Blues’ Boys Sixth In State

Kovyk Chandler Defends Titles In 1600, 3200

Parry McCluer High School senior Kovyk Chandler won state titles and set meet records in the boys’ 1600-meter and 3200meter runs to lead the Fighting Blues to sixth place of 36 scoring teams at the Class 1 and 2 combined state indoor track and field meet on Thursday afternoon at Liberty University.

Having to beat faster times than last year in both races, Chandler defended his title in the 1600-meter run first, taking the lead after the first 400 meters and pulling away to win in 4:18.58, breaking his previous school record (4:23.93) by more than five seconds and beating his winning time last year (4:26.87) by more than eight seconds. Lancaster’s Matthew Kane placed second in 4:20.79, and PM freshman Kebryl Chandler finished third in a personal-record (PR) time of 4:24.6. Both Chandler brothers earned all-state honors by placing in the top eight.

Reviewing his race, Kovyk, the Blues’ only senior at the meet, said, “The idea was, these speed guys, I was gonna run their kick off. The idea was I’d be able to kick stronger off a faster pace.”

Also competing in the 1600meter run for the Blues was sophomore Josh Cooper, who placed 13th in 4:41.68.

In his last race of the meet, Kovyk won the 3200-meter run for the third consecutive year, finishing in 9:39.35. Kovyk took the lead after the first 400 meters, but Floyd County’s Mason Erchull took it back late in the race, with a little bit of elbowing. However, Kovyk accelerated to get the lead back with less than 400 meters to go, and he pulled away to win by about two-anda- half seconds over Erchull, who finished in 9:41.88. After crossing the line, Kovyk raised three fingers in the air to celebrate his three-peat in the race. Last year, he won the race in 9:46.27, and he set a school record of 9:23.67 in late January.

Going over the race, Kovyk said, “That was definitely not [the way] I wanted [to win]. I didn’t want it to be a sit-and-kick, but [Erchull] held on. I wasn’t hitting the splits I was looking for.”

Lebanon’s Derek Mitchell placed third in the boys’ 3200meter run in 9:53.29, and Kebryl Chandler finished fourth in 9:53.32.

Poluikis said he rarely enters runners in both the 1600 and the 3200 in the same day, but the Chandler brothers handled it well.

Also racing for the PM boys in the 3200-meter run and earning all-state honors was sophomore Logan Wheelock, placing seventh in 10:07.4, a PR by about 11 seconds. “Logan had the race of his life,” said PM head coach Chris Poluikis.

Commenting on the phenomenon of racing faster throughout the meet, Poluikis said, “Everything’s much faster than previous years. It’s unreal. I walk away excited about our times, but I guess from a competitive standpoint, I’m like, oh my goodness, our competition, they are getting faster.

The PM boys placed second in an intense 4 X 800-meter relay last Wednesday, setting a school record of 8:16.8, with Bruton narrowly taking the title in a meet record of 8:16.71. The Blues’ also beat the previous meet record. Lancaster placed third in 8:22.73. The Blues’ team members were the Chandler brothers, Cooper and Wheelock. Starting the Blues off was Wheelock, and then Cooper ran his split in 2:03 to keep PM in the race. “Josh ran an incredible split,” said Poluikis. “That really saved us, got us back into it.” Kebryl then ran his split in 2:01, and Kovyk finished the race with a split of two minutes flat, which Poluikis said is the fastest any of his runners have run an 800 split, during his two decades of coaching.

The Blues’ lone thrower was sophomore Griffin Harlow, placing seventh with a throw of 45 feet, 10.5 inches last Wednesday. Harlow was tied for sixth with Auburn’s Joshua Givens, but the tiebreaker went to the throwers’ second-best throw, which Givens had.

PM throwing coach Danny Cole said Harlow, competing at the state meet for the first time, has great potential as a thrower, and Cole looks forward to working with him and other throwers during the upcoming outdoor season. “Getting experience means a lot,” said Cole.

With just five individuals and one relay team, the PM boys scored 43 points. Bruton won the meet with 58 points to edge Glenvar (57), while Floyd County (53) placed third. Completing the top seven were Stuarts Draft (47), Poquoson (44), PM and Lancaster (29). The Blues were the highest-scoring Class 1 school at the meet this year. Last year, with just two individuals at the state meet, Wheelock and Kovyk Chandler the PM boys placed 13th.

The Blues’ only girl competing was sophomore Kyra Lee, who placed ninth in the 3200meter run in 12:45.39, breaking her previous record (12:48.11) by nearly three seconds. Lee didn’t score any team points, but she completed a strong season.

Bruton won the girls’ meet with 54.25 points, Lee (52) placed second, and Poquoson (44) finished third. Rounding out the top seven were Fort Defiance (43), Floyd County (40), Prince Edward County (37.25) and Liberty (Bedford) (35).

After a short break in competition, the Blues look forward to the upcoming outdoor track and field season, with practice getting underway in the coming weeks.