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The Parry McCluer High School boys and girls indoor track and field teams will look to build on last year’s result this winter, with a squad featuring 10 returning athletes.
Last winter, Kovyk and Kebryl Chandler finished first and third in the boys’ 1600meter run at the Class 1 and 2 combined state meet, leading the PM boys to a sixth-place finish as a team. Kovyk, who graduated in May, also won the boys’ 3200-meter run, with Kebryl, now a sophomore, placing 14th.
The younger Chandler placed second in the Class 1 state cross country meet last month, leading the PM boys to their second consecutive team title and their fourth in six years. Also returning are juniors Josh Cooper and Logan Wheelock, who teamed up with the Chandler brothers to place second in the state in the boys’ 4 X 800meter run last winter, setting a school record of 8:16.8. Wheelock placed seventh in the 3200-meter run, and Cooper finished 13th in the 1600meter run.
Other returning runners for the PM boys are juniors Caden Mason and sophomore Sam Carpenter, both members of the cross country team. New to the team are sophomore Henry Lovelace and freshmen Caleb Cooper, Sebastian George and Hinckley Lovelace. All of the freshmen ran cross country this fall. PM head coach Chris Poluikis expects Henry Lovelace to compete in hurdle races.
Poluikis, in his 17th year of coaching PM cross country and track, said that, while the Blues will miss Kovyk Chandler, he is optimistic about this year’s team.
“Losing Kovyk is a big loss,” said Poluikis. “His ability to just win events was huge. He was a big hitter that could just win events. But we have a really well-rounded team that can run multiple different events. I think we will continue to dominate distance events.”
This season, Class 1 and Class 2 will be split, unlike recent years when they were grouped together at the state meet. “There might be an inflation of points at certain meets,” said Poluikis. “There will be fewer teams for the same amount of points. When we would race against more schools, those points might mean more.”
Poluikis added that the level of competition in winter is hard to know until the season really begins.
The PM girls’ lone runner is senior Kyra Lee, who placed 10th at the Class 1 state cross country meet last month. At last winter’s state indoor meet, Lee finished ninth in the 3200-meter run.
PM will have five throwers, coached by Danny Cole. The boys’ throwers are senior Rayshan Richardson and juniors Griffin Harlow and Vincent Wilson, all returning. Harlow placed seventh in the shot put in the state indoor meet last winter before finishing fifth in state outdoor meet in the spring.
Returning to throw for the girls is senior Kamilah Richardson, who placed fourth in the shot put in the state outdoor meet. Sophomore Phoebe Wood competed as a thrower for the outdoor team as a freshman, but this will be her first season of indoor track and field.
The PM throwers will start the season with the Liberty Flames High School Invitational on Saturday. The first trip for the Blues’ runners will be at the same location for the Liberty High School Christmas Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 14. PM has one local meet scheduled, the East Coast Elite Meet on Saturday, Jan. 4, at the Virginia Military Institute Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington.
