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Parry McCluer High School sophomore Kebryl Chandler broke his older brother Kovyk’s school record in the 1000-meter run to lead the Fighting Blues’boys indoor track team on Saturday at the Walter Bass Invitational at Liberty University.
Kebryl placed second in 2:36.47, trailing only Patriot’s Henry Birge, who won in 2:36.35. Galileo’s Daniel Roman finished third in 2:39.46. Kovyk, the winner of nine individual state titles during his high school running career, graduated from PM last May.
The youngest Chandler also placed second in the 1600-meter run, finishing in 4:21.82. Pinecrest’s Jacob Dorsch won in 4:16.12, and Lord Botetourt’s Eric Duncan placed third in 4:24.55. Praising Kebryl for his progress, PM head coach Chris Poluikis said, “He just keeps getting better at racing and more confident.”
PM junior Josh Cooper placed 15th in the 1000-meter run in a personal-record time of 2:45.02 and finished 15th in the 1600-meter run in 4:38.68.
Freshman teammate Hinckley Lovelace came in 117th in the 1000-meter run in 3:04.68 and finished 82nd in the 1600-meter run in 5:02.88. Following Lovelace in the 1000-meter run was freshman teammate Sebastian George (134th, 3:08.36).
PM junior Logan Wheelock placed 15th in the 3200-meter run in 10:00.75, a PR by seven seconds, while freshman teammate Caleb Cooper finished 19th in 10:15.35.
Coach Poluikis praised Wheelock, both Coopers and Lovelace. “They’re just gonna keep getting incrementally faster,” he said. “That’s all it is. Everyone looks in great shape so far, so we’ll keep grinding through it.”
PM’s lone female runner, senior Kyra Lee, ran a state-qualifying time in the 3200-meter run, placing 15th in 12:47.67.
In the boys’ shot put, PM junior Griffin Harlow placed eighth with a toss of 48 feet, 9.25 inches. Senior teammate Rayshan Richardson finished 20th place with a throw of 43-07.25, and junior Vincent Wilson came in 65th with a PR toss of 36-3.25.
For the PM girls, senior Kamilah Richardson placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 3507.75, and sophomore Phoebe Woods finished 58th with a throw of 19-7.
PM throwing coach Danny Cole said his athletes “didn’t throw well, even though Griffin and Kamilah placed respectfully. The weather plays havoc on your practices. We practice indoors and make changes that we think we need, but have no way of telling if it’s helping our distances by throwing into a net.”
“This week’s weather is not looking much better, so we are going to need to focus better and concentrate more on basic techniques. … Hopefully, we will get back on track. The end is near.”
The Blues will compete at the East Coast Elite Meet on Thursday at Roanoke College’s Kerr-Cregger field house starting at 3 p.m.
