A track dynasty in Union County aims for a rare high school state finals ‘Triple Crown’
It’s the “triple crown” for high school runners in North Carolina – cross-country, indoor track and field, and then outdoor track and field.
“We’ve really been aiming at that for a couple years, but it hasn’t worked out,” says Dustin Allen, the boys’ and girls’ head track and field coach at Cuthbertson High.
It hasn’t worked out because of COVID-19.
The Cavaliers’ girls’ team won state titles in the cross-country and indoor championships in the 2019-20 school year, but the outbreak of COVID canceled the outdoor track season.
Then last school year, Cuthbertson’s girls won state championships in cross-country and outdoor track and field. But COVID-19 forced the N.C. High School Athletic Association to condense the athletic schedule, and the indoor track season was scrubbed.
“We like to think we would have won the triple crown the last two years,” Allen says. “But this year we get a chance to prove it.”
The NCHSAA’s indoor track and field championships take place Friday and Saturday at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. The 1A-2A meet is Friday, and the 3A and 4A meets are Saturday.
The Cuthbertson girls have won four straight indoor track and field championships, and the Cavaliers’ boys’ team also is a contender. Cuthbertson’s girls were cross-country state champs in the fall.
All of this is despite Cuthbertson moving up from 3A to 4A. Making the move with the Cavaliers are two other Union Country track powers, Marvin Ridge and Weddington (the defending 3A indoor team champion).
“Track and field is very strong here in Union County,” says Allen, in his seventh year as head of the Cavaliers’ running programs. “Once one school gets strong, the other schools tend to do the same. There’s solid competition. The three of us battle back and forth.”
In girls’ track and field, however, Cuthbertson has gotten the better of its Union County rivals in recent years.
“We have a big program,” Allen says. “There are 185 kids on our indoor team. We get 215 to 225 for the outdoor season. I have a no-cut rule.”
He says a key to Cuthbertson’s success is a strong group of assistant coaches. Allen needed them.
“I had never been to a track meet in my life,” he says, recalling when he got the head coaching position in the 2015-16 school year. “That first year, we had 22 kids out, and we scored one point at the state meet.”
Allen says he concentrates on coaching the field events, while the assistants oversee the runners.
Cuthbertson has a strong weight training program and a tough schedule. The Cavaliers competed this season in indoor meets at Liberty University and in Virginia Beach, Va., against a number of national powers.
“Attending those meets is expensive, but we get a lot of buy-in from the parents,” Allen says. “We have great support.”
The Cavaliers might not have the most first-place event finishes Saturday, but they’ll have plenty of depth to pile up points.
Their 4-by-400 relay team – sophomores Charlotte Bell and Justine Preisano, junior Lillian Nasta, and senior Gabi Lassiter – has the fastest time in the state by 30 seconds this season. And pole-vaulter Ava Studney ranks No. 1 in her event.
Allen says Wakefield High’s Shawnti Jackson could win four events, but he expects Cuthbertson to amass points in a number of events.
And, he says, the boys’ team could make some noise.
“The boys could win a state championship, even though this is probably not our best boys’ team here,” Allen says.
The Cavaliers’ 4-by-200 and 4-by-400 relay teams rank No. 1 in the state. Junior Killian Fahy is a member of each relay team.
Allen says the top contenders are Mount Tabor and four Union County schools – Cuthbertson, Weddington, Marvin Ridge and Porter Ridge.
When all this is done, Allen says, the Cavaliers will begin work on the outdoor season. Hopefully, he says, the triple-crown goal will still be alive.
Top Triangle, Charlotte-area individuals
These individuals and teams from the Charlotte and Raleigh areas have the top times and distances so far this season in indoor track and field. All are competing in the 4A meet.
GIRLS
Shot put: Macy Dulaney (Mallard Creek); Devon Davis (North Mecklenburg)
Long jump: Jazmine Williamson (Olympic); Sanari Forte (Harding)
Triple jump: Isabelle Liu (Cuthbertson)
High jump: Williamson (Olympic); Aria Weigh (Marvin Ridge)
Pole vault: Maddie Davies (Athens Drive); Ava Studney (Cuthbertson); Kendall Ford (Weddington)
4-by-400 relay: Cuthbertson
55-meter hurdles: Akala Garrett (Harding); Taylor McKinnon (Cardinal Gibbons)
55 dash: Shawnti Jackson (Wakefield)
4-by-200 relay: Cuthbertson; Mallard Creek; Cleveland; Corinth Holders
1,600 meters: Mary Bonner Dalton (Myers Park); Lilly Walters (Hough)
500 meters: Jackson (Wakefield); Kayla Davis (Hough); Garrett (Harding)
1,000 meters: Amelia Maughan (Chapel Hill); Charlotte Bell (Cuthbertson)
300 meters: Jackson (Wakefield); Davis (Hough); Garrett (Harding)
3,200 meters: Hannah Rae Shaffer (Cardinal Gibbons)
4-by-400 relay: Hickory Ridge; Marvin Ridge
BOYS
Shot put: Jake Ganoe (Panther Creek)
Long jump: Jared Harrell (Panther Creek)
Triple jump: Harrell (Panther Creek); Glenn Ford (Marvin Ridge); Christian Seibert (Cuthbertson)
High jump: none from area
Pole vault: Drew Evans (Lake Norman); Noah Rhodes (Fuquay Varina); Graham Gutknecht (South Mecklenburg)
4-by-400 relay: Weddington; Charlotte Catholic
55-meter hurdles: Cameron Wright (Weddington); Lance Garnett (Rolesville)
55 dash: Josiah Williams (Clayton)
4-by-200 relay: Hickory Ridge; Marvin Ridge; Wakefield
1,600 meters: Jacob Laney (Porter Ridge); Ethan Snyder (Marvin Ridge)
500 meters: Andrew Mello (Wake Forest); Max DeAngelo (Millbrook); Brandon Benitez (Porter Ridge)
1,000 meters: Dylan Look (Chapel Hill); Mello (Wake Forest)
300 meters: Williams (Clayton); Justice Crawford (Myers Park)
3,200 meters: Snyder (Marvin Ridge); Laney (Porter Ridge)
4-by-400 relay: Cuthbertson; Chapel Hill
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle