By Stephen Henderson
Six Patrick County High School individuals and three girls’ relay teams qualified for the Virginia State 3A finals in track and field competition to be held at Harrisonburg this coming weekend after last weekend’s 3A West Region Championships.
Despite the temperatures rising into the 90s, the Cougar squad kept their cool and accomplished what they had set out to do.
“We are very proud to be sending five individuals (Lexy Carico, Shane Spencer Amber Triplett, Emma Hubbard, Autumn Hubbard), and three relay teams (girls 4×100, girls 4×400, girls 4×800),” said Coach Kali Slaydon.
“This is the most that we have sent to the state meet since we have started coaching, so the entire coaching staff is thrilled. It is our goal to not only make it to states, but to continue to perform well and test our limits once we get there,” said Coach Danel Slaydon.
Leading the Cougar track stars was Lexy Carico, who took first place in the discus, throwing 115-9.
“Lexy started off the meet with a convincing win in the discus. She has been super consistent all season, and winning regionals is a huge and well-deserved feat,” the Slaydons said.
Shane Spencer threw the automatic qualifying mark earlier in the season, and will also be representing the Cougars in the discus next week.
Emma Hubbard placed third in the 800m run with a time of 2:21.01.
“Emma continued to claw her way up the state rankings, as she ran to a third place finish in the 800,” the Slaydons said.
Juan Cisneros finished the 3200m run in fourth place with a time of 10:04.31.
“Juan had a huge PR in the 3200 and placed and impressive fourth place,” Slaydon said.
Amber Triplett ran the 100m dash in 13.19 to claim fifth place.
“Amber came into the meet seeded eighth, and ran a huge season’s best to place fifth in the 100 and earn a trip to states,” Slaydon said.
Autumn Hubbard sprinted to sixth place in the 400, making states for the second year in a row.
“The girls’ relay teams were on fire throughout the whole meet,” Kali Slaydon said.
The 4×800 team (Armonte Carter, Izzy Beasley, Hannah Roberson, Emma Hubbard) was third in the 4×400 team (Armonte Carter, Hannah Roberson, Autumn Hubbard, Emma Hubbard) was sixth, and the 4×100 team (Armonte Carter, Lindsey Marshall, Amber Triplett, Autumn Hubbard) was third, and set a new school record.
“We are looking forward to a focused week of training and finishing off the season with some feisty performances. Whether they qualified for states or not, we are extremely proud of our entire team for their efforts and dedication this season,” the Slaydons said.
Ethan Gilbert just missed qualifying for state, placing seventh in the 800m run. Cisneros also missed making it to state competition in the 1600m run by finishing seventh. The boys’ relay team consisting of Jared Biedrycki, Juan Cisneros, Ethan Gilbert and Zach Montgomery placed eighth.
The Lady Cougars finished seventh out of 25 teams while the boys’ team finished in 17th place.
