{"id":304,"date":"2026-05-17T18:32:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=304"},"modified":"2026-05-17T18:32:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:32:53","slug":"bad-call-robbed-a-charlotte-school-of-a-track-title-nc-officials-should-fix-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=304","title":{"rendered":"Bad call robbed a Charlotte school of a track title. NC officials should fix it"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mallard Creek was robbed of a high school state track championship Saturday in Greensboro by a poor officiating call, in a decision that could and should be overturned by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.<\/p>\n

Read more Swimmer \u2018yelling for help\u2019 was being pushed by wind towards dam, NC rescuers say<\/a><\/p>\n

With a couple of seconds left in the 4×400 relay, Mallard Creek star Nyan Brown had pulled well ahead of the field on the anchor leg. His impending victory would erase the two-point edge in total points in the 8A standings held by Durham Jordan, allowing Mallard Creek\u2019s boys team to win its third consecutive NCHSAA state championship.<\/p>\n

And then Brown raised his left hand in the air just before he crossed the finish line. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

Mallard Creek boys track and field was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after winning the 4×400 relay in the final event of the day. Had the result stayed, the Mavericks would have won the team state championship. Instead, they remained in second place.<\/p>\n

You can read the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/fdWIAW1UXT<\/a><\/p>\n

Runners behind him \u2014 if they were looking up, which is somewhat doubtful \u2014 might have seen the back of his hand. Maybe.<\/p>\n

Immediately, Brown was disqualified from the race by a track official, who was standing at the finish line and told him that it was against the rules to celebrate while the race was going on.<\/p>\n

Immediately, the 10 points Mallard Creek would have received for a first-place finish was changed to zero points, meaning Jordan won the title.<\/p>\n

And immediately, a controversy began.<\/p>\n

That was unsportsmanlike conduct? Seriously?<\/p>\n

\u201cNyan is devastated,\u201d Bryant Bailey, the Mallard Creek athletic director, said Sunday. \u201cHe\u2019s very upset, as are we. With the state championship on the line, they decided to make that call and DQ him. And if you go back and look at other photos and videos throughout the week, you can see multiple instances of kids celebrating way, way harder while coming across the line than what I think our young man did. If you\u2019re going to make that call, make it all week long, and not on the last event on the last day of a state meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mallard Creek filed an official protest, but the call was quickly upheld. Jordan was announced as the meet winner, with the Mallard Creek boys second (the Mallard Creek girls team won a separate state title).<\/p>\n

Is there any room for another look at the call?<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we want to win,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cBut because of the way it all has transpired, the official has a last say. In addition, they\u2019ve already given the trophies and everything to Jordan. So essentially, it can\u2019t be overturned.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s mild celebration wouldn\u2019t have drawn a flag in the NFL or a technical in the NBA. I\u2019ve been to hundreds of high school sporting events and seen \u201cworse\u201d in almost every one of them. This wasn\u2019t a throat-slash, a baton-spike, a shove, a verbal taunt or any of the other dozen things you could easily name that might warrant a DQ.<\/p>\n

No, it was a raised hand.<\/p>\n

And that is technically against the antiquated rules of high school track and field, even though Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt\u2019s post-race (and sometimes in-race) joyous celebrations remain a gold standard in the sport.<\/p>\n

Read more Sprawling rock hidden in North Carolina woods began as trapped magma, experts say<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, I understand Brown \u2014 an N.C. State signee with a 3.6 GPA and an All-American caliber track star who runs with his glasses on \u2014 had been warned by a track official after setting a state record and winning the 300-meter hurdles earlier Saturday in Greensboro. \u201cThat record had stood for about 20 years,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cAnd he didn\u2019t taunt anybody. He just was happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I watched that celebration on video, too, and it was as tame as a baby goat at a petting zoo. Brown flexed a little, facing away from his competitors, yelled in jubilation and slapped hands with a teammate.<\/p>\n

That drew a warning? Yes, it did.<\/p>\n

And then, Bailey said, an official did warn all the teams en masse before the 4×400 not to celebrate prematurely.<\/p>\n

So I suppose Brown was on double-secret probation when he ran the anchor leg of Mallard Creek\u2019s relay, and so some track official decided to insert herself into the event.<\/p>\n

The video of the event had already been viewed more than six million times on various platforms as of Sunday afternoon, as people tried to figure out what Brown had done that would warrant a DQ.<\/p>\n

I tried to contact NCHSAA officials Sunday, but those messages weren\u2019t immediately returned.<\/p>\n

So what should the NCHSAA do?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple. You don\u2019t take away Jordan\u2019s championship, because Jordan did nothing wrong. You just make the two teams co-champions. Give them both a trophy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen this happen before, in a different sport but still under the NCHSAA umbrella, when there was a controversy due to some scoring rules not being fully explained. Both teams ended up sharing the title. Both went home relatively happy.<\/p>\n

So let Jordan and Mallard Creek share the boys title. Let them both buy their players championship rings if they\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t take away a state championship for something as mild as raising your hand when you\u2019re crossing the finish line after winning one of the biggest races of your life.<\/p>\n

Read more Colin Jost Is Nearly Forced to Shave Off His \u2018Award-Winning\u2019 Hair on \u2018SNL\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

It just makes both the sport and the NCHSAA look out of touch.<\/p>\n

There are rules, sure. There is also common sense.<\/p>\n

For once, can\u2019t common sense prevail?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mallard Creek lost NC high school 8A state title in Greensboro after Nyan Brown DQ\u2019d for celebration in 4×400 relay. The NCHSAA should name co-champions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nBad call robbed a Charlotte school of a track title. 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