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By Jonathan Schwab Thir teen Rockbridge County High School indoor track and field athletes set personal records and two relay teams ran season-best times at the Walt Cormack Memorial Meet on Saturday at Virginia Military Institute’s Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington.
The Wildcats, competing for the fi rst t ime i n f our w eeks because of the cancellation of the Heritage Invitational on Jan. 6 due to inclement weather, received strong praise from their head coach, Jennifer Showalter, after the meet. “Congratulations to all our dedicated athletes!” she said.
The meet is named after the late Walt Cormack, who coached VMI track for 25 years.
The RC boys had two relays that ran personal-record (PR) times. In the 4 X 800-meter relay, the Wildcats placed 22nd in 9:42.37. Team members were Quincy Speers, Ethan Erskine, Maddox Jordan and Trent Cash. The RC boys finished 27th in the 4 X 200-meter relay in 1:43.64. Team members were Konner Orebaugh, John Brooke, Jackson Speers and Noah Carroll.
Leading the RC boys’ sprinters was Maddox Jordan, placing 40th in the 500-meter dash in a PR time of 1:14.73.
Fisher Howald ran PRs in both of his races, finishing 44th in the 1600-meter run in 5:11 and coming in 46th in the 1000-meter run in 2:58.19. Also recording a PR in the boys’ 1600-meter run was Cash, placing 53rd in 5:20.08.
Brooke ran PRs in both of his sprints, finishing 67th in the 55-meter dash in 7.32 seconds and coming in 66th in the 300-meter dash in 41.26.
Orebaugh placed 64th in the 300-meter dash in 41.26 seconds and finished 69th in the 55-meter dash in 7.34, both PRs.
Representing the RC boys in the long jump was Chase Potter, placing 50th with a PR leap of 15 feet, 7.5 inches.
Seven RC girls recorded PRs. Anna Nye placed 27th in the 300-meter dash in 46.28 seconds, and Celia Jones finished 30th in the 55-meter dash in 7.97.
Abby Harding came in 38th in the 55-meter hurdles in 10.88 seconds and finished 41st in the long jump with a leap of 12-8.
In her first time competing in the high jump, Elsa Kerin-Rice tied for 27th place, clearing 4-4. Competing in the triple jump for the first time was Emily Carroll, coming in 37th with a distance of 24-8.
The RC girls had two shot put throwers at the meet. In her first time competing in the event, Halina Homiak placed 17th with a toss of 27-9.5. Also recording a PR was teammate Cate Skaggs, finishing 41st with a throw of 22-2.
The Wildcats’ next meet will be the Bulldog Invitational at Liberty University in Lynchburg on Saturday, Jan. 27, starting at 8 a.m.. They’ll be back at VMI to play host for the Valley District meet on Thursday, Feb. 1, starting at 6 p.m.
