By Jonathan Shelton

The Patrick County track and field team traveled to Harrisonburg to participate in the state championship meet, where they performed well.

Lexy Carico, who has qualified for the state discus competition for four years of high school by winning the event at regionals all four times, was hoping to defend her state championship. Carico came up shy of first place, throwing a distance of 139-02, placing second overall.

Molly Hernandez placed 11th with a throw of 88-10.

Macie Rogers finished in 10th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:30.64.

“Every one of them has something to be proud of because they beat out a lot of people just to get to the state competition,” Coach Lynne Deckel said. “Lexy had an especially good day, managing to achieve all-state status in her last state meet. Molly experienced state level competition for the first time but competed with the poise of a veteran competitor. Macie fought hard through her race, finishing an impressive career that she should be very proud of. I couldn’t be prouder of how these athletes represented Patrick County and themselves.”

Carico, a senior shared what her goals for this season, and her future plans.

Carico said she came into high school with three goals in mind: she wanted to beat the school record, she wanted to win states, and she wanted to sign to a college. Having knocked out the first two by her junior year, she was able to reach her ultimate goal of signing with a college, signing her letter of intent with Radford University in early April of this year. But her goal this season was to just have fun.

“My whole career has been about winning and getting signed to a college,” Carico said. “I had already met all of my goals for my high school career and I just wanted to enjoy my senior season before the real work began in college. I had little goals of course, like resetting my records and trying to win states again, but my main goal was to have fun. I think my season went pretty well. I definitely didn’t end my career like I’d hoped to. It sucks only missing first place again by 2 inches. But it just wasn’t in God’s plans for me to win states again, and that’s okay. He’s got something else up his sleeve for me. As far as my high school career goes, I am very proud of how far I’ve come,” Carico said. “I couldn’t have asked for better coaches and teammates or support system. They are what got me to where I am today. I’ve had so many accomplishments, but they weren’t just mine. They were all of ours. So our career has been one to remember and I can’t wait to see how far I will go in college.” Carico will major in pre-medicine when she attends Radford University this fall. “I will be the top ranked discus thrower on the track and field time upon my arrival and I plan to throw all four years there,” she said. “My coach plans to make a hammer and weight thrower out of me when I get there too, so I’m excited about that. I’m already such good friends with my college team mates and I’m excited to see where this next journey takes me.”

Other notable seniors include Monroe Morse, who will run for the Patrick Henry Community College Patriots, and Macie Rogers, who will attend the College of William and Mary.