter Dash with a time of 11.86.

In the boys meet, Union Academy scored 3.5 points more than Swain County to take the school's first NCHSAA Track and Field State Championship on Friday. Carver came in third with 40 points, Mountain Heritage posted 39.5 points to just miss the top three and Pamlico County scored 26 points to round out the top five.

Union Academy sophomore Evan Pardue won both the 200 Meter and the 400 Meter Dashes to lead the Cardinals. He also took third in the 100 Meter. Senior Ezra Martin added a first-place finish in the long jump.

NCHSAA photo

The Maroon Devil team of Abhi Patel, Connor Lambert, Connor Brown and Kane Jones won the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 8:17.69, four seconds better than Christ the King's relay squad. Swain County also took first place in the Pole Vault as Matthew Gray set a new 1A championship meet record with a height of 16-06. Nse Uffort earned a second-place finish in the Discus with a distance of 162-07, which would have been good enough for a new meet record if not for Mountain Heritage's Jesse Shelton.

Shelton took the top spot in the discus with a distance of 177-11, crushing the old record of 159-06.

Carver's third third-place finish came on the strength of two first-place finishes in relays as they topped the podium in the 4x100 and 4x200.

Christ the King's Blake Nicholson set a new 1A championship meet record in the 3200 Meter Run with a time of 9:27.44.

Girls results

1A Girls 4x800 Meter Relay

1. Swain County: Amaya Hicks, Gracie Monteith, Arizona Blankenship, Annie Lewis - 9:45.27

2. Mountain Island Charter: Sullivan Strouse, Emma Suchenski, Mickayla Belus, Rylan Breath - 10:21.43

3. Christ the King: Nicole Alfers, Kelsey Keegan, CLaire Oglesby, Megan Buchsbaum - 10:26.10

1A Girls 100 Meter Hurdles

1. Akala Garrett, Albemarle - 13.52 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Natalie Patton, Mountain Island Charter - 15.41

3. Aniya Brown, North Rowan - 15.60

Previous record: Chandra Pulliam, Cummings - 14.17 (2001)

1A Girls 100 Meter Dash

1. Jalee Brown, South Stokes - 11.86 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Jaida McGrew, Mountain Island Charter - 12.14

3. Aniya Edwards, Elkin - 12.31

Previous record: Ja'Ciya Guthrie, Bessemer City - 12.08 (2019)

1A Girls 4x200 Meter Relay

1. Mountain Island Charter: Olivia Patterson, Harmoni Carter, Ajuliah Washington, Jaida McGrew - 1:45.03

2. Bradford Prep: Onyah Davis, Beautiful Peterson, Shaniya Shirley, Justene Brice - 1:47.03

3. Perquimans: Essence Bond, Crishya Sellers, Jaslyn Holley, Lailana Harris - 1:47.30

1A Girls 1600 Meter Run

1. Arizona Blankenship, Swain County - 5:01.10

2. Dvdaya Swimmer, Cherokee - 5:09.12

3. Elizabeth Lalor, Voyager Academy - 5:19.73

1A Girls 4x100 Meter Relay

1. Mountain Island Charter: Aniya Hawkins, Natalie Patton, Harmoni Carter, Jaida McGrew - 50.03

2. Perquimans: Essence Bond, Lailana Harris, Jaslyn Holley, Crishya Sellers - 50.27

3. Bradford Prep: Kaylen Harris, Beautiful Peterson, Shaniya Shirley, Justene Brice - 52.35

1A Girls 400 Meter Dash

1. Jalee Brown, South Stokes - 58.08

2. Aniya Edwards, Elkin - 58.64

3. Alissa Cheek, Rosman - 1:00.02

1A Girls 300 Meter Hurdles

1. Akala Garrett, Albemarle - 40.26 (1A State Meet Record; US No. 1)

2. Tai'lah Ward, North Rowan - 44.93

3. Amiliana Simmons, Warren County - 46.89

Previous record: Camille Wilkerson, Winston-Salem Prep - 44.55 (2009)

1A Girls 800 Meter Run

1. Dvdaya Swimmer, Cherokee - 2:19.71

2. Arizona Blankenship, Swain County - 2:22.27

3. Annie Lewis, Swain County - 2:22.81

1A Girls 200 Meter Dash

1. Akala Garrett, Albemarle - 24.25 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Jalee Brown, South Stokes - 25.50

3. Tai'lah Ward, North Rowan - 25.89

Previous record: Leroya Banks, Perquimans - 24.86 (2009)

1A Girls 3200 Meter Run

1. Arizona Blankenship, Swain County - 10:56.58 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Nicole Alfers, Christ the King - 11:17.98

3. Elizabeth Lalor, Voyager Academy - 11:43.58

Previous record: Erika Schneble, Hendersonville - 11:00.97 (2002)

1A Girls 4x400 Meter Relay

1. Albemarle: Amari Baldwin, Abigail Clayton, Akala Garrett, Mary Grace Krol - 3:57.16 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Elkin: Aniya Edwards, Maggie Tomlin, Sophie Welborn, Alyssa Davis - 4:17.31

3. Avery County: Carter Peterson, Brooke Sullivan, Kaydence Menifee, Renn Herdklotz - 4:17.67

Previous record: Community School of Davidson (Fesperman, Alexander, Perkins, Ellinton) - 4:04.26 (2015)

1A Girls High Jump

1. Zoie Shuler, Robbinsville - 5-4

2. Gracie Sutton, Swain County - 5-4

3. Lilly Adams, East Wilkes - 5-2

1A Girls Long Jump

1. Zoie Shuler, Robbinsville - 17-4

2. Phoebe Murphy, Alleghany - 16-5.50

3. Alex Rose, Mount Airy - 15-10.50

1A Girls Triple Jump

1. Zoie Shuler, Robbinsville - 37-2.25

2. Amari Baldwin, Albemarle - 35-2.50

3. Ella Matheson, Hayesville - 32-10.50

1A Girls Pole Vault

1. Amelia Rogers, Swain County - 11-0.25 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Abby Burleson, Avery County - 10-0

T3. Hannah Wingate, Swain County - 9-0

T3. Alden Thomas, Swain County - 9-0

Previous record: Tess Rogers, North Stokes - 11-0 (2011)

1A Girls Shot Put

1. Brittany Ellis, North Rowan - 36-8

2. Jasmine Brown, Albemarle - 35-9.75

3. Hakeema Barber, Pamlico County - 35-6.75

1A Girls Discus Throw

1. Brittany Ellis, North Rowan - 111-11

2. Jasmine Brown, Albemarle - 106-10

3. Alexis Smith, Cherokee - 104-4

Team Scores

1. Swain County - 100

2. Albemarle - 83

3. Mountain Island Charter - 51

4. North Rowan - 48

5. Robbinsville - 42

6. Avery County - 30

T7. Cherokee - 28

T7. South Stokes - 28

9. Bradford Prep - 24

10. Voyager Academy – 23

Boys results

1A Boys 4x800 Meter Relay

1. Swain County: Abhi Patel, Connor Lambert, Connor Brown, Kane Jones - 8:17.69

2. Christ the King: Blake Nicholson, Daniel Burger, Logan Ades, Joseph Locke - 8:21.30

3. South Davidson: Christopher Villegas, Landon Driggers, Jackson Wilde, Ethan Byerly - 8:25.00

1A Boys 110 Meter Hurdles

1. Brock Adams, Robbinsville - 15.11

2. Isaiah Jones, Tarboro - 15.23

3. Austin Jenkins, Swain County - 15.31

1A Boys 100 Meter Dash

1. Zy'mire Harper, Pamlico County - 10.80

2. Dre Davis, Albemarle - 10.91

3. Evan Pardue, Union Academy - 11.11

1A Boys 4x200 Meter Relay

1. Carver: Reashard Norwood, James Harris, Derrick Reid Jr, Chase Ivey - 1:31.95

2. Mountain Island Charter: Jonavon Fisher, JoTwan Patton, Reggie Daniel, Benjamin Patton - 1:32.78

3. Riverside-Martin: Anthony Killebrew, Shamir Basnight, Tyquan Bunch, Tykwaille Williams - 1:33.66

1A Boys 1600 Meter Run

1. Joshawa Huneycutt, South Stanly - 4:25.60

2. Jaylan Bark-McCoy, Cherokee - 4:29.62

3. Connor Brown, Swain County - 4:31.09

1A Boys 4x100 Meter Relay

1. Carver: Shannon Johnson II, Derrick Reid Jr, Chase Ivy, James Harris - 43.71

2. Corvian Community: Jordan Davis, Joshua Newkirk, Anthony Mullins, Marlon Martin - 43.97

3. Tarboro: Keivious Bridgers, Shamardra Clark, Caiden Everette, Isaiah Jones - 44.26

1A Boys 400 Meter Dash

1. Evan Pardue, Union Academy - 48.86

2. James Harris, Carver - 48.90

3. Zy'mire Harper, Pamlico County - 49.12

1A Boys 300 Meter Hurdles

1. Brock Adams, Robbinsville - 40.50

2. Reggie Daniel, Mountain Island Charter - 41.00

3. Derrick Reid Jr., Carver - 41.01

1A Boys 800 Meter Run

1. Ethan Byerly, South Davidson - 1:59.40

2. Cole Fiorillo, Corvian Community - 1:59.51

3. Connor Brown, Swain County - 2:00.78

1A Boys 200 Meter Dash

1. Evan Pardue, Union Academy - 21.84

2. Dre Davis, Albemarle - 21.95

3. James Harris, Carver - 22.00

1A Boys 3200 Meter Run

1. Blake Nicholson, Christ the King - 9:27.44 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Joshawa Huneycutt, South Stanly - 9:37.09

3. O'Malley Salinas, Andrews - 9:58.89

Previous record: Aaron Rovnak, Franklin Academy - 9:27.48 (2021)

1A Boys 4x400 Meter Relay

1. Thomas Jefferson: Owen Pierce, Parker Marshall, Tanner Richards, Ian Richards - 3:30.29

2. Avery County: Kaden Knight, Ryan Ingham, Bray Guest, Will Stanford - 3:30.80

3. Mountain Heritage: Colby Capps, Caleb Roy, Brandon Quinn, Dylan Dahlberg - 3:31.31

1A Boys High Jump

1. Barry Hairston, South Stokes - 6-6

2. Mason Rivera, Corvian Community - 6-4

T3. Adam Ledford, Mountain Heritage - 6-2

T3. Ezra Martin, Union Academy - 6-2

1A Boys Long Jump

1. Ezra Martin, Union Academy - 22-9.75

2. Zy'mire Harper, Pamlico County - 21-5.75

3. Tyquan Bunch, Riverside-Martin - 21-5.50

1A Boys Triple Jump

1. Ahkee Lyons, North Edgecombe - 44-7

2. Ezra Martin, Union Academy - 43-11

3. Zaccheaus Carmack, Washington County - 42-0

1A Boys Pole Vault

1. Matthew Gray, Swain County - 16-6 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Colby Capps, Mountain Heritage - 13-6

3. Connor Logue, Mountain Island Charter - 13-0

Previous record: Matthew Gray, Swain County - 15-2 (2022)

1A Boys Shot Put

1. Jesse Shelton, Mountain Heritage - 58-0.50

2. Mecca Carr-Bordeaux, Pender - 51-6.75

3. Taylor McClure, Hayesville - 51-2.50

1A Boys Discus Throw

1. Jesse Shelton, Mountain Heritage - 172-11 (1A State Meet Record)

2. Nse Uffort, Swain County - 165-7 (1A State Meet Record)

3. Deric Dandy, Mount Airy - 156-10

Previous record: Ahmad Garrison, Topsail - 159-6 (2007)

Team Scores

1. Union Academy - 63.50

2. Swain County - 60

3. Carver - 40

4. Mountain Heritage - 39.50

5. Pamlico County - 36

6. Mountain Island Charter - 35

7. Cherokee - 32

8. Corvian Community - 30

9. Robbinsville - 25

T10. Tarboro - 22

T10. Albemarle - 22