BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

Athletes from the host school won all four events on the opening night of the North Rowan Track Classic at Eagle Stadium on Friday, and both Cavalier teams were in first place heading into today’s action.

North’s Erico McCullough turned in Rowan County’s best throw of the season while winning the boys discus with a toss of 145 feet, 9 1/2 inches, and teammate Darnell Tillman triple jumped 46-11 1/2, also the county’s best of 1999.

The Cavaliers won the first two girls events with LaTasha Pharr triple jumping 38-9 1/2 and Tara Clinding throwing the discus 103-4 1/2. Pharr’s triple jump was not only the county’s best this season, but the second best ever by a Rowan female, falling just 1 1/2 inches shy of the 38-11 record set by Salisbury’s Lisa Staton in 1978.

Coach Robert Steele’s North boys also got a second place from Taivio Davis in the triple jump and a fourth by Brandon Fox in the discus, giving the Cavaliers 32 points to runner-up East Rowan’s 14.

For North’s girls, Ashley Witherspoon took a second in the triple jump and Garrette Hunter finished third in the discus, giving Coach Brian Mills’ team 34 points to runner-up Salisbury’s 16.

Preliminaries were held in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events, and in the hurdles. North’s Malachi Brown turned in the fastest qualifying times in two events with clockings of 22.54 in the 200 and 50.83 in the 400.

‘‘I feel very good about my performance, because the past two weeks I haven’t been throwing so well,’’ said North’s McCullough, a 315-pound offensive and defensive lineman during football season. ‘‘I guess today everything just came all together, and I had a lot of team support, which I’m very proud of.’’

McCullough is the county leader in both the discus and shot put, his favorite event.

‘‘I plan to go 56, 57 feet tomorrow. My personal best is 55 even,’’ he said, referring to the shot put finals that got under way this morning.

McCullough already ranks ninth all-time in the county with his heave of 55 feet. If the senior reaches 57, he would move up to third on the all-time list behind East Rowan’s Darrell Misenheimer (61-5 1/2 in 1975) and Glenn McKenzie (58-7 in 1986).

Misenheimer’s son, Danny, a junior at East, finished second behind McCullough in the discus last night with a throw of 130-6 1/2. Misenheimer is tied for sixth on the all-time shot put list with his heave of 55-5 1/4 last year and was one of McCullough’s top challengers in that event today.

Rowan athletes fared well in the boys discus with East’s Nick Vincent finishing third and North’s Brandon Fox placing fourth.

Salisbury’s Akina Moore was second in the girls discus, while North’s Garrette Hunter and Salisbury’s Geeplay Morris finished third and fourth, respectively. Salisbury’s Devora Gardin was fourth in the triple jump.

Finals were scheduled today in all running events plus the shot put, long jump, high jump and pole vault. Track honor roll

Girls

••Shot put – Tara Clinding (NR) 42-7 1/2; Lesley Forney (SR) 35-10; Garrette Hunter (NR) 35-2 1/2; Amanda Morris (ER) 30-10; Shannon Jones (ER) 30-8.

••Discus – Lesley Forney (SR) 127-2; Tara Clinding (NR) 106-1; Akina Moore (Sal) 100-8; Amanda Morris (ER) 98-4 1/2; Geeplay Morris (Sal) 94-5.

••Long jump – LaTasha Pharr (NR) 18-10; Tiffany Mack (NR) 16-8 1/2; Ashley Witherspoon (NR) 15-3; A. Davis (SR) 15-2; Tiffany Bost (ER) 15- 1/2.

••Triple jump – LaTasha Pharr (NR) 38-9 1/2; Ashley Witherspoon (NR) 34-8; Devora Gardin (Sal) 32-3 1/2; Haley Shaw (ER) 30-9 1/2; Ashley Shaver (WR) 30-7.

••High jump – Alexis Lineberry (Sal) 4-11; Latoya Tucker (NR) 4-10; tie – Jennifer Smith (WR), Pari Tajlili (WR) and LaShonda Weeks (Sal) 4-8.

••Pole vault – tie – Amanda Shirley (SR) and Cassidy Corriher (SR) 7-0; Amanda Edwards (WR) 6-6; Akina Moore (Sal) 6-0.

••100 – Shavon Neely (NR) 12.60; Devora Gardin (Sal) 12.74; Latrice McCullough (NR) 12.84; Tynesha Stafford (WR) 12.80; Telea Vinson (WR) 13.06.

••200 – Shavon Neely (NR) 25.93; LaShannon Cowan (NR) 26.40; Tynesha Stafford (WR) 27.90; Tiffany Bost (ER) 27.97; Allison Moore (WR) 28.0.

••400 – LaShannon Cowan (NR) 1:02.13; Allison Moore (WR) 1:03.50; Jennifer Russell (ER) 1:04.44; Tiffany Bost (ER) 1:04.59; Nicole Blackwell (NR) 1:05.33.

••800 – Mary Clark Roberts (ER) 2:41.98; Valerie Vargas (NR) 2:43.98; Starla Allen (WR) 2:46.0; Brooke Shive (ER) 2:49.0; Hannah Thompson (Sal) 2:50.0.

••1600 – Brooke Shive (ER) 6:10.44; Valerie Vargas (NR) 6:25.84; Hannah Thompson (Sal) 6:35.0; Anna Cunningham (Sal) 6:38.4; Amber Lawler (ER) 6:40.56.

••3200 – Beth-Erin Springer (SR) 13:07.09; Thompson (Sal) 13:20.0; Allison Troutman (ER) 14:19.62; Amber Lawler (ER) 14:42.75; Lindsey Swicegood (WR) 15:02.0.

••100 hurdles – LaTasha Pharr (NR) 14.06; Carrie Misenheimer (ER) 17.59; Ashley Witherspoon (NR) 18.06; Amy Steelman (Sal) 18.60; Les-Lee Peeler (WR) 18.76.

••300 hurdles – LaTasha Pharr (NR) 48.35; Ashley Witherspoon (NR) 51.63; Sharika Cuthbertson (NR) 53.22; Les-Lee Peeler (WR) 53.47; Carrie Misenheimer (ER) 54.17.

••400 relay – West Rowan (Telea Vinson, Teasha Copeland, Teri Cook, Tynesha Stafford) 53.25; North Rowan (Latrice McCullough, Teaune Vincent, Keviette Phillips, Tiffany Mack) 54.09; Salisbury (Ternisha Charleston, Edna Cole, Devora Gardin, LiNette Chunn) 55.15; East Rowan (Tiffany Bost, Meredith Loflin, Allison Troutman, Kami Wilson) 55.82.

••800 relay – North Rowan (Shavon Neely, Keviette Phillips, Ashley Witherspoon, LaShannon Cowan) 1:49.93; West Rowan (Les-Lee Peeler, Tynesha Stafford, Allison Moore, Telea Vinson) 1:51.0; Salisbury (Ternisa Charleston, Devora Gardin, Manita Cole, Ernestine Julue) 1:55.17; East Rowan (Kami Wilson, Taylor Steedley, Brianna Mundy, Jennifer Russell) 1:56.78; South Rowan 2:01.10.

••1600 relay – North Rowan (LaShannon Cowan, Adrienne Covington, Shavon Neely, Nicole Blackwell) 4:26.58; East Rowan (Kami Wilson, Haley Shaw, Mary Clark Roberts, Jennifer Russell) 4:29.39; West Rowan (Allison Moore, Telea Vinson, Les-Lee Peeler, Jessica Greenwood) 4:39.12; Salisbury (Akina Moore, Quintina Hobson, Michelle Parson, Manita Cole) 4:51.90.

••3200 relay – East Rowan (Kami Wilson, Brooke Shive, Tiffany Bost, Mary Clark Roberts) 11:03.0; Salisbury (Hannah Thompson, Manita Cole, Anna Cunningham, Allison Scarborough) 12:16.24.

Boys

••Shot put – Erico McCullough (NR) 55-0; Danny Misenheimer (ER) 53-1; Joe Finney (ER) 49-10 1/2; Brian Alford (NR) 49-7; Nick Vincent (ER) 48-10.

••Discus – Erico McCullough (NR) 145-9 1/2; Danny Misenheimer (ER) 132-5; Nick Vincent (ER) 130-8; Joe Finney (SR) 127-6; Mason Robinson (NR) 126-1.

••Long jump – Taivio Davis (NR) 21-10 3/4; Ron Bost (WR) 21-8 1/2; Darnell Tillman (NR) 21-8; Brian Dalton (Sal) 21-3; Marcus Hunter (NR) 20-8 1/4.

••Triple jump – Darnell Tillman (NR) 46-11 1/2; Taivio Davis (NR) 46-8 1/2; Marcus Hunter (NR) 43-4; Shane Booth (SR) 42-5; Justin Davis (WR) 41-10 1/4.

••High jump – Mario Sturdivant (NR) 6-2; Hezekiah Poag (Sal) 6-0; tie – Ryan Johnson (Sal), Justin Johnson (Sal), Graham Hosch (NR), Caleb Kirk (ER) and Travis Fisher (ER) 5-8.

••Pole vault – Matt Price (ER) 14-6; tie – Daniel Pruett (WR) and Travis Fisher (ER) 11-0; Austin Ribelin (WR) 10-6; tie – Phillips (SR) and Johnnie May (Sal) 10-0.

••100 – Dustin Dudney (ER) 10.71; Malachi Brown (NR) 10.75; Horatio Everhart (WR) 10.98; Jovon Quarles (WR) 10.99; Ernie Wiggins (SR) 11.10.

••200 – Malachi Brown (NR) 22.37; Ron Bost (WR) 22.73; Ernie Wiggins (SR) 22.85; Thomas Mashore (NR) 22.95; Dustin Dudney (ER) 23.34.

••400 – Malachi Brown (NR) 50.83; Charlie Howell (NR) 51.85; Jonquil Walker (NR) 52.69; Bryant Smith (NR) 53.20; Francis Bombo (WR) 53.34.

••800 – Jonquil Walker (NR) 2:06.75; Josh Houghton (WR) 2:08.0; Lee Greene (ER) 2:09.02; Bobby Hundley (NR) 2:12.27; Darius Hyman (Sal) 2:12.76.

••1600 – Josh Houghton (WR) 4:51.0; Lee Greene (ER) 4:51.28; Chip Selle (NR) 4:53.31; Bradford Garrigues (Sal) 4:56.61; David Bost (Sal) 4:57.0.

••3200 – Drew Caldwell (NR) 10:28.60; David Bost (Sal) 10:44.34; Brian Tajlili (WR) 10:54.0; Chip Selle (NR) 10:57.35; Jeff Schoch (ER) 11:12.20.

••110 hurdles – Jovon Quarles (WR) 14.62; Darnell Tillman (NR) 15.29; Matt Smith (WR) 15.75; Adrian Sloan (NR) 17.28; Anwar Jackson (NR) 17.47.

••300 hurdles – Jovon Quarles (WR) 40.93; Anwar Jackson (NR) 41.33; Josh Avery (WR) 43:34; Matt Smith (WR) 43.43; Caleb Kirk (ER) 44.97.

••400 relay – North Rowan (Marcus Hunter, Thomas Mashore, Lamar Wilkerson, Taivio Davis) 44.20; West Rowan (Jovon Quarles, Ron Bost, Dunlap, Justin Davis) 44.54; Salisbury (Hezekiah Poag, Demarcus Davidson, Antwan Blakney, Brian Dalton) 45.70; South Rowan 46.0; East Rowan 46.40.

••800 relay – North Rowan (Darnell Tillman, Malachi Brown, Thomas Mashore, Taivio Davis) 1:30.0; West Rowan (Ron Bost, Horatio Everhart, Michael Dunlap, Jason Coleman), 1:32.72; Salisbury (Hezekiah Poag, Demarcus Davidson, Antwan Blakney, Brian Dalton) 1:38.48; East Rowan 1:41.07; South Rowan 1:43.29.

••1600 relay – North Rowan (Malachi Brown, Jonquil Walker, Bryant Smith, Charlie Howell) 3:30.33; West Rowan (Francis Bombo, Shawn Steele, Michael Ellison, Antione Norman) 3:45.54; Salisbury (Justin Johnson, Darius Hyman, Josh Collins, Ryan Johnson) 3:46.0; East Rowan 3:46.39; South Rowan 3:58.39.

••3200 relay – North Rowan (Drew Caldwell, Chip Selle, Jonquil Walker, Charlie Howell) 8:43.72; Salisbury (Darius Hyman, Micah Roseman, Brian Brown, Bradford Garrigues) 8:58; East Rowan 9:04.44; West Rowan (Josh Houghton, Brian Tajlili, Jonathan Williams, Jonathan Todd) 9:11.42.