Girls' 4A State Track Meet; Rosso takes two titles

Rosso won the first state title of her career on Saturday at the Class 4 state track and field meet at Harrisonburg High School, breaking her own school record to win the 100-meter hurdles in dominant fashion.

But Rosso got off to an outstanding start and steadily pulled away from Hankton to win in 14.78 seconds, 0.50 better than Hankton and 0.09 better than Rosso’s previous best set as a junior.

Rosso threw up her hands and tilted her head up as a steady rain fell from the gray sky after crossing the finish line.

“I’ve wanted to win at states for so long,” said Rosso while standing inside Harrisonburg’s cafeteria during Saturday’s rain delay. “I’m always third or second, but now I’m actually finally first. I’m proud of myself.”

On Sunday, Rosso followed that up with the type of stellar all-around performance that she’s been known for throughout her career, adding a second state title in the process.

Rosso won the long jump with a mark of 17 feet, 7 inches; took second in the 300 hurdles in 46.28 by passing multiple competitors with a gutsy final 100 meters; tied for second in the long jump with a mark of 5-4; and placed fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 36-1. It’s the second straight year that Rosso earned five all-state medals.

Rosso was one of three local girls who won state titles at the meet. On Sunday, Handley junior Taylor Beard defended her state title in the high jump with a winning mark of 5-6, and Judges senior Casey Nelson won the discus by unleashing a 120-6 on her final throw to vault over at least three people and take first.

Saturday’s 100 hurdles were the perfect way for Rosso to start a state meet that was anything but perfect.

Friday’s first day was washed out completely because of rain and lightning, so the trials for the 100, 200 and 100/110 hurdles were all canceled. Those events went straight to finals Saturday and Sunday. In addition, no preliminaries were held for the jumping and throwing events, with competitors instead being given four total attempts at their event. Only the shot put, 100 hurdles and 3,200 were completed in the girls’ meet on Saturday.

The team standings were not final on Sunday because the wet weather prevented the pole vault from taking place. The event will be made up at a date to be determined this week. Currently, E.C. Glass is first with 57.5 points, Deep Creek is second with 54, James Wood is fifth (40), Handley is sixth (38), Millbrook is tied for 22nd (7) and Sherando is tied for 29th (5).

Rosso said her strong start in the 100 hurdles set the tone for her race.

“I feel like usually my problem is starting out way too slow,” Rosso said. “My goal this time was to start out a lot faster than usual.

“I actually thought I didn’t have the best form, but I watched it on video and it wasn’t too bad.”

No, Rosso wasn’t bad at all this weekend. The NCAA Division I Mount St. Mary’s signee followed that up by winning the long jump with a mark just two inches short of the school record she set at the Region 4C meet at Millbrook.

Rosso recorded a 17-0 on her first jump of the competition, and no one was able to match it.

“Honestly, at the state meet, I thought everyone would be jumping 18, 19,” Rosso said. “I was not expecting [a state title] at all. Before my last jump they said I was still in the lead. [Loudoun County’s] Molly [Chapman, who took second with a 16-11] went right before me, and I figured she would pop out a big jump. When she didn’t pass me, I thought, ‘Wow, I might have a chance.’”

Rosso then put the pressure on the competitor who went after her by recording a 17-7. When that girl didn’t break 17 either, Rosso was the champ.

“It’s surprising that I won,” Rosso said. “I’m happy that I did.”

Rosso posted strong performances to place in the triple jump and high jump, then showed her grit in the 300 hurdles. Rosso appeared to pass three people in the final 100, beating Courtland’s Abigail Howes by .01 and only finishing behind Kings Fork’s Kaia Young (45.88).

“I’ve noticed with me in the 300 hurdles, right before the final 100, everybody slows down,” Rosso said. “If you can just keep going, you’ll wind up passing people.”

Rosso finished by taking 14th in the 200 in 27.11, clearly exhausted after her big day.

“This is what out of shape looks like,” said Rosso with a forced smile to James Wood’s coaches.

James Wood assistant coach Caroline Sandy then gave a more accurate description.

“That’s what a hard day’s work looks like,” she said.

“Rene scored [39] points for us,” James Wood head coach Mike Onda said. “It’s great, she’s just an outstanding athlete. She has phenomenal work ethic, and sets an outstanding example on the team. It’s been a real pleasure to have her on the team for four years.”

James Wood was also led by Brooke Sandy (eighth in the high jump, 5-0).

Nelson came in as the top seed in the discus on Saturday and had defeated defending state champion Sofie Haugsdahl of Kettle Run at both the Class 4 Northwestern District and Region 4C meets.

Nelson was the last person to throw in the discus. Heading into her final attempt three people had thrown at least 110 feet on Sunday, and she wasn’t one of them.

“I was trying to ignore the weather and the fact that the circle had two puddles in it,” said Nelson, a signee with NCAA Division I George Mason. “I think that really altered my speed in the beginning because the first one was a foul, and the next two after that were 106.

“My coach [throws coach Lee Pegues] just told me to be really, really quick in the circle, and that’s what helped me on that final throw.”

Once Nelson’s mark was called out, she ran over and hugged Pegues.

“I’m just really, really glad,” Nelson said. “I’m surprised more than anything, because I didn’t expect to come out of this winning.”

Pegues couldn’t be prouder.

“There’s been a lot of adversity this whole weekend with the weather, so there’s been a lot for her to deal with mentally,” Pegues said. “She started off with a little slow, but she was confident on that last throw. I’m happy for her.”

Nelson also came up big in the shot put on Saturday to take second in the event for the second straight year.

Nelson was in second with a 39-3 until Churchland’s Ameya Williams recorded a 39-3.75 on her last throw. Nelson then responded with her top throw of 39-5.5 to move back into second place. E.C. Glass’ Taliyah Wade won with a 41-5.25.

“I really had to mentally be tough and really pull out that last throw,” Nelson said.

Beard won the fifth high jump state title of her career by clearing the bar on her first attempt at every height through 5-6 (she’s won three indoor state titles). She also took third in the triple jump (36-6.25) and fifth in the 300 hurdles (46.39). She didn’t compete in the 100 hurdles or long jump so as not to put too much on her plate, though she would have had the meet kept to its original schedule.

Though the All-American Beard has made a habit of winning high jump state titles, she doesn’t take it for granted.

“Sometimes I feel the pressure,” Beard said. “Everybody has the potential to go out there and clear the bar. You never know who’s going to top you one day. But I feel truly blessed to have another state title.”

Beard frequently points out on Twitter that she has “the best coach in the world,” in Handley coach Mike McKiernan, and that man was glad to see Beard shine again.

“Obviously she had a great day in the high jump, she looked good in the hurdles, and she was very solid in the triple jump,” McKiernan said. “And it was amazing that Casey came through on her final throw. That’s the sign of a real competitor.”

Millbrook was led by junior Kaycee Cox-Philyaw (fourth in 5:14.25 in the 1,600) and junior Ava Derrick (seventh in the triple jump, 35-2).

Cox-Philyaw came in as the 11th seed but was only six seconds off the No. 4 seed. She beat her personal record by two seconds on Sunday.

Cox-Philyaw said she dealt with injuries to each of her feet after the indoor state meet in February — first the right foot, then her left foot one week after she returned from the right-foot injury — so it meant a lot to her to bounce back and have a successful year.

“I wanted to run a little faster and place a little higher, but this is the first state race where I’ve got a medal, so I’m pretty happy with it,” Cox-Philyaw said. “I wanted to stay in the top four in the whole race and see what happened on the last lap, so I’m pretty happy with how that strategy played out.”

Sherando was led by senior Donzailya Berg (seventh in the 100 hurdles, 17.18) and its 4x100 team of Berg, Indhya Hayes, Kaitlyn Roberts and Haley Mack, which took sixth in a 4x100 competition that featured three disqualifications among the 16 teams.

Berg had a chance to post an even better time than she did.

“I think she may have had a little bit of contact [late in the race with another runner],” Sherando coach Jamie McCarty said. “She felt like she banged arms, and that kind of messed her up. That kind of stuff happens sometimes.

“I think still she ran a really, really good race. It would have been nice if we ran in that faster section.

“[The 4x100 girls] have been together all year and have gotten the consistency down. Our handoffs have been really great recently. …They’ve worked really hard these past couple of weeks.”

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