Girls' Handley Invitational

WINCHESTER — After scoring seven goals in two soccer games at James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium on Thursday and Friday, Emeryce Worrell achieved her one goal on the stadium track on Saturday.

In her only event of the day, the Handley junior speedster captured the 100-meter championship with a time of 12.94 seconds while running into a stiff headwind at the 79th Handley Invitational.

Worrell beat fellow All-State runner and junior Jada Arrington (13.02) by eight-hundredths of a second for her first career event win at the Judges’ meet. (Last year’s event did not take place due to track reconstruction.)

This year’s event featured 25 schools, though not all of those schools had their full teams for the second meet on Handley’s new Mondo track. Some schools participated just so their athletes could compete in the first-ever boys’ and girls’ mile invitationals for the Handley Invitational.

Handley sought some of the best distance runners in the state for the races. Jefferson Forest of Lynchburg brought a total of just six athletes (two girls), and future University of Tennessee runner Zoie Lamanna put on a show in the event that is the equivalent of 1,609 meters. Lamanna won the 10-girl race by almost 11 seconds in 5:05.72, with last year’s Class 4 1,600 and 800 state champion Cassidy Scott of Fauquier taking second in 5:16.66.

Judges coach Mike McKiernan was pleased to see crowd response to the event, and the participant enthusiasm for it. McKiernan pointed out that Handley senior Will Pardue was active on social media to try and get athletes to come. One of the people he reached out to Jayden Curry, a junior from Bruton High School in Williamsburg, which is 180 miles away.

“I really wanted to celebrate the quality of distance running in this part of the state,” McKiernan said. “I thought we had some excellent competition today.”

Scott helped the Falcons to the team title with 78 points. Loudoun Valley took second with 66.6 points. Led by 3,200 champion Kate Konyar and its victorious 4x800 team, James Wood led the local squads by placing third with 59 points. Arrington won the 200 to help Millbrook take fourth (56.33 points), and the Pioneers were followed by Sherando (11th with 26 points), Clarke County (12th with 23.33 points) and Handley (13th with 19.25 points).

The reason why Worrell only competed in one event on Saturday is because Worrell and the coaching staff didn’t want to put too much on her plate after a busy week. On Wednesday, Worrell won the 100 and 200 at a meet at James Wood that featured all five local high schools. She then had three goals and three assists in Thursday’s 8-0 home win over Millbrook, and four goals and one assist in Friday’s 8-0 home win over Skyline.

“There are bigger long-term goals for her in track and in soccer,” Handley coach Mike McKiernan said. “Today was not worth risking that.”

In the 100, Worrell didn’t get out of the blocks the way she wanted, but she had enough speed and fight to edge Arrington.

“The start was a little faulty, but the finish was strong,” Worrell said.

Worrell hopes her season can end with the ultimate finish. She won three state titles in indoor track this winter, capturing the 55 and 300 and running on the victorious 4x200 team.

“[Winning those three state titles], it just pushes me to hopefully get three more again,” said Worrell, referring to the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay.

The Judges’ 4x100 team still managed to take fourth without her or freshman EJ Mullins competing. McKiernan said she missed the meet with an injury that has been bothering her a week. Handley’s next-best individual finish came from Elisabeth Pitcock. She was one of six girls who cleared 4-10 to finish two inches behind the winner in the high jump, but Pitcock took sixth based on how many attempts she needed to advance through the competition.

James Wood was the only local school to win two events in either the girls’ or boys’ competition.

Konyar cruised to victory after sitting behind teammate Alina Kieffer for the first three laps. Konyar surged on the fourth lap and opened up a 15-meter lead after the first mile, then added about 15 more meters to her lead for each of the next three laps. She actually wound up lapping one of the competitors on the final straightaway and recorded a time of 11:45.69, 9.42 seconds ahead of Broad Run’s Mary Raterman.

Konyar said it wasn’t by design that she drafted behind Kieffer — who finished sixth in 12:23 — early, but it helped.

“I didn’t want to take the wind, and I already ran the mile, so I was just trying to chill,” said Konyar, who placed sixth in the 5:21.32 in the mile. “She just took the lead and I was following.”

Konyar said she enjoyed the mile. Before the race, each of the runners lined up at the top of the final straightaway where athletes typically gather for the start of the 100 meters and 100/110 hurdles. They then jogged about 100 meters to the starting line one at a time as James Wood cross coach country coach Matthew Lofton read off their accomplishments over the public address system. The invitational mile races received the most attention by far, with athletes lining the infield and people gathering in the stands to cheer them on, and Lofton providing running commentary of the moves and positioning of the athletes.

“I thought that was a really cool addition to the meet,” Konyar said. “It was very good competition. Everyone was very fast. There was always someone to race.”

Konyar won the last distance event of the day, and the foursome of Kieffer, freshman Ally Oliver, senior Sarah Moss and sophomore Kiren Nashed won the first. They took the 4x800 in a time of 10:34.14 to beat Millbrook by 9.36 seconds. Kieffer is the only one of those four who ran on James Wood’s 4x800 team at the indoor state meet — James Wood coach Craig Woshner wanted to give his other runners a chance to focus on individual events. So he was pleased to see his some other runners have success.

Woshner had to leave the meet after the 300 hurdles, but before that he got to watch Konyar and Ruby Ostrander (ninth in 5:28.51) in the mile and Lauren Thompson take second in the 1,600 (5:32.77).

“Kate and Ruby both ran pretty well in the mile given the conditions,” Woshner said. “Their times were comparable or faster than what they had done already this year, and effort-wise, it was probably better than what they’ve done.”

The Colonels were also led by their 4x100 team of Alexis Brown, Olivia Boyce, Nadia Elias and Megan Vreeland, who took third in 53.55.

For Millbrook, Arrington won the 200 by 0.52 in 26.31. The Pioneers’ 4x800 team of Savannah Florek, Caydence Bayne, Addison Stover and Emma Gressley recorded a time of 10:43.60 in taking second. Other runner-up performances for the Pioneers were achieved by freshman Janai Washington (tied for second in the high jump, 4-10), and junior Jillian Taylor (second in the shot put, 31-10). Washington also placed sixth in the 200 (28.56) and 400 (1:03.66) and Taylor placed fourth in the discus (95-8). Florek was fourth in the 400 (1:02.77).

Sherando was led by senior Sarah Starling (second in the discus, 101-2, fifth in the shot put (31-1).

Clarke County had two top-three finishes. Sophomore Emmalene Morris tied for second in the high jump (4-10) and junior Reagan Myer was third in the long jump (16-4.5).

Lamanna was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer. She also took third in the 800 (2:22.37). Potomac Falls senior Taylor Colwell earned top field event honors for capturing the triple jump by a foot with a mark of 36-11. Colwell won three events total, also capturing the 100 hurdles by 0.33 in 16.24, and the 300 hurdles by 0.43 in 49.78.

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

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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