PM Boys Second In State Track

Led By Chandler Brothers, Blues Win Four Titles

With its highest finish in program history, the Parry McCluer High School boys outdoor track and field team placed second of 30 teams at the Class 1 state meet on Friday and Saturday at the James Madison University Track and Field Complex in Harrisonburg. The PM boys, who had eight individuals competing, won state titles in three individual races and the 4 X 800-meter relay. With just three individuals competing, the PM girls placed 24th of 38 teams.

The PM boys tallied 67 points, trailing only Lancaster, which defended its state title with 87.5 points, while Brunswick placed third with 56 points. Rounding out the top five were Auburn (49) and Northumberland (43.5). Although the PM boys cross country and indoor track and field teams have each won state titles in the past five years, three for cross country and two for indoor track, the Blues’ highest finish in outdoor track was in 2021, when they placed third.

In the girls’ meet, the Fighting Blues tallied eight points to tie Castlewood. Brunswick (84) won the girls’ meet, Northampton (57) placed second, and Auburn (54) finished third. Completing the top five were Westmoreland (38) and Galileo (37.5).

On Friday afternoon, the PM boys won the 4 X 800-meter relay in 8:16.38, setting a Class 1 state meet record and breaking their own school record, set on May 11 at the Dogwood Track Classic at University of Virginia, by more than seven seconds. The previous record was 8:23.52. Finishing a distant second to the Blues on Friday was Mathews, clocking 8:27.17, while Lancaster came in third in 8:30.14. PM team members were senior Kovyk Chandler, sophomores Josh Cooper and Logan Wheelock and freshman Kebryl Chandler. Wheelock ran the first leg, followed by Cooper and Kebryl Chandler, and Kovyk Chandler ran the anchor leg.

Wheelock was getting boxed in during the first leg, but he regrouped to put Cooper in position to take the lead in the second leg. Kebryl then extended the lead, and Kovyk pulled away in the anchor leg.

Asked if he was concerned when Wheelock was trailing in the first leg, PM head coach Chris Poulikis said, “It bothered me that he was getting boxed, but he was looking good. He looked confident, so I kind of figured he would take care of it.”

“The other thing is, Lancaster was falling behind us,” added Poluikis. “I was happy it was Mathews ahead of us because I wasn’t worried about Mathews’ last leg nearly as much. After the last leg started, I was feeling pretty confident.”

It was a redemption race for the Blues, who had placed second to Bruton by 0.17 seconds at the state indoor meet in late February.

Reviewing his anchor leg, Kovyk Chandler said, “I started hurting really bad 100 meters in. I just couldn’t let my boys down.” Kovyk added that he “wasn’t going to relive” the runner-up finish at the state indoor meet. “Losing a relay is worse, especially if you’re the anchor, because they set you up, and you lost that.”

Also racing on Friday was senior Evan Cook, placing 13th in the preliminaries of the boys’ 200meter dash in 23.47 seconds, a personal record (PR).

Saturday’s action started with the 3200-meter run in the morning. In the boys’ race, Kebryl Chandler won his first individual state title, taking the lead in the first half and maintaining it for the rest of the race to finish in 10:03.54, holding off a surge by Grundy’s Keyston Hartford in the final 200 meters. Hartford placed second in 10:03.8. Also earning allstate honors for the Blues by placing in the top eight were Wheelock (third, 10:07.12) and Cooper (fourth, 10:08.53). Competing in his first state track and field meet, PM freshman Sam Carpenter placed 18th in 11:27.99, a PR by about eight seconds.

On winning his first individual state title, Kebryl said the key was “mentally being prepared for it to be hard.”

Wheelock, who was right at his PR, said his race “went pretty well, a lot of just trying to stay with the pack.”

Reviewing his race, Cooper said, I think it went decent. Probably the only mistake I made was sitting out in Lane 2 too much, but I don’t think it was that big of a deal… I don’t think it was a bad race, for starting out so slow.”

In the girls’ 3200-meter run, sophomore Kyra Lee, wearing her peanut butter and jelly socks, earned all-state honors by placing sixth in 12:53.37, an outdoor PR, while senior teammate Jasmine De Souza concluded her high school career by finishing 10th in 13:14.8. De Souza, who hopes to run for Southern Virginia University, looked back fondly on her high school career, with a lot of “fun times going to meets,” she said.

Early Saturday afternoon, Kovyk Chandler won the 1600-meter run in 4:23.17, taking the lead in the first half and keeping it for most of the race. In the final lap, Lancaster’s Matthew Kane caught Chandler, but Chandler, who had finished second in the race last year, had a strong final kick to beat Kane by more than two seconds. Kane finished in 4:25.48, and Altavista’s Shane Stevens came in third in 4:29.37. In his four years of cross country and indoor and outdoor track, it was Chandler’s ninth individual state title, and he left with school records in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs.

Kovyk, who had beaten Kane for the state indoor title, said that, on Saturday, he had “the same idea as indoor, just trying to run the kick off. I didn’t push the pace today as much as I did in indoor.

Also competing for PM in the boys’ 1600-meter run was Wheelock, staying close to the front group to place fourth in 4:43.87, a PR by about a second.

Cook then ran his final high school race, placing 10th in the 400-meter dash in 52.91 seconds, a PR. Reviewing his state meet, his second one after competing in two relays at the state meet as a freshman, Cook said, “I did what I came here to do, and that was get better.”

The Blues’ final race of the day was the boys’ 800-meter run. Kebryl Chandler took the lead early and held it for most of the race. Kane passed him in the second lap, but Kebryl pulled ahead in the final 100 meters to win in 2:00.16, setting a new school record, while Kane finished in 2:00.92.

Going over his race and how he was able to beat Kane, Kebryl said, “I just kind of pushed early to stay with him and fell a little behind him. I knew it was gonna be tough because he has good speed, and I had to push from 300 out.”

After the meet, Kebryl was named the boys’ Most Valuable Player of the meet.

Galileo’s Daniel Roman finished third in 2:02.8, and, facing a bit of physical contact toward the end, Kovyk Chandler finished fourth in 2:02.94. Also earning all-state honors by placing seventh was Cooper, finishing in 2:05.51.

Kovyk acknowledged that fourth place was his lowest finish at the state meet since his freshman year, but he ran the 800 for a test instead of running the 3200, which he won last year. “I did it to give me a challenge,” he said. “I didn’t want to just come in and waltz away with the [3200].”

Praising his younger brother for his win, Kovyk said, “I’m proud of Kebryl.”

The Chandlers will compete in the New Balance Nationals coming up next Thursday through Sunday June 13-16 in Philadelphia, Pa. After this summer, Kovyk will go on a mission in San Bernardino, Calif. and then plans to enroll at SVU, where his parents are the coaches for the cross country and track and field programs.

Leading the PM throwers was junior Kamilah Richardson. She earned all-state honors in the girls’ shot put on Saturday by placing fourth with a toss of 36 feet, 1 inches. On Friday, she finished 13th in the discus with a PR heave of 86-9. Last year, Richardson competed at the shot put at the state meet, where she placed 10th.

For the PM boys, sophomore Griffin Harlow was all-state in the shot put, placing fifth with a toss of 47-8, and he finished 12th in the discus with a throw of 127-3.

“I placed about how I wanted to, but I didn’t throw as far as I was supposed to, but I’m still happy with my results and the work I put in this year,” said Harlow, competing in his first outdoor state meet after placing seventh in the shot put at the state indoor meet in February. “I’m excited for next year.”

Harlow said PM throwing coach Danny Cole “helped me out a lot, always sending videos and text messages back and forth, trying to constantly improve my technique.”

Junior teammate Rayshan Richardson, competing in his first state meet, came in 16th in the discus with a throw of 113-6. “It went OK,” said Richardson. “It wasn’t my worst. It wasn’t my best.”

Reviewing his throwers’ performances, Cole said, “We might have peaked a week early [at the Region 1C meet], but it’s still not a bad showing. I thought we had a really good season. We’ve definitely got some work we need to do.”

The Blues, coached by Poluikis, Cole and assistant coach Robert Williams, will miss their three seniors: Cook, De Souza and Kovyk Chandler. However, with a core group expected to return and a promising rising freshman class of runners and throwers, the future looks bright for the Blues.