Boys' - Handley Track & Field Invitational

WINCHESTER — Jack Armel’s impressive rise continued on Saturday.

The Handley senior improved his personal record by a foot from his junior year en route to taking fifth in the Class 4 state meet in the pole vault during indoor track.

In his second meet of outdoor track this year, Armel set another personal record by vaulting 14 feet to win and tie the meet record at the 77th Handley Track & Field Invitational.

Armel screamed after clearing 14 feet, then warmly embraced his family with hugs after he exited the track.

With Broadway’s Easton Repko recording a 13-6 on Saturday, Armel needed to be at his best, and he said his disappointment over finishing 10th in the 100-meter hurdles earlier in the day made him particularly motivated to deliver a special effort.

“I hit [the bar] with my stomach the first time [I tried 14 feet],” Armel said. “I just knew I had to get tighter to the pole, and I would clear [the bar] if I did that.”

Handley coach Mike McKiernan said the Judges were focused on improvement and not the team title. But Armel’s strong performance, as well as several outstanding achievements by his teammates, left Handley just one point behind Fauquier on a mild weather day at James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium.

The Judges led 85-80 heading into the meet-concluding 4x400, which the Falcons won in 3:28.5. Running out of the slower heat, the Judges placed fifth in 3:36.25 to score 89 points to the Falcons’ 90.

The 16-school field on Saturday also included James Wood (fourth with 74.5 points), Sherando (fifth with 63.5), Millbrook (12th with 20) and Clarke County (tied for 14th with 12).

Armel ran a leg on the Judges 4x400 team and displayed some of the qualities that have helped him in the pole vault.

“I just feel I’ve gotten faster as a runner and stronger everywhere else, and I’ve had a lot of good coaching,” said Armel when asked about his improvement this year. “I’m getting on a new pole hopefully here soon, so I feel like I can break the school record.”

Chip Garber set the mark of 14-8 in 1973. Handley stopped competing in the pole vault for about 35 years before bringing it back in 2015.

McKiernan said Armel’s commitment to the pole vault since he approached him about doing it as a sophomore has worked out great for Handley, and for Armel. McKiernan said Armel will compete in the decathlon, which includes the pole vault, next year for NCAA Division III Christopher Newport University.

“He has really become a student of the vault,” McKiernan said. “He works very, very hard and knows and understands his event really, really well. Even though pole vault is his favorite event, he’s very much a team guy. He wants to get in there and help score points wherever he can to help the team out.”

Handley also received wins from junior Quinton Newman in the discus (159-1) and the 4x100 team of senior Cooper Dawson, junior Isiah Lowrey and sophomores Matthew Peete and Jayden Vardaro (43.99).

Newman shattered his personal record in the discus by more than 11 feet. McKiernan said the all-state shot putter scratched on all of his attempts earlier in the day in that event.

“That speaks to his competitiveness and his resiliency, the fact that he could put the shot behind him and do so well in the discus,” McKiernan said.

Vardaro’s anchor leg in the 4x100 was part of his stellar all-around day. Vardaro placed second in the 100 (11.23) and second in the 300 hurdles (42.10).

The Judges were also led by senior Tyson Long, who improved on his PR by four inches in the high jump to take second (6-4) and freshman William McKay (third in the pole vault, 13-0).

In the 100 meters, James Wood junior William Crowder (10.97 seconds) came into Saturday as the second seed to Central’s Kyle Clanton (10.92). But Crowder won handily with a time of 11.07 seconds, 0.16 better than Vardaro and 0.21 better than the fourth-place Clanton.

“It was a great race by Kyle Clanton and Jayden,” Crowder said. “I love racing against kids that give me a challenge. I know I’ve got to go harder than them, faster than them. I feel I got out of the blocks way quicker [than Clanton] and I just kept going.”

Crowder was the third seed for the 200, but because he felt some discomfort in his knee during the long jump (Crowder took second in that event with a state-qualifying mark of 21-0.5) he sat out as a precaution.

Crowder also anchored James Wood’s 4x100 team to a second-place finish (senior Drake Tews, junior Lavaughan Freeman, and senior Jackson Clyburn also ran on the relay that recorded a 44.46, 0.47 behind Handley). The 4x400 team of junior Logan Owens, sophomore Owen Emerson, Clyburn, and Freeman took third despite running in the slower heat and finished in 3:35.42. James Wood also received a pair of third-place finishes from senior Chance Grove in the discus (151-2) and shot put (44-11).

“Our 4x100 ran really well,” James Wood coach Mike Onda said. “The time was almost a state qualifier, and it’s No. 2 all-time for our school.

“Both the boys and girls [teams as a whole] are looking really good. It’s still early in the season, but we’ve had a lot of regional-qualifying performances and some state-qualifying performances. Our goal is to get as many people as far into the postseason as we can, then everything else will sort itself out if we can do that. You can’t win a regional championship if you can’t get a lot of people into the region meet.”

Sherando senior and Class 4 indoor state champion Isaiah Allen won the shot put comfortably (his 58-8 was nearly 14 feet better than the runner-up) but his performance in the discus was more notable. Allen took second with a 155-5, which is the farthest he’s thrown since he recorded a 158-0 as a sophomore.

“We’ve really been trying to up the discus this year,” Allen said. “I threw farther every single throw today [four total]. I’d like to get closer to my all-time PR. I think when it gets warmer, I’ll definitely be able to break that.”

Sherando was also led by junior Darius Lane (second in the triple jump, 42-2), junior Eldon Agard (third in the 300 hurdles, 42.61) and the 4x800 team of Ty Waits, Eric Sheetz, Jonathan Gates, and Lucas Williams, which placed third in 8:34.29.

“All of our kids have been working hard in practice, and hard work shows up when they come out here and compete,” said Sherando coach T.J. Rohrbaugh when discussing both his boys’ and girls’ teams. “I’ve been happy with everybody.”

Millbrook was led on Saturday by senior Brad Hambrick (third in the 1,600, 4:39.40) and Clarke County was led individually by junior Peyton Rutherford (fifth in the shot put, 43-4).

Woodgrove senior Krzystoffer Miller won the Otis “Snag” Sargent Boys’ Outstanding Performance Award. He won the 110 hurdles (15.69) and triple jump (44-6), placed third in the high jump (6-0) and took seventh in the long jump (20-0.75).

Also, on Saturday, Handley honored Greg Harper for serving as a starter for more than 30 years at the Handley Track & Field Invitational with a plaque. This is his last year serving as a starter for the event.

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