by Brian Hoffman
A large and competitive field is expected Saturday when the Cave Spring track team plays host to the 12th annual Knights Track Classic at Cave Spring High School. Both Salem and Glenvar teams will be sending athletes to the meet.
The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 am. The last field events are scheduled for 11:45 am and the running events will begin at 9 am and run through late afternoon. There will be a break after the 4×100 relay to dedicate a bench to former Cave Spring coach and Roanoke College Hall of Fame runner Joe LaRocco, who passed away in 2021.
Glenvar’s team competed in the Buffalo Invitational at Floyd County High School on Friday and had a good day. The boys were first and the girls were second among 23 teams competing.
For the boys Jackson Swanson was second in the 100 and broke the school record that’s been around since 2000 with a time of 10.97, and he was also second in the 200. Tyler Johnson won both the 110 and 300 hurdles while Nick Woodson was second in the shot put.
In the relay events Glenvar’s 4×100 team of Kyle Hanks, Woodson, Johnson and Swanson was first while the 4×400 team of Nate Linkous, Colby Thompson, Nehemiah Olsen and Braydon Claud was second.
For the girls, Sydney Loder won the 100 and 300 hurdles, Carly Wilkes won the 1,600 and Delany Eller won the 800. The 4×800 relay team of Wilkes, Joanna Kileen, Emma Pope and Molly McCroskey took first, as did the 4×400 team of Eller, Wilkes, Adrianna Hall and Loder.
Loder, for the girls, and Johnson, for the boys, were named Athletes of the Meet.
Salem competed in two meets last week, a quad meet at Hidden Valley between the Spartans, North Cross, Patrick Henry and the host Tittans.
“All of the sprinters ran events that were distances above their normal regimen,” said Salem coach Darryl McCoy. “So, the 400 meter and 200 meter races were what our sprinters competed in. It’s considered an over-distance training meet that allows athletes to get training in during a meet where times wouldn’t be considered for state qualifying due to the lack number of teams.”
There were a few regional qualifiers. Neelah Logan qualified in the 400m for the girls, winning that race and taking second in the 100, and for the boys Josiah Persinger, DaRon Wilson and Toby Jackson all qualified in the 200. Carson Tucker won the 3,200 and took fifth in the 1,600.
“All in it was a great meet for the athletes and some even noticed that these longer sprint events may be their better events,” said McCoy.
Other girls’ highlights at Hidden Valley included a third in the 400 by Mary Chamberland , a fourth in the 100 by Myla Greene and a Shaniya Robinson was fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 400.
In the relays the Salem team of Amanda Rothkopf, Lyndsye Rothkopf, Katie Johnson and Katelyn Crumpacker took second in the 4×800 and the 4×100 team was third with Melissa Vinot, Amadi Brahmstadt, Erin Armitage and Sutton Semones.
On Saturday Salem took distance runners to the Golden Eagle Invitational at Staunton River High. Walker Peterson was fourth in the 3,200 for the boys and Elizabeth Bocock took sixth for the girls.
Both Salem and Glenvar had home meets scheduled for Wednesday.