Mallard Creek won the North Carolina state championship in high school track… until it didn’t. Senior sprint and hurdles star Nyan Brown was disqualified for taunting.
The Mavericks dropped from first to second as a result.
Although the rules of high school track and field are clear, this specific officiating decision is egregious. Even if there was already warning.
Mallard Creek was punished for taunting and lost the high school track and fiend championship.
The North Carolina High School Athletics Association Class 6A Track and Field State Championships came down to the final event of the day. It came down to Mallard Creek and Jordan.
Mallard Creek High School, located in Charlotte, had won each of the last two state championships. The Mavericks were right on the verge of a three-peat with only the 4×400 relay remaining. Jordan High School, located in Durham, held the advantage at the start line. The Falcons had never won a state title.
They finally broke through on Saturday… on a technicality.
Mallard Creek took a comfortable lead into the final lap of the 4×400 relay. Senior Nyan Brown took the baton and took off. He finished the race in first place by more than a full second. The Mavericks secured their third-straight state championship with their relay victory in the final event of the meet.
However, Brown pulled back his pace on his last few steps and held up his hand as he crossed the finish line. North Carolina track and field officials deemed his celebration as excessive and issued an unsportsmanlike conduct ruling. Mallard Creed was disqualified from the race as a result.
A DQ on the final event of the day cost Mallard Creek's boys' track team a state title.
— Langston Wertz Jr. (@langstonwertzjr) May 17, 2026
A Mavericks runner raised his hand as he crossed the finish line.
Story, full resultshttps://t.co/cDgDeSLAlN pic.twitter.com/zrOxOyxE8j
Here is a closer look:
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.
— HighSchoolOT (@HighSchoolOT) May 16, 2026
You can read the… pic.twitter.com/fdWIAW1UXT
The disqualification led to a massive shakeup in the team standings. The Mavericks were relegated to silver.
Jordan led Mallard Creek 74-72 entering the final 4×400 relay. Mallard Creek would’ve finished with more points than Jordan if Brown was not penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Jordan held onto its lead because of the disqualification. The Falcons won the boys’ high school track and field championship.
Nyan Brown already received an official warning… or did he?
Most people would agree that Nyan Brown’s hand hold was not excessive or inappropriate. Most people would agree that the unsportsmanlike conduct ruling was not necessary. Especially considering that it was the final event of the state championship with serious podium implications. Especially considering that there were a number of more demonstrative celebrations at the finish line that did not result in DQ.
Here’s the thing.
Mallard Creek supposedly received a formal warning earlier in the day. Brown was supposedly told to watch his behavior after he took down the state record in the 300-meter hurdles because he flexed to the cameras beyond the finish line and barked back at some of the other competitors.
Therefore, the officials were especially quick to penalize Brown during the 4×400.
Mavericks head coach Samuel Willoughby pushed back on this account of what happened. He told The Athletic that he was not officially notified of any prior warning.
“When they warn an athlete, they call the coach in and say, ‘The athlete did this. If it happens again, he’s disqualified.’ No warning was said to him. No one called for me and said anything. It was just, ‘I gave him a warning earlier, and here’s what he did this time, so he’s out.’”
Willoughby does not want Mallard Creek to be the victim. His team shouldn’t have left the result up to the last event. He took the high road even though he didn’t have to. The penalty on Brown was absurd.