GREENSBORO — Second in the state is far from the worst fate athletes can be left with, but when you’re shooting for championships it sometimes takes a little while for those silver medals to start to shine.

Apex standout Andie Cozzarelli, the Cary’s girls 4x800 relay team and Green Hope pole vaulter Karen Kazaglis all experienced the brief disappointment of coming so close to the top before taking their rightful place among the state’s best.

Cozzarelli, already with six state championships in track and soccer to her credit, entered the state meet with hopes of defending her 3,200-meter title and taking her first win in the mile. She left with two very different second-place finishes.

North Mecklenburg junior Kimberly Spano and Cozzarelli battled side-by-side for the majority of the 1,600 before Spano pushed ahead in the final 200 meters.

“I think in running the mile there was part of me that just gave up mentally and I just packed it in for the two-mile,” Cozzarelli said. “I don’t know why I felt that way but I did. But I was able to come back in the two-mile and I was able to fight back down the stretch.”

Cozzarelli found that something extra in the 3,200, but a dominating run by Lauren Bishop of Southern Pines Pinecrest, who was seeded 12th, put another gold in the 3,200 out of Cozzarelli’s reach.

Instead, it was Spano and Cozzarelli battling down the stretch once again. This time, it was the Apex senior who won the battle with a last ditch lunge at the stripe. The effort was enough to give Cozzarelli second place by .01 of a second.

“I did what I could but I just didn’t have a great day,” Cozzarelli said. “You want to win but second isn’t something to be disappointed about.”

Apex was able to finish fifth in the girls’ team standings, with points coming from the Cougars’ seventh-place 4x800 relay team that also featured Cozzarelli.

The Imps’ 3,200 relay squad ran fourth early in their event before pulling ahead of Charlotte Myers Park with Jenna Christensen handling the baton. But Myers Park was strong in the closing laps and pulled ahead to win with a new all-classification state record time of 9:26.09.

“It was a great start for them,” Cary coach Jerry Dotson said. “I knew Myers Park was going to be very tough to beat and I tried to prepare them for that.”

Cary’s all-freshman lineup of Deanna Foshee, Sheridan Jordan, Morgan Stephenson and Christensen was second in 9:34.27, breaking a six-year-old school record.

“They handled it really well,” Dotson said of his young group’s state championship debut. “But at this point of the season, they’ve run more than 30 races and they’re not freshmen anymore. They’re what I call froshmores, somewhere between a sophomore and a freshman.”

Jordan and Christensen also ran on the Imps’ 3,200 relay indoor state championship-winning team in February.

The Imps’ 4x400 relay team also broke a school record, finishing seventh in the state in 4:03.15. Jordan and Deanna Foshee ran with Erin Foshee and Linnea Howie on that relay.

Apex’s Kendra Douglas, Janay Moore, Lauren Sotet and Nina Scott finished just ahead of the Cary quartet, in sixth at 4:02.21.

Kazaglis was one of only two vaulters to clear 11 feet at the state meet. The Falcons’ senior cleared the mark on her first attempt, as did Watauga’s Taylor Cook. Neither could find their mark at 11-6 and Cook took the title on fewer total misses. Kazaglis’ finish was her best ever at a state meet. Her previous best was fourth.

Apex’s Kerri Sackmann also grabbed 10th in the pole vault, clearing 9-6.

Apex's Kersie Jhabvala nabbed an eighth-place finish in the 3,200, running the two-mile in 11.54.77

Nancy McLeod of Athens took the bronze medal in the discus and was sixth in the shot put competition.

Green Hope’s Seyram Fudzie was eighth in the shot put.

Allie Johnson of Athens Drive continued her strong late-season push with a fifth-place run in the 300 hurdles (46.4), while Middle Creek’s Jessica Van Hulst ran seventh in the 100 hurdles.

In the boys’ competition, Michael Graham of Cary and Green Hope’s Zak Roshdy grabbed with bronze medals for their performances. Graham took third in the high jump, setting a new season best height of 6 feet, 6 inches. Teammate Amanuel Micael finished seventh in the same event.

Roshdy’s medal-winning effort came in the 1,600. Fellow Falcon runner Scott Hefner was eighth in the same event.

Josh Brunelle also medaled for Green Hope, earning fourth place in the pole vault. He cleared 14 feet.

Also taking top-10 results home from Irwin Belk Track were Green Hope’s Doug Black (sixth in the 3,200), Athens Drive’s Marc Campbell (eighth in the shot put), Cary’s Mohammed Abushouk (eighth in the 3,200), and Morgan Harris (eighth in the 110 hurdles) and Apex’s Tyler Scales (ninth in the pole vault) and Kevin Fogg (10th in the triple jump).