Marty Gordon
Christiansburg and Auburn high schools are celebrating this morning after both brought home state championships this past Saturday.
Christiansburg won the Class 3 state softball title, their first in the history of the school, while Auburn returned the Class 1 girls’ soccer trophy to Riner. It took extra innings for Christiansburg, but they got the job done 6-3 against a 23-3 Turner Ashby squad. Kaden Camper struck out 15 batters, but it was time at the plate late that provided the spark to end a 3-3 tie and what was once a 2-1 deficit. Camper hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning, which brought the trophy back to the New River Valley.
This was the first year on the sidelines for Sean Gaynor. He called the win and the entire season awesome.
“To see the ladies put in work all season long and to see this day finally come and how it came about was just awesome,” he said. “It is hard to describe with words, and I can’t be more proud of those ladies for their perseverance.”
“We have instilled this mindset in our ladies to apply to the game and to life. Play every play like you have something there to play for. Have the faith that it can and will happen. Play your best ball and the results will follow. We have had adversity many times throughout the season and this last game was the final exam, and the ladies aced it.”
Christiansburg finished off their season with their best record ever, 24-3, and Camper finished with 277 strikeouts. The ladies also set a VHSL record of 41 home runs on the season, the very best in Virginia state softball.
Meanwhile, Auburn also had to break open a close game before rolling to a 6-2 win over Northumberland in the Class 1 soccer finals. Stacy Lewis provided the lead with 15 minutes remaining in the contest. Auburn would finish the season 19-4-0.
The Radford High School boys’ soccer team would be the runner-ups in Class 2 as they fell 1-0 to Three Rivers District rival Glenvar.
