By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — Lake Norman Charter boasted distance dynamos and an epic thrower.

Concord brought the quickest sprinter and soaring jumpers.

Central Cabarrus unleashed a hurdling superhero.

Northwest Cabarrus was good all-around.

That didn’t leave much wiggle room for the Rowan County entries in the South Piedmont Conference Championships held on Wednesday at East Rowan.

Carson, which recently won the Robert Steele Rowan County Championships, had to settle for fourth place in the conference.

East Rowan took fifth. South Rowan was sixth. West Rowan was eighth.

Lake Norman Charter won the meet with 112 points. Next were Concord (90), Northwest Cabarrus (89), Carson (84), East (77), South (49), Central Cabarrus (42) and West (10).

Carson did most of its damage in the jumps. The Cougars amassed 38 points in that category. As was the case in the county meet, the Cougars put Carson Aman in the triple jump, long jump and high jump for three of his four events. He didn’t disappoint. He won the long jump (20 feet, 8.5 inches). He had a PR of 40-9 for second in the triple jump. He was third in the high jump.

Carson also benefited from heavy jumping points from Damir Miller (second in the high jump) and Nehemiah Baldwin (third in the triple jump).

The Cougars were a factor in the relays, distance events and sprints.

Aman’s fourth event was in the sprint category — the 400 meters. He placed third in the draining, long dash, with teammate Gabe Honeycutt, who had a very active and productive day for the Cougars, taking second.

Aman was named the meet’s MVP.

Jorge Clemente-Garcia took second for the Cougars in the 3200. The Cougars got a third in the 4×800 from their familiar distance crew.

East got a first place from Jacob Butler in the shot put. He threw a PR of 46-2.

East rolled up massive points, the maximum 24 for one event, in the pole vault with the dream 1-2-3 finish. Seth Drake’s 13-6 clearance led the way. He was followed by Cohen Self and Christian Seballos.

Cameron Ritchie was strong in the hurdles for the Mustangs. He had a second and a fourth for 12 points.

East chipped away at the leaders with jumping points from Cole Eagle and Jordan Brooks. Athletes such as the Ritchie twins (Cameron and Carson), Eagle, AJ Goodman, Tijon Everhart and Tee Harris helped the Mustangs place in the upper tier in multiple relays.

East did fine in a lot of areas, but there was no way to overcome a zero in the distance events.

South had Noah Julian for the distance work, so the Raiders were going to do well in several events.

Julian was a double-winner, taking the 1600 (4:30.12) and the 3200 (10:01). South grabbed 30 of its 49 points in the distance events. Grayson Cromer chased Julian around the track. He contributed a third in the 3200 and a fourth in the 1600.

The Raiders got a boost from a second-place finish by Jadon Moore in the 100.

West’s top finishes were fourths — by Brennon Stevenson in the 400 and Jackson Walters in the pole vault.

Lake Norman Charter won the meet by outscoring runner-up Concord by 54-2 in distance events and throws.

LNC’s 1-2 finish in the discus included a fierce fling of 160 feet, 7 inches by Myles Scott, who now is ranked in the top 10 in the state. Scott won by 23 feet.

Concord’s Nylon Fair-Steele was the standout sprinter. He propelled Concord to second place by taking the 100 and 200 and by running sizzling legs on the 4×100 and 4×200 relay winners. The Spiders enjoyed a wave of individual victories in the explosive events. They had firsts in the triple jump, high jump and 400.

Northwest managed to claim third place by winning the 4×400, the traditional final event of the day. The Trojans got most of their points in distance, hurdles and relays.

Central got almost half of its 42 points from a solo act. Viking Tyler Dunn swept the hurdling events.

The next major event will be the 3A Midwest Regional. East Rowan will be the host team on May 13.