By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY  —  Distance was the difference, as South Rowan won its first ever Rowan County Championship in boys track and field on Saturday at East.

South ruled in the 400, 800, 1600 and 3200, 4×400 and 4×800 to overcome strong efforts by Salisbury in the throws and hurdles and North Rowan in the jumps and sprints.

South scored 139 points to pull away from East (104), North (95), Salisbury (90), Carson (64) and West (38). The Falcons won the last county meet that was held in 2019.

South had high hopes of a breakthrough triumph in 2020 when COVID erased the county meet from the schedule. The event had been a staple of Rowan athletics since its inception in 1969.

South senior Noah Julian led the way. He won the 800 (2:09.71) and 1600 (4:42) and added legs on the two winning relays.

Julian and teammate Nolan Miller finished 1-2 in the 800. Julian and younger brother Eli Julian were 1-2 in the 1600, with teammate Landon Cromer third. In the 3200, Eli Julian won in 10:31, with Landon Cromer and Grayson Cromer adding second-place and fourth-place points for the Raiders.

South’s Cequane Lawing won the 400 (54.28). Lawing ran with Noah Julian, Miller and Gabe Pozyck on the 4×400 unit. The 4×800 unit was the Julians, Landon Cromer and Miller.

Marcus Holloman (36-5) won the triple jump for the Raiders.

East had only one individual champion (Seth Drake, 8-6 in the pole vault) but the Mustangs had depth and were able to pile up enough seconds and thirds to finish as runner-up.

Salisbury’s Christian Morgan won three individual events, taking the 110 hurdles (15.18 seconds), 300 hurdles (40.85) and the 200 dash (22.63).

Salisbury’s Theo Oglesby took the shot put (42-9) and the discus (136-5).

The Hornets also won the 4×100.

North’s Kendrell Goodes cleared 6 feet, 6 inches to win the high jump, the only boys performance of the meet that was classified as “elite.”

Tyshaun Pratt won the long jump (20-1.5). Amari McArthur took the 100 in 11.31.

West enjoyed a win in the 4×200 with the unit of Akin Robinson, Jaedon Neal, Peter Simpson and Malachi Smith.

•••

Carson’s girls have become the county’s dominant program, and the Cougars made it four straight county titles on Saturday.

COVID interrupted that run last season, but Carson picked up right where it left off, putting up 147 points.

South’s girls finished second with 99 points. Next were North (87), East (80), South (63) and West (38).

Sprinter Aaliyah White was the individual standout for Carson. She swept the dashes, taking the 100 (13.36), 200 (27.73) and 400 (1:03.70), and she also placed in the high jump.

Carson won both throws, with Iyonna Parker (32-11) taking the shot and Evonna Parker prevailing in the discus (90-11).

Zoe Holbrook won the long jump for the Cougars (14-4).

Carson also won the 4×800 with the unit of Kendall Barbee, Makayla Borst, Camden Corley and Brynn Sokolowski.

North freshman Aniya Brown won the 100 hurdles (16.62) and triple jump (31-9). North freshman Tai’lah Ward won the 300 hurdles (51.74).

South got a great individual performance from freshman high jumper Macy Miller, who cleared 5 feet, 6 inches to tie a meet record set by Pat Poole in 1981 and matched by Tracy Connor in 1992. That was the only “elite” performance in the girls portion of the meet.

South won the 4×400 with the unit of Bethany Rymer, Mackenzie Chabala, Miller and Zoey Nichols.

East won the 4×200 with the team of Azaria Jones, Anaya Blakeney, Braniya Boardley and Maddi Fadden.

The Mustangs got a pair of individual wins from Meredith Bonner, who took the 1600 (5:54) and 3200 (13:52).

Salisbury won the 4×100.

Sutton Webb won the 800 for the Hornets (2:34.58).

West’s top effort was a second-place showing by Kaylyn Lentz in the 400.

The meet used a 10-8-6-4-2-1 scoring system.

 

 

West 38