Freshman Ariana Mitchell placed second in the girls’ high jump and advanced to the Class 3 state meet, leading the Rockbridge County High School girls track and field team at the Region 3C meet on Thursday at Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra.
Mitchell cleared 4 feet, 10 inches, tying three other jumpers for second place. The winner was Heritage’s Briyonna Tune, clearing 5-2. Mitchell, who had also qualified for the indoor state meet this winter, qualified for the outdoor meet in the first meet of the season in late March when she cleared 5 feet. The qualifying mark is 4-10, and Mitchell’s personal record (PR) is 5-2.
Also competing in the high jump for the RC girls was sophomore Celia Jones, tying for eighth place by clearing 4-6. Jones finished ninth in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.9 seconds.
Sophomore Abby Harding led the girls in the 100meter hurdles, placing seventh in 17.63 seconds.
In the girls’ 300-meter hurdles, RC sophomore Emily Carroll finished 10th in 54.21 seconds, a PR by one-hundredth of a second.
The RC girls placed ninth in the 4 X 100-meter relay in a season-best time of 53.35 seconds. Team members were Harding, Mitchell, Jones and freshman Kyra Strowbridge.
In the team standings, the RC girls placed 15th of 16 scoring teams, tallying 10.2 points to finish ahead of Staunton (4). Heritage won the girls’ meet with 125 points, Western Albemarle (110.5) placed second, and Spotswood (81.2) finished third. Rounding out the top six were Liberty Christian Academy (61), Rustburg (39) and Turner Ashby (39).
No RC boys competed in the meet. RC head coach Jennifer Showalter said she was pleased how her girls performed, especially because the Wildcats are a young team. “We look forward to next year and even more accomplishments,” she said.
The Class 3 state meet will take place on Friday and Saturday at Liberty University. Mitchell will compete in the high jump on Saturday morning.
