The Cuthberston girls indoor track and field team just won their fourth consecutive indoor track and field title in dominating fashion. The Cavs scored 106.5 points overall to break last year’s meet record they set.
Photo courtesy of NCHSAA
WINSTON-SALEM – The Cuthbertson girls indoor track and field team scored in every event except for shot put and broke last season’s record-breaking performance as they cruised to their fourth straight 3A title Feb. 14 at the JDL FastTrack.
Three school records fell as the girls dominated the 4×200 and 4×400 relays and Victoria Teasley in the 55-meter dash. In addition, Ava Studney won the pole vault title.
Teasley is one example of how this team has peaked at the right time as she’s broken the school record in the 55 each of the past three meets.
The dominating Cavs also got top-five performances from a host of individuals. Studney won the pole vault; Madeline Hill placed second in the 1,600; freshman Lillian Nasta was second in the 3,200; Mackenzie Townsend was third in the 1,600 and fifth in the 300; Teasley, another talented freshman, was third in the 55; Jade McLain was third in the long jump; Addison Benz placed fourth in the 300; and Presley Worf placed fourth in the 1,600.
Cuthbertson’s new school records came in the 4×200 (Teasley, Townsend, Benz and McLain) and in the 4×400 champions (Townsend, Caroline Palmer, Worf and Benz), both races the Cavs dominated.
4×200 (1:43.19) is ranked 35th nationally while the 4×400 (4:04.42) is now 20th in the country.
The 4×800 team set the state record last year, but strategically Allen decided not to run them, even though they were back on the team this year.
“We could have taken a shot with the girls 4×8, but we decided not to,” Cuthbertson coach Dustin Allen said. “We set the state record last year, we returned all four of those girls, but we didn’t run any of them in the 4×8. We used the freshmen and a couple other girls who’ve gotten better as the year’s gone on. We won by 60, but going into it, it never looks like you’re going to win by 60. We wanted to save them in their individual events. Even if we went from fifth to first, it’s only four points so we wanted them fresh.”
The Cavs set a state record with their 106.5 team points and showed dominance in 17 of the 18 events.
“It’s beyond what I ever dreamed of when becoming a coach. In my dream of being a successful coach, I never got this far,” Allen said. “To go four straight and to be as dominant as we were when we already had the most dominant team ever last year with 102, which is the most ever in an indoor meet. This year we scored 106.5.
“Never in a million years would I dream it has gotten to this point, and now with outdoor as a chance to get the triple crown. It would be the first girls team to do it from what I’ve looked at.
“This year, we’re loaded.”
Other top teams
The Cavs dominated the meet, but several schools took in top four finishes individually including:
• Marvin Ridge: Cara Salsberry won the shot put; Emma Stone was second in the pole vault; Isabel Crandall placed third in the pole vault; and the Mavs were second in 4×800 (Kayla Basinger, Riley Basinger, Lindsey Czaniecki and Caroline Blanton).
• Weddington: Jordyn Case placed second in the 55; Elizabeth Starkie finished second in the 500;
Emma Jones was fourth in the 3,200; and the Warriors were third in the 4×800 (Case, Madison Moraja, Clara Root and Starkie).
Overall, Cuthbertson scored a state-record 106.5 points and was followed by Parkland (47), Marvin Ridge (45, third), Weddington (39, fifth), Piedmont (3, 30th) and Charlotte Catholic (1.5, 34th).