By Jonathan Schwab In their final meet of the regular season, five Rockbridge County High School track and field athletes set personal records against Shenandoah District teams on Thursday at Waynesboro.
Leading the Wildcats was sophomore Ariana Mitchell, winning the girls’ high jump by two inches, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches. Mitchell had already qualified for the Class 3 state meet in the high jump. She also placed 10th in the 200-meter dash in 29.9 seconds and 13th in the 100-meter dash in 14.12.
Freshman teammate Sarah Lewis placed fourth in the 100-meter dash in 13.41 seconds and fifth in the 200meter dash in 29.12.
, pageA11 RC sophomore Kyra Strowbridge placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in 28.96 seconds and sixth in the 100-meter dash in 13.61, both personal records (PRs.).
Leading the RC girls in the 400-meter dash was freshman Azelea Whitehead, placing ninth in 1:17.56, a PR, while junior Dasha Billias finished 11th in 1:19.22. Junior Hannah Ivins placed eighth in the girls’ 800-meter run in 3:04.68.
The RC girls placed second in the 4 X 400-meter relay in 5:23.28. Team members were Whitehead, Billias, Ivins and sophomore Kayleigh Knick.
Freshman Kaitlyn Higgins, the RC girls’ lone thrower competing, placed 13th in the shot put with a toss of 19-2 and 15th in the discus with a throw of 50 feet.
For the RC boys, sophomore Hudson Saunders set a PR in the 1600-meter run, placing fifth in 5:14.02.
Junior teammate Jakob Bailey placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 191.5, finished seventh in the 100-meter dash in a PR time of 12.08 seconds, and came in seventh in the 200-meter dash in 24.75.
Sophomore Calvin Lambert placed 10th in the 200-meter dash in 26.04 seconds and came in 13th in the 100-meter dash in 12.65 seconds, a PR.
Freshman Tyshon Wilson placed 14th in the 200-meter dash in 28.16 seconds and came in 15th in the 100-meter dash in 13.35.
Reviewing the meet, RC head coach Julie Tisone said, “It was a fun, quick mini-district meet, trying to get some top times in to qualify for regions. It was also a last glimpse of our competition and see how we stack up against them.”
In the team standings, both the RC girls and boys placed fifth of five teams. Alleghany scored 134 points to win the girls’ meet, Waynesboro (103) placed second, and Stuarts Draft (44) finished third. Rounding out the standings were Riverheads (35) and RC (19).
Alleghany (89) also won the boys’ meet, Riverheads (86) placed second, and Waynesboro (78) finished third. Completing the standings were Stuarts Draft (41) and RC (3).
The Wildcats will now prepare for the Shenandoah District meet, which will take place next Thursday, May 21, at Alleghany High School in Covington, starting at 4 p.m.
