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This year, our local athletes had a lot of success and accomplishments. Here are what The News-Gazette has deemed the top five local sports stories of 2023.
PM Harriers Repeat
The Parry McCluer High School boys cross country won the Class 1 state title for the second year in a row. It was also the fourth state title in six years for the Fighting Blues.
While the venue was different for the state meet in mid-November than in recent years, the moderately hilly Virginia Tech Buford Meredith 5-kilometer course instead of the flat 5K at Green Hill Park in Salem, the result was familiar. Led by sophomore Kebryl Chandler’s runner- up finish in 15 minutes, 49.3 seconds, the PM boys scored 29 points to decisively win over Pioneer District rival Eastern Montgomery, which placed a distant second with 61 points.
Other Blues earning allstate (top 15) honors were juniors Logan Wheelock (fifth, 16:43.1) and Josh Cooper (eighth, 17:03.1) and freshmen Hinckley Lovelace (10th, 17:11.4) and Caleb Cooper (11th, 17:13). PM’s final two runners were freshman Sebastian George (50th, 19:26.3) and sophomore Sam Carpenter (71st, 20:06).
PM had one female runner, senior Kyra Lee, who placed 10th o f 9 6 h arriers i n t he girls’ race in 21:49.
Earlier in the year, in track and field, the PM boys placed sixth at the Class 1 and 2 combined state indoor meet at the end of February at Liberty University. At the Class 1 state outdoor meet at James Madison University in early June, the PM boys placed second for their highest finish in program history, trailing only winner Lancaster by 20.5 points.
Winning individual state titles in track and field were 2024 PM graduate Kovyk Chandler (1600meter run in indoor and outdoor, 3200-meter run in indoor) and Kebryl Chandler (800-meter and 3200-meter runs in outdoor). The PM boys also won the 4 X 800-meter relay in 8:16.38, setting a Class 1 state meet record and breaking their own school record. Team members were the Chandler brothers, Wheelock and Josh Cooper.
The head coach of the PM cross country and track and field teams, in his 18th year, is Chris Poluikis.
RC Girls Lax Runners-Up The Rockbridge County High School girls lacrosse team won its fourth consecutive Region 4D title before falling 12-8 in the Class 4 state finals to Western Albemarle.
It was the fourth year in a row that the Wildcats’ season ended with a loss to Western, which defeated RC in the state semifinals the previous three years. Saturday’s contest was RC’s first state title game appearance since the Virginia High School League began sponsoring lacrosse in 2006.
The Wildcats, coached by Susan Nye, went 17-2 this year, with their only other loss coming in a 15-7 setback on March 19 at Western Albemarle. The state championship win in early June was Western’s second consecutive state title, and the Warriors finished the season undefeated at 20-0.
Four Wildcats earned all-state honors: Region 4D player of the year Lola Mulitalo, a sophomore attacker, along with senior defender Libba Erskine, senior attacker Nala Shearer and freshman midfielder Anna Nye. Mulitalo and Erksin were named to the all-state first team, while Shearer and Nye were selected to the all-state second team.
RC Swimmers Fourth
RC brought four boys to the Class 3 state meet in mid-February in Richmond and placed fourth for the highest finish for the RC boys in 20 years, when the Wildcats placed fourth at the state meet in 2004.
This year’s team, which had placed second in both the Valley District and Region 3C meet, scored 142 points, trailing only winner Western Albemarle (399.5), runner-up Lafayette (169.6) and third-place Goochland (164). Meridian (135) rounded out the top five.
Then a junior, RC’s Spencer Pfaff won the state title in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle in 21.11 seconds and placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in 47.95 seconds.
Coached by Erica Bisaillon, the RC boys placed second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:29.36, about two seconds off the school record. Team members were Pfaff, senior Will Gibbs, junior Grayson Garcia and sophomore Keagan Black. The same four RC boys teamed up to place third in the 400-yard freestyle in 3:17.81.
Black placed second in the boys’ 100-yard backstroke in 53.27 seconds and finished sixth 100-yard butterfly in 53.01 seconds.
Gibbs ended his high school swimming career with two season- best times, placing 11th in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:52.03 and finishing 12th in the 100yard butterfly in 56.61.
Outside of Virginia, 2023 RC graduate Ali Pfaff, Spencer’s older sister, continued her successful career at Duke University and represented the school at the U.S. Olympic Trials in mid-June in Indianapolis, Ind. Pfaff finished higher than she was seeded in both of her races, placing 17th in the preliminaries of the 100meter backstroke in 1:00.77 – one spot from advancing to the semifinals – and finishing 36th in the preliminaries of the 200-meter backstroke in 2:13.89.
RC Cheerleaders Win Region The RC competition cheerleading team won the Region 3C title in Palmyra before placing eighth in the Class 3 state competition in Richmond, both in November.
It was the first-ever regional title for the Wildcats and their first time advancing to the state competition since 1999, when the Wildcats placed third in the region and eighth in the state.
RC senior Emily Humphreys was named Region 3C performer of the year, and the RC coaches were named Region 3C coaches of the year. The RC coaches are head coach Shannon Bryan and assistant coaches Ellie Kabzinski, Sarah Parnell and Lindsey Ramsey.
Wildcats named to the all-region first team were Humphreys and fellow seniors Addy Clark, Emma Hall and Cameron Terry. Senior Addie Flint was selected to the all-region second team.
W&L Men In Final Four Making its third Final Four appearance in four years, the Washington and Lee University men’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals before losing 1-0 to Connecticut College in the NCAA Division III semifinals in early December at Peter Johann Memorial Field at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In the national championship game, Connecticut (14-3-8) lost to Amherst College (16-25), which won 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a scoreless game.
W&L junior goalkeeper Will Joseph played all 90 minutes and made two saves. After a stellar career, W&L senior forward and midfielder Weyimi Agbeyegbe was chosen as a Second Team All-American.
Under the direction of firstyear head coach Lumumba Shabazz, the Generals won their eighth Old Dominion Athletic Conference title in program history in November.
