Rockbridge County High School freshman Ariana Mitchell tied for first place in the girls’ high jump to lead the RC track and field teams at the Vince Bradford Invitational on Saturday at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg.
Mitchell cleared 4 feet, 8 inches to tie Brookville’s Delanee Panell and Liberty Christian Academy’s Malaney Boyce. She competed against athletes from several of the top teams from Region 3C, the region the Wildcats are in. Prior to Saturday’s meet, Mitchell had already qualified for the Class 3 state meet by clearing 5 feet eight days earlier at Broadway. On Saturday, she also placed 12th in the 200meter dash in 29.47 seconds.
Abby Harding had a strong meet for the RC girls, placing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.76 seconds, finishing seventh in the triple jump with a personal-record (PR) distance of 27-7, and coming in 10th in the long jump with a PR leap of 14 feet.
RC’s Emily Carroll placed fifth in the 300-meter hurdles in 56.16 seconds and eighth in the triple jump with a PR distance of 27-87. Celia Jones tied for ninth place in the high jump, clearing 4-2, and placed 14th in the long jump with a leap of 13-6.
Kyra Strowbridge came in 15th in the 200-meter dash in 30.5 seconds.
The RC girls placed sixth in the 4 X 100-meter relay in what RC head coach Jennifer Showalter said was “an amazing time” of 54.17 seconds. Team members were Mitchell, Strowbridge, Harding and Jones.
RC thrower Sydney Knick placed 11th in the girls’ discus with a heave of 59-2 and tied for 13th place in the shot put with a toss of 23-6.
For the RC boys, Jakob Bailey tied for ninth place in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, and finished 13th in the long jump with a leap of 17-4. He placed 15th in the 200-meter dash in 25.31 seconds, a PR, and came in 20th in the 100-meter dash in 12.61 seconds.
Also stepping up for the RC boys was Marshall Earhart, placing 17th in the 100-meter dash in 12.46 seconds, a PR.
The RC girls scored 17 points to place 11th of 15 scoring teams. Patrick Henry (Roanoke) won the meet with 104 points. E.C. Glass (71) placed second, and Brookville (61) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Rustburg (50.5) and Riverheads (39). The RC boys did not score any points.
The Wildcats are scheduled to have two meets this week. Today, Wednesday, they’ll face other Valley District rivals at East Rockingham, starting at 5 p.m. On Saturday, they’ll compete in the Turner Ashby Knights Invitational, starting at 9 a.m.
