GREENSBORO – The East Bladen Track and Field team participated in the 1A NCHSAA State Meet last Friday around the blue oval of NC A&T University. East Bladen senior hurdler Laila Smith ran a 17.32 in the girls 100mH prelims to punch a ticket in the final as the sixth best time. She ran slightly faster in the finals but just missed the podium with a time of 17.31 to finish seventh in the girls 100mH. Corvian Community School swept the podium in the girls 100mH with senior Jayda Lewis claiming gold in the event with a time of 13.90, freshmen Mariana Askew nabbing silver with a time of 14.47 and sophomore Misa Samual taking the bronze with a time of 14.42.
East Bladen also placed in the top-8 for the boys 4x200m as they battled it out in a stacked field. The Eagles took sixth-place in the event with a time of 1:32.45 as they ran the fastest time in their heat. East Wilkes claimed gold in the boys 4x200m with a time of 1:29.63, Mountain Island Charter claimed the silver with a time of 1:29.70 and Corvian Community School claimed bronze with a time of 1:31.52. East Bladen’s boys ran in the fastest heat of the 4x100m and they ran an 11th-place time of 44.32.
Mountain Island Charter just edged out Albemarle for the gold medal in the boys 4x100m with a time of 42.97 and the bronze medal went to Carver with a time of 43.03. East Bladen girls finished 15th in the 4x100m with a time of 53.22 and they finished 14th in 4x200m with a time of 1:53.01. Mountain Island Charter won gold in the girls 4x100m and 4x200m in dominant showings for both races. The Pender Patriots placed eighth in the girls 4x100m with a time of 52.25 and they placed 11th in the girls 4x200m with a time of 1:51.12.
East Bladen senior Chace Butler ran an 11.53 in the 100m dash prelims to finish 13th in the event. Albemarle senior sprinter Dre Davis was pushed in the 100m prelims by Southeast Halifax junior Zymir Cooper for a 10.87 finish. Davis showed poise in the 100m final and blazed past the field with a 10.59 to be crowned the state champion. Cooper took second in the final with a time of 10.74 and South Stokes sophomore Kymani Brown claimed third with a time of 10.95.
Davis also won the boys 200m with a time of 21.60 as he crossed the finish line with daylight between him and the competition. East Bladen sophomore sprinter Tevin Mclean ran a 23.10 for an 11th-placed finish in the 200m and Butler also ran in the 200m for a 15th-placed time of 23.83. The girls 100m dash finals was won by Wilson Prep senior Tynasia Emory with a time of 11.96, Mountain Island Charter junior Olivia Patterson claimed second with a time of 12.07 and Mountain Island Charter junior Ajuliah Washington finished third with a time of 12.40.
Elkin senior sprinter Aniya Edwards smoked the field by snatching gold in both the girls 200m and 400m. East Bladen senior Deshon Campbell finished 14th in the boys discus with a mark of 100-11. The winning mark for the boys’ discus was 165-9 by Swain County senior Nse Uffort, while the silver medal was claimed by Starmount senior Ronald Gray with a mark of 158-11 and the bronze fell to Andrews senior William Wood with a mark of 156-9.
East Bladen junior Cabria Baldwin finished 14th in the girls shot put with a mark of 27-5.25 as the sole representative for the Lady Eagles in field events last Friday. Eastern Randolph junior Mirianna Corea claimed gold in the girls shot put with a winning mark of 38-6, while Albemarle senior Jasmine Brown claimed the silver medal with a mark of 37-7 and Swain County senior Samantha Woodward took the bronze medal with a mark of 37-3.25.
East Bladen boys 4x400m ran a 14th-place time of 3:43.69 in the final race of the afternoon. Carver took gold in the boys 4x400m with a time of 3:24.40 and Avery County won the girls 4x400m with a time of 4:02.35. East Bladen senior hurdler Jayden Hawkins finished 14th in the boys 100mH prelims with a time of 18.44 and he finished 15th in the 300mH with a time of 46.25. Weldon junior hurdler Donald Burgess defeated Carver junior hurdler Jaden Gause-Hughes by a tenth-of-a-second to claim the 110mH crown with a time of 14.49. Carver junior Derrick Reid Jr. claimed gold with a time of 37.92 in the boys 300mH and Gause-Huges finished behind his teammate in second with a time of 39.10.
Whiteville senior sprinter Serenity Harvey participated in the 2A NCHSAA State meet over the weekend as she sought to defend her sprinting crown. Harvey ran a 11.95 in the girls 100m dash prelims as the top time amongst the field of 15, then she proceeded to win the 100m finals a few minutes later with a time of 11.70. She also claimed gold in the 400m with a time of 58.92 to earn her second individual gold of the afternoon. Harvey then beat out North Lenoir freshmen Casside Frasser to claim gold in the 200m with a time of 24.51 as she concluded her high school career.