Mallard Creek boys win Western Region track title
Mallard Creek boys track coach Donald Littlejohn expected a winning performance from his team at the NCHSAA 4A Western Regionals.
But the Mavericks surprised Littlejohn, dominating Saturday’s meet at Watauga High School to win their third straight regional title.
Mallard Creek, which also claimed the MECKA 4A title last week, won five events and placed among the top four in six others to finish with 121 points, 77 better than runner-up Butler (54 points).
“I definitely expected we would win it,” Littlejohn said. “But to dominate this much, no. But we practiced for this meet. When our guys do their best, I can’t see anyone stopping them, especially in the regional.”
However, it was a different story for Mallard Creek’s girls, who fell short of winning their first regional title. Instead, the Mavericks finished second to T.C. Roberson by 3.5 points (86.5-83).
Mallard Creek’s girls won a meet-best four events, and held a 3.5-point lead entering the final event, the 1600m relay. But Roberson won the event, while the Mavericks finished sixth – a seven-point turnaround that gave Roberson its third straight regional title and fifth in the past six years.
Mallard Creek was hurt by losing Gabriele Cunningham, the defending regional champ in the girls 100-meter dash, on a false start in that event, costing the Mavericks a sure 10 team points.
“We knew it was going to come down to (the 1600m relay),” Mallard Creek coach Londell McClary said. “But we lost one of our X factors, the 100. (Cunningham) is in the top 3 in the state. For her not to be able to do that hurt us.”
Worth mentioning
Four athletes won two individual event titles at Saturday’s 4A Western Regional – Cunningham (girls 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash), Independence’s Sun-Sara Williams (girls 100- and 400-meter dashes), Mallard Creek’s Keon Howe (boys high jump and pole vault), and Concord J.M. Robinson’s Markel Dalton (boys long jump and triple jump). … Lake Norman edged Iredell County rival by 1.5 points for third place in the boys standings (49.5-48). Berry Academy was fifth with 46 points. … In the girls standings, Olympic finished third with 64 points, followed by Hopewell (56) and Ardrey Kell (53).
What’s next?
The top four finishers in each event advance to the NCHSAA 4A state championship meet, set for May 9 at N.C. A&T’s Irwin Belk Track in Greensboro.
This story was originally published May 2, 2015 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Mallard Creek boys win Western Region track title."