The Patrick County High School track team ended the season with excellent performances at the Virginia 3A State meet in Harrisonburg last weekend.
“Our goal coming in to the meet was to compete aggressively and have at least two individuals/relays earn All-State honors,” said Coach Danel Slaydon. “Our kids surpassed our expectations as we had three All-State performances and several personal records (PRs).”
Lexy Carico placed fourth in the discus to earn All-State honors. “To place that high as a sophomore is very impressive and indicative of a bright future. Lexy will look to improve upon her 133 foot PR at the National meet, which will be held in Greensboro on June 17,” Slaydon said.
“The girls’ 4×800 had a monster day on the track. They smashed the previous school record by seven seconds, running 10:00.5 to place fifth in a stacked race,” he said. “Armonte (Carter) went out really aggressively, which set the tone for the whole race. Lindsey (Marshall) and Autumn (Hubbard) were extremely solid in the middle, both running big PRs, and Emma (Hubbard) closed hard and reeled in several teams, including one in the final 50 meters, to secure fifth place and be named All-State,” Slaydon said.
On Saturday, Juan Cisneros started off the day by running a big PR in the two-mile. “He crossed the line in 10:02, which was good enough to earn him 12th place. Juan got stronger every race this season, and to go from missing the state meet indoors to placing 12th outdoors is phenomenal,” Slaydon said.
Next on the track was Autumn Hubbard, who hacked another second off of her 400m PR, running 1:01 to place 10th. “Autumn has placed in the top-10 two years in a row, which shows just how tough and consistent she is,” he said.
“Emma Hubbard put an exclamation on her high school career by placing fifth and earning All-State honors in a very strong 800m race,” Slaydon said. “Due to looming storms, track officials ran one heat instead of two, which made for a very interesting first-200 meters. Emma got boxed in pretty badly, but once she muscled her way out she took off and finished really well.”
“We are so proud of what Emma has accomplished throughout her track/cross country career at PCHS. Her toughness and spirit will be missed next year for sure,” Slaydon added.
“Immediately following the 800, the meet was postponed due to weather. After a two-hour delay, VHSL decided to cancel the meet, which was extremely unfortunate, as it meant that our 4×400 team would be unable to compete. There is hope that the VHSL will reschedule the remainder of the meet sometime this upcoming week, but nothing has been made official yet,” Slaydon said.
UPDATE: The VHSL has decided to complete the 3A State Championships by running the remaining three events Wednesday (today) at 2:30 p.m. Patrick County’s 4 x 400m relay team will get to run. “Our girls are currently sitting in 10th place in state standings going into the final three events,” said Coach Kali Slaydon.
