LYNCHBURG — Handley senior Emerycre Worrell defended her state titles in the 55 meters and 300 on the second day of the Class 4 state indoor track & field meet at Liberty University on Tuesday.
Worrell won the 55 in 7.02 seconds (0.08 ahead of Atlee’s Tori Goodson) and the 300 in 39.22 (1.11 seconds ahead of Manor’s Triniti Desince). Worrell equaled her winning 55 time from last year and beat her winning 300 time from 2024 by 0.17.
In the boys’ meet, Sherando senior Noah Harris — who captured the state outdoor high jump title last year — captured his first indoor state title with a mark of 6 feet, 8 inches in the high jump. That was four inches better than runner-up and Handley senior Hassan Akanbi (6-4) and one inch better than his winning mark in the spring.
Handley junior Rylan Stribling won the first state title of his career, capturing the 55 in 6.40 to beat Salem’s Josiah Persinger by 0.05.
In the girls’ meet, Blacksburg won with 106 points, 36 more than Atlee (70). Handley was fifth with 32, Millbrook was 14th with 13, Sherando was 15th with 11.5 and James Wood tied for 17th with 9 out of 31 scoring meets.
In the boys’ meet, Atlee won with 54 points and Jamestown was second with 48. Handley was fourth with 39 and Sherando tied for 18th with 12.
The top three finishers in each event earned All-State honors.
Other local scorers (top eight):
Handley boys: 4×200 (Akanbi, Jamir Washington, Savion Thomas, Stribling, fourth, 1:32.22; Akanbi (long jump, fifth, 21-2.25); Stribling (300, seventh, 36.32).
Handley girls: EJ Mullins (500, third, 1:18.07); 4×200 (Worrell, Elisabeth Pitcock, Monet Thomas, Mullins), third, 1:46.05.
Millbrook girls: Jada Arrington (300, fourth, 40.56); 4×400 (Janai Washington, Ella Mannarino, Savannah Florek, Arrington), third, 4:04.89.
Sherando girls: McKenna Hardy (triple jump, seventh, 34-7.25).
James Wood girls: Kate Konyar (3,200, second, 11:02.67).