Carver runner blazes to state track titles in the 200 and 400 meters

Brandon Hairston of Carver had already done a lot of running yesterday before he situated himself into the starting blocks for the 400 meters at the NCHSAA's Class 3-A track-and-field championships at N.C. A&T.

Hairston — who had finished third in the 400 in each of the past two championships — said he was intent on winning.

Hairston, who has signed with Western Carolina, won the 400 and capped his day by also blazing to a win in the 200 meters on a day when only two individuals from Northwest North Carolina won state titles.

Joining Hairston as a two-time winner was Cordell Livingston of Southwest Guilford, who won the 110 and the 300 hurdles.

The Parkland girls were the area team story yesterday. The Mustangs — who won the 4x100 relay and piled up points in several events — were tied with Asheville Roberson with 60 points each heading into the final event, the 4x400 relay.

But Roberson ran to a third-place finish in the 4x400 meters, picking up six points to finish with 66 and the team championship.

On a muggy afternoon at Belk Track, Carver's Hairston ran trials in the 200 and 400, and also ran the 4x200 before the finals of the 400. But Hairston ran a personal best time of 48.51-seconds to win the 400 and chalked it up to hard work.

"And will power," he said. "I wanted it. I came in third in the state two times and I wanted to go out my senior year winning. The 4x2 we were really down so I didn't really run it the way I wanted to. It feels good. It feels real good."

Hairston immediately expressed confidence in winning the 200, and he did, posting a winning time of 22.40 seconds.

Parkland's girls combined for seven top-five finishes in individual events in addition to winning the 4x100 relay and finishing second in the 4x200 relay.

Mytoia Gathings — who had a third place finish in the 200 and a fifth-place finish in the 100 — ran the anchor leg of the 4x100 after Chelsie Carlton, Christine Council, and Myia Rivers positioned her just behind Greensboro Dudley's anchor leg.

And Gathings pumped out a hard finish, passing Dudley's runner over the final 50 meters for a relay time of 48.13.

"I was behind about seven, eight meters," Gathings said. "I just had the confidence in my form, ran hard and hoped for the best at the end. I felt like I was going to get her. She didn't really get out hard when she got the baton. After about 10 meters, I knew I had her. It was our goal to be state champs in the 4x1 and we got it."

Council ran the anchor leg on Parkland's 4x200, teaming with the same 4x100 runners to post a second-place time of 1:41.54.

"When I got the baton I was in third place and all I was thinking was, 'Oh no, we can't end this in third place.' So when I came out of the curve I (passed a South Central runner) and had my eyes on Dudley and said, 'I am going to get this girl.'

"I was neck and neck with her. It was a good effort but it wasn't enough. If I had five more meters I probably would have caught her. I know my girls were proud but I wish I had done a little more for them but we are doing the best we can."

The Reagan boys 4x800 team capped what has been a standout season with their best effort yet. Jack Anderson, Austin Jones, Seth Anderson and Adam Lavis combined for a time of 7:52.13, their best time of the season by more than five seconds and the 13th best time in NCHSAA state-championship history for all classifications.

The Raiders' only problem came in Waxhaw Marvin Ridge. David McCuiston, running the anchor leg for Marvin Ridge, passed Lavis over the final 200 meters and led his team to a winning time of 7:50.54, which is the seventh-fastest time in state history.

"Everybody on our team ran great and that's all we could ask for," Jones said. "Jack ran (his leg) in two minutes, I ran 1:57, Seth ran 1:56 and Adam ran 1:57. Marvin Ridge just had a great race and stayed in it the whole time. (McCuiston) had a really strong race and caught us at the end.

"We went down to the Taco Bell Classic and we were surprised when they were right behind us on the anchor leg and we held them off there. In the regionals, we held them off there and it was a windy day and a tough race. Today, I don't know. They just had a great race."

Southwest's Livingston won the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.31, won the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.03, and also had a third-place finish in the triple jump (46 feet, 10 inches) and a fourth-place finish in the long jump (22-6¾)

Chase Ingram of Glenn had a second-place finish in the high jump by clearing the bar at 6-6, Shemiah Brooks of Southwest Guilford finished second in the triple jump, and Sequaya Jackson of High Point Andrews finished second in the shot put.

Kristen Henson of Reagan, who ran a little track in middle school and is also a junior-varsity volleyball and basketball player, flashed a ton of potential as a distance runner by finishing fourth in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200. Henson a time of 5:13.63 in the 1,600 and in a humid and sun-baked 3,200, she gutted out a time of 12:30.73.

-Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.