NC High School Gets State Title After DQ Reversal
A North Carolina high school track team has been reinstated as co-champions after a runner was disqualified for raising five fingers in celebration while crossing the finish line.
Nyan Brown of Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte was disqualified from the 4×400-meter relay race last month when he raised his hand with five fingers extended while crossing the finish line. The disqualification cost his team what would have been a fifth consecutive state championship, as New York Post reports.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association made its final ruling. Mallard Creek will share the state championship title and be recognized as co-winners of the 4×400-meter relay alongside teams that were initially awarded those honors after Brown’s disqualification.
Brown and his coach maintained that the gesture represented the five straight track titles won by Mallard Creek across the past three outdoor and past two indoor seasons. The race official claimed Brown had received a prior warning about celebrations, but athletes and coaches from Mallard Creek said they had no knowledge of any such warning.
Brown expressed gratitude on his Instagram Story Tuesday following the decision. He emphasized that the outcome was about the team’s achievement rather than individual recognition, writing that they had earned their fifth state team championship coming into the season.
Mallard Creek appealed the disqualification immediately, bringing their case before the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Interscholastic Appeals Board. After hearings last week, the board sided with the school.
The NCHSAA convened an emergency meeting where officials decided to recognize Mallard Creek’s victories without removing the results of teams named winners after the initial disqualification, according to the Associated Press. C.E. Jordan High School will share the state championship, while Hough High School will share first place in the 4×400 relay.
Mallard Creek principal Jared Thompson praised the decision and thanked both the appeals board panelists and NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker. He acknowledged the emotional toll the controversy had taken on student-athletes, coaches, schools and communities throughout the process.
Thompson emphasized that young people who invested countless hours into their sport and team remained at the center of the matter.
With information from New York Post
