.jpg)
The Rockbridge County and Parry McCluer high school track and field teams had strong performances at the 13th annual Knights Track Classic on Saturday at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke.
In the team standings, the RC girls tied Hidden Valley for 10th place of 24 scoring teams with 30 points, while the PM girls finished 22nd with five points. Heritage won the girls’ meet with 67.5 points, Fort Defiance (58) placed second, and Glenvar (56) finished third.
The PM boys placed 15th of 22 scoring teams with 18 points, and the RC boys came in 20th with eight points. Salem (127) won the boys’ meet, Glenvar (53.5) placed second and Heritage (49) finished third.
Leading the local athletes was PM junior Kovyk Chandler, who won the boys’ 1600-meter run and placed second in the 800-meter run. In the 1600-meter run, Chandler finished in a personal record (PR) time of 4:29.31, about three seconds shy of the school record set by Dylan May when he was a senior at PM in 2020. Placing second was Cave Spring’s Ryan Connelly in 4:30.11.
PM freshman Josh Cooper placed 14th in the 1600meter run in 5:00.42, a PR. “It was heartbreakingly close to breaking the fiveminute mark for Josh in that event,” said PM head coach Chris Poluikis. “He was just coming off vacation, so he may not have been as sharp, but I think he’ll get there before the season’s over.”
Both Chandler and Cooper also competed in the boys’ 800-meter run, with Chandler placing second in 2:04.04 and Cooper finishing 11th in 2:20.78. “We mostly just use the 800 in the races as speedwork,” said Poluikis. “I don’t plan on putting anybody in that race for states. But I couldn’t have asked for a better performance in that from Josh or Kovyk.”
Also racing for the PM boys was freshman Caden Mason, finishing 43rd in the 400-meter dash in 1:15.32.
For the PM girls, junior Jasmine De Souza placed eighth in the 800-meter run in 2:48.63 and finished 13th in the 1600-meter run in 6:02.93, a PR.. “I’m pretty confident that Jasmine will qualify for states just off time in the two-mile [3200meter run] next weekend,” said Poluikis.
Poluikis attributed his team’s success to treating the program seriously. “The kids know that when it’s rainy or hot out that it’s really not an excuse,” he said. “They don’t wonder if we’ll not have practice because at this point they just know. We take it seriously, but at the same time we’re joking when we run. It helps that everyone is always there because it makes the running that much easier than when you’re doing it alone.”
For the Wildcats, RC head coach Jennifer Showalter said, “Distance had a great day.”
Junior Deena Ludtke led the RC girls, placing second in the 800-meter run in 2:31.20 and finishing third in the 1600meter run in 5:38.33, both PRs.
Ludtke was a member of the girls’ 4 X 800-meter relay, which placed second in 10:34.84, a season-best time by about 16 seconds. Other team members were Nicole Black, Dorothy Lewis and Grace Rolon.
Black placed ninth in the 1600-meter run in 2:31.2, a PR, and finished 15th in the 300meter hurdles in 58.59 seconds and 41st in the long jump with a leap of 12 feet, 5.25 inches.
Rolon placed seventh in the 800-meter run in 2:39.02 and came in 11th in the 1600-meter run in 5:56.24, while Lewis finished eighth in the 800-meter run in 2:42.37.
Kate Holston led the RC girls in sprints, placing 28th in the 400-meter dash in 1:13.03. Evelyn McClung finished 34th in the 100-meter dash in 15.21 seconds.
Alice Gresham finished 39th in the 200-meter dash in 32.5 seconds and came in 41st in the 100-meter dash in 15.99, and Melissa Mejia finished 40th in the 200-meter dash in 33.15.
The RC boys’ top performance came in the 4 X 800meter relay, with the Wildcats placing second in 9:22.83 with team members Andrew Brannon, Will Gibbs, Jordan Imler and Alexander Miller.
Brannon placed 11th in the 800-meter run in 2:15.04 and finished 16th in the 1600-meter run in 5:02.49, and Imler came in 20th in the 800-meter run in 2:19.43.
Miller finished 23rd in the 1600-meter run in 5:16.69, and Gibbs came in 25th in 5:22.03.
Konner Orebaugh placed 29th in the 400-meter dash in 59.01 seconds and came in 38th in the 200-meter dash in 25.94.
Thomas Jones finished 41st in the 400-meter dash in 1:06.86, and Hunter Howald came in 41st in the 200-meter dash in 26.32.
Leading the RC throwers was Bri Marando, placing fourth in the girls’ discus with a heave of 89-11 and finishing 10th in the shot put with a toss of 26 feet.
For the PM girls, Kamilah Richardson placed fourth in the shot put (30-7-7.5) and tied for 11th in the discus (69-5). Presley Austin placed 19th in the discus (PR 62-8) and finished 30th in the shot put (21-2.5), while Keeli Wheeler came in 27th in the shot put (PR 21-10) and finished 32nd in the discus (53-1). “It was a fairly good meet for the girls,” said PM throwing coach Danny Cole.
For the PM boys, Griffin Harlow placed ninth in the shot put (39-5.5), while Rayshan Richardson came in 21st in the shot put (35-2) and finished 26th in the discus (93-9). “Rayshan wants to break a distance of 100 before regionals, and I think he can do that,” said Cole. “Griffin is determined to hit the state mark before regionals in shot put, and he’s fast approaching it.”
Kelley Dorey led the RC boys, placing 40th in the shot put (29-10), while Howald came in 43rd in the discus (75-11) and 47th in the shot put (26-4).
The Wildcats and Blues will travel to the University of Virginia to compete in the Dogwood Track Classic on Friday and Saturday.
