Mallard Creek won the boys’ 4x400m relay at a North Carolina state meet in Greensboro, but anchor runner Nyan Brown was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after celebrating too early. The call was upheld, leaving the Mavericks two points behind Jordan Hi
Mallard Creek’s boys looked like they had finally grabbed the moment at the North Carolina state meet in Greensboro. The team won the boys’ 4x400m relay, with Nyan Brown running the anchor leg, and Brown crossed the line after cruising down the home straight well clear of his rivals.
Just before the finish, he held up five fingers, signaling his team’s fifth championship. In an instant, that joy turned into a punishment: the result was overturned when an official disqualified Brown for unsportsmanlike conduct tied to his celebration.
The fallout was immediate and brutal.. With Brown and Mallard Creek disqualified. Mallard Creek dropped to a team total that left them two points behind rivals Jordan High.. The math was unforgiving—victory in the 4x400m. the final event of the meet. would have delivered Brown and Co 10 points and secured the team state championship.. Instead, the Mavericks ended the day in second place with zero points from the event that originally decided everything.
Mallard Creek reportedly launched a protest at the event, but the call was upheld.. In the aftermath, the disappointment inside the program was clear.. Bryant Bailey. the Mallard Creek athletic director. said Nyan is “devastated” and that “He’s very upset. as are we.” Bailey added that with the state championship on the line. “they decided to make that call and DQ him.”
Bailey argued that the strictness of the decision didn’t match what they saw elsewhere during the week.. He pointed to other photos and videos. saying there were “multiple instances of kids celebrating way. way harder while coming across the line than what I think our young man did.” His frustration sharpened with timing: “If you’re going to make that call. make it all week long. and not on the last event on the last day of a state meet.”
Nyan Brown’s disqualification was tied to a warning and expectations that had been discussed earlier in the meet.. It is claimed that after he ran the 300m hurdles and set a state record. he received a warning for celebrating following that race.. It was also claimed that teams were warned not to taunt rivals ahead of the 4x400m hurdles.
Despite the outcry, NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker stood by the decision.. In a statement to the Charlotte Observer. Tucker said judgment decisions by meet officials were made with full knowledge of NFHS (National Federation of State High School Association) track and field rules. along with NCHSAA rules and expectations relative to unsporting behavior and actions.. Tucker also acknowledged the human cost. saying there is “deep disappointment experienced by the student-athletes. coaches and the school community involved.”
The sequence of events in Greensboro is stark: Mallard Creek wins the 4x400m relay and holds a celebration that signals five championships. Brown is then disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. the protest is upheld. and that single call flips the team standings so they finish two points behind Jordan High with the event they needed ultimately worth them zero.
Brown. who has reportedly signed a track scholarship with NC State. had earlier set a state record in the 300m hurdles.. For Mallard Creek. the state championship picture shifted from certainty to loss in the last event of the meet—one moment decided by how a celebration was judged and then confirmed after the review.
Mallard Creek Nyan Brown disqualified 4x400m relay state championship Jordan High NCHSAA Greensboro high school track and field unsportsmanlike conduct