It was a bittersweet night at Landrum on Wednesday as one set of Cardinals kept a streak alive and another lost for the first time in more than a decade.
Landrum hosted the Region II-1A Championship Track Meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On one end, the Landrum boys cruised to an easy and dominating victory. The Cardinals scored 273 points to win their 12th consecutive region title. The next best score was Christ Church with 86 points.
On the girls’ side, a streak ended. Southside Christian snuck up and squeaked out a victory over the Lady Cardinals. The Lady Cardinals had won 12 consecutive region titles, but lost to the Lady Sabres 181-163 as the final tally was counted on Wednesday night.
The men were led by Peyton McCarter. The junior won the pole vault, the 100-meter run, and ran a leg of the 4×100, which included Cole McDowell, Aaron Bryant and JoJo Wilkins. He also finished second in the 200-meter run.
“I always just want to win,” McCarter said. “Every time, I want to do my best.”
The Cardinals are the defending state champions but the team is a little different this year. The Cardinals may not get a lot of first place finishes, head coach Russell Mahaffey said, but the team is filled with quality depth that will drive them forward.
“That’s our strength,” Mahaffey said.
That strength played out over the last two days. The Cardinals have all the events covered as they head toward the Upper State finals.
“That’s something to really be proud about,” Mahaffey said.
On day one, Cole McDowell won the triple jump and Chasten Thomas won the discus and shot put. Other Cardinals who won on Tuesday included Daisha Whitmire in discus (89’2”); Holly Ricket in shot put (27’10”); Hunter Conley in the high jump (6’); Landrum’s 4×800 relay team of Danny Bruce, Will Brown, Kevin Human and Troy Hodge (8:48); and McCarter in pole vault (12’).
On Wednesday, McCarter, the 4×100 relay team and Paul Miller added wins. Miller won the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles.