By Ethan Ellis--Eagle Staff Writer
The boys' and girls' Eagle track teams traveled to William Byrd High School to compete against Northside, William Fleming, and William Byrd on May 12. The teams competed in a variety of events and had many runners place in them.
“[The] top 16 in each event out of 12 schools will advance to the region meet, based on the times on milestat,” Head Coach Chris Renick included.
The meet kicked off with the 4x800 meter relay for both the boys' and girls' teams. This was the first time the teams had competed in the 4x800 this season, as it was not run at the last meet.
In the girls' race, Caroline Horne (11), Harper Dillon (12), Natalie Davis (10), and Julian Bowman (9) ran together with a time of 12:02 and finished second behind Northside. In the boys' race Ethan Ellis (12), Roman Ciulla (12), Kyle Roach (9), and Parker Chapman (11) teamed up for a total time of 9:33 and finished second behind Northside as well.
In the girls' 100 meter hurdles, senior Elodie Walton won the event with a time of 18.02. Senior Angelina Spade finished fourth in the event with a time of 20.67. Junior Nevell Gaskins represented the boys' team in the event earning a podium finish in third place with a time of 17.92.
The meet then moved on to the first of the sprinting events with the 100 meter dash. Freshman L’Oreal Board was the only Eagle in the girls' race and finished fourth with a time of 14.17. In the boys' event, senior Chandler Holley led the team with a fourth place finish and a time of 12.22. He was followed by Jamerise Holland (11) in fifth, Jayron Smith (12) in sixth, Nicholas Werger (12) in ninth, Azariah Smith (10) in tenth, and Nicholas Whiting (9) in 22nd.
The next event was the 1600 meter run, which was won by the Eagles on both the boys' and girls' side. Addison Shorter (11) won the girls' race with a time of 5:19 and was followed by Julianne Bowman (9) in third, Caroline Horne (11) in fourth, and Virginia Price (9) in seventh.
Sophomore Nathan Atchue was the winner of the boys' race with a time of 4:40 over Parker Chapman (10) in third, Kyle Roach (9) in fourth, Josh Mills (11) in fifth, Roman Ciulla (12) in seventh, and Grayson Strachan (10) in 11th.
The next relay of the meet was the 4x100 meter run. The girls' team did not compete in the event, but the boys' team won the event. Jayron Smith (12), Jamerise Holland (11), Chandler Holley (12), and Nicholas Werger (12) combined to run a total time of 46.26, beating the teams from Northside, Byrd, and Fleming.
The 400 meter was the next event on deck for the meet and saw yet another Eagle victory. Kylie Cooper (11) won the girls' event with a time of 58.05 as the only Eagle representative. On the boys' side, sophomore Kadin Smith flew like an Eagle and ran a 1:02 to finish fifth.
The 300 meter hurdles event saw top three finishes from both Franklin County teams. Hailey Vanover (12) placed third in the girls' race with a time of 1:10 behind two runners from Northside. Junior Nevell Gaskins finished runner up in the boys' race with a time 45.25 behind a runner from Byrd.
The 800 meter run saw another winning performance from the Eagles on both sides. Cooper won her second event of the day in the girls' race with a time of 2:25 ahead of Addie Shorter (11) in second and Marianne Alcorn (10) in fourth. Nathan Atchue won the boys' race ahead of Josh Mills in third, Ethan Ellis in fourth, and Matthew Richmond (11) in 12th.
The final sprinting event of the day was the 200 meter dash. L’Oreal Board represented the Lady Eagles in the race, finishing sixth with a time of 30.30. In the boys' race, Tristan Wright (9) represented the boys' team, placing fifth in the event with a time of 25.30.
The final long distance event of the day was the 3200 meter run, but was only run by the girls' teams from the schools at the meet. Harper Dillon led the girls' team, finishing second with a time of 13:47. Natalie Davis was third in the event with a time of 14:04.
The 4x400 meter relay closed out the meet and was entered by the girls' team. The boys' team, however, did race in the event and finished third. Nevell Gaskins, Nicholas Werger, Kadin Smith, and Greyson Hunziker combined to run a 4:04.
In the field events, L’Oreal Board won the girls' high jump event, jumping at a height of 4’8”. Azariah Smith placed third for the boys' team in the event jumping at a height of 5’4”.
Elodie Walton won the pole vault event for the girls' team as she achieved a height of 7’0”. No men from the team entered into the event.
Walton also placed fifth for the girls' in the long jump as she jumped a distance of 14’0”. No men from the team entered into the event.
In the girls' shot put event, Angelina Spade and Halie Cundiff (9) finished fifth and sixth respectively. Spade threw for a distance of 22’8” and Cundiff threw for a distance of 21’8.5”. Bryson Chrisman (12) won the event for the men as he threw for a distance of 44’8”. Alex Bowling (12) placed third in the event ahead of Jamerise Holland in fourth, and Avery Hodges (9) in 17th.
In the girls' discus event, Spade and Cundiff finished fourth and seventh respectively. Spade threw for 68’11” and Cundiff threw for 50’1”. The boys' team finished first and second in the event with Alex Bowling winning the event throwing for 133’5” and was followed by Bryson Chrisman who threw for 93’10”, Greyson Hunziker in fifth who threw for 81’1”, and Avery Hodges in tenth who threw for 68’4”.
In the end, the girls' team finished runner up with a score of 68.5 behind Northside who had a score of 72. The boys' team claimed victory in the meet with a score of 74.5 over Northside who had a score of 70.
“We as a team are improving each week, getting times in for the region meet to see who qualifies. We still have about 3 weeks with 2 meets to go to keep improving,” said Renick.
The team’s next meet will be on May 24th at William Byrd High School.