Rockbridge County High School sophomore thrower Finbar Looney set a personal record in the boys’ shot put at the Fred Hardy Jr. Invitational, and the RC girls track and field team competed well on Saturday at the Estes Athletic Center in Fork Union.
Looney, the Wildcats’ only boy competing, placed 47th with a toss of 26 feet, 4 inches, breaking his previous best throw of 24-9.
For the RC girls, freshman Ariana Mitchell tied for ninth place in the high jump, clearing 4-8. Mitchell had already qualified for the Class 3 state meet by clearing 5 feet in the Wildcats’ first meet of the season on Dec. 11 at Fork Union. Mitchell also placed 20th in the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash, finishing in 8.17 seconds. Unfortunately, only three of the nine heats of the girls’ 55-meter dash took place, so the other RC girls didn’t get to race in that event.
Sophomore Celia Jones represented the RC girls in the 55-meter hurdles, placing 20th in the preliminaries in 10.78 seconds. She also finished 20th in the long jump with a leap of 13-4.5.
In the girls’ 4 X 200-meter relay, Mitchell and Jones teamed up with freshmen Harper Bruno and Elle Werner in 2:14.63.
The RC girls’ thrower, sophomore Cate Skaggs, finished 41st in the shot put with a toss of 21-1.
The Wildcats are preparing for the Valley District meet, which will take place at Rockingham County’s new indoor recreation cneter on Saturday, Feb. 8.
RC head coach Jennifer Showalter said she is “looking forward to the nicer weather the next two weeks to get ready for districts.”
