By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Carson junior sprinter Aliayah White came out of nowhere in her rookie high school track season and led the Cougar girls to Rowan County and North Piedmont Conference championships.

“She’s just athletic and a super-fierce competitor,” Carson coach Les-Lee Ihme said.  “I hate she missed her freshmen and sophomore seasons because who knows how good she could be right now.”

She was pretty good as it was.

White, who earned a state championship ring as a reserve for Carson’s basketball team, apparently can run however fast she needs to run in order to win. She didn’t lose in any of the dashes during the regular season.

White is the Post’s Female Track and Field Performer of the Year.

In the 3A State Championships, where White was credited with a seventh-place finish in the 400, technically, no one finished in front of her. She ran a PR of 59.91 seconds. She actually placed first in her heat, but she ran in the slower of the two timed heats.

 “Normally in the sprinting events at states, they’ll have prelims so that the six fastest can actually race each other for the championship,” Ihme explained. “But that wasn’t the case this year. I wish Aliayah could’ve been in the faster heat or that they would’ve done it the old way (with prelims) because there is no telling how she would’ve ended up.  She feeds off competition. She ran a PR at states because that is what she needed to win her heat. Could she have run 56-something in the faster heat to win the state championship? I really think she might have. I don’t think she truly knows how fast she could be.”

White swept the 100, 200 and 400 dashes in the Rowan County Championships in May and repeated that feat in the North Piedmont Conference Championships in early June.

She combines raw speed with the heart, endurance and stamina needed to win the 400.

In the county and conference meets, White added big points for the Cougars in the high jump. She placed third in the county, second in the conference meet.

“She was pretty good at the high jump,” Ihme said.  “She’s short, but she almost can jump her height.”

White was the 3A West Regional champion in the 400. She was officially third in the 200 in the regional —  although again she won her heat.

Ihme said White was super when she was feeling 100 percent and was still relentless on those days when she had to dig deeper.

White is the Post’s Female Track and Field Performer of the Year, but as good as she was, it’s by the slimmest of margins.

It’s not hard to make a case for North Rowan freshman Aniya Brown, who racked up wins in four different events, led North to a 1A Midwest Regional title and carried her success through the 1A State Championships with runner-up finishes in both hurdling events.

The difference between White and Brown basically came down to four tenths of a second — White’s margin of victory over Brown in the 200 meters in the Rowan County Championships. That was one of White’s three victories that day. Brown won two county titles — the triple jump and the 100 hurdles.

North had an outstanding freshman class that included not only Brown, but state placers Tai’lah Ward and Brittany Ellis, plus a crew of relay sprinters. In addition to taking the regional, North won the Yadkin Valley Conference Championships.

South placed second in the Rowan County Championships and boasted a state champion in elite freshman high jumper Macy Miller. Miller won a 2A state title by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches. She broke records with a PR of 5-7 in regional competition.

Jumper/sprinter Arnasjelle Corpening sparked Salisbury to a second-place finish in the 10-team Central Carolina Conference Championships.

North’s Aaron Young and Carson’s Ihme are the Post’s co-coaches of the year.

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Athletes who finish in the top two in an individual event in the Rowan County Championships are automatically “All-County,” as are relay champions. Added to that list by the Post are athletes who won conference championships.

All-Rowan County

Carson

Aliayah White — County champion in 100, 200 and 400, NPC champ in 100, 200 and 400, 3A West Regional champ in 400, 7th in 400 in 3A State Championships

Iyonna Parker —  County shot put champ, second in county in discus, NPC discus and shot put champ, 6th in shot put 3A State Championships

Zoe Holbrook — County long jump champ

Evonna Parker — County discus champ

Makayla Borst — Second in county in 1600

4×800 — County champs

 

North

Aniya Brown — County champion in triple jump and 100 hurdles, second in county in 300 hurdles and 200, YVC 200, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles champ, 1A MW Regional 100 hurdles champ, second in 1A State Championships in 100 and 300 hurdles

Tai’lah Ward — County champion in 300 hurdles, second in county in 100 and long jump, YVC 100 champ, 7th in 100 hurdles 1A State Championships

Brittany Ellis — Second in county in shot put, YVC shot put and discus champ, 1A MW Regional champ in shot put and discus, 8th discus and 3rd in shot put at 1A State Championships

4×200 — YVC champs, 8th in 1A State Championships

 

South

Macy Miller — State, 2A MW Regional, county and CCC champ in high jump

Taylor Chapman — Second in county and CCC champ in 100 hurdles, 8th 100 hurdles in 2A State Championships

Madison Beaver — Second in county in 3200, CCC champ 3200

Carlie Moore — Second in county in high jump and 8th in 2A State Championships

4×400 — County champs

 

Salisbury

Sutton Webb — County and CCC champion in 800, 8th in 2A State championships

Arnasjelle Corpening —  Second in county in triple jump, CCC champ in 100 and triple jump, 8th triple jump in 2A State Championships

Shaura Sherrill — CCC champ in 200

4×100 — County and CCC champs

 

West

Kaylyn Lentz — Second in county in 400

 

East

Meredith Bonner — County champion 1600 and 3200

Katherine Otten — Second in county in 800

Carmella Raiti — NPC champion 100 hurdles

4×200 — County champs