This season, a new champion has been crowned in the 3A boys indoor track division of the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

On Saturday, Croatan earned 84.5 points at the JDL Fast Track event in Winston-Salem, surpassing the previous champion Franklin who came in second with 57.333 points.

Croatan has now won the boys indoor track state championship for the second time in three years. This brings their total number of championships to four, with previous wins in 2018 and 2019.

During the meet, Croatan achieved five top finishes, with two of their relay teams taking home gold medals. On Saturday, the Cougars were victorious in both the 4×400 meter relay and the 4×800 meter relay.

At the individual events, Croatan had Luke Nicolajsen come in first place in the 300 meter race, followed by Andrew Wahlgren in the 1000 meter race and Jake Carroll in the pole vault.

Trey Austin from Croatan came in second place in the 500 meter race and Pierce Mahnke placed third in the 55 meter hurdles.

Elijan Cochran, a senior at Franklin High School, was recognized as the Most Outstanding Performer at the state championship. Cochran achieved second place in both the 300 meter race and the 55 meter hurdles, and also took third place in the long jump event.

Le’Ezra Brown from Dudley High School was victorious in two events during Saturday’s competition: the 55 meter dash and the 55 meter hurdles. In the latter, he broke the 3A meet record, completing the race in just 7.25 seconds.

On Saturday, the NCHSAA acknowledged two athletes as recipients of the Sportsmanship Award. The awardees were Croatan’s Wahlgren and Franklin’s David Rogers.

Boys’ pole vault for 3A division.

1. Jake Carroll (Croatan) – 14-00.00

2. Aaron Jennings (Franklin) – 13-06.00

3. Lance Everhart (Asheboro) – J13-06.00

High Jump for Boys in Division 3A

1. Christian Hackett (Union Pines) – 6-08.00

2. Josh Flack (Enka) – 6-04.00

3. Lance Everhart (Asheboro) – J6-04.00

The event is the Boys Long Jump for the 3A category.

1. Aaron Higgins (Central Academy of Technology & Arts) – 22-06.00

2. Jeremiah Sellers (North Lincoln) – 22-04.25

3. Lance Everhart (Asheboro) – 22-03.00

Triple Jump for Boys in the 3A Category

1. Kwan Oates (Hickory) – 45-01.00

2. Devin Dow (Dudley) – 44-03.00

3. Kevin Spears (Harnett Central) – 43-03.25

Boys’ Shot Put event for 3A division.

1. Zahir McPhail (E.E. Smith) – 54-07.50

2. Jacob Butler (East Rowan) – 49-10.25

3. Zion Coulson (Northeast Guilford) – 48-01.00

3A Boys 55 Meter

1. Le’Ezra Brown (Dudley) – 6.38

2. Bryson Lomick from South Point had a time of 6.41.

3. Elijah Cochran (Franklin) – 6.45

3A Boys 300 Meter

The score for Luke Nicolajsen from Croatan was 35.13.

Elijah Cochran from Franklin scored 35.29 points in the game.

3. Travis Covington (Southern Guilford) – 35.77

3A Boys 500 Meter

Justin Bryant from Eastern Guilford completed the race in 1 minute and 7.41 seconds.

2. Trey Austin (Croatan) – 1:07.77

3. Amir Goines (Ashbrook) – 1:07.98

3A Boys 1000 Meter

Andrew Wahlgren from Croatan finished with a time of 2 minutes and 32.76 seconds.

Max Thompson from Kings Mountain finished in 2 minutes and 32.83 seconds.

3. Will Downs (Atkins) – 2:34.67

3A Boys 1600 Meter

1. ELi Julian (South Rowan) – 4:20.04

2. Hudson Rice from West Henderson finished with a time of 4:22.28.

3. Connor Bagwell (North Lincoln) – 4:22.70

3A Boys 3200 Meter

Eli Julian from South Rowan finished with a time of 9:35.73.

2. Hudson Rice (West Henderson0 – 9:36.42

The time for Ethan Rich from Western Harnett High School was 9 minutes and 46.95 seconds.

Boys’ 55-meter hurdles for 3A division.

1. Le’Ezra Brown (Dudley) – 7.25 (R)

2. Elijah Cochran (Franklin) – 7.71

3. Pierce Mahnke (Croatan) – 7.80

Boys 3A 4×200 meter relay

1. Dudley (Adeniyi Adegorioye, Koredell Bartley, Antonio Lee Jr., Derrick Hicks) – 1:32.13

The members of Southern Guilford (Travis Covington, Kameron Davis, Daivion Hall, Damian Vaughan) achieved a time of 1:32.18.

3. Statesville (Jehahj Sherrill, Davin Clarke, Mekiaun Davis, Nicholas Porter) – 1:32.90

Boys 3A 4×400 Meter Relay

1. Croatan (Trey Austin, Matthew Quispe, Cooper Stephens, Luke Nicolajsen) – 3:29.18

The team from Central Academy of Technology & Arts (Cameron Little, Matthew Pfister, Timothy Parsons, Jayden Rutledge) completed the race in 3 minutes and 32.75 seconds.

3. West Henderson (Keagan Saft, Hudson Rice, Rian Jones, Will Robinson) – 3:33.87

Boys’ 4×800 Meter Relay for 3A Division

1. The Croatan team (consisting of Trey Austin, Seth Nelson, Cooper Stephens, and Matthew Quispe) completed the race in 8 minutes and 8.90 seconds.

2. Central Academy of Technology & Arts (Andrew Catapano, Gavin Jansen, Heyden Christensen, Timothy Parsons) – 8:12.47

3. Franklin (Matheson Post, Barrett Stork, Cooper Tyler, Logan Russo) – 8:17.44

1. Croatan – 84.5

2. Franklin – 57.333

3. Dudley – 53.5

The number of students enrolled at the Central Academy of Technology and Arts is 37.

5. Union Pines – 28

6. West Henderson – 27

7. North Lincoln – 24

8. South Rowan – 23

T9. Asheboro – 22

T9. Southern Guilford – 22

Source: highschoolot.com