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In the lone high school track and field meet in the county this season, the Rockbridge County and Parry McCluer high school teams had strong performances last Wednesday at Rockbridge County High School.
The Wildcats captured wins in two events on the hot evening, while PM junior Kovyk Chandler won the boys’ 1600-meter run.
Chandler finished in 4:41.74, going to the front early and holding a small lead the rest of the way. PM head coach Chris Poluikis said Chandler was having stomach problems and wasn’t thrilled about his time, but he beat the runner-up, Harrisonburg’s CJ Hulleman (4:44.49), by nearly three seconds. Broadway’s Tristan Yoder placed third in 4:44.74, and Andrew Brannon led RC, finishing fourth in a personal-record (PR) time of 4:57.89.
Before the meet, the Wildcats honored their four seniors: boys Brannon and Pieter Nelson and girls Grace Rolon and Zhyasia Singleton.
In the boys’ 3200-meter run, Chandler held back and paced freshman teammate Logan Wheelock, who placed second in 11:01.99, just over five seconds shy of his PR. Broadway’s Jaiden Nguyen won the race in 10:48.64, and Chandler placed third in 11:02.
The RC girls won the 4 X 800-meter relay in a season- best time of 10:50.51, well ahead of Valley District rival Turner Ashby’s second=place time of 12:32.45. Team members for the Wildcats were Rolon, Nicole Black, Dorothy Lewis and Deena Ludtke. The same four runners teamed up to place second in the 4 X 400meter relay in 4:36.93, trailing only Spotswood’s time of 4:34.91.
RC junior Bri Marando won the girls’ discus with a throw of 87 feet, 3 inches, nearly three feet farther than the runner-up, Broadway’s Lily Gatesman (84-6). Marando placed sixth in the shot put with a toss of 25-11.
Also throwing for the RC girls was Zhyasia Singleton, placing seventh in the discus with a heave of 68-8 and finishing 18th in the shot put with a toss of 21-9.
Ludtke placed second in the 1600-meter run in 5:48.52, a PR by more than a second, trailing only Spotswood’s Taylor Myers (5:35.34) and crossing the line comfortably ahead of the third-place finisher, TA’s Magdalena Lantz-Trissel (5:58.89).
Black finished fourth in both the 300-meter hurdles (57.09 seconds) and the long jump (13-11). Following Ludtke in the 1600-meter run were Lewis (fifth, 6:06.95) and Rolon (seventh, 6:09.41).
Evelyn McClung led the RC girls in the 100-meter dash, placing seventh in 15 seconds, while Madeline Doerfier finished ninth in 15.38. In the 200-meter dash, Melissa Mejia placed eighth in 32.09 seconds, and Alice Gresham finished 10th in 32.3.
Kate Holston placed ninth in the 800-meter run in 2:56.48 and finished 11th in the 400-meter dash in 1:14.55. Joining Black in the long jump were Ieva Grundmane (10th, 12 feet) and Singleton (13th, 11-2).
Junior Jasmine De Souza led the PM girls’ runners, placing seventh in the 800-meter run in 2:45.85 and finishing sixth in the 1600-meter run in 6:08.15, both PRs. “I was really surprised by her 800,” said Poluikis. “That gives hope for the mile.” Also racing for the PM girls was freshman Kyra Lee, who placed eighth in the 1600-meter run in 6:23.98 and finished 12th in the 800-meter run in 2:59.18, a PR.
For the RC boys, in addition to his fourth-place finish in the 1600meter run, Brannon placed third in the 800-meter run in 2:12.41.
The RC boys placed third in the 4 X 800-meter relay in 9:26.04. Team members were Brannon, Will Gibbs, Jordan Imler and Hunter Howald.
Alexander Miller finished 11th in the 1600-meter run in 5:20.05 and came in 12th in the 800-meter run in 2:23.23.
Konner Orebaugh placed 10th in the 400-meter dash in 59.39 seconds, and Imler finished ninth in the 800-meter run in 2:20.41.
Howald represented the RC boys in throws, placing 16th in the discus with a heave of 79-10 and finishing 27th in the shot put with a toss of 26-8.
Every thrower for PM hit a PR last Wednesday. “That tells me they are listening, learning and get better,” said PM throwing coach Danny Cole. “We’re young, and the new ones are just learning the power positions.”
Griffin Harlow led the PM boys, placing fourth in the shot put (3911) and 22nd in the discus (74 feet). Rayshan Richardson placed 10th in the discus (97-5) and 11th in the shot put (36 feet). Vincent Wilson came in 17th in the discus (79-5) and 19th in the shot put (30-10), while London Wright placed 28th in both the shot put (25-11) and the discus (58-6).
Kamiliah Richardson led the PM girls, placing fourth in the shot put with a throw of 29-11, the only PM throw that wasn’t a PR, and finishing fifth in the discus (75-8). Presley Austin came in 13th in the discus (57-10) and 14th in the shot put (23-1), while Keeli Wheeler finished 14th in the discus (42-10) and 20th in the shot put (21-3).
Alexis Fields placed 22nd in the discus (42-10) and 23rd in the shot put (18-8), and Aubrey Moore came in 18th in the discus (49-9) and 24th in the shot put (17-9).
In the team standings, the RC girls placed fifth of seven teams with 49 points, while PM finished sixth with seven points. Harrisonburg (100) won, Broadway (95) placed second, and Spotswood (92) finished third.
The PM boys placed fifth of six teams with 28 points, and the RC boys finished sixth with 18 points. Harrisonburg (140) won, Broadway (132) placed second, and Spotswood (90.66) came in third.
The Wildcats and Blues will travel to Roanoke on Saturday to compete in the Knights Track Classic at Cave Spring High School.
