GREENSBORO, N.C. — A hand gesture by a member of a North Carolina high school relay squad cost his team a third consecutive boys state track and field championship -- and fifth overall -- on Saturday.
Senior Nyan Brown, of Mallard Creek High School team from Charlotte, crossed the finish line in the 4x400 race and appeared to raise his left hand, showing five fingers to signify the team’s fifth state title.
However, the team was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after the race, WSOC reported.
“Once I saw the official throw the flag up, I couldn’t believe it,” Mavericks coach Samuel Willoughby told the television station. “I was in disbelief.”
Mallard Creek boys track and field was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after winning the 4x400 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.
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Mallory Creek, which needed just two points -- or a fifth-place finish in the tournament’s final event -- was disqualified by a track official. That allowed Jordan High School of Durham to claim its first boys track and field state championship, WRAL reported.
Mallory Creek finished second.
Earlier in the meet, Brown also broke a near 20-year state record and set a personal best in the 300-meter hurdles. He also reacted after crossing the finish line, according to WSOC.
Willoughby told the television station that the same official who called the unsportsmanlike behavior said she had warned Brown after the hurdles race.
“I know that’s the message people are going to say is if he was warned before, why did he do something like this again? He was never warned,” Willoughby said. “He never did anything to suggest that he was showing up another individual. He was happy for himself. For her to say that was a warning, it’s mind-blowing.”
Mallard Creek principal Jared Thompson filed a written appeal and grievance on Monday to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors and Commissioner Que Tucker, WRAL reported. The NCHSAA said it received the letter, but it did not reverse its decision.
“Judgment decisions made by meet officials are done with the full knowledge of NFHS Track & Field Rules as well as rules and expectations of the NCHSAA relative to unsporting behavior and actions,” Tucker said in a statement Sunday night. “We recognize there is deep disappointment experienced by the student-athletes, coaches, and the school community involved.”
The disqualification has attracted national attention, WRAL reported. Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, a former track athlete, said in a social media post that the gesture was not “taunting or unsportsmanlike.”
“A High School was ROBBED of a State Championship,” Griffin wrote.
The Mallard Creek girls. meanwhile, won their first outdoor state title, WSOC reported.
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