Boys' Track & Field Preview

If the Handley boys’ track & field team gets the green light on its season, there might not be many teams capable of stopping it.

The Judges are loaded as they look to repeat as Class 4 Northwestern and Region 4C champions and improve on last year’s fourth-place finish at the Class 4 state meet.

“We’ve got some depth, and the talent that we have is the type of talent that can score well in big meets. We can score in pretty much every area,” Handley coach Mike McKiernan said. “I think we can definitely be competitive. If things break right, we could bring home a trophy as one of the top three teams in the state.”

The first track meets for some area teams were originally scheduled for today. Because of coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, local teams will not compete in any track meets prior to April 14.

The Judges lose a state champion in Tyson Long (high jump), but they have the only returning state champion in the area in Quinton Newman, who won the discus title.

The senior shattered a 13-year-old school record in the discus (he had a top throw of 168 feet to lead the area) and he was No. 2 in the area in the shot put (49-2). There is no discus in the indoor season, but Newman is already off to a stellar start in the throws this year, taking fourth in the shot put at the indoor state meet with a 49-5.

On the track, Handley has the finest collection of sprinters in Class 4. All four members of last year’s 4x100 team that set a school record (42.26 seconds) and placed second in the state are back, and McKiernan said the Judges have several talented young sprinters who have spoken of their desire to get on the relay. The Blacksburg team that finished 0.06 ahead of Handley at the state meet had two seniors on the team.

Leading the 4x100 team is senior Malachi Imoh. The William & Mary-bound football player was the state runner-up last year in both the 100 (finishing 0.03 behind Blacksburg graduate Tiquest Terry) and the 200 (finishing 0.46 behind Courtland’s Matthew Spicer, who will be a junior this year).

Imoh — the area’s fastest runner in the 200 last year at 21.85 seconds — will not have to look far to find competition. James Wood senior William Crowder’s fastest 100 time of 10.88 (achieved in the state preliminaries) was just ahead of Imoh’s 10.91. The duo just finished dueling in indoor, with Crowder taking second (6.49) and Imoh third (6.51) in the 55-meter dash at the state meet.

Another member of Handley’s relay is junior Jayden Vardaro, one of the area’s most versatile athletes. Vardaro was tops in the area in the 300 hurdles (40.49 seconds, 12th Class 4, district champ) and the long jump (21 feet, 7.75 inches, 16th Class 4, district champ) and No. 3 in the triple jump (42-8.75). McKiernan said he’s also expecting a lot from Vardaro (fifth at the region meet in the 100, 11.32) in the 110 hurdles.

Senior Miles Ashe (third in the area in the 100, 11.13, and 200, 22.94) and sophomore Stephen Daley (seventh in the region meet in the 100, 11.37) round out the relay.

Handley’s talent doesn’t stop there.

Though he’s currently dealing with an injury, sophomore Will McKay is coming off an all-state (eighth place) and region championship freshman season in the pole vault (No. 2 in the area, 13-0). McKiernan expects big things out of Matthew Peete (No. 3 in the pole vault, 12-0). Senior Isaiah Lowry (No. 3 in the area in the 400, 51.75) swept all three jumping events at the indoor district meet. Senior Bennett Cupps was No. 2 in the area in the 1,600 last year (4:29.83).

James Wood will be led by Crowder, who will run track and play football for Shenandoah University next year. He took fourth in the finals of the 100 at the state meet last year, had the area’s No. 2 time in the 200 (22.78, placed 16th at states) and tied for the No. 3 mark in the long jump (21-2, 18th in Class 4). In indoor, Crowder’s 55 prelim time of 6.43 (a school record) was good enough to qualify for the New Balance Indoor Nationals Emerging Elite division meet.

Senior Lavaughan Freeman also returns for the Colonels after ranking first in the area in the 400 (51.16) and earning all-state honors by tying for seventh in the high jump (tied for second in the area with a top mark of 6-4).

Junior Mi’keguel Franklin has made an impact right away for the Colonels after transferring from the Baltimore area, posting school all-time top-10 times in the 55 and 300 and qualifying for the state meet in indoor track with a top mark of 20-0.5 in the long jump. Logan Owens also made it to the state meet in that event.

Sherando no longer has Winchester Star Track & Field Athlete of the Year and Class 4 state shot put champion Isaiah Allen, who qualified for the canceled NCAA Division II championships for Tiffin. The Warriors also will be without the services of injured senior Ty Waits, the area’s No. 1 800 runner (10th in the state) and No. 2 400 runner.

Sherando will be fueled by the versatile duo of seniors Darius Lane and Eldon Agard.

Lane, who will play football at Valparaiso, placed fourth in the state, was region champ and had the area’s No. 2 time (40.64) in the 300 hurdles. Lane was ninth in Class 4 in the triple jump (44-1 top mark for year, No. 1 in area), 15th in the 110 hurdles (No. 2, 15.50) and 19th in the long jump. Agard placed ninth in Class 4 in the 300 hurdles (No. 3 in area, 41.08), 11th in the 110 hurdles (No. 1, 15.39) and 16th in the triple jump (No. 2, 43-1.5). Agard placed eighth in the indoor state triple jump this year.

Senior Jabril Hayes — a state qualifier in the long jump last year who will play football for Richmond — will focus on the 400 and 4x400 in addition to jumps.

Though the Warriors lose three top throwers, Warriors coach T.J. Rohrbaugh has faith in a throwing group that includes indoor district shot put champion William Fletcher, who threw 45-3.25 at the region meet and took 10th at the state indoor meet.

Led by senior Chris Simonelli (third in the area in the 800, 2:02.68), Millbrook boasts a strong distance crew, but Pioneers coach Kevin Shirk said that group struggled with injuries and the flu during indoor season.

“A lot of the guys are now starting to refocus on little changes to their daily training that can make a difference during outdoor season,” Shirk said. “I expect to have several boys challenge the 10-minute mark in the 3,200 and for Chris Simonelli to run around 2:00 for 800. We have a great group of freshmen and sophomores who are running great times for their ages, who will get some great experience this season.”

The Pioneers will also look to Jeremy McLarn in the long jump and Josh Mihill in the 100 and 200.

Fauquier should also be strong in the Northwestern District after winning the district indoor meet.

Clarke County is the defending Bull Run District champion, but the Eagles lost a lot of talent from last year’s team and will now have to deal with an exceptional addition to the Bull Run in East Rockingham, which won last year’s Region 2B meet.

“I think we’ll be very competitive [in the district],” Clarke County coach Andre Kidrick said. “East Rock always has athletes, but I don’t think we’ve ever competed against their team as a whole in a tri meet or something like that. East Rock is probably the favorite, but we’ll fight, I know that.”

The Eagles’ returners include junior Ellis Nei, who placed second in the Class 2 state meet and had the area’s third-best time in the 110 hurdles with a 15.54. Only Central-Wise sophomore Maddox Reynolds (14.93) did better than Nei at the state meet last year.

Clarke County also hopes to get strong production out of thrower/sprinter Peyton Rutherford. The James Madison-bound football player Rutherford had his football season end early because of injury and will look to build off of taking second in the region in the shot put (44-5).

The following is a glance at each area team:

HandleyCoach: Mike McKiernan, ninth season.

Last year: Region 4C and Class 4 Northwestern District champions; fourth in Class 4 state meet.

Key losses: Jack Armel, Tyson Long, Ethan Bishop, Cooper Dawson.

Key returnees: Quinton Newman, Sr., throws; Malachi Imoh, Sr., sprints; Miles Ashe, Sr., sprints; Jayden Vardaro, Jr., hurdles,/jumps; Stephan Daley, So., sprints/throwers; Matthew Peete, Jr., hurdles/pole vault; Will McKay, So., pole vault; Isaiah Lowry, Sr., jumps/sprints; Bennett Cupps, Sr., distance; Grayson Westfall, Sr., distance.

Key newcomers: Osmar Ramirez, Jr., sprints/jumps; Reilynd Worrell, Fr., sprints/hurdles; Ayat Jones, Fr., jumps; Rodd’ney Davenport, Fr., throws; Julius Darling, So., sprints.

McKiernan’s outlook: “[Newman] was a rotational thrower last year in the shot and seems to be getting more comfortable with [that technique]. With the 4x100 relay, when you’ve got people competing to get on it, it motivates you to keep your spot. The people on it have their spots pretty well sewn up, but it’s nice to be able to tell them that if we can find someone faster, we’ll slot them in. Malachi is really hoping to come back this year and have a chance to rectify his second-place finishes [at the state meet]. Jayden is a tremendous athlete. He’s a good worker and very coachable. He’s skilled in a lot of areas.”

James WoodCoach: Mike Onda, third season.

Last year: Second in Class 4 Northwestern District; fourth in Region 4C; 13th in Class 4 state.

Key losses: Josh Arce, Jackson Clyburn, Chance Grove, Jared King, Ethan Pierce, Drake Tews.

Key returnees: Brendan Cassidy, So., hurdles; William Crowder, Sr., sprints/jumps; Owen Emerson, Jr., sprints; Lavaughan Freeman, Sr., jumps/sprints; Liam McDonald, So., distance; Logan Owens, Sr., hurdles/jumps; Nathan Shade, Sr., distance; Nathaniel Woshner, So., distance.

Key newcomers: Mi’keguel Franklin, Jr., sprints/jumps; Chris Morrison, Fr., sprints/jumps; Jackson Turner, Sr., throws.

Onda’s outlook: “This was [Crowder’s] first time doing indoor track, and I think it sets him up well for outdoor assuming we actually do have an outdoor season. Logan Owens is a good workhorse and will help us in a lot of event areas. Our distance group should be strong. We lost some really good guys in the throws — Chance breaking the school record last year. We have a lot of new guys, so we’re trying to get some guys trained up to be competitive in those events, too. Lavaughan should do well, and his little brother Chris Morrison is showing potential.”

SherandoCoach: T.J. Rohrbaugh, second season.

Last year: Fourth in Class 4 Northwestern District; third in Region 4C; seventh in Class 4 state.

Key losses: Ty Waits, Isaiah Allen, Nick Corbit, Daniel Boespflug.

Key returnees: Jabril Hayes, Sr., middle distance/jumps; James Harris, Sr., distance; Eldon Agard, Sr., hurdles/jumps; Darius Lane, Sr., hurdles/jumps; David Rivas, Sr., sprints/jumps; Will Fletcher, Jr., throws; Brett Shockey, So., throws; Jonathan Gates, Jr., middle distance; Eric Sheetz, Jr., middle distance; Graham Schultz, So., middle distance.

Key newcomers: Caleb Hakel, Jr., sprints/jumps; Darrien Bridgman, So., sprints; Cameron Myers, So., hurdles/jumps/middle distance; Tony Pham, Sr., middle distance; Connor Madagan, So., throws.

Rohrbaugh’s outlook: “We’ve got a lot of guys on our team who are pretty diverse and can do different things. It’s just going to be a matter of figuring out a formula of who we can plug into what events. David Rivas has done a really good job of being a leader and is a good athlete. He’s one of those guys who can do a little bit of everything, so I’m excited to see what he brings to the table this year. Darrien Bridgman was hurt last year with a hamstring injury, but he’s one of our fastest guys. He had a good indoor season and has a great start to the outdoor season in terms of working hard at practice and upping his conditioning. I’ll be excited to see what he can do in the 100 and 200 and will help us out in the 4x100 as well. Brett Shockey and Connor Madagan are right there as throwers with Will, so it will be interesting to see how it shakes out with those guys.”

MillbrookCoach: Kevin Shirk, ninth season.

Last year: Sixth in Class 4 Northwestern District; 11th in Region 4C.

Key losses: Brad Hambrick, John Pullen, Daniel Torres, Dylan Wallace, Jacob Young, Noah Robinson.

Key returnees: Jeremy McLarn, Sr., sprints/jumps; Chris Simonelli, Sr., middle distance; Silas Schroer, Sr., distance/middle distance; Johnny Wiseman, So., distance; Carter Johnson, So., distance.

Key newcomers: Josh Mihill, Jr., sprints; Nicholas Hayden, Fr., distance; Tyler Lam, Fr., sprints; Kai Johnson, Fr., distance.

Shirk’s outlook: “We have a relatively young boys’ team with only a few leading seniors. On top of having a lot of young athletes, we have several new coaches — Joe Hall in the sprints, Jeff Rudolph for hurdles, and Justin Neff for the throws — so I think the entire season will have a bit of a learning curve as athletes adjust to new training philosophies and different workouts. While challenging for a top team spot in the district seems a little out of reach at this point, I think we’ll see some big gains as the season progresses and hopefully send a large contingent of individuals onto the regional and state level.”

Clarke CountyCoach: Andre Kidrick, 14th season.

Last year: Bull Run District champion; fourth in Region 2B; 10th in Class 2 state.

Key losses: Peter Terzian, Eric Evans, Zach Dawson, Connor Hanson, Kyle Erickson, Dawson Parrott, Adam Scroggins, Nick Dawson.

Key returnees: Peyton Rutherford, Sr., throws/sprints; Ellis Nei, Jr., hurdles/jumps; Sam Brumback, Jr., throws/jumps/relays; Luke Brumback, Jr., throws/jumps/relays; Reid Cox, Sr., distance; Cooper Lowell, So.; jumps/throws/middle distance.

Key newcomers: Luke Leso, Sr., jumps/relays; Levi Bodnar, Jr. (foreign exchange student from Hungary) sprints; Graham Wolford, Fr., relays/jumps.

Kidrick’s outlook: “Ellis Nei was dealing with a lower back injury and still came on strong at the end at states. I’m expecting big things from him in hurdles and in high jump. [Rutherford’s] got some muscle on him, so he’s excited and I’m excited for him in shot put. I’m looking for 50-feet plus by the end of the season. I’m interested to see how Peyton is going to be with running. His ankle is a little sore after running in practice, but he’s got a very competitive spirit. Whatever we ask him to do, he’s going to put his best effort out there. I’m interested to see what [Bodnar] can do in the sprints, because he said he ran [under 11 seconds] in the 100 in Hungary. He is fast, but we haven’t gone all-out in workouts, so we’ll see what he can do.”

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