Rees wins gold as East Burke boys finish as state runners up in indoor track

Junior Jesiah Rees won the boys 55-meter dash, one of seven finishes of sixth place or better for the East Burke boys as a team as the Cavaliers finished in second place at the NCHSAA 4A indoor track and field state championship meet at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem on Feb. 12.

It was the third time in the last four seasons that the EB boys indoor squad has finished in second place or better at the state level.

Rees made it four Burke County prep athletes to win state gold, joining Patton’s Elise Sawdy, Draughn’s Anna Cape, and NCSSM-Morganton’s Max Vaughan, who won gold at meets earlier last week.

Rees ran the 55 meters in a school-record time of 6.58 seconds, and he was also the recipient of the N.C. Farm Bureau Insurance Sportsmanship Award at the meet.

Rees also teamed with Kendale Cook, Ossie Burkeen, and Josh Hicks for a third-place finish in the boys 4x200-meter relay (1:36.09).

Also finishing in the top six in their events were the Cavaliers’ Cook (500 meters, fifth), Hicks (triple jump, fifth), Elijah Baker (1600 meters, sixth), Ossie Burkeen (55-meter hurdles, sixth), and Bryson Church (shot put, sixth).

The EB boys also got strong showings from Hicks in the 55 hurdles (ninth), Cook in the 300 meters (10th) and 55 hurdles (12th), Burkeen in the long jump (12th), and Jayden Abernathy in the pole vault (11th).

The Lady Cavaliers placed 10th as a team, getting state medals via Jordan Auldredge (pole vault; second, 8’6”) and Kendall McFalls (300 meters; third, 42.30), while Emmonie Haith placed eighth in the 55 meters (7.80).

WRESTLING

EB’s Cook qualifies for state

One of just three conference champions from Burke County this season, East Burke junior wrestler Daniel Cook became one of one in another category last weekend as he was the county’s lone boys wrestler to qualify for this week’s NCHSAA state championships.

Cook did so by virtue of his fourth-place finish in the 144-pound class at the NCHSAA 4A West Regional individual tournament at Maiden High School on Feb. 13-14.

Cook, who improved to 31-6 for the season, opened the event with wins via a 13-2 major decision and second-period pinfall. Then after dropping a first-period pin in the championship semifinals, he won by first-period pin and 5-3 decision to reach the third-place bout, where he fell via a 10-3 decision.

Cook, whose only two losses at regionals came versus fellow state qualifiers, joins girls wrestlers Taylor Baker of Patton and Andrea Cisneros of Freedom as the county’s only state qualifiers in the sport this season. That trio opened state at the Greensboro Coliseum late Thursday.

Also from EB, Tucker Chapman (120) finished one win shy of qualifying for state. Chapman (21-10) lost via tech fall in the opening round before rattling off wins by third-period pin, decision, and first-period pin to work his way back to the consolation semis, where he lost via 11-8 sudden victory.

Four other county boys grapplers — Freedom’s Ethan Yang (106) and Izick Thao (138), Patton’s Cavan Sullivano (165), and Draughn’s Gaston Garrison (132) — also each finished one win shy of reaching state. Like Cook, Yang, Thao, and Sullivano lost only to wrestlers who went on to reach state.

At the 3A West Regional at West Lincoln, Sullivano capped a 30-8 season, while Garrison finished with a record of 22-10.

Sullivano started regionals with a win by second-period pin, then lost an 8-2 decision. He bounced back and won a second-period pin and a 6-4 decision before a major decision loss in the consolation semis.

Garrison first won a 7-3 decision, then lost on a first-period pin before winning an 8-0 major decision and a 10-3 decision. He lost on a second-period pin to end his regional run.

Patton’s Connor Mahoney (190) and Draughn’s Cayman Lewis (165; decision) were the only other county wrestlers to earn a win at 3A regionals.

In the 6A event hosted by the Kernersville Recreation and Events Center, Yang (21-11) won a first-period pin followed by a 12-5 decision before ending on the wrong ends of 11-7 and 1-0 decisions. Thao (22-8) won by first-period pin, lost by third-period pin with just 4 seconds remaining, then won 6-3 and 14-7 decisions before a pinfall defeat to end his season.

Xander Vue (113; decision, major decision) also won twice at regionals for the Patriots, while Henry Hall (144; second-period pin) and Oliver Salvatiera (285; decision) won once each.

SWIMMING

Seasons conclude at state meets

Swimmers from all five county programs took to the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary for the NCHSAA state championship meets on Feb. 12-14.

East Burke participated first in the 4A meet on Feb. 12, with the Cavalier boys team placing 23rd. Haiden Dale led EB with an 11th-place finish in the boys 100 breaststroke (1:10.56), and he also finished 16th in the 100 freestyle (55.34).

The EB boys quartet of Dale, Noah Ramsey, Gage Allen, and Joseph Acuna placed 14th in the 400 free relay (4:12.71) and 16th in the 200 medley relay (2:07.11), and Ramsey placed 24th in the boys 200 individual medley (2:41.94).

The Lady Cavaliers’ Abigail Gladden, Gracyn McIntosh, Emma Curtis, and Freyja Lemaire took 22nd place in the 400 free relay (5:16.89), and Lemaire placed 30th in the 500 free (7:43.69).

Freedom was next to compete, doing so in the 6A state meet on Feb. 13 as the Patriot boys placed 16th as a team and the girls 19th.

The top FHS finish came via Nick Chiota, Jeffery Gomez-Andres, Brayden Cullen, and Sean Causby as they placed eighth in the boys 400 free relay (3:40.34), dropping nearly 10 seconds off their previous season-best time.

Chiota, Cullen, and Causby teamed with Rex Jones for a 12th-place mark in the 200 free relay (1:38.09), and those same four finished 13th in the 200 medley relay (1:50.23).

Individually, Chiota (200 free; 12th, 1:53.84) led the way for Freedom, followed by Cullen (100 breast; 20th, 1:08.81), Causby (50 free; 29th, 24.60), and Gomez-Andres (500 free; 23rd, 6:00.08).

The FHS girls’ top result was a 13th-place mark from the all-freshman 400 free relay unit of Lucy Jones, Britta Ruechel, Leighton Beck, and Philomena Miguel (4:16.51). Jones, Beck, and Miguel also teamed with Gracie Farris for a 14th-place showing in the 200 medley relay (2:06.99).

And not far behind, Jones, Ruechel, Miguel, and Neyli Lopez-Rodriguez finished 15th in the 200 free relay (1:54.58). Individually, Jones placed 19th in the 100 free (59.10), Farris was 25th in the 100 backstroke (1:11.79), and Miguel was 30th in the 100 butterfly (1:13.90).

Draughn, Patton, and NCSSM-Morganton then wrapped up the local prep swim season at the 1A/2A/3A state meet on Feb. 14, with top local team finishers including the NCSSM-M boys (19th), NCSSM-M girls (23rd), and Draughn girls (30th).

The Dragon boys’ 400 free relay of Yuval Dinodia, Aiden Marshall, Sam Day, and Matthew Cai notched the county’s top finish at the meet, placing eighth (3:38.96).

Also for NCSSM-M, Dinodia, Marshall, Day, and Kai Dugan took 11th in the boys 200 free relay (1:37.56), and Marshall also finished 11th in the boys 200 IM (2:10.68). The boys 200 medley relay of Dinodia, Cai, Marshall, and Owen Howard placed 17th (1:59.00), and the Dragons were also represented in individual events by Day (50 free, 21st, 24.20; 100 free, 26th, 56.04), Dinedia (100 breast, 22nd, 1:10.79), and Cai (boys 100 fly, 22nd, 1:01.57).

For the NCSSM-M girls, Megan Eguiarte posted a 10th-place time in the 100 free (57.55) and finished 13th in the 50 free (26.96).

The Lady Dragon 200 medley relay of Eguiarte, Ainsley Vorhis, Lilah Johnson, and Campbell Shepherd placed 13th (2:04.05); Shepherd took 15th in the 100 free (59.73) and 17th in the 50 free (27.51); Johnson placed 18th in the 100 breast (1:14.84) and 21st in the 200 IM (2:32.40); and Vorhis was 30th in the 100 back (1:14.75).

Draughn was led by sophomore Saylor Watson, who broke two of her own DHS records at the meet as she finished 11th in the 500 free (5:42.00) and 13th in the 200 free (2:10.63).

Watson was also a member of two Lady Wildcat relays that placed 18th, teaming with Ava Aldridge, Isabella McDaniel, and Bailey Mozeley in the 200 free event (2:00.74) and with Aldridge, McDaniel, and Tenley Turner in the 400 free event (4:29.57).

And the 200 medley relay of Turner, Mozeley, Aldridge, and Maddie Grady placed 21st (2:21.97).

Liam Bradshaw paced Patton with an 18th-place finish in the boys 100 breast (1:20.38).

The Panthers boys 400 free relay of Henry Carlson, Dominick Curtis, Beckham Welch, and Oliver Olson was 19th (4:21.20), while the boys 200 free relay (1:47.13) and 200 medley relay (2:06.58), both composed of Bradshaw, Carter Phillips, Blake Peahuff, and Trevor Throneburg, placed 20th and 22nd, respectively.

Phillips also placed 26th in the boys 100 back (1:07.06), and Ana Sic led the PHS girls as she placed 24th in the 100 fly (1:13.28) and 30th in the 200 IM (2:50.54).