By Ethan Ellis--Eagle Staff Writer
The Franklin County boys' and girls' outdoor track teams traveled to Staunton River on Wednesday, April 28th to compete in their first meet of the season against Staunton River, William Byrd, and Lord Botetourt.
"The Staunton River Meet went real well for us I thought." said Head Coach Chris Renick.
On the boys' side Franklin County had numerous runners place in all kinds of events. Junior Jamerise Holland won the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.69 seconds with seniors Chandler Holley and Jayron Smith finishing in the top five as well. Holland was also runner up in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.72 seconds.
For mid-distance, senior Nicholas Werger finished fourth in the 400 meter run with a time of 56.32 seconds ahead of sophomore Kadin Smith and senior Grayson Hunziker. In the 800 meter run freshman Kyle Roach led the boys' team finishing 6th with a time of 2:22 ahead of senior Ethan Ellis, junior Josh Mills, and junior Matthew Richmond.
Sophomore Nathan Atchue dominated the boys' long distance portion, winning the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:38, just ahead of Roach, who came in third. Behind them were Mills, senior Roman Ciulla, and Ellis. Atchue won the 3,200 meter run as well with a time of 10:26. Following close behind was sophomore Parker Chapman who came in second.
The Eagles also placed in the boys' field events. In the high jump, sophomore Azariah Smith finished second with a height of 5-02.00. In the discus event, seniors Bryson Chrisman, Landon Church, and Alex Bowling finished first, second and third. Also in this event, Avery Hodges and Hunziker finished 19th and 20th. In the shot put, Crisman and Bowling were the first two finishers with Hodges coming in 22nd.
"The Boys Shot Put & Discus group did real well and they will get much better. We have some 1st time track athletes that really did well for us that have some potential." said Renick.
On the girls' side, freshman L’Oreal Board finished 3rd in the 100 meter dash with a time of 14.33 seconds. In the 200 meter dash, senior Elodie Walton led the way for the team in fifth place with a time of 29.23 seconds over Board and sophomore Marianne Alcorn, who came in ninth. Walton also went on to win the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 18.59 ahead of senior Angelina Spade.
In the 800 meter run, junior Kylie Cooper won the event, sprinting towards the finish line in 2:17 with freshman Annalyse Hasty and senior Hailey Vanover behind her.
Cooper also won the 1,600 meter run with a time of 5:18 ahead of junior Addison Shorter in second, junior Caroline Horne in fifth, sophomore Natalie Davis in seventh and freshman Virginia Price in eighth. Shorter went on to win the 3,200 meter run with a time of 12:07 ahead of freshman Julianne Bowman, senior Harper Dillon, and Price who finished second through fourth.
In the jumping events, Board won the high jump with a height of 4-04.00. Walton finished second in the long jump with a distance of 14-07.75.
In the girls' throwing events, freshman Halie Cundiff and Spade threw for Franklin County in both the discus and shot put events. In the discus event, Spade finished third throwing for a distance of 78-01.00 and Cundiff finished ninth. Cundiff finished fourth in the shot put as she threw for a distance of 24-01.00 and Spade finished right behind her in fifth.
Both teams finished second overall in the meet.
"We have knocked the rust off now since we didn't have a season last year, we will improve each day and each meet." said Renick
The Eagles will travel to William Byrd High School on May 12 for their next meet.