Carson track and field

By Mike London

Salisbury Post sports

CHINA GROVE — On Friday, Carson’s boys won the Robert Steele Rowan County Championship Meet, the third straight title for the Cougars.

The magnitude of that accomplishment put a broad smile on the face of Carson coach Jonathan Lowe because this was a hotly contested one on a lot of fronts. Everything had to go right for the Cougars.

West Rowan is quietly proficient in many areas. North Rowan is close to being back to being a serious force, lacking only distance runners. Salisbury has a flock of elite sprinters and relay runners. East Rowan ruled the jumps. Only South Rowan was down, so it was a fierce dogfight staged on the East track.

The final results: 1 Carson 121.  2 West Rowan 114. 3 North Rowan 109. 4 Salisbury 96. 5 East Rowan 85. 6 South Rowan 22.

“This county is a hotbed for high school track and field,” Lowe said. “From throws to jumps to distance to sprints, we have it all. We lost some good kids from last year, so we were a little concerned about this meet, but our kids showed out, gave us everything they had. They put up PRs across the board, and they battled through. Carson had never won a county meet before 2023, so to win three in a row is just an incredible thing. It says a lot about our guys — and our coaches.”

Lowe handed off much of the credit for Carson’s victory to Zachary Marchinko, who directs the Cougars’ distance runners.

“Zach knows his stuff,” Lowe said. “He does a great job preparing those kids all year long.”

Distance was huge. With a 10-8-6-4-2-1 system that scored six places, there were 93 points available in the 800, 1600 and 3200. Carson grabbed 52 of those 93. West has very good distance men and got 30. Salisbury collected the remaining 11.

Carson’s 52-0 edge in distance over North Rowan proved fatal for the Cavaliers. Carson’s 52-30 distance edge against West was difference-making.

Carson’s Eric Gillis and Jorge Clemente-Garcia ran 2-5 in the 800, and they were devastating in the 1600 with a 1-2 punch. Then they were joined by Chance Simmons for a 1-2-3 knockout in the 3200, an event where West’s runners went 4-5-6.

For a long time, North and West were fighting it out for first place, but then Carson surged with that sudden 24-point boost from the 3200 late in the meet.

“The 3200 was the big swing event,” Lowe said. “That’s the next-to-last event and we were down 16 going into it.”

Gillis was named Distance MVP. The junior ran a PR 4:27 in the 1600 and broke Eli Julian’s meet record in the 3200 with a 9:29 clocking. That was in addition to his silver with a PR in the 800 and handling a leg on the third place 4×800 relay.

Tanner Simpson provided 18 vital hurdling points for the Cougars, winning the 110 and placing second in the 300.

Carson got 22 critical points in the jumps, with freshman Da’mon Broussard taking gold in the triple jump and Colin Masingo (second) and Konnor Karriker (fourth) placing in the high jump.

Ayden Blevins’ second place in the 100 was helpful.

The Cougars didn’t win any relays, but they placed third or fourth in all four to piece together another 20 points. Others chipped in. There was Nolan White with an unexpected sixth in the 200 and Michael Brown with a PR for fifth in the discus. It added up. It was just enough.

Carson clinched the three-peat with third place in the 4×400 finale. Eli Covington, Cruise Monteith, Ryan Kluttz and Ethan Webb, unheralded guys who didn’t score individually, carried the baton, but that summed up the day for the Cougars. It took everyone.

West won four individual events. Jonathan Medina won the 800. Dillon Smith won the long jump. Connor Heath won the 300 hurdles. Cameron Young won the discus.The Falcons also had a 2-3 finish from Jaden Still and Brennon Stevenson in the 400 meters.

North racked up 30 points in the throws, with KaMahri Feamster winning the shot put and Jeremiah Alford and Brenden Ellis going 2-3 in the discus. Yasir Wactor placed in both throws.

North won the 4×200.

North’s Myles Witherspoon had a second and a third in the hurdles and also was third in the high jump. That added up to 20 points.

North’s  Zy’Quize Carpenter had a second and a third in the jumps and was named Field MVP.

Salisbury had the Sprints MVP as Jordan Waller won the 200 and 400. Salisbury’s Christian McNeely won the 100. The Hornets were terrific, as expected, in the relays, winning the 4×800, 4×400 and 4×100 with versatile runners such as Jeremiah Davidson.

East claimed 44 points, more than half of its total, in the jumps. Joshua Carlton won the high jump. Aiden Morris was second in the long jump. In the pole vault, the Mustangs went 1-2-5 for 20 points, with Oliver Shank, Kaleo Tolentino and Allen Mares clearing the bar.

South’s best finish was a second place by Sawyer Sifford in the shot put.

Complete results

100 — 1. Christian McNeely (SHS) 11.41, 2. Ayden Blevins (C), 3. Jamariez Blakeney (ER), 4. Emanuel Ellis (NR), 5. Derrek Edwards (NR), 6. Aiden Morris (ER)

200 — 1. Jordan Waller (SHS) 22.48, 2. Emanuel Ellis (NR), 3. Christian McNeely (SHS), 4. Nicholas Morrow (NR), 5. Ryker Martinez (ER), 6. Nolan White (C)

400 — 1. Jordan Waller (SHS) 50.08, 2. Jaden Still (WR), 3. Brennon Stevenson (WR), 4. Samuel Fatovic (SHS), 5. Ryker Martinez (ER), 6. Tristian Littlejohn (SR)

800 — 1. Jonathan Medina (WR) 2:02.90, 2. Eric Gillis (C), 3. Finnegan Avery (SHS), 4. Austin Massaquoi (SHS), 5. Jorge Clemente-Garcia (C). 6. Ben Woodward (WR)

1600 — 1. Eric Gillis (C) 4:27, 2. Jorge Clemente-Garcia (C), 3. Luke Henson (WR), 4. Jayden Romero (WR), 5. Wayne Hall (WR), 6. Austin Massaquoi (SHS)

3200 — 1. Eric Gillis (C) 9:29, 2. Jorge Clemente-Garcia (C), 3. Chance Simmons (C), 4. Luke Henson (WR), 5. Jonathan Medina (WR), 6. Rafael Quintero

4×100 — 1. Salisbury 43,57, 2. North, 3. Carson, 4. East, 5. West 4×200 — 1. North 1:31.90 (Deonte Davis, Zyalon Simmon, Emanuel Ellis, Nicholas Morrow), 2. West, 3. East, 4. Carson

4×400 — 1. Salisbury 3:35.71, 2. West, 3. East, 4. Carson

4×800 — 1. Salisbury 8:20, 2. West, 3. Carson, 4. South, 5. East

110 hurdles — 1. Tanner Simpson (C) 16.09, 2. Myles Witherspoon (NR), 3. Eric Fair (NR), 4, Kaden Fisher (SR), 5. Jacob Kirk (WR)

300 hurdles — 1. Connor Heath (WR) 42.36, 2. Tanner Simpson (C), 3. Myles Witherspoon (NR), 4. Eric Fair (NR), 5. Jacob Kirk (WR), 6. Jeremiah Davidson (SHS)

Shot put — 1. KaMahri Feamster (NR) 48-0.5, 2. Sawyer Sifford (SR), 3. Nolan Strozier (ER), 4. Yasir Wactor (NR), 5. Kaden Sanders (WR), 6. Cameron Young (WR)

Discus — 1. Cameron Young (WR) 130-3, 2. Jeremiah Alford (NR), 3. Brenden Ellis (NR), 4. Nolan Strozier (ER), 5. Michael Brown (C), 6. Yasir Wactor (NR)

High jump — 1. Joshua Carlton (ER) 6-0, 2. Colin Masingo (C), 3. Myles Witherspoon (NR), 4. Konnor Karriker (C), 5. Dallas Rollings (ER), 6. Nasir Smith (WR)

Long jump — 1. Dillon Smith (WR) 20-1, 2. Aiden Morris (ER), 3. Zy’Quize Carpenter (NR), 4. David Shankle (SHS), 5. Nicholas Morrow (NR), 6. Joshua Carlton (ER)

Triple jump — 1. Da’mon Broussard (C) 41-10, 2. Zy’Quize Carpenter (NR), 3. David Shankle (SHS), 4. Emmanuel Asare (SHS), 5. Cavareus Swindell (WR), 6. Zaiden Cromwell (ER)

Pole vault — 1. Oliver Shank (ER) 11-6, 2. Kaleo Tolentino (ER), 3. Mason Gabosh (WR), 4. Kamden Rowell (SR), 5. Allen Mares (ER), 6. Nelson Diaz (SR)