WINTER TRACK SEASON ENDS OUTDOORSTrack fans were treated to an odd sight Saturday in Fayetteville — indoor events taking place in the cold outdoors.
For 24 years the indoor track and field season had culminated in an indoor track championship meet on UNC's campus. But the Eddie Smith Field House, the only indoor facility in the state, was under construction and unavailable this season.
Options included moving the event out-of-state, or canceling the state meet entirely. Eventually the NCSHAA decided to have the meet outdoors and call it a "winter track championship."
Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh) senior Sarah Rapp swept the distance events in the 1A/2A/3A girls meet, earning gold medals in the 1,000, 1,600 and 3,200-meter events, and scoring 30 of Gibbons' 36 points. That was enough to edge runner-up Marvin Ridge, which scored 34 points.
"I'm just glad they had this meet," Rapp told the Raleigh News & Observer. "I wouldn't have wanted to miss a meet because we didn't have the indoor meet in my senior year."
The boys 1A/2A/3A winner was defending champion
Asheville.
Wakefield (Raleigh) dominated the 4A girls meet, but
Knightdale bested Wakefield 62-44 to win the 4A boys meet.
WRESTLING DYNASTY AT PARKLANDThere were some familiar winners Saturday in the wrestling dual team championships.
4A
Parkland (Winston-Salem) capped off an undefeated 41-0 season with its fifth straight state title, while 2A
Croatan (Newport) and 1A
West Wilkes (Millers Creek) also defending their titles from last year.
The exception was in 3A, where
Orange (Hillsborough) defeated Robinson (Concord) 34-27 to reverse the result of last year's final match.
Parkland won its first eight matches in a 52-12 defeat of New Bern, and coach Maurice Atwood doesn't expect the team to slow down any time soon.
"If my guys do what they have to do, as we have the last five or six years in the offseason, it will be very difficult to beat Parkland the next three years," Atwood told the Winston-Salem Journal. "Anything is possible, but I am loaded with underclassmen and my freshman class ended up being the best I ever had."
CHAMPIONS CROWNED IN THE POOL Kip Darmody of
Providence (Charlotte) was the star of the boys 4A swimming and diving state meet, winning four titles and being a part of two 4A state records as his team won the championship.
The records came in the 100 backstroke (48.84 seconds) and 200 freestyle relay (1:25.01), and he also won the 200 free and swam the lead leg on the 400 relay. He will swim for Texas next year.
Ollie Clayton-Lucas of
Sanderson (Raleigh) broke a 21-year 4A record in the 50 free (20.53) and also won the 100 free.
Apex won the 4A girls crown behind Jessica Godlewski and Hayley Tomlinson, who both won one individual and two relay events.
Some familiar faces stayed on top in 3A —
Charlotte Catholic (Charlotte) won its 10th straight girls title, while
Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh) won its fourth consecutive boys title.
Tuscola (Waynesville) sophomore Katy Stringfield broke 16-year-old meet records in the 200 free (1:50.45) and 500 free, while Bobby Bittner of
West Carteret (Morehead City) was the most outstanding boys swimmer after winning the 100 fly and 100 back.
In 1A/2A,
Carrboro (Chapel Hill) dominated the boys meet, totaling 358.5 points to win by 177.5.
Raleigh Charter edged out the competition in the girls meet, posting 227 points to edge Lake Norman (216 points) and Carrboro (215 points).
Harold Gutmann covers the state of North Carolina for MaxPreps.com. He lives in Durham and can be reached at haroldgutmann@gmail.com.
