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Parry McCluer High School junior Kovyk Chandler broke his own school record in the boys’ 3200-meter run at the Dogwood Track Classic last weekend at the University of Virginia, and Rockbridge County junior Deena Ludtke set a new school record in the girls’ 3200-meter run, leading several local athletes competing there.
Racing in the seeded 3200meter run, Chandler placed 31st of 77 runners in 9:31, cutting a hundredth of a second off his previous record, which he set in early April. Reviewing Chandler’s race, PM head coach Chris Poluikis said, “Kovyk went out super fast, while he was congested, which just isn’t a good decision. Most kids would have a bad race in that situation, but he just kept going and did more than salvage the race.”
In the girls’ 3200-meter seeded run, Ludtke placed 26th of 79 runners in 11:34, nearly seven seconds faster than the previous school record set by Laurel Sheffield in 2014.
Chandler’s teammate, freshman Logan Wheelock, competed in the unseeded 3200-meter run, finishing 69th in 10:48.98, a personal record (PR) by about nine second. “Logan missed the state-qualifying time by two seconds, but I have no doubt he’ll get it from running in regions,” said Poluikis. “It won’t be a nail-biter for him to qualify. I was still thrilled for his race.”
For the PM girls, junior Jasmine De Souza qualified by for the Class 1 state meet in the girls’ unseeded 3200-meter run, placing 43rd in 13:22.41. “She could’ve probably run even faster if she hadn’t been coming off sickness,” said Poluikis. “It was a good race for her,” PM freshman Kyra Lee, who had already qualified by time for the Class 1 state meet, also competed in the girls’ unseeded 3200-meter run, finishing 46th in 13:25.83. “Lee had a solid race, not a PR, but a solid race,” said Poluikis.
For the RC girls, Ludtke teamed up with Nicole Black, Kate Holston and Alice Gresham to placed 12th in the distance medley relay in 14:02.82.
Black finished 15th in the 2000meter steeplechase in 9:04.08.
The RC girls came in 16th in the sprint medley relay in 5:27.15. Team members were Melissa Mejia, Evelyn McClung, Ieva Grundmane and Madeline Doerfier.
Throwing for the RC girls was Bri Marando, placing 47th in the discus with a heave of 72 feet, 6 inches.
Blues Compete In Cosmopolitan
The Blues also had athletes competing at the Cosmopolitan Invitational Track and Field Meet on Thursday through Saturday. Running in the junior boys’ 1600meter run was Josh Cooper, who placed seventh in 5:09.64. “Josh didn’t run his best race at the Cosmopolitan, but we’ve done so much training for 2-milers that we rarely touch mile pace,” said Poluikis.
Caden Mason finished 41st in the boys’ 800-meter run in 2:55.47.
For the PM boys’ throwers, Griffin Harlow and Rayshan Richardson competed. Harlow placed 10th in the shot put with a toss 38-10 and finished 30th in the discus with a PR heave of 71-3. Richardson placed 12th in the shot put with a toss of 37-0.25 and finished 21st in the discus with a throw of 86-4.
Representing the PM girls, Kamilah Richardson placed second in the shot put with a toss of 319.75 and finished 13th in the discus with a heave of 67-8. Presley Austin came in 15th in the discus with a throw of 64 feet and finished 18th in the shot put with a toss of 22-2.5 Optimistic about the future, PM throwing coach Danny Cole said, “We have a young team throwing for us, and we’ve been working on fundamentals and technique a lot so that, going into their junior and senior seasons, we can really take off.”
The Blues will compete in the Pioneer District meet on Monday at Giles.
The Wildcats will take part in the Amherst Twilight Invitational on Friday in Amherst County before competing in the Valley District meet next Wednesday, May 17, at Turner Ashby.
