GREENSBORO — Logan Shuler and Kaiya Ellis of Andrews, as well as Fern Crayton of Tri-County Early College, won 1A state championships Thursday.
Shuler became a three-time high jump state champion with a personal-best jump of 6-foot-10.
Ellis won her first state title in the girls 100-meter hurdles.
Crayton claimed her second state championship of her senior year in the 3,200m run. Her first state title came when she won the 2025 1A cross-country state championship.
Track & field teams from 1A and 2A competed at N.C. A&T in Greensboro. 2A competed on May 13, while 1A competed Thursday.
Murphy had multiple athletes compete in the 2A state meet. Andrews, Tri-County Early College, Hiwassee Dam and Nantahala had athletes compete in the 1A state meet.
Andrews
For the third consecutive year, Shuler is the 1A state champion in high jump. He battled for the title and claimed it with a jump of 6-foot-10.
Ellis ran a time on 17.12 second in the preliminary race, then ran a 17.03 to claim the state championship in the 100m hurdles.
Ellis also came in sixth in triple jump and eighth in high jump.
Track & field head coach Reagan Lindsay said about Shuler and Ellis, “I am extremely proud of them and all they've done for their years as AHS Track athletes. Logan has consistently improved even in the face of direct challenges like the North Stokes jumper, with Logan now having the conference record for high jump and the No. 1 ranked high jump in 1A.
“Kaiya has worked diligently and determinedly to achieve her victory – she never rested on any laurels nor was satisfied with being the fastest in the conference, she always aimed for the state victory and achieved that magnificently.”
Also in the the 100m hurdles, Marissa Conti came in sixth place.
In girls shot put, Alexis Beasley came in seventh and Beth Beasley came in 10th.
For the Lady Wildcats, Jaden Crocker came in seventh in discus and Sadie Mustin came in eighth in triple jump. Yesenia Hernandez came in 15th in the 400m dash.
In the girls relays, the 4x100m team came in ninth and the 4x200m team came in sixth.
For the boys, Phisher Baxter came in seventh in the 100m dash. Chase Beasley came in 11th in the 110m hurdles. In the 1,600m run, Elliott Salinas came in 15th.
In the boys field events, Myca Mustin came in seventh in triple jump and Brayden Helton came in eighth in discus.
Christian Helton came in 13th in triple jump. Logan Patrick came in 10th in shot put and 12th in discus.
Lindsay said that the team is still young and has lots of potential.
“While we are losing extraordinarily talented seniors, we are overall keeping most of our athletes who, with another season of development, cane bring even more success and victories to Andrews High School,” he said.
Judging error
The Andrews girls 4x400m relay team were subjected to an error by N.C. High School Athletic Association judges at the 1A state championship meet.
The judges disqualified the Andrews girls team for a lane violation in the first leg of the relay. First leg runners are supposed to stay in their lane during the whole lap.
The judges said that Andrews went from the sixth lane to the fourth lane, then back to the sixth lane.
Based on a video submitted to the Cherokee Scout taken by a parent in the stands, the first leg Andrews runner did not leave her lane during the lap.
During the first leg, an athlete from North East Carolina Preparatory School left the eighth lane she started in, then proceeded to run in front of the Andrews athlete in the sixth lane. She then ran into the fourth lane before returning to the eighth lane to hand off the baton.
The Andrews runner was visibly upset by the actions of the other athlete running in front of her during the relay, throwing her hands up twice during the final stretch of the leg she was running. She gestured to her when she ran in front of her, then again after the batons had been handed off.
Lindsay did not receive the video in time and could not appeal the judge’s ruling, so the relay team’s disqualification remained in place.
North East Carolina Preparatory School finished the 4x400m relay in ninth place.
Tri-County
Four athletes and two relay teams from Tri-County Early College qualified for the 1A state track meet.
Crayton – who won the 1A state title in the 3,200m run – also came in fourth place in the 1,600m run.
The girls 4x800m relay came in court place.
Also competed for the Lady Jaguars, Bryanna Jaime came in 11th in the 3,200m run and Sophia Smith came in 10th in the 1,600m run.
For the boys, Joshua Bickham came in 13th in the 400m dash. The boys 4x00m relay came in 15th place.
Hiwassee Dam
The Eagles had three athletes qualify for the 1A state track meet.
Oscar Page competed in two events, coming in fifth in the 1,600m run and sixth in the 3,200m run.
Maverick Hawley also ran in the 3,200m and came in ninth place.
Sarah Stock was the only Lady Eagles to qualify for the state meet. She came in eighth place in the discus.
Nantahala
For the first time in school history, Nantahala had an athlete qualify for the track & field state championship.
Samuel Bateman competed in two events in the 1A state meet on Thursday.
He came in 10th place in the long jump and also came in 16th place in the high jump.
Murphy
The Bulldogs sent nine athletes to the 2A state championship meet on May 13 in Greensboro. Three of those athletes competed in multiple events at the state meet.
Amelia Joyner qualified for the state meet in both discus and shot put. She came in fourth place in shot put and seventh place in discus.
CJ Yarbro qualified for long jump and the 100m hurdles. She came in eighth place in the 100m hurdles and 14th place in long jump.
Camden Breazeale qualified in 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles. He came in fifth place in the 300m hurdles and 13th place in the 110m hurdles.
Also for the Lady Bulldogs, Ansley Roper finished in fourth place in discus. Bella Kent came in 11th place in high jump and Kinlee Herr came in 12th.
Valorie Jordan came in 11th place in the girls 300m hurdles.
For the boys, Aaron Harger came in second place in discus. Cale Harger came in 13th in long jump.
In teams scores, the boys tied for 18th with 12 points. The girls finished in 16th place with 13 points.