By Charlie Bergmann

Special to The Pilot

John Minott of Union Pines won the triple jump at Saturday's Tar Heel High School Classic held at Eddie Smith Field House on the UNC campus.

The senior's result of 47-03 bettered his jump of 47-02 when he finished second at last year's 3A state championships. He took seventh place in the long jump.

Also for the Viking boys, the 3,200-meter relay team that included Dylan Blue, Saulo Rodriguez, Lamont Reaves and Thomas Freeman finished third and Will McCoy came in eighth in the individual 3,200 run.

It was a big day for a number of the Pinecrest girls as athletes from throughout the state continue to prep and qualify for the State Indoor Championships to be held at the same venue on Feb. 13.

Freshman Hannah Hensley, who has already qualified in five individual events, won the high jump with a leap of 5-feet-4. The other first for the Patriots went to the 3,200-meter relay team made up of Ashley Brock, Haley Germain, Jennie Cunningham and Lexie Schustrom with a time of 10:10.

Schustrom was third in the 1,000-meter run and Brock took fourth in the 1,600. Hensley came in sixth in both the 300 dash and the triple jump. She was also a member of the sixth-place 1,600-meter relay quartet that also included Courtney Rainey, Cunningham and Schustrom.

Dylan Gaffney, the only contestant representing the Pinecrest boys, finished in fourth place in the shot put.

Many of the Patriot and Viking athletes will be returning to the Eddie Smith Field House on Friday and Saturday for the Durham Striders High School Invitational.