COLUMBIA – The Nation Ford Falcons sprinted and jumped their way into the school and state record book as three of their track athletes won a combined five state championships during Friday’s 5A state championship meet at Spring Valley High School.
Mia Royall and Neale Johnson each won two state championships and Xavier Dixon completed the trifecta for Nation Ford with a state championship also, as the Falcons’ boys team finished second to Spring Valley in the search for a team state championship. Spring Valley boys scored 99 points, while Nation Ford finished second with 58 points.
“Overall, we did well,” said Nation Ford head track coach Mica McCoy. “This is the most we have ever had win a state title.”
Johnson started his day with the long jump and was able to clear 23 feet, 4.75 inches to win the event. He then won the 400-meter hurdles for the Falcons with a time of 53.41, just 0.41 seconds ahead of second place.
“When it came to jumping, I just had to find my mark,” he said. “I had to work some time in there to get some rest. The two people I beat, had been beating me all year.”
Dixon started the evening off finishing second in the 100-meter, but capped his evening off winning the 200-meter in 21.24.
“I got a really good start,” he said. “I just wanted to stay relaxed and stay straight up.”
For Dixon and Johnson, they are the first ever male state track champions for Nation Ford.
The Nation Ford girls finished fourth with 43 points, behind Blythewood, who won the 5A girls meet, with 86 points.
Royal won the 800-meter and 1,600-meter and set a new state record in doing so in the event. Royall won the 1,600-meter race in 4:48.09 setting a new state record. Royall had broken the previous state record she had set just last week, but said that wasn’t the goal this time.
“I was just trying to win,” she said. “I just kept pushing. I gave it my all down the final stretch.”
A West Point commit, Royall won the event by just 0.64 seconds over Chapin’s Abigail White. Royall came back about two hours later to win the 800-meter race in 2:15. Her goal in that race she was to just have fun in her final event of her prep career. It was Royall’s second consecutive 800-meter state championship winning the same event last season.
“I knew there was going to be good competition,” she said. “I knew if I gassed myself too much, I wouldn’t have a good second lap. I had a strong finish to my high school career. I am happy about it.”
The Fort Mill boys finished tied with Goose Greek for ninth place with 30 points. Elijah Grant finished second in the 400-meter with a time of 47.04 as the highest finished for the Fort Mill boys’ team.
The Fort Mill girls’ team finished 15th with 19.5 points. Alivia Cleveland had the high finish for the Lady Jackets finishing third in the 1,600-meter in 5:02.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
