Griffin Harlow, Rayshan Richardson Also Win In Mineral
Parry McCluer High School senior Kamilah Richardson broke the outdoor school record in the girls’ shot put, which she won on Saturday at the Virginia Track Coaches Association meet on Saturday at Louisa County High School in Mineral.
Richardson, who won the state indoor title in the shot put in March, had a top toss of 38 feet, 8 inches, a meet record. She finished comfortably ahead of the runner-up, Louisa County’s Amara Comfort, who threw for 3510. PM’s outdoor school record was previously held by 2019 graduate Tristen Clark, who had a toss of 38-3 when she placed second in the Class 1 state meet as a senior.
Richardson also set a personal record (PR) in the discus, placing seventh with a throw of 93 feet.
“Kamilah was extremely focused throughout the meet, and you could just feel that her goal was to set a new school record,” said PM throwing coach Danny Cole. “From the looks of her practice throws, it won’t surprise me if she breaks her own record once or twice prior to the season’s end.”
Also throwing for the PM girls, Keeli Wheeler placed 17th in the shot put with a toss of 25-4 and 24th in the discus with a heave of 66-2. Presley Austin placed 18th in both events, with a shot put toss of 24-10 and a PR discus throw of 73-10. Phoebe Wood placed 22nd in the discus with a heave of 68-4 and 29th in the shot put with a PR toss of 21-6.
For the PM boys, junior Griffin Harlow won the shot put with a throw of 52-4, a meet record, comfortably ahead of the runner-up, Western Albemarle’s Sam Reed, who placed second with a toss of 47-6.
Harlow finished second in the discus with a heave of 138-5, trailing only teammate Rayshan Richardson’s winning throw of 139-4. Richardson placed seventh in the shot put with a toss of 45-4.
“Griffin appears to be out of his little slump,” said Cole. “We’ve talked about how every sport has slumps and referred to a batter’s slump in baseball, sometimes you just hit through them. In Griffin’s case, our plan was to just throw through his. Not making any changes, just stepping back, slowing down and going back to some basics.”
Also throwing for the PM boys, Brendan Holdren placed 10th in the shot put with a PR toss of 40-7 and eighth in the discus (92-7). Freshman Timber Thomas placed 17th in the shot put (38-10), while Levi Hepler finished 29th in the discus with a PR throw of 91 feet.
Leading the PM boys’ runners was sophomore Kebryl Chandler, placing second in the 3200-meter run in 9:34.18, trailing only Albemarle’s Eli Phillips, who won in 9:18.02.
PM’s Caleb Cooper placed seventh in the 3200-meter run in 10:04.71, while Logan Whelelock finished 10th in 10:14.15. Freshman Sebastian George broke 11 minutes for the first time, finishing 17th in 10:56.29.
Sam Carpenter set PRs in both of his races, placing 22nd in the 800-meter run in 2:18.3 and coming in 23rd in the 1600-meter run in 5:00.04. “Sam had a great meet,” said PM head coach Chris Poluikis.
The PM boys placed fourth in the 4 X 800meter run in 8:28.46. Team members were Chandler, Wheelock and Josh and Caleb Cooper.
Henry Lovelace placed seventh in the 110meter hurdles in 17.06 seconds and finished 17th in the 300-meter hurdles in a PR time of 46.42 seconds.
In the team standings, the PM boys placed ninth of 16 teams, tallying 12 points, while the PM girls finished 13th with 12 points.
Louisa County won the boys’ meet with 133 points, Western Albemarle (99) placed second, and Spotswood (81) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Caroline (66) and J.R. Tucker (48).
Albemarle (95) won the girls’ mee, Louisa County (76.33) placed second, and Eastern View (62) finished third. Completing the top five were Western Albemarle (61.66) and J.R. Tucker (60).
Today, Wednesday, the Blues will compete in the Pioneer District meet at Giles High School in Pearisburg, starting with field events at 10 a.m., with races starting at 11 a.m. If not already qualified by time or distance, the top six finishers in each event will advance to the Region 1C meet, which will take place on Monday, May 26, at Giles.
