Davidson County athletes bring home state championships
Multiple athletes from Davidson County ran into a first-place finish at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2A track meet on Saturday, June 26 at North Carolina A&T State University’s Irwin Belk Track. At the state championship meets, the top four finishers are awarded medals.
In individual events, Thomasville High School’s Malcolm Knight won the boys triple jump with a mark of 45-3.50. Ledford High School’s Dalton Zimmerman secured a gold medal by crossing the line first in the boys 400m dash with a time of 49.86. Zimmerman finished third in the 200m dash.
Oak Grove High School placed two on the podium in the boys pole vault: Jacob Murphy was second and Carter Tyree tied for fourth. Central Davidson High School’s Keyshawn Breedlove finished third in the 110m hurdles. Lexington’s Alyssa Thompson Rowe came in second in the girls 100m dash. She was third in the girls 110m hurdles and 200m dash.
Collectively, athletes from Lexington, Thomasville and Ledford dominated on the track as they delivered award winning performances in the relays. On the girls side, Lexington’s 4x100m relay team of Aquariah McIntosh, Malaysia Smith, Ny’Lasia Brown and Rowe defended their 2019 title with a winning time of 49.26. Before their title defense, Smith, McIntosh, Brown and Isa Wall added a championship in the 4x200m relay. They finished with a time of 1:46.90. The 4x400m relay team finished second at the meet. Relay team members were Smith, Brown, McIntosh and Wall.
For the boys, Ledford edged out a win over county rival Thomasville in the 4x200m relay. Ledford’s team of Blake Boyette, Jacob Brown, CJ Compton and Zimmerman won with a time of 1:30.25. Thomasville’s Yu’Neeke Payne, Landon Johnson, Cameron Walker and CJ Dickerson finished third.
Looking to redeem theirselves, Payne, Johnson, Walker and Dickerson left no doubt where their speed is concerned in the 4x100m relay. The team picked up a championship with a time of 42.96. The 4x400m relay was decided approximately 75 meters from the finish line. With a third championship in site, Ledford’s Zimmerman managed to kick into another speed to pass a runner from Croatan to secure another relay crown for the Panthers. Joining him on the podium to accept their first place medals were Boyette, Brown and Compton. They won with a time of 3:28.62.
Lexington’s girls and Ledford’s boys both placed fourth in the team rankings.
Additionally, Davidson County had athletes in other events that performed well.
North Davidson’s Paige McNair: seventh - girls shot put.
West Davidson’s Conner Milstead: fifth - boys discus throw.
Ledford’s Samantha Flynn: sixth - girls high jump
North Davidson’s Jacob Jeziorowski: eighth - boys pole vault
Central Davidson’s Kade McCain: eleventh - boys pole vault
Central Davidson’s Cassie Angell, Riley Horne, Chelsea Kirk, Gracie Phillips: eighth - girls 4x800m relay
Oak Grove’s Ellie Boger, Natalia Everhart, Vivian Schriner, Chloe Koper: eleventh - girls 4x800m relay
North Davidson’s Emma Berrier, Sophia Byrd, Madison Hooker, Madelyn Martin: twelfth -girls 4x800m relay
Central Davidson’s Austin DeGeorge, Collin Kirk, Ian Henderson, Nick Nelson: tenth - boys 4x800m relay
Central Davidson’s Breedlove: seventh - 100m dash; eleventh - 300m hurdles
Thomasville’s Walker: tenth - 100m dash
West Davidson’s Laci Broom: fourteenth - 1600m run
Lexington’s Smith: eighth - 400m dash
East Davidson’s Gracie Prevette: tenth - 300m hurdles
Central Davidson’s Angell, Preston McCain, Phillips, Horne: tenth -girls 4x400m relay
Central Davidson’s DeGeorge, Trantham, Nelson, Kirk: fifth - boys 4x400m relay
Oak Grove’s Jacob Murphy, Will Todd, CJ Hairston, Jeffrey Jones: sixth - boys 4x400m relay
Oak Grove’s Boger: fourteenth - girls 3200m run
Knight, Zimmerman, N. Brown, Smith, Rowe, Boyette, J. Brown, Payne, Johnson, McNair, Milstead, McCain, Boger, Nelson and Broom have all graduated high school.
Davidson County also had athletes compete on Friday, June 25 at the state 1A track championship meet, held at North Carolina A&T’s Irwin Belk Track. South Davidson’s William Lyons finished second in the boys 3200m run and fourth in the 1600m run. Chloe O’Quinn placed fifteenth in the girls discus.
