Four Rockbridge County High School athletes set personal records at the East Rockingham Indoor Track and Field Invitational on Friday, Jan. 23 at the Edward S. Long Jr. Track Complex in Penn Laird.
For the RC girls, sophomore Ariana Mitchell won the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches. She had already qualified for the Class 3 state meet in the high jump by clearing 4-10 in the first meet of the season on Dec. 10 at Fork Union Military Academy. East Rockingham’s Juley Madison placed second in the Jan. 23 meet, clearing 4-8. Mitchel also finished 22nd in the 55-meter dash in 8.26 seconds.
RC junior Celia Jones set a personal record (PR) in the 55-meter hurdles, placing second in 9.66 seconds, her first time under 10 seconds. Luray’s Lacy Currie won the race in 9.25, while Abingdon’s Campbell Stoakley finished third in 9.85. Jones tied for ninth place in the high jump, clearing 4-2, and finished 18th in the 55-meter dash in 8.13 seconds.
RC freshman Sarah Lewis set a PR in the 55-meter cash, placing 14th in 7.97 seconds, her first time under eight seconds.
Two RC freshmen competed in the girls’ 300-meter dash. Azalea Whitehead placed 30th in 56.2 seconds, and Katherine Finn came in 31st in 56.48. In the high jump, Finn tied for ninth place, clearing 4-2.
Leading the RC girls’ throwers was freshman Kaitlyn Higgins, placing 22nd in the shot put with a toss of 19-1, a PR by a foot. Junior teammate Julieanne Woodward finished 24th with a toss of 16-7.25.
The lone RC boy competing, junior Finbar Looney, placed 20th in the shot put with a toss of 32-3, a PR by more than a foot.
The RC girls placed 11th of 17 scoring teams, tallying 18 points to finish a spot behind Shenandoah District rival Waynesboro (10th, 20.5) and just ahead of Luray (12th, 12). Abingdon was the winning girls’ team with 85.5 points, Spotswood (73) placed second, and Turner Ashby (61) finished third. Rounding out the top five were East Rockingham (38) and Harrisonburg (33).
In the boys’ standings, RC was not one of the 16 scoring teams. Rustburg (84) was the winning team, Broadway (80) placed second, and Spotswood (54) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Turner Ashby (45) and Abingdon (30).
Next up for the Wildcats will be the Shenandoah District meet, which will be a virtual/paper meet calculated on Thursday. The top six individuals and the top three relay teams, as well as those qualified by time or distance, will advance to the Region 3C meet, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 14, in Penn Laird.
