The Washington boys track team entered this weekend’s regional meet at Pasquotank High School with aspirations of a regional championship. Despite falling one spot short of their initial goal, the Pam Pack laid it all on the line and locked up a decisive second-place finish with 103.5 points, while track dynamo North Brunswick took the meet with a final score of 148.

Head coach Jon Blank, who predicted that his squad and North Brunswick would be the top-two teams at the finish, will also be sending 12 of his athletes to states after each placed in the top-four of their respective events. Some, like junior Markel Spencer and senior Stevie Green, qualified in multiple events.

While the boys shined, it was a tough day for the Washington girls, who had a disappointing showing with just nine points, finishing tied for 18th place with Southwest Edgecombe and Greene Central. Croatan won conclusively with 127 points, 59 more than second-place Beddingfield. Top performers were Cierra Hales in the 100-meter hurdles (sixth place) and the 4×100-meter relay team (sixth place), consisting of Caitlin and Cierra Hales, Shaneen Midgette and Dajah Smith.

It was a memorable day for the boys, however, especially Green. The top performer on the basketball court turned in a historic showing on one of the biggest stages in track. Green captured second in the high jump and third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.77.

The 4×100-meter relay team, which included Green, sophomore Jarquez Keyes, senior Tarahje Burke and junior Markel Spencer, finished tied for third place with a time of 43.45 seconds. Relays being one of the team’s primary strengths, Keyes, Burke, Spencer and senior Daniel Maultsby secured a third-place finish in 4×200 with a time of 1:30.74, Maultsby, Myron Brooks, Stepfon Rodman and Suaeshawn Poe led the 4×400 team to a second-place finish with a time of 3:29.25.

Although Washington’s 4×800 fell a few seconds short of qualifying for states, Brooks, Raquan Davis, Willie Smith and Victor Santos finished fifth with a time of 8:41.30.

Blank will have to rely on his talented core of relay runners if Washington is to have a chance at possibly taking a state championship. Nevertheless, the young coach even had a few field players step up this weekend, including Javon Whitney, who finished first in the high jump. Junior Zach Bridgeman, one of the surprises of the meet, notched a spot at states with a fourth-place showing in the high jump, while Green, one of the favorites in the event, took second.

For track, Spencer actually improved upon his initial preliminary time in the 100-meter dash with a final time of 11.16. In one of his best times this season, Rodman locked up first-place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.61, blowing by the rest of the field, including his teammates, Brooks and Maultsby.

Spener added to his day by winning the 200-meter dash, while Keyes finished fifth and in an incredible display of durability, Washington’s Victor Santos ran the 3200-meter run in 10:42.09, taking the event by more than four seconds.

The 12 Pam Pack athletes who qualified for the state championships will head to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro on May 10.