Four individuals and one relay team from the Rockbridge County High School girls track and field team advanced to the Region 3C meet with their performances at the Valley District meet on Tuesday of last week at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater.
The top six individuals and top three relay teams, as well as those qualifying by time or distance, advanced to the Region 3C meet, which will take place today, Wednesday, at noon at Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra.
The top finish came from the RC girls’ 4 X 100-meter relay team, which placed second to advance in a season-best time of 53.54 seconds, trailing only Harrisonburg’s winning time of 51.47 seconds, while East Rockingham placed third in 54.07. Team members for the Wildcats were Ariana Mitchell, Kyra Strowbridge, Abby Harding and Celia Jones.
Both Harding and Jones advanced in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles. Harding placed fourth in 17.92 seconds. Jones didn’t compete in the 100meter hurdles at the district meet, but she qualified by time earlier this season.
Jones also advanced in the high jump, clearing 4-6 to tie for fourth place. She also placed 13th in the long jump with a leap of 13 feet, 3.5 inches and finished 14th in the 100-meter dash in 13.74 seconds.
page A11 Mitchell advanced in the high jump, clearing 4-6 to tie for fourth place, and finished 12th in the 100-meter dash in 13.72 seconds.
Harding placed 10th in the long jump with a leap of 13-9 inches and 13th in the triple jump with a distance of 28-2.
Emily Carroll advanced in the 300-meter hurdles, placing sixth in 54.22 seconds. Carroll finished 14th in the long jump with a leap of 13-1 and 14th in the triple jump with a distance of 27-8.5.
Strowbridge placed 11th in the 100-meter dash in 13.72 seconds, a personal record (PR), and in 15th in the 200-meter dash in 29.87.
Harper Bruno finished 21st in the 200-meter dash in 32.62 seconds, a PR.
Sydney Knick led the RC girls’ throwers, placing 14th in the shot put with a toss of 25--4.75, and 19th in the discus with a heave of 61-11.
Cate Wilson came in 15th in the discus with a PR throw of 7110, while Tasha Shorter finished 18th in the discus with a heave of 63-7 and 25th in the shot put with a toss of 20-9.5. Jones finished 21st in the shot put with a toss of 23-1.
The RC boys had two athletes competing.
Marshall Earhart placed ninth in the high jump, clearing 5-4, and 12th in the 100-meter dash in a PR time of 11.97 seconds.
Jakob Bailey placed 14th in the long jump with a leap of 17-4.75 and 19th in both the 200-meter dash (27.18 seconds) and the 400-meter dash (58.76). He came in 21st in the 100-meter dash in 12.74 seconds.
The RC girls placed seventh of eight teams, while the RC boys did not score any points.
Spotswood won the girls’ meet with 156 points, East Rockingham (93.75) placed second, and Harrisonburg (90) finished third. Rounding out the standings were Broadway (54), Turner Ashby (53), William Monroe (45), RC (16.5) and Rocktown (4.75).
Broadway (113) won the boys’ meet, ER (108) placed second, and Harrisonburg (85.75) finished third. Completing the standings were Rocktown (78.5), Spotswood (69.75), TA (67) and WM (4).
From the Region 3C meet, the top three individuals and top three relay teams, as well as those qualified by time or distance, will advance to the Class 3 state meet, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7, at Liberty University in Lynchburg.
Mitchell qualified for the Class 3 state meet in the high jump in the first meet of the season in late March. RC head coach Jennifer Showalter said she looks for the girls 4 X 100-meter relay team to do well, but it’ll be a challenge to qualify for the state meet.
