Girls' track & field outlook: Several individual state title contenders in area

With at least one state title contender at each of the five area high schools, the first Virginia High School League girls’ outdoor track & field season in two years could be a particularly memorable one.

Handley already has a state champion athlete in senior Mary McKay, who captured the Class 4 indoor state title this year in the pole vault with a mark of 11 feet, 6 inches. She placed fourth at the 2019 outdoor state meet. Sophomore Liz Imoh placed second in the 300 at the indoor state meet in 43.48 seconds.

McKay and Imoh are part of an impressive sprint crew for the Judges, who won the district title in 2019. They teamed with senior Sofia Posadas (No. 2 in the area in the 200 meters in 2019, 26.26 seconds) and junior Mikayla Balio to win the 4x100 in 52.26 in the team’s opening meet last week. All but Posadas ran on the indoor 4x200 team that placed sixth at this year’s indoor state meet. Senior Brittnay Turner (No. 2 in the area in the 400 in 1:01.16 in 2019) is another big factor in Handley’s relays. The Judges placed seventh in the 4x100 in Class 4 in 2019 with most of the aforementioned names competing on that relay.

Sherando junior Ella Carlson is off to an outstanding start in the discus. In a meet last week, Carlson — the state runner-up in 2019 — set a personal record with a toss of 133-3, which is farther than anyone threw in Class 4 for the entire spring 2019 season. Carlson also was the area’s No. 1 performer in the shot put in 2019, and she beat that mark in last week’s meet (35-1.5).

James Wood senior Brooke Sandy earned Class 4 all-state honors (top eight) in both the 2019 outdoor season and the 2020 indoor season in the high jump. She’s already surpassed what she’s done the last two years with a PR of 5-4. No one in Class 4 who is still in high school surpassed that mark during the 2019 season, and no one in Class 4 who competed during this year’s indoor season reached that mark. Frederick County athletes did not compete in the VHSL indoor season this year.

Sandy also ranked third in the area in the 100 hurdles (16.77) and 300 hurdles (48.44) in 2019.

James Wood is also led by Sandy’s twin sister Audrey, who tied for third in the area in the high jump (5-0) in 2019 and took 10th at indoor states in 2020; and the area’s top 400 runner from 2019, senior Ja’Niyah Stovall (1:00.96, placed 16th in Class 4).

The Sandys’ mother, Caroline, takes over as head coach this year after three seasons as an assistant at James Wood.

Millbrook sophomore Madison Murphy came close to winning two state titles at the 2020 indoor Class 4 state meet, taking third and finishing within three seconds of first place in both the 1,600 (4:59.21) and the 3,200 (11:08.71). The Pioneers also bring back junior Becca Edlich, who placed 10th in the 3,200 in 11:31.92 at the 2019 Class 4 meet.

Millbrook has a new head coach in Joe Hall, who was an assistant last season.

Clarke County senior Sara Murray had the area’s No. 2 throw (126-3) in the discus in 2019 and is Class 2’s top returning athlete in that event. Murray is also a successful 100 runner (third in the area in 13.10 and 11th in the state in 2019). Murray recorded a time of 12.9 seconds to win her opening meet this year.

In the team races, the Class 4 Northwestern District features Fauquier, which won the Class 4 indoor state title this year.

In the Bull Run District, Clarke County took second in 2019. Competing in Bull Run track this year for the first time will be East Rockingham, which won the Region 2B outdoor meet and placed second in Class 2 in 2019.

The four Winchester-Frederick County schools will next compete in the two-day Apple Blossom Invitational at James Wood that starts Friday. The 13-team meet will only feature teams from the Northwestern District (both Class 3 and Class 4).

Clarke County is next scheduled to compete on Wednesday at Page County. The Eagles were supposed to have a meet this week on Wednesday at East Rockingham, but that was postponed. Stonewall Jackson was also supposed to compete, and the Generals can’t travel right now due to a fuel shortage in Shenandoah County.

The following is a glance at each area team:

Handley Coach: Mike McKiernan, ninth season.

2019 performance: Class 4 Northwestern District champions; 2nd in Region 4C; tied for 5th in Class 4 state.

Key losses: None mentioned.

Key returnees: Mary McKay, Sr., pole vault, sprints; Sofia Posadas, Sr., sprints; Tierney Finley, Sr., jumps, Amyra Newman, Sr., throws, Brittnay Turner, Sr., sprints; Mattie Davis, Sr., sprints; Ashlea McConnell, Sr., throws; Sarah Roberson, So., distance; Elizabeth Imoh, So., sprints/jumps; Zynah Johnson, So.; jumps; Mikayla Balio, Jr., sprints.

Key newcomers: Zage Johnson, Sr., hurdles; Sullivan Morefield, So., jumps.

McKiernan’s outlook: “We are blessed with some good sprinters and jumpers. Liz Imoh has learned to hurdle, and we’re really excited about that. Mary McKay had been close a couple of times to getting a state title. Hopefully, she feels freed now that she’s won one. Amyra Newman (shot put) and Sarah Roberson (3,200) made it to indoor states. They’re going to be competitive. There’s some very good girls’ teams in our district, but I think we should be competitive. Right now what we’re missing is we don’t have enough depth for the Wednesday meets. But I think for the bigger meets, we have some young ladies who will be able to place.”

Millbrook Coach: Joe Hall, first season.

2019 performance: Third in Class 4 Northwestern District; eighth in Region 4C; tied for 14th in Class 4 state.

Key losses: Sarah Purdy, Katie Borland.

Key returnees: Madison Murphy, So., distance; Rebecca Edlich, Jr., distance; Angela Dojack, Jr., distance; Elianna Flower, Jr., sprints; Kaylin Upson, Jr., sprints/hurdles.

Key newcomers: Laryn Meeks, So., sprints; Kaylene Todd, So., sprints/throws.

Hall’s outlook: “The strengths of the team will be distance and throws. Madison is coming off a great cross country season. I look for her to carry that success into the mile and two-mile this year. Kaylene Todd has performed well this season in the sprints (13.23 seconds in the 100 last week) and throwing events.”

James Wood Coach: Caroline Sandy, first season.

2019 performance: Fourth in Class 4 Northwestern District; sixth in Region 4C.

Key losses: Kenzie Konyar

Key returnees: Audrey Sandy, Sr., jumps, middle distance; Brooke Sandy, Sr., jumps, sprints, hurdles; Riley Rose, Sr., sprints; Ja’Niyah Stovall, Sr., sprints; Lauren Beatty, Jr.; distance; Lillian Lovelace, So., hurdles/middle distance.

Key newcomers: Elena Farinholt, Jr., distance; MacKenzie Mitchell, So., throws; Hallie Lescalleet, Fr., distance; Ella Kiesewalter, Fr., hurdles.

Sandy’s outlook: “[Brooke] has been really good at picking up where we left off last season before it got canceled. We didn’t have to go back and play the catch-up game. In the [100] hurdles, she’s three-stepping, which she was starting to do last year, and with jumps she picked up where she was before. Ja’Niyah has a lot of potential. We just need her to realize she can do it. Lauren Beatty is coming off an injury but is looking pretty good. Our team is about half the size of normal, so we’re spread pretty thin. But from what I’ve seen from other schools, they’re pretty thin, too, so I hope we can still compete well within the district. In addition to the ones that have made it in the past, I think there’s the potential for a few more athletes to at least make it to regionals.”

Sherando Coach: T.J. Rohrbaugh, second season.

2019 performance: Fifth in Class 4 Northwestern District; fifth in Region 4C.

Key losses: Gracie Ridings, Haley Mack, Thais Agard.

Key returnees: Ella Carlson, Jr., throws; Victoria Corbit, Jr., jumps/middle distance; Indhya Hayes, Sr., sprints/jumps; Molly Robinson, Sr., distance.

Key newcomers: Emma Ahrens, So., distance; Ryleigh Combs, So., distance; Allison David, So., jumps; Emily Fisher, So., distance; Samantha Gaylor, So., jumps/middle distance; Emma Hicks, Fr., middle distance; Brodilyn Ireland, Jr., sprints/jumps; Brianna Polston, Fr., sprints; Eva Winston, So., distance.

Rohrbaugh’s outlook: “Ella has a great work ethic, and we have a really good throws coach in Jake Smith who works with her. I think we’re just scratching the surface of what she’s going to be able to accomplish this year and also next year. Emma Ahrens has done a great job in both of our meets so far in the two-mile, finishing first in both. We have a lot of young kids, and right now we’re feeling things out and figuring out what’s best for each athlete, and seeing where they can help us.”

Clarke County Coach: Andre Kidrick, 14th season.

2019 performance: Second in Bull Run District; sixth in Region 2B; tied for seventh in Class 2 state.

Key losses: Ellie Brumback (injury), Liz Wallace, Sara Wenzel.

Key returnees: Angel Crider, Sr., hurdles/sprints; Mary David, Sr., jumps/sprints; Sara Murray, Sr., throws/sprints; Ellen Smith, Jr., distance; Hannah Ventura, Sr., distance.

Key newcomers: Bailey Beard, Fr., sprints/jumps; Leah Kreeb, So., jumps/sprints/throws; Teagan Lowery, Fr., jumps.

Kidrick’s outlook: “With two years off and such a short time to prepare for this season, I’m just concerned with all of our athletes, because there hasn’t been a lot of time to knock the rust off and prepare their bodies the way they usually do. With Sara Murray, I just want her to get back to basics and just have some fun this season. She’s going to go to [Christopher Newport] for track. She’s trying the shot now and also wants to get into long jumping. So she’s broadening her events. I’m hoping I can have her where she needs to be by the end of the season to be successful in all the events she decides to participate in. We have a little bit bigger team than most teams in our district, so we can spread out the points and possibly win the district.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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