NC board rules on Charlotte track team’s state championship appeal. What it decided
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- An appeals board approved Mallard Creek’s appeal, awarding the title.
- Mallard Creek was awarded the state championship after the appeal.
- Officials disqualified Brown citing a taunting-rule violation after a prior warning.
The Mallard Creek boys’ track team has won an appeal after a controversial disqualification initially cost the Mavericks a third straight state championship.
The Charlotte school’s appeal was heard by a three-member Independent Interscholastic Athletics Appeals Board run by the N.C. State Board of Education. That appeals panel included Dr. Rodney Shotwell (retired Superintendent, Rockingham County Schools), Robert Logan (retired Superintendent, Scotland County Schools) and Alice Lyons (Retired Principal, Heritage Collegiate Leadership Academy).
Last week, the panel met for two hours and heard statements and evidence presented by the N.C. High School Athletic Association and official from Mallard Creek.
The board’s approval sent the decision of what to do about the state championship to the NC High School Athletic Association, which had an emergency board meeting Tuesday morning. The board of directors voted to make Mallard Creek co-champions with Durham’s Jordan High School.
Jordan finished second in the meet before the Mavericks DQ.
The story of the Mavericks’ track team drew national attention, and outrage on social media, and was covered by several national outlets.
Mavericks coach Sam Willoughby told The Observer, before the decision was announced, that he always knew his team could lose its case, but that it was important to make it.
“I don’t know if any change will happen,” Willoughby said the day before Mallard Creek submitted its appeal. “But we at least want to have a voice.”
Background of the appeal
On May 16, at the NCHSAA 8A state track championships in Greensboro, Mallard Creek appeared to have locked up a third straight outdoor state championship as star Nyan Brown crossed the finish line in the final race of the day, the boys’ 1,600-meter relay.
As he crossed the finish line, well out in front, Brown held up the back of his hand, all five fingers outstretched. Mavericks coach Sam Willoughby said it was to signify three straight outdoor state titles to go with two straight indoor titles the team had won in the 2025 and ‘26 seasons.
Officials disqualified Brown for the act, saying the Mavericks senior had been warned for celebrating in an earlier race.
Willoughby said Brown had not.
“I was not told, and he was not told,” Willoughby told The Observer on Monday afternoon. “That became a ‘he-say, she-say’ thing. At the end, (the official) claimed she gave Nyan a warning. I kept asking her, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure you had the right kid?’ He said, ‘Coach, she never said anything to me.’”
Earlier in the day, Brown ran the fifth-fastest time in the United States this year in winning the 300-meter hurdles. The N.C. State recruit celebrated in front of a group of cameramen, his back to the other runners, and then hugged teammates and shook hands with at least one competitor.
Meet officials say they gave Brown a warning for violation of a taunting rule, which seeks to prohibit “any action or gesture intended to embarrass, ridicule or demean others.”
By this national rule, athletes are not permitted to celebrate, hold up their hands in victory or clench fists while crossing the finish line or completing a trial. Additionally, the rule says a runner must complete the activity before any celebration begins.
Brown’s 300-meter hurdles celebration was well after he finished the race. The second one, after the relay, was not.
The Observer reviewed hundreds of images shot by NC MileSplit at the state finals and found dozens of athletes celebrating by raising one hand or two hands. Some pointed to the wrists. One held up three fingers to celebrate winning three state titles. Several others held their arms outstretched while looking directly at the group of camera people sitting behind the finish line that Brown did.
“I thought that was just some targeting, maybe they didn’t want us to win for some reason,” Willoughby said. “I don’t know what the reason was. When she threw the flag up as soon as he crossed the line, I knew it was on us. I was like, ‘How can this happen.’”
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 12:42 PM with the headline "NC board rules on Charlotte track team’s state championship appeal. What it decided."
