Handley boys dominate in Apple Blossom track win

WINCHESTER — What the Handley boys’ track & field team didn’t get on Friday and Saturday were points in the pole vault from top-seeded junior William McKay, in the long jump from senior No. 1 seed Jayden Vardaro, or in the hurdles from senior Matthew Peete (seeded first in the 110 and third in the 300).

What the Judges did get on Friday and Saturday? An absolutely dominant team performance. Handley might have left some points off the score sheet at the 52nd H. Brian Landes Apple Blossom Track & Field Invitational, but the Judges still put up a heck of a lot more than anyone else.

The Judges captured the 12-team, two-day meet at James Wood’s Kelican Stadium with 114 points, 36 more than runner-up Skyline. Led by Jim Casey Most Outstanding Performer winner Stephen Daley, a junior, and Vardaro (part of three event wins), Handley scored points in 14 of the 17 events in capturing its second straight ABI title.

“I think that speaks to the balance of the team and the depth of the team,” Judges coach Mike McKiernan said. “[The people on this team] push each other and encourage each other.

“I thought we were going to have a pretty good boys’ team this year, and I think today confirmed we are a pretty good team.”

Vardaro — who won the triple jump, 300 hurdles and was on the winning 4x100 team — said there’s a strong work ethic throughout the team.

“I think what I like most about this team is we’ve got people coming up that are helping us out that are new, that are younger people,” Vardaro said. “It’s nice to see them working hard and doing their thing. As they get more and more experience, they’re going to be super, super good.”

In a meet that was limited to Class 3 and Class 4 Northwestern District schools, James Wood placed fourth with 59 points, Sherando was sixth with 36 and Millbrook was ninth with 14.

Daley captured the discus (won by one foot, one inch with a 143-9), took second in the shot put (44-10.5), third in the 100 (11.33), fifth in the 200 (23.88) and teamed with sophomore Aaron Lee (the 400 champion), Peete (the pole vault champion) and Vardaro to win the 4x100 by 0.72 in a season-best time of 43.40.

Daley’s discus success this year is particularly notable.

As a freshman in 2019, Daley experimented with it briefly in practice, but after struggling with his technique he abandoned it to focus on other events. Due to COVID-19, there was no outdoor track season last year. There was also no football season in the summer/fall, which meant Daley had extra time on his hands. Daley said McKiernan put him to work with Sarah Johnson, the former James Wood and Christopher Newport discus star, and her tutelage has played a big role in Daley’s current success.

“It’s really fun now that I actually know how to do it,” Daley said. “Especially since we lost Quinton (Newman, the 2019 Class 4 state discus champ and 2020 Handley graduate), I knew someone was going to have to take his spot. Coach McKiernan believed in me, so I took the opportunity to do it.”

Daley has also improved a lot in the shot put and says he’s benefiting from working with teammate and senior Solomon Johnson, who placed third on Friday with a 44-6.

“I’m so excited for him,” said McKiernan about Daley taking the Jim Casey award. “I cannot emphasize enough how impressive it is to see a young man who’s really only learned the disc in the last year throwing as well as he is.”

Daley and Vardaro also push each other well in the 100, and they both said they now have reason to work even harder. Daley (11.03) and Vardaro (11.05) came into Saturday with the top two seed times, but they watched Kettle Run senior Ahmal Williams (11.10 seed time) speed past them and win with a scintillating 10.91, 0.35 ahead of second-place Vardaro (11.26).

Though Vardaro wasn’t able to record a mark in the long jump, he had a meet to remember. After winning the triple jump by 1 foot, 3.5 inches with a mark of 41-7 on Friday, Vardaro nearly eclipsed his personal record (40.49) with a time of 40.56 in the 300 hurdles to win by 1.4 seconds on Saturday.

Vardaro was locked in a tight battle with Skyline’s Logan Bailey for most of the race. The two were practically even as they approached the second-to-last hurdle, but Bailey hit the hurdle and fell to the track. Bailey got up quickly but finished third in 41.98.

“It was good going against him, working hard every single step,” Vardaro said. “But I knew eventually he was going to end up slipping up. His trail leg kept hitting the hurdle, and I knew he was going to fall eventually. I knew I had to keep executing through the whole thing, make sure I didn’t fall, and win the race.

“I think my strongest event, even though I hate it to death, is the 300-meter hurdles. If I can get a lot better with that and starting running it under 40 [seconds], I can really compete for a state title.”

McKiernan said Peete didn’t compete in either hurdle event because his knees were bothering him, but Peete helped the Judges plenty by taking first in the pole vault held at Handley on Friday with a 10-6 (the all-state vaulter McKay didn’t clear the bar on any of his vaults), fifth in the long jump, and running on the 4x100 team.

Lee, the leadoff leg of the 4x100 relay, later had one of the more impressive performances of the meet. Lee ran in the fourth of five heats (the fifth being the fastest) of the 400 and won the event with a 52.73, 0.03 ahead of Skyline’s Bronson Breen, who won the last heat.

“That was just amazing,” McKiernan said.

Handley was also led by junior Nico Schianchi (second in the 3,200, 10:07.44); junior Ryan Stickley (third in the 800, 2:05.89); Javier Hernandez-Rodriguez (third in the pole vault, 10-6); and the 4x800 team of Ryan Stickley, sophomore Pierce Francis, freshman Garrett Stickley and Schianchi (third in 8:41.58).

Other top local performances:

James Wood: Chris White (won the 1,600 by 4.71 seconds in 4:32.28); Nathaniel Woshner (won the 3,200 by 12.76 seconds in 9:54.68); Andrew Link (second in the 110 hurdles, 16.61, and 300 hurdles, 41.96); and Ethan Pratt-Perez (third in the 3,200, 10:15.65).

Sherando: William Fletcher (won the shot put by nine inches with a 45-7.5); Connor Madagan (second in the discus, 142-8); and Avery Dodson (third in the discus, 126-6).

Millbrook: the 4x400 team of Landon Baker, Brian Washington, Scott Montgomery and Matthew Topham, fourth in 3:40.87.

All in all, it was a successful meet, one of the few large invitationals held in Virginia this year because of COVID-19. Most meets this year are four teams or less. The ABI is typically a one-day affair, but it was held over two days this year to limit the number of participants and spectators who would be in at Kelican Stadium at the same time. Each individual event was also spread out, which helped limit the crowding that can occur when athletes check in for their events.

Coaches and athletes alike greatly enjoyed the opportunity to compete in a large meet during the regular season. It provided more and better competition than they’ll typically see this spring. And it gave them an idea of what to expect during the postseason, because many of the athletes they saw Friday and Saturday will be the ones they’ll see during that time.

“I would like to thank James Wood and Craig [Woshner, the Colonels coordinator of student activities] for putting this meet on,” McKiernan said. “I know it’s a lot of work with all the COVID restrictions, but I thought he did a great job.”

For more results, go to https://va.milesplit.com/meets/413057-apple-blossom-invitational-nwd-only-2021/results/747599/raw#.YKBiMY7YrmU.

For more coverage of the meet, see Tuesday’s edition of The Winchester Star.

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