Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Christiansburg High School girls’ track team only won one event in Friday’s All-American Relays, but it was total of 2-6 places that made the difference as they educated Salem 77-76 for this year’s trophy.
Covington won the boys side of the track with a 76 to 71 1/3 point win over PH-Glade Spring. Host Radford finished 14th with Auburn 10th, Christiansburg fifth and Eastern Montgomery 16th.
But it was the girls’ race to the finish that caught everyone’s attention. Kaylyn Cromer would win the 100-meter hurdles for the decisive margin. Auburn’s girls’ team would finish in seventh place, while Eastern Montgomery was 10th and Radford 14th.
Auburn’s Leah Earnest won the shotput with a heave of 39-10, and Eastern Montgomery’s Destiny Sweeney took first in the high jump with a leap of 5-4.
Julia Moschella of Christiansburg finished second in the girls’ 400 Meter Dash with Auburn’s Jessica Musselman in sixth place.
Auburn’s Caitlin Dominy would finish second in the 800 meter run with teammate Laurel Miller fifth.
Christiansburg picked up some major points in the girls 1600 meter run as Maddie Yancey was fourth and Giuliana Kassouf was fifth.
Kendall Lewis would place third in the 100 meter hurdles with Eastern Montgomery’s Chayla Mullins fifth.
Cromer and Lewis would go five and six in the 300 meter hurdles for the Blue Demons.
Auburn’s 4X400 meter relay team of Laurel Miller, Jessica Musselman, Abbey Ston and Grace Hall would then reel in a third place with the Radford team of Sophia Graham, Ragan Hal, Miranda McGrady and Meigs Helms in eighth.
The Radford 4X800 relay team of Adrienne Harvey, Meigs Helems, Anneliese Stewart and Sophia Graham would then nab a fourth place finish of 11:17.96.
Christiansburg and Auburn’s 1600 Sprint Medley relay teams would finish 3-4 as the team totals started to matter down the stretch.
Eastern Montgomery’s Sweeny would then lead a Montgomery County contingent in the high jump. Kendal Lewis and Madison Padgett of Christiansburg were second and third with teammate Hannah Allen tied with Padgett for that third place.
Christiansburg’s Cromer would edge out Sweeney in the long jump for second place. Cromer would then take fourth in the triple jump.
Radford’s Mary Brown would throw the discus 115-06 good enough for third place with Auburn’s Madelyn Sale in fifth.
On the boys’ side of the track, things got off to a slow start for Montgomery County and Radford teams.
Auburn’s Brandon Justice would take a third place in the 400 meter dash at 52.66, and Radford’s Joshua Downing would cross the line in the 800 meter run at 2:08.74 for a fifth place. Downing also finished fourth in the 1600 Meter Run with Auburn’s Nolan Harris leading the way in first with a time of 4:32.54. Eastern Montgomery’s Trey Wilson was sixth.
Christiansburg’s Tyler Kuchan would pace the 3200 with a 4:47.34. Christiansburg’s 4X400 relay team of Abdul Delaney, Alec Henderson, Jacob Kelley and D’Angelo Ruff finished second. The Blue Demon 4X800 relay team of Cooper Neeble, Alex Watty, Ethan Wilson and Kuchan then torched the competition with a time of 8:32.32. Auburn was fifth and Radford sixth.
Christiansburg continued the relay success in the 1600 Sprint Medley as Jacob Kelley, Zion Lewis, Ethan Mills and Alex Watty smoked the competition with a time of 3:40.69.
Radford’s J.W. Bethea would place fifth in the boys’ high jump. Christiansburg’s Henderson would finish fifth in the shot put with a 44-07 mark. Henderson was also fifth in the discus with Eastern Montgomery’s Trevor Brown fourth.
