CFNN reporter Christopher Shick 

Cape Fear track opened their season with two meets on Thursday, March 5th and Saturday, March 7th, and they performed extremely well in both meets. 

On Thursday , the Colts traveled to Grays Creek and competed in their first meet of the season. The team had strong performances across many different events, and several athletes finished near the top of their races and field events.

Some of the biggest highlights came in the distance events. Collin Shick finished first in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:07.42, followed closely by Randy Desjardin in second, and Kayden Giles in fourth. Later in the meet, Shick also won the 3200 meter run with a time of 11:23.53, while Giles placed second.

“I’m happy with the two wins in the first meet, but I’m not happy with the times,” said Collin Shick . “I think the team also ran well as a whole, winning many events as individuals and relays.”

Cape Fear also performed well in the middle distance races. Seth Lowery Maness finished second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:16.06. O’mari Williams and Mikhail Freeman also had strong races and finished in the top five.

In the sprint events, several Cape Fear athletes had strong finishes. In the boys 200 meter dash, Jacen Lunnermon placed sixth with a time of 24.13 seconds. In the girls events, Nariah Scott McLeod finished fourth in the 100 meter dash and later won the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.91 seconds. Makiyah Young and Anaiya Lewin also finished near the top in the 200 meter race.

Cape Fear also had success in the field events. Zion George won the boys high jump with a jump of 6 feet. Jacen Lunnermon also had a strong performance in the triple jump, finishing first with a jump of 42 feet 5.75 inches. Reuben Hogan placed fifth in the long jump as well.

The Colts also had strong performances in the hurdles and relays. Brandon Patton won the boys 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.64 seconds. In the relay events, the boys team placed second in the 4×100, 4×400, and 4×800 relays, while the boys 4×200 relay team won their event with a time of 1:34.17. The girls relay teams also had success, finishing second in the 4×100 and winning the 4×200 relay.

On Saturday, several Cape Fear athletes traveled to Reid Ross High school to compete in the Golden Dash Relays against schools from across the state. The meet featured strong competition, and both the boys and girls teams had solid performances.

For the boys team, Collin Shick placed fourth in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:51.33, while Kayden Giles also ran well and finished thirteenth. Giles later finished fifth in the 3200 meter run. In the relay events, the boys 4×100 team placed seventh with a time of 45.30 seconds, the 4×200 relay finished eighth with a time of 1:35.20, and the 4×400 relay team placed sixth with a time of 3:38.70. Brandon Patton also had a strong day in the hurdles, finishing second in both the 110 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles.

The girls team also competed well at the meet. Keziah Chambers finished ninth in the 1600 meter run with a time of 6:14.54. In the relay races, the girls 4×100 relay team finished fifth with a time of 52.34 seconds, the 4×200 relay team placed eighth with a time of 1:51.55, and the girls 4×800 relay team finished seventh with a time of 12:03.21.

Overall, The Colts had a strong start to the season with many athletes placing near the top of their events and gaining valuable experience in both meets.