The Salem High boys finished second in the Region 4D track meet at George Washington High School in Danville last week as Blacksburg swept the team titles. The Bruins scored 150 points in the boys’ meet to outdistance Salem, who had 126.5. The Spartans had three region champs and will send a strong delegation to this weekend’s Class 4 state meet at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Salem’s Josiah Persinger won two region championships. Josiah won the long jump with a leap of 20’9” and also won the 100 meter dash, finishing one one-hundreth of a second ahead of teammate Peyton Lewis, 11.05 to 11.06. Lewis won the 200 meter dash in 21.96 with Persinger taking second in 22.16.
The Spartans dominated the sprints. In the 100 Jonathan Vernon was fifth, Dominic Wright was sixth and DaRon Wilson was seventh as just 0.43 seconds separated first through seventh with Salem taking five of the seven spots. The top four advance to state, along with prequalified athletes, and the top eight in each event score points. Vernon, Wright and Wilson were all prequalified for the state meet in the 100, as is Trenton Moyer who took 10th in the region about a half second behind the winning time. In the 200 Vernon was fifth, and he’s state qualified, and Wright scored with an eighth place finish. In other field events Vernon and Wright were second and eighth in the long jump, Wilson and Blake Bass took third and sixth in the high jump, Wright was fifth in the triple jump and Dontay Davis was eighth in the discus.
In the hurdles Mitchell Taylor was second in the 300 and third in the 110 highs, with Chris Cole taking second in the 110 event. Wilson is also state qualified in the 110 high hurdles. In the 400 dash Nazeser Miller was fifth and Bryson Hill was sixth. Salem also scored in three relays, with two advancing to the state meet. Coen Logan, Wright, Isaiah Barlow and Moyer will go to state after a third place finish in the 4×100 relay and the 4×400 team of Taylor, Lewis, Rumiel Nugent and Hill also took third. The 4×800 team of Zane Easter, Phillip French, Walker Peterson and Carson Tucker scored points with a fifth place finish.
Blacksburg dominated the girls’ meet with 207 points, followed by Western Albemarle at 139. Salem scored 18 points and qualified two relay teams for the state meet. Salem’s 4×100 relay team of Isaella BrunoGaston, My’la Green, Shaniya Robinson and Charli Wynn finished third and will be headed to state. Also going is the 4×800 team of Elizabeth Bocock, Mary Chamberland, Addyson Funk and Lyndsye Rothkopf who took fourth. The girls 4×400 relay scored but did not advance with a fifth place finish. That consisted of Erin Armistead, Chamberland, Wynne and Zi’Leyah Haynes. Also scoring for the Spartans were Genelle Balthazar with a seventh place in the 100 meter dash and Wynn with an eighth in the 400.