Boys' 4A State Meet

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star

Jun 3, 2018

HARRISONBURG — Handley senior Trey Causey has never soared higher than he did on March 10, when he cleared 7 feet and one-quarter inch to take second and earn All-American honors at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York.

On the surface, the height of 6-6 that he cleared on Saturday at the Class 4 state track and field meet at Harrisonburg High School doesn’t seem nearly as impressive. But it’s the type of jump that might serve him better than just about any other than he’s had in his decorated career when he competes at the University of Virginia.

Staring at the possibility of finishing second after missing his two attempts at 6-6 on Saturday, Causey came up clutch and hit his third attempt, letting out an excited “Yeah!” after completing the deed.

Had Causey not cleared his final attempt at 6-6, Woodgrove’s Sean Murphy would have won as a result of being perfect up until 6-6 and Causey having missed once at 6-4.

It was the first outdoor state title of Causey’s career. He won the indoor Class 4 state title this year with a 6-10, but he took second at last year’s outdoor state meet when he jumped 6-8 on a dry day.

Since Causey’s runs up to the high jump standard are particularly long — he started on the infield grass on Saturday and not on the solid surface dedicated for the high jump apron — it was difficult for Causey to perform like he normally does.

“It means a lot to win this,” Causey said. “The rain was playing a factor and messing up my steps a little bit. I started on the grass, so it was a little slippery. I had to adjust from there and see what I could do.”

Adding to the impressiveness of his accomplishment was that Causey later learned that he had suffered a knee injury as a result of slipping during the competition, though he didn’t realize it at the time.

Handley coach Mike McKiernan said Causey’s knee didn’t really bother him until he got home Saturday. It was determined that the knee injury would prevent him for competing in the events he had qualified for on Sunday — the 100 meters, triple jump and 4x100. Causey was the No. 2 seed in both the 100 and the triple jump.

McKiernan was disappointed that Causey couldn’t compete Sunday, but glad he came up big on Saturday.

“That was very impressive,” McKiernan said. “He’s got a lot of heart.”

Causey was the only local boys’ state champion at the two-day state meet, which was affected dramatically by rain and lightning and ended on Sunday instead of Saturday.

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

The team standings were not final on Sunday because the wet weather prevented the pole vault from taking place. That will take place later this week. Loudoun Valley has the championship wrapped up with 100 points, and Loudoun County is second with 49. Handley is 10th with 18.5, Sherando is 11th with 18, James Wood is tied for 20th with 9 and Millbrook is tied for 25th with 6.

In addition to taking first in the high jump, Causey also earned all-state honors (top eight) by placing sixth in the long jump (20-11.5).

Handley was also led by senior John Delaney (seventh in the 3,200 in 9:20.06, nearly 17 seconds faster than his seed time), sophomore Quinten Newman (seventh in the discus, 135-3) and junior Tyson Long (tied for seventh in the high jump with a 6-0).

“We had a lot of outstanding performances,” McKiernan said.

Sherando was led by junior Isaiah Allen, who placed second in the shot put (58-0) and fourth in the discus (142-11). Allen finished in the same exact places as last year.

Allen improved on his shot put from last year’s state meet by almost four feet, an impressive feat given the wet conditions. Allen came in as the No. 2 seed, behind Courtland senior and Virginia Commonwealth University signee Jaekob Vollbrecht, who took the lead in the second round with what Allen thought was a mark of at least 61 feet. Allen was also close to his PR of 59-1.5.

“I thought if I could start off with a pretty big mark on the first throw, I could kind of build it up a little bit,” Allen said. “I started off with a 57-something. The past couple of weeks in practice I hit 60 in practice like a time or two, so I was hoping that would come today.

“Overall, a really good series. The past couple of weeks I’ve been stuck at 55. Just the fact to get over [55] and then just be under my PR felt really good. I’m happy with today’s performances, especially in a wet circle. These weren’t ideal conditions, If it had been hot and warm, I’m sure I would have been able to break that 60 barrier.”

Warriors coach Jamie McCarty was pleased with Allen’s performance.

“Obviously, I think everybody was a little concerned coming into today with the weather and being sloppy,” McCarty said. “For that kind of event, you just don’t know what you’re going to get. He’s been very consistent all year. He’s made a lot of progress since indoor when he struggled with that kind of thing, and he’s worked his butt off to get to this point. Fifty-eight in this weather was really solid.”

Warriors senior Kyle Holliday set a school record in taking fourth in the 110 hurdles in 15.13. The previous record was a hand time of 15.0 that converts to 15.24 for FAT. It was set in 1994 and tied in 1998.

Holliday said he had the record on his mind this weekend, and he said competing against E.C. Glass’ Emmanuel Waller — who won with a 14.30 — helped the Shenandoah University-bound senior achieve it.

“Seeing someone in front of you, it just pushes you,” said the 6-6 Holliday, who won the Region 4C meet. “At region I had someone behind me pushing me, which led me to win. But having Waller out there, having someone who could definitely take me into [a faster time], I was like, ‘I definitely need to stay with him. If I stay with him, I can get it.’

“My postseason, I thank God for it. Going in 15.6 and coming out 15.1, it’s just unbelievable to me. I don’t think I did that by myself.”

“That 15.13,” McCarty said, “that’s pretty impressive for somebody that earlier in the year was 15 high, 16 all the time. He’s grinded these past few weeks. We’re really proud of that effort.”

Sherando junior T.J. Washington qualified for Sunday’s triple jump as the third seed and Saturday’s long jump as the 16th seed, but he did not compete in the meet. Washington also did not compete in last week’s Region 4C meet. McCarty declined to comment on the situation.

James Wood was led by junior Chance Grove, who took third in the discus with a 152-10. Grove came into the meet as the fourth seed.

“I just came in ready to compete, and whatever happened, happened,” said Grove, who enjoyed the fact that he got to compete with Sherando’s Allen and Handley’s Newman. “The two guys that finished ahead of me are seniors. Me and Isaiah are going to be seeded first and second at the beginning of the year, and Q is just going to get better. It’s just kind of exciting that all three of us local guys are up there with the rest of the state.”

Allen also said Sunday how much he’s appreciated having the throwers from James Wood and Handley to compete with, because they’ve shown him a great deal of support and helped him relax at meets.

Another member of that impressive local throwing contingent is James Wood senior Dominic Revetta, who placed seventh in the shot put with a 50-1.75. James Wood also received an all-state performance from sophomore William Crowder (eighth in the 100, 11.02).

“Chance and Dom really fed off each other this year,” James Wood coach Mike Onda said. “Working with each other definitely benefited both of them.”

Millbrook was led by senior David Blackstone, who took third in the 300 hurdles in 40.85. Blackstone’s best time this year is 40.51.

“I think I could have done better,” Blackstone said. “I went out a little too hard in the beginning, but it’s all right.”

Blackstone only finished 0.62 behind state champion Bill Zach of Woodgrove. He thinks he could have won a state title had he not gone out so fast, but he’ll gladly take his first state medal.

“It’s a good way to end my high school career” said Blackstone, who will compete in the hurdles, jumps and sprints for NCAA Division III Lynchburg College next year.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1