All the other events were completed, so Davis’ assignment was simple: Win the triple jump and give the Falcons an upset victory over perennial power North Rowan in the annual Rowan County Meet.

Davis jumped 44 feet, 4 inches, won the triple jump and capped off a wonderful night for head coach Ralph Ellis, assistant Willie Ellis and the Falcons.

West edged North 101-100 for the Falcons’ second county title in history and first in 19 years, ending the Cavaliers 12-year reign in Rowan.

“It felt great,” said Davis. “I’ve been here four years. I’ve been trying to do it for four years, and we’ve never beat them. But we edged them out at the end, and I felt real good.It was my triple jump that pretty much won it, and if I wouldn’t have come in first place, we would have lost. ... I’m very glad that it happened.”

Ralph Ellis had told Davis when he was trailing South Rowan’s Shane Booth in the triple jump that he had to win in order for West to beat North.

“I didn’t feel too much pressure, because I knew what I could do. I knew I was seeded first coming into the track meet. So all I had to do was pretty much do what I’ve been doing all year,” he added.

Davis and senior teammate Josh Houghton each received a Most Valuable Participant award — Davis in field events and Houghton in distance events — and South’s Ernie Wiggins was the MVP in the sprints.

Davis long jumped 20-4 for another first place, finished second in the 100 meters and ran on the Falcons’ second-place 400 relay team. He scored 23 1/2 points.

Houghton was a double winner in the 1600 in 4:53.90 and 800 in 2:03.28, then finished off his night by struggling to a fourth place in the longest race of the night, the 3200. That was worth a crucial two points for the Falcons, giving him 22 for the meet.

“I knew I had to do it for the team. The first mile was fairly easy. I was still with those guys (winner David Bost of Salisbury, Brett Howell of South and Phillip Johnson of East), and, being fresher, they just kind of pulled away from me,” said Houghton.

He and his teammates came into the meet knowing they had a chance to knock off North.

“Our coach had big plans at the beginning of the season. We haven’t had the depth this year, but the few guys that we’ve brought out here have given everything that they can,” said Houghton. “I still thought we had a shot at it. ...It was up to the team.”

Matt Smith had West’s only other first place with a time of 15.08 seconds in the 110 hurdles. The Falcons had eight important second places.

“I still thought the thing that’s haunted us all year, depth, was going to get us,” said Ralph Ellis, who is in his sixth year as head coach of the Falcons. “We’ve got 10 or 11 quality kids that can really perform. Depth killed us in the conference (SouthPiedmont) meet and killed us in the regular season. One track meet we won 13 events and didn’t win.

“We had some kids to step up tonight, we really did. I thought Houghton had a tremendous meet. He finished fourth in the 3200, and he wasn’t even going to run it tonight. It turned out to be the difference in the meet.”

As for Davis in the final field event, Ellis said, “We felt like he had to win the triple jump. I told him, ‘Justin, you’ve got to win it.’ He came up with a pretty good 44-foot jump, and that made the difference.”

West won its first conference championship in history in the SPC in 1999, and now the Falcons have their first county title in almost two decades. And, most importantly, it was a win over North.

“It’s got to be a high for the program. When you beat probably the best track program in the state of North Carolina. We’re county rivals,” said Ellis.

He praised the effort of his team, including a second place by Francis Bombo in the 400.

“Bombo ran the best time (51.63) he’s run all year in the 400, and he didn’t have anything left for the 800. He tried to run it, went about 600 meters and had to quit.He finished higher in the 400 than he was seeded,” said Ellis. Bombo collapsed with half a lap to go in the 800.

The West coach said North was the definite favorite.

“It wasn’t no doubt, because of their depth. I think if Malachi Brown hadn’t got hurt, they probably would have won.I think he would have made a big difference,” he said.

Brown hurt his hamstring while finishing third in the 100 and wasn’t available for the 200 and 400.

North coach Robert Steele, good friends with West’s Ralph and Willie Ellis, who work with him during the summer with the Rowan Express Track Club, was a gracious loser, and he had no alibis.

“We’ve been good friends for a while and we’ve worked together for a while. We all love track and field. They’ve got a good team. The credit goes to West Rowan,” said Steele.

As for Brown’s injury, he said, “I really don’t want to make that be a factor. ... I’m so proud of this team, because the other guys picked it up. It would have been real easy when Malachi went down to quit, but, in all honesty, they actually picked it up.”

South’s Wiggins swept the sprints with times of 11.02 in the 100 and 22.42 in the 200 and teamed up with Mike Clemency, Tore’ Girty and Keith Garrett to win the 400 relay in 44.29.

Other individual winners were East’s Danny Misenheimer with a shot put of 50-2; Salisbury’s Austin Imes with a discus toss of 142-11; South’s Will Woodruff with a high jump of 6-2; South’s Jay Phillips with a pole vault of 10-6; North’s Jonquil Walker with a time of 50.54 in the 400; Salisbury’s Bost with a 10:23.84 clocking in the 3200; and North’s Anwar Jackson with a time of 41.46 in the 300 hurdles.

North won three relays. Jackson, Lemuel Brown, Aundray Russell and Thomas Mashore won the 400 in 44.29 and 800 in 1:33.29. Jackson, Walker, Jason McDowell and Tyrone Miller triumphed in the final event, the 1600 relay, in 3:39.95.