PM Sends Six Individuals, Two Relays To State
Six Parry McCluer High School individuals and two relay teams are headed to the Class 1 state indoor track and field meet, following their performances this season and at the Region 1C meet on Saturday at Roanoke College’s Kerr-Cregger Field House in Salem.
In addition to those qualified by time or distance, the top three individuals and top three relay teams in the region advanced to the Class 1 state meet.
For the PM boys, junior Kebryl Chandler won the 1000-meter run in 2:33.78, just three-tenths of a second off his own school record. Senior teammate Josh Cooper placed second in 2:41.34, and PM freshman Victor Poluikis finished ninth in 4:06.13.
PM sophomore Caleb Cooper and senior Logan Wheelock finished less than a second apart in the boys’ 1600-meter run. Cooper won in 4:37.74, and Wheelock placed second in 4:38.04, with both setting indoor personal records.
In the boys’ 3200-meter run, junior Sam Carpenter placed third in 11:01.08 to advance to the state meet. Sophomore teammate Sebastian George finished fourth in 11:08.98, while PM freshman Matthew Cooper came in fifth in 11:09.3.
In the boys’ shot put, senior Griffin Harlow threw for the first time this season since recovering from an injury. Harlow placed third with a toss of 52 feet, 1 inch to advance. “Griffin was a big bonus to have back,” said PM head coach Chris Poluikis. “We were hoping for 48 from him, so he finished much higher than we had hoped.” Senior teammate Brendan Holden finished fifth with a throw of 41-2.5, and fellow senior Levi Hepler came in 11th with a toss of 36-10.25.
For the PM girls, Phoebe Woods placed sixth in the shot put with a toss of 23-5.75, while teammate Madison Glick finished 10th with a throw of 15-8.25.
Caleb and Josh Cooper, along with Chandler and Wheelock, won the 4 X 400-meter relay in 3:43.73. “We don’t hit those speeds in training, really,” said Poluikis, “So it’s good to see that the group is ready in that regard. They ran this last year, and were much faster this year.”
Poluikis said he was pleased with the results of the meet. “We’ve typically used the region meet as a tune-up, and I’m really encouraged by how it went. The meet went well for us overall.”
The PM boys’ 4 X 800-meter relay team qualified for the state meet in the first meet of the season in early December.
The Class 1 state meet will take place next Wednesday and Thursday, March 4 and 5, at Liberty University.
