The Salem High boys’ track team took second place in the Bulldog Invitational at Liberty University last Saturday. Salem had many personal records along with some regional and state qualifiers in the meet, and Glenvar also had some outstanding performances in the big meet. “The Bulldog Invitational was the largest Indoor meet I have ever attended in my coaching career,” said Glenvar coach Bekka Loder. “There were over 3000 athletes and over 5000 entries.” On the boys side, for Salem, the 4×200 Relay Team consisting of Jonathan Vernon, Josiah Persinger, DaRon Wilson and Peyton Lewis improved their number two national ranking time to 1:27.97s, breaking their previous school record of 1:28.23 which they set on January 7th of this season.
This time also stands as a top three performance all-time in the state of Virginia in all divisions. Also improving their time was the 4x200m Relay “B-Team,” consisting of Trenton Moyer, Dominic Wright, Bryson Hill and Isaiah Barlow. They ran 1:32.38 which actually makes this group a top five Relay Team in Class 4 in the VHSL and top 25 in all divisions in Virginia. Lewis and Persigner had stellar performances in the 55m dash, taking first and second place. Both broke the Salem High school record in the same event. Peyton ran 6.39 for a new personal best and school record.
Josiah’s time of 6.40 tied the previous school record and also gave him a new personal best. Wilson also had stellar performances in the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.31 and the High Jump, where he Qualified for the Class 4 state meet with a jump of 6’0″. For Glenvar, Heath Bowker took second in the boys 500 with a personal record time of 1:06.24 out of 245 runners, and he was 15th among 394 runners in the 300 with a time of 36.53. Heath was also a part of the boys 4×200 team with teammates Jackson Swanson, Zach Curfiss and Colby Thompson.
That foursome took 14th out of 88 teams with a time of 1:34.38. Swanson was also 12th in the 55 dash out of 439 runners with a time of 6.68 and Curfiss was 31st out of 245 runners in the 500. Thompson took 28th in the boys 500 out of 245 runners and PR’d in the high jump, clearing 19-06.75. In the 1,000 meters Caeden Bowker took 27th out of 312 runners with a time of 2:42.15.
He was top 50 in the boys 1600 out of 295 runners. In the girls’ competition Glenvar’s Sydney Loder came in 10th out of 106 runners in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.00, 11th out of 312 runners in the girls 300 with a time of 42.39, and she competed in the High Jump for the first time this season and took fourth overall out of 67 jumpers.
The Glenvar girls’ 4×800 team qualified for States with a time of 11:14.69. That consisted of Molly McCroskey, Emma Pope, Anna Hall and Joanna Killeen. For the Salem girls, Sutton Semones put the shot 28’ 7.5” to qualify for the region meet. The girls had many personal bests as well.
This Saturday Salem is scheduled to run outdoors in a “Polar Bear” meet at Blacksburg but the coaches were waiting to see what the weather is supposed to be like before committing to the meet. The Region 4D meet is February 18 at Roanoke College. Glenvar will return to the oval on February 17 with the Region 2C meet, also at Roanoke College.
