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Three Parry McCluer High School runners and one Rockbridge County High School runner achieved state-qualifying times at the Liberty High School Christmas Invitational on Saturday at Liberty University.
For PM, sophomore Kyra Lee placed 26th in the girls’ 3200-meter run and set a new indoor school record in the event, finishing in 12:48.11. Her time, qualifying her for the Class 1 and 2 state meet, broke the previous school record of 12:56, set by 2013 PM graduate Mindi Martin.
Also qualifying for the state meet for the Fighting Blues were sophomores Logan Wheelock and Josh Cooper in the boys’ 3200-meter run. Wheelock placed 24th in 10:25.53, and Cooper finished 28th in 10:33.51. PM freshman Sam Carpenter also competed in the race, finishing 45th in 11:50.06. All three PM boys ran personal-record times. “They all came through a little too fast, but had the fitness to finish out with a good performance,” said PM head coach Chris Poluikis.
A week earlier at the Liberty Flames High School Invitational, PM senior Kovyk Chandler and freshman Kebryl Chandler qualified for the state meet in the boys’ 3200-meter. The Chandler brothers sat out last Saturday’s meet.
For the Wildcats, senior Deena Ludtke qualified for the Class 3 state meet in the girls’ 3200-meter run, placing eighth in 5:27.68, a PR.
Three other RC girls recorded PRs. Senior Nicole Black finished 42nd in the 1000-meter run in 3:28.37, freshman Anna Nye came in 92nd in the 300-meter dash in 46.27 seconds, and freshman Celia Jones placed 37th in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles in 10.22 and came in 92nd in the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash in 7.99.
The RC girls placed 33rd in the 4 X 200-meter relay in a season-best time of 1:59.76. Team members were Nye, Jones, senior Libba Erskine and sophomore Lola Mulitalo.
RC senior thrower Bri Marando placed 21st in the girls’ shot put with a toss of 28 feet, 4.25 inches. For PM, junior Kamilah Richardson placed 12th with a throw of 30-10.75.
Two PM boys competed in the shot put. Junior Rayshan Richardson placed 22nd with a toss of 39-11.75, and sophomore Vincent Wilson finished 58th with a throw of 31-3.
Four RC boys recorded PRs. In the 500-meter dash, senior Maddox Jordan placed 27th in 1:15.98. In the 1600-meter run, sophomore Fisher Howald finished 108th in 5:11.8, and sophomore Ethan Erskine came in 162nd in 6:14.29. In the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash, junior John Brooke finished 165th in 7.41 seconds.
After the holiday break, both PM and RC are scheduled to compete on Saturday, Jan. 6. The Blues will compete in the East Coast Elite Meet at Virginia Military Institute’s Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington, while the Wildcats will travel to Heritage High School in Lynchburg for the Heritage Invitational.
