EB boys track wins 4A West Regional

The East Burke boys track and field juggernaut lived up to its reputation on May 8 at UNC Asheville, winning the team title at the NCHSAA 4A West Regional championship meet.

Cavaliers senior Kendale Cook won the boys 110-meter hurdles (15.01) and 300 hurdles (40.69) and placed second in the 200 meters, while junior teammate Jesiah Rees won the 100 meters (11.22) and placed fourth in the 200 meters.

The duo also teamed with RJ Williams and Josh Hicks for a runner-up finish in the 4x200-meter relay.

Other state championship meet qualifiers on the boys side included: Bryson Church, who placed second in the shot put; Hicks, who was third in both the 110 hurdles and triple jump; Gabe Metcalf, who finished fourth in shot put; and Elijah Baker, who was fifth in the 1600 meters and sixth in the 3200 meters.

For the fifth-place EB girls, Kendall McFalls (59.21) was girls 400 meters champion and placed runner-up in the 100 meters, also finishing second alongside Juleighanah Parker, Winter Hicks, and Gracie Smith in the 4x200 relay.

Jordan Auldredge was runner-up in the girls pole vault, and other Lady Cavs’ state qualifiers included Smith (300 hurdles; fourth), the girls 4x400 relay (fifth), and Sarabeth Bradley (girls triple jump; seventh).

EB then competed at the 4A state meet at N.C. A&T University’s Marcus T. Johnson Track on Wednesday, with the boys placing 14th and the girls 21st.

The Cavs’ contingent was led in Greensboro by Rees’ runner-up finish in the 100 meters (11.23) and McFalls’ runner-up finish in the 400 (58.88).

Cook was fourth in the 110 hurdles (15.27), fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.69), and 10th in the 200, while Rees placed 12th in the 200 and McFalls was ninth in the 100. Hicks (110 hurdles) and Baker (3200 meters) each captured sixth-place finishes, as did the boys 4x200 relay squad, while the girls 4x200 relay was seventh,

EB also got top-10 finishes at state from Bradley (triple jump, eighth), Church (shot put, eighth), Baker (1600 meters, ninth), Auldredge (pole vault, ninth), and Hicks (triple jump, 10th).

NCSSM-Morganton also enjoyed a great deal of success at the 1A West Regional, which was held May 8 at Montreat College, with the Dragons girls claiming third place as a team and the boys finishing fifth.

NCSSM-M was led by double regional champion Stella Friedman, who claimed the girls 800 meters (2:32.46) and 1600 meters (5:36.49).

Friedman also placed second in the 3200 meters and alongside teammates Alexandra Hexemer, Gracie Toplitz, and Lilah Johnson in the 4x800 relay.

The Dragons also picked up first-place finishes from Max Vaughan (boys 3200 meters, 10:11.28), who was also the runner-up in the 1600, as well as from Owen Howard (boys pole vault, 11’) and Emery Miller (girls pole vault, 7’).

Ziva Vargas (girls pole vault) and Brayden Tody (boys 800 meters) also placed second, while Lola Wilson was third in the girls high jump and fourth in the 300 hurdles, Will Evans was fourth in the boys 3200 meters, and the boys 4x800 relay of Ford Butner, Micah Stiggins, Dax Clark, and Josh Gandy also took an automatic state-qualifying spot with its fourth-place finish.

NCSSM-M’s at-large state qualifiers included: Hexemer (girls 3200 meters, fifth; 1600 meters, seventh); the boys 4x400 relay of Butner, Stiggins, Clark, and Tody (fifth); Johnson (girls 800 meters, sixth); Ben Ellwanger (boys 110 hurdles, sixth); Alexander Hruby (boys 3200 meters, sixth); Toplitz (girls 800 meters, seventh), and Vivian Lin (girls discus, seventh).

The North Carolina School for the Deaf’s Rivka Vincent also competed at 1A regionals, taking 12th in the girls discus and 15th in the shot put.

Then at the 1A state meet in Greensboro on Thursday, Friedman was named girls most outstanding performer as she won two events and placed second in two more, leading the Lady Dragons (65 points) to another third-place finish, just one point out of second place and two points out of first place.

Friedman again won the 800 meters (2:29.33) and 1600 meters (5:26.51), blowing away her seed times, and placed second in the 3200 (12:24.65) and with the 4x800 relay (11:00.98).

The Lady Dragons also got a win from Miller (pole vault, 8’), while Vargas was runner-up in the pole vault, Wilson was third in the high jump and seventh in the 300 hurdles, Hexemer was sixth in the 3200, and Toplitz was ninth in the 800.

For the eighth-place NCSSM-M boys at state, Owen Howard won the pole vault (11’), Vaughan was fourth in the 3200 and seventh in the 1600, Tody was fourth in the 800, Evans was fifth in the 3200, the boys 4x800 and 4x400 relays placed sixth and seventh, respectively, and Hruby was 10th in the 3200.

Draughn and Patton competed in the 3A West Regional at Polk County High School on May 9 and at the state title meet on Thursday, with the Patton girls placing a county-best seventh in both.

At regionals, the Lady Panthers were led by Elise Sawdy’s wins in the 1600 meters (5:13.43) and 3200 meters (11:57.30), while teammate Hannah Huggins won the long jump (16’2¾”) and Layla McGuire was second in the 800 meters. PHS’ Julia Niehoff and Nora Wykle also qualified for state after finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 3200.

Draughn got runner-up efforts from Anna Cape (girls pole vault) and Jerome Ramseur (boys 110 hurdles) plus third-place finishes from Cape (girls long jump), Adelei Morrow (girls high jump), and Noah Thomas (boys 1600 meters).

Then at state, Sawdy again won the 1600 (5:15.82) and took second in the 3200. Huggins was fourth in the long jump, McGuire eighth in the 800, and Niehoff 10th in the 3200, while Draughn got top 10s from Cape (pole vault, third), Ramseur (110 hurdles, sixth), and Morrow (high jump, sixth).

And Freedom competed in the 6A West Regional at A.C. Reynolds High School on May 9, gaining two boys state qualifiers for today’s meet in Greensboro.

The boys 4x100 relay of Justice Dominguez, Trenton Davis, Jusian Perkins, and Bryson Chapman placed third, and KeAndre Davis was fourth in the boys long jump. Ava Cooke did not qualify but placed sixth in the 400 meters to lead the Lady Patriots’ effort at regionals.

BOYS TENNIS

EB’s Borders reaches singles title match

East Burke junior Luke Borders reached new heights on May 8-9 in the NCHSAA 4A individual state championships at the Burlington Tennis Center, winning twice in singles play and advancing to his first state title match.

Borders topped Morehead’s Jordan Hyler, 6-0, 6-0, in round one before ending the opening day with a semifinal win over Enzo Atchison of Lincoln Charter (6-2, 3-1, ret.).

Borders, a three-time state qualifier who reached the semis as a freshman and the quarters as a junior, then battled with Lake Norman Charter’s Tejas Sridhar in the final but fell, 6-4, 6-2.

Also representing EB was the doubles team Haiden Dale and Noah Ramsey, who rallied from a set down to force a third set but ultimately fell to Landon Thoma/Carson Cosper of Ledford in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

“Luke played his heart out, and we are so proud of him,” EB coach Fred Brown said. “We know he will be back next year and will be ready to finish the job. Haiden and Noah put up a fight in doubles. They had a fantastic season, and we couldn’t be more proud of their growth and contributions to our program over their four years.”

Also this week, No. 7 seed NCSSM-Morganton continued its run in the NCHSAA 1A dual-team state playoffs with a 6-3 fourth-round road win over No. 6 Bishop McGuinness on Monday.

The Dragons (11-5) got singles wins from No. 2 Andy Quach (7-5, 6-2), No. 4 Nash Taylor (6-1, 6-4), No. 5 Aneel Gupta (6-1, 6-1), and No. 6 August Cook (6-3, 3-0, ret.) before doubles wins from No. 1 Quach/Nicholas Levine (8-1) and No. 3 Gupta/Cook (8-2) sealed the team triumph and lifted the Dragons to their second regional final in the program’s three total seasons.

Then in NCSSM-M’s third regional final of the 2025-26 school year — joining the girls tennis and boys soccer teams from the fall — the team played No. 1 seeded host Elkin (20-1) to a 3-3 standstill after singles play.

But rain followed, suspending play for the day before any doubles matches were completed. The schools on Thursday morning met via phone to determine whether and how to continue the match, when it was decided NCSSM-M would not drive back and instead forfeit.

“After much thought and given the current situation, we are conceding to Elkin,” Dragons coach Wayne Giese said. “It has been a good run, and we’ve had a good time.”

The result lifts Elkin to today’s state championship match at the Burlington Tennis Center against the East champion, No. 2 seed Research Triangle (14-2).

GIRLS SOCCER

Patton rallies in 2nd half, moves to round 3

The No. 8 seed host Lady Panthers (16-3-1) got down 1-0 at halftime Thursday against No. 9 East Davidson but scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to gain a 2-1 victory in the second round of the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs.

The victory advances Patton — which had received a first-round bye — to a May 11 third-round contest at top-seeded Pine Lake Prep (16-3) for a second consecutive season.

After an East Davidson goal in the 21st minute, PHS emerged from intermission as Jaxyn Nolen scored off an assist from Katrina Vu in the 44th minute before Brenda Lopez-Ortiz found the back of the net six minutes later.

Goalkeeper Jincy Gibby supplied 10 saves in the gut-check win.

“The biggest thing is that we finally settled down,” Patton coach Will Singley said. “I think just like any team, you get nervous at the very start of the game. The longer you play, especially with us having a lot of returning players, they know what the expectations are. They can get settled in, and then from there it’s just playing hard, playing out to the wing, and sliding it in. And they did exactly that, so I couldn’t be more happy and proud of them.”

In 1A West action, No. 8 NCSSM-Morganton (10-7) shut out No. 9 Andrews, 6-0, in round one at home Monday to gain a playoff win for a second straight season but fell Thursday at No. 1 seed Summit Charter, 8-1, to end the year.

Lady Dragons senior Hannah Xu (two assists) and junior Amelia Fleury both had hat tricks on Monday, with Elyse Rea supplying an assist and goalkeeper Tanishga Thankaraj Vijay pitching the shutout. Xu then scored her 20th goal of the season for the Lady Dragons’ lone tally on Thursday.

Also Monday in round one, No. 21 seed Freedom (5-15-1) fell 9-0 at No. 12 Burlington Williams in 6A action, while No. 24 East Burke (5-13-1) suffered a 5-0 loss at No. 9 South Rowan in the 4A bracket.

BOYS GOLF

Dragons’ McColley finishes top 10 at state

Three NCSSM-Morganton golfers competed in the NCHSAA 1A state championships at Gates Four Golf and Country Club in Fayetteville on Monday and Tuesday, and they all finished in the top half of the 50-player field.

Senior Davis McColley led the Dragons’ effort, placing ninth individually after rounds of 89 and 84 for a 29-over par total of 173 on the 6,411-yard, par-72 layout.

McColley, the county’s prep golfer of the year this spring, made two birdies for the week, one in each round, and his best nine was a 39 on the back nine on day two.

NCSSM-M junior Arti Phoncharoensri tied for 21st place after shooting 91 on Monday and 90 on Tuesday, and classmate Lance Morgan (89-96–185) finished in a tie for 25th.

Pinetown’s Northside High was 1A team champions, led by medalist Christopher Stembridge, a junior who shot rounds of 75 and 80 to win by three strokes.