Wheelchair events provided the deciding points for the first time in a N.C. High School Athletic Association track and field championship Saturday as Winston-Salem Mount Tabor nipped Apex 63-57 in the 4A finals at N.C. A&T.
Mount Tabor picked up eight team points in the four wheelchair events. Marcus Lumamba of Mount Tabor was the only entry in the 100 and 200 wheelchair and Ty Ruvolis and Lumamba were the only two entries in the wheelchair shot put and discus.
Lumamba earned one team point in each of the sprints and Ruvolis and Lumaba got three team points for first and second in the wheelchair shot put and discus.
“We’ve had wheelchair competition before, but this is the first time the wheelchair competitors have been a major factor in the team scoring,” said Rick Strunk, an associate commissioner of the NCHSAA. “Everybody knew entering the meet how the meet would be scored.”
The NCHSAA considers the adaptive athletes – Durham Hillside’s Desmond Jackson was the first amputee to compete in the state track championships – and wheelchair athletes to be members of their teams and their events to be part of the meet.
Strunk said there had been some discussion about how many team points to award in events where there were a limited number of participants. Wheelchair races often must beat a certain time to score one point. If there is a second competitor, the winner gets two points and runner-up gets one.
