LYNCHBURG, Va. – State championships wrapped for outdoor track and field Saturday and close to home, classes 3 and 4 finished up at Liberty University with more local athletes claming state gold.
In the girls 1600 meter run, Alleghany’s Kiera Lowman had already claimed first in the 3200 meter race Saturday morning. The sophomore found herself in the thick of things halfway through the 1600 meters. But, she would finish 8th while Bassett’s Sienna Bailey clocked in 4th at 5:03.37. Amanda Ferrante of Abingdon outlasted Tayler Myers of Spotswood for the title.
In Class 4, Blacksburg’s Cameron Lee and Allie McDonald finished 5th and 6th respectively.
Class 3 boys, Pulaski’s highly touted Cole Boone gave everyone a run for their money. He was firmly in second place halfway through the 1600 meter race. In the final stretch despite giving his all, Bazil Mathes of Monticello made a late pass clocking in a 4:11.63 to take the state title.
In a wild finish in the Class 3 girls 4x100 relay, Brentsville District was in the lead and on the way to the win but a tumble in the final few meters was costly. Fauquier would win with Bassett and Heritage finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Halifax County girls finished second in Class 4.
Lots of local flare in the Class 3 girls 400 meter dash as defending state champion Simone Hamlar of Northside was in the mix along with Leila Haley of Christiansburg and Grace Onwi of William Byrd.
Hamlar paced herself nicely and cruised to victory to become the back-to-back state champion in the 400 meter dash with a time of 56 seconds.
“I’m so thankful for my teammates because they have continuously pushed me at practice and supported me at all meets,” Hamlar said. “So, I started coming out of the blocks hard, stayed where I was on the backstretch, picked it up at the cuve and I just gave everything I got.”
In the Class 3 boys discus throw, Bassett’s Jason Bethea had the state championship throw of 159 feet, 11 inches. The senior who finished third in shot put on Friday, credited that for his discus performance Saturday.
“Yesterday I threw decent for shot put but came out today and knew I was going to do my thing,” Bethea said. “So, that was just setting me up. I hit 162 at the Piedmont District and broke a couple of records and that’s when I knew I could do it because I hadn’t seen high numbers like that in a while. I started practicing more and put a lot more effort in.”
The Rustburg boys (80.50) and the Heritage girls (79) claimed the VHSL Class 3 team titles while in Class 4 the Blacksburg girls (74) claimed the team title after edging Atlee by just one half point.
The championships for Classes 1 and 2 took place on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg.
The highest scoring local team in Class 1 boys was Parry McCluer who finished second with 67 points. Auburn girls placed third with 54 points.
In Class 2, the Floyd County boys team finished second with 53.33 points while on the girls side, Liberty was second (66) and Floyd County was third (51).
Championships for Classes 5 and 6 were held at Todd Stadium in Newport News. The William Fleming boys team finished second with 33 points. They had a surge from field events thanks in part to the talented Daren McCoy’s long jump of 23 feet, 2.5 inches--a personal record. The Colonels also finished second in the boys 4x100 meter relay with a time of 42.40.
Franklin County boys claimed the Class 5 state title in the boys 4x100 relay, edging William Fleming with a time of 41.84. On that team, was the talented Tristan Wright. The sensational senior also won the Class 5 100 meter dash with a time of 10.57.
On Friday, Patrick Henry’s Tequan Martin won the Class 5 state title in the boys triple jump at 47 feet, 5.25 inches.
For a complete look at Classes 1 and 2 results, click here.
For a complete look at Classes 3 and 4 results, click here.
For a complete look at Classes 5 and 6 results, click here.