Celebrate too soon? One track team lost a state title over it: 'Is this really happening?'

Mallard Creek High School appeared to win its fifth straight state title, until an official suddenly raised a flag at the end of the last race of the meet. Kirby Lee / Getty Images Share articleSamuel Willoughby felt confident about the day’s final event. Mallard Creek High School only needed two points in the boys 4×400 relay to capture another state title, the program’s fifth straight between indoor and outdoor competition. The winner earned 10 points, and the Mavericks were the favorite to win the event. Willoughby, who coaches track for Mallard Creek, was sitting in the first row of Marcus T. Johnson Track in Greensboro, N.C., and instructed his team to gather around him just off the track to celebrate the likely Class 8A boys title after the girls team had clinched its first state title earlier in the day. As anchor Nyan Brown neared the finish line, he held up five fingers on his left hand, signaling his team’s fifth championship. He held it up for the final 2-3 seconds of the race. “They didn’t like that,” Willoughby said. As soon as Brown crossed the finish line, an official held up a yellow flag in front of Brown’s face, walking past him without making eye contact. He was disqualified for celebrating before the end of the race, ruled as unsportsmanlike conduct. As a result, the Mavericks earned zero points from the event and lost the title to Jordan High. 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. You can read the… pic.twitter.com/fdWIAW1UXT — HighSchoolOT (@HighSchoolOT) May 16, 2026 Brown, who signed a track scholarship with NC State and plans to attend in the fall, declined to speak with The Athletic to “prevent the issue from snowballing,” Willoughby said. “(The team) was shocked. They were looking at me like deer in headlights,” Willoughby said. “Like, ‘Coach, is this really happening?’” Willoughby ran to the infield and pleaded his case. He was allowed to protest, but because it was the last event of the day, no written protest was needed. He could simply inform officials of his argument. “(The head official) said I’ll go look at the video. She’s taking the word from the official that threw the flag,” Willoughby said. “They have to communicate with each other to see.” When the head official returned from consulting with the official who raised the flag, she informed Willoughby that she’d like to reinstate Brown, but because he celebrated right before the finish line, she had to disqualify him and take the word of the other official. The Athletic sent messages to a spokesman with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, as well as assistant commissioner Rhonda Dreibelbis, who oversees the track championship. This story will be updated if they provide a response. Willoughby said the official who raised the flag told him after the race that Brown had been warned for celebrating early in an event earlier that day. “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,” Willoughby said. “It was just, ‘I gave him a warning earlier, and here’s what he did this time, so he’s out.’” Willoughby said he asked if there was any video of the warning being given and was told no. Brown told Willoughby he hadn’t been given any warning, but the official insisted she had done so earlier in the day. “She was adamant. ‘I gave him a warning. He has glasses. I know who I was talking to.’ This that and the other,” Willoughby said, adding that the head official told him she had to respect her officials and take her word for it that the warning had occurred. “So now it’s just my word against yours,” he said. It capped a day of frustration for Willoughby and the Mavericks. His team hadn’t performed to its ability, and the race for the title was closer than he thought it should be. But officials had called him to the infield multiple times during the day. One of his runners had been flagged for “hooking” during a hurdle race after officials ruled he didn’t fully clear the final hurdle of the race. Hooking can be ruled if a runner’s foot is outside the edge of a hurdle. And after capturing second place in a 200-meter relay race, Willoughby was called over and informed there was a timing issue and his team would be moved to third in the event and they needed to hand in their second-place medals. That decision was later overturned, and the second-place medals were returned. Willoughby said he’s never seen anything like what happened to his team in his years as a track coach. Willoughby said there’s been a concerted effort in the high school ranks to tone down in-race antics. Officials tell coaches and athletes constantly that there’s no talking during the race. There was a Zoom meeting for coaches on the issue days before the meet. Willoughby talked to his team about it and acknowledged the video of Brown holding up his hand does violate the rule, but the inconsistent officiating throughout the event left him frustrated and losing sleep Saturday night as he sat with the second-place finish. “I have tons of videos and pictures from yesterday of other teams celebrating at the finish line. It was like we were targeted almost,” Willoughby said. He also pointed to a video sent to him of a 100-meter state champion who had a similar celebration as Brown in the same event years earlier who was not disqualified. Willoughby said Brown looked “defeated” as the team began to collect its things to return home. The two hadn’t spoken on Sunday, but Willoughby said he and some teammates reminded Brown he had already broken a state record in the 300-meter hurdles earlier in the day, had a bright future at NC State and four state titles to his name as his high school track career ended. “This is nothing that’s going to tarnish your legacy,” Willoughby told him. He said Saturday’s incident was just a step along the way in his story. Video of the incident went viral almost immediately Saturday. One post had nearly 7 million views on X as of Saturday afternoon, and that platform and Instagram were flooded with video of the finish to the event. Willoughby said his phone has been “blowing up” for most of the last 24 hours. Much of the posting around the incident has been in favor of Brown and Mallard Creek. Willoughby said he’s seen plenty of criticism, too. “I don’t want people to think we’re victims in this. We’ve won four state titles. People are like, ‘Oh, you took your team championship away.’ We already have them. We’re not a victim because we know we could have done better. We shouldn’t have been in that position. And second, he shouldn’t have put his hand up to give them ammunition. But we’re not the victim. We’re going to move forward and keep going.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms