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Led by sophomore Kebryl Chandler’s seventh-place finish, the Parry McCluer High School boys cross country team placed fifth of 57 teams at the Knights Crossing Invitational on Saturday at Green Hill Park in Salem. Also racing well was junior Kyra Lee, PM’s lone girl competing.
The Fighting Blues and Wildcats were participating in the Red races, the fastest of the races. Schools taking part in these races included PM and other small Class 1 schools as well as Class 3 schools like Rockbridge County and larger schools.
Chandler took off quickly on the flat 5-kilometer course and led by five seconds after the first mile, which he finished in 4:55. Some other runners eventually caught him, but he still recorded a personal-record (PR) time of 15:44.5, the fastest time on the course by a PM runner. Broadway’s Tristan Yoder won the race in 15:22.1 Last year, Kebryl’s older brother Kovyk, who graduated in May, won the state title on that course in 15:54.1, with Kebryl placing second in 15:59.1.
Reviewing Kebryl’s race on Saturday, PM head coach Chris Poluikis said, “He didn’t run like he typically does. He typically goes out pretty conservative and then kind of nails people at the end. He was really working on trying to go out recklessly.”
Poluikis said Kebryl’s early pace “was too fast, but I was fine with him doing that because I wanted him to see that if you go out recklessly, you’re not going to fall apart.”
PM’s second runner was freshman Caleb Cooper, who placed 57th of 476 runners in 16:41.1 in the first high school 5K of his career.
Next in for the Blues was junior Logan Wheelock, finishing 62nd in a PR time of 16:42.5, followed closely by junior teammate Josh Cooper in 66th in a PR time of 16:45.4. Poluikis said both runners “both went out way too fast, but still were able to run really strong. Those guys are so experienced, I wanted them to just have faith that they’re not going to blow up.” Poluikis said having both runners go out recklessly and still have strong races was “ a great experience to give them confidence.”
Completing PM’s top five was freshman Hinckley Lovelace, placing 73rd in 17:05.1. Poluikis said Lovelace and Caleb Cooper “made our team surprisingly good, for two freshmen to run that fast.”
The PM coach noted that Lovelace was homeschooled before joining the Blues, so he’s new to the program, but he’s picking up his running fast. “He races incredibly well,” said Poluikis. “He has this ability to keep pushing a pace, even when it’s hurting.”
Also racing for the Blues were freshman Sebastian George (224th, 18:43.2) and sophomore Sam Carpenter (283rd, 19:26.4).
Poluikis said the cool temperatures and lack of humidity made for some of the best weather runners have experienced in all the years of the invitational, making for very fast times and a lot of PRs.
Competing well in the girls’ race was Lee, who finished 104th of 331 harriers in 21:40.3, her first 5K time under 22 minutes.
Blacksburg won the boys’ race with 74 points, while Cardinal Gibbons placed second with 170 points, and Hanover (178) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Riverbend (211) and PM (256). Following the Blues to complete the top 10 were Broadway (260), Loudoun Valley (263), Jefferson (310), Hidden Valley (359) and Eastern Montgomery (399).
Poluikis noted that the Blues will have their hands full with Eastern Montgomery, a team the Blues narrowly beat for the Pioneer District and Region 1C titles last year, is the best team PM has faced in Class 1 since the Virginia High School League split schools into six divisions in 2012. PM won the Class 1 state title last year, while Eastern Montgomery placed fourth.
