Chandler Claims Two Titles, Boys’ 4 X 800 Relay Wins
The Parry McCluer High School boys indoor track and field team placed second at the Class 1 state meet, held last Wednesday and Thursday at Liberty University.
The Fighting Blues scored 55 points, trailing only Auburn’s 132, while Eastern Montgomery (41) placed third of 23 scoring teams. Rounding out the top six were Riverheads (35.5), Rural Retreat (35) and Galileo. It was the Blues’ highest finish since they won state titles in 2020 and 2021. Last year, the Blues placed fifth.
Winning state titles for the PM boys last week were junior Kebryl Chandler (1600 and 3200-meter runs) and the 4 X 800meter relay team. Chandler broke his own school record in the 1600-meter run, finishing in 4:16.77 to defend his state title. Grundy senior Keyston Hartford placed second in 4:26.81. Chandler won the 3200meter run in 9:30.13, with Hartford placing a distant second in 9:53.9.
PM head coach Chris Poluikis said Chandler “had a great strategy” in both races. “Instead of sitting and kicking and playing the long game, he just took off from the start. He kind of cruised after that and squeezed the race out at the end.”
I n t he 4 X 8 00-meter r elay, C handler teamed up with sophomore Caleb Cooper and seniors Josh Cooper and Logan Wheelock to finish in 8:17.65, winning for the second year in a row and claiming the title by about 19 seconds over Eastern Montgomery (8:36.54). The Blues also had a faster time than the winning Class 2 school, Patrick County (8:23.11).
PM sophomore Caleb Cooper placed third in the 1600-meter run in 4:40 and finished fourth in the 3200-meter run in 9:54.78. Also racing for the Blues in the 3200-meter run was junior Sam Carpenter, coming in 11th in 10:55.57, his first time under 11 minutes.
Poluikis commended Caleb Cooper for his efforts in the meet. “Caleb had a pretty good meet,” said Poluikis. “[In the] 3200, he took it a little too hard with how Kebryl came out of it, and got stuck in no man’s land. Even though his legs were shot in the 1600, he still got third.”
Senior Josh Cooper, Caleb’s older brother, placed second in the 1000-meter run in 2:40.29, trailing only Eastern’s Montgomery’s Grayson Welcher, who won in 2:38.55. “The race probably didn’t start as fast as Josh would have liked, and he got stuck behind two,” said Poluikis, noting that Josh led for the first 600 meters of the race.
The PM boys placed 10th in the 4 X 400-meter relay, finishing in 3:52.56. Team members were Carpenter, Josh Cooper, freshman Matthew Cooper and sophomore Sebastian George.
The Blues’ lone thrower at the meet, senior Griffin Harlow, placed third of 13 individuals in the shot put with a toss of 51 feet, 7 inches. Harlow was one of only three throwers with tosses of farther than 50 feet. Auburn’s Kobi Bonds won with a throw of 63-5.5, and Bonds’s teammate Raleigh Brown placed second with a toss of 52-7.25. Chilhowie’s Jackson Holbrook finished fourth with a mark of 43-5.25.
No PM girls qualified for the state meet. With a short break in competition, the PM outdoor track and field team will prepare for the upcoming spring season.
