William Byrd High School won the team championships for both the boys and girls last Saturday at Staunton River High School hosted the Blue Ridge District track meet. Lord Botetourt finished sixth among both the boys and girls but had some solid performances.
For the boys, DJ Toliver won the discus with a PR of 132 feet while Seth Huard finished third. Toliver and Jaidan Dann went third and fifth in the shot put.
“Coach VanBuren has been making some adjustments to DJ’s technique and it looks like it’s getting dialed in at just the right time,” said LB coach Paul Craft.
Rye Jackson finished third in the 800m and Carter Hudson finished 3rd in the 1600m. Zion Woody placed eighth in the 100m with a time of 11.3 and qualified for the state meet.
“For him to finish eighth and still qualify should give some insight into how strong the sprinters are in the BRD,” said Craft.
For the girls, Jillian Harris won the BRD in the 100m hurdles. Alina Toliver and Meredith Griffin went third and fourth in the discus.
“We had some kids with some light injuries that didn’t compete Saturday,” said Craft. “However, we expect to be at full force for the Region 3D meet at Cave Spring on Thursday, May 25. We’ve got plenty of time to heal up and fine tune some things. We’ve got to finish strong.”
Also, it was announced that senior Elijah Rose has committed to the University of Lynchburg where he’ll compete in the jumping events and hurdles. He joins Carter Hudson as the second Cavalier to commit to the Hornets this season.
Region 2C track meet is May 25
The James River track team warmed up for the Region 2C meet with two meets last week. The Three Rivers District does not have a district meet.
River competed at Floyd County on May 10 as Glenvar swept the meet. The River girls were third and the boys were fifth.
For the girls, Navaeh VanBuren placed in five events. She won the discus, was third in the triple jump, fourth in the long and high jumps and ran on the winning 4×100 relay team with Kaia Binns, Alise Orent and Kelsey Firebaugh. Binns took second in the 100 and 200 and Firebaugh was third in the 100 and fourth in the 200. Orent was fifth in the high jump.
Emma Bobbitt won the shot while Catalyne Webb was third and Leighauna Lotts was sixth. Bobbitt also took sixth in the discus and Kyleigh Mills was fourth in the 400.
For the boys, Brian Moran won the long jump, was second in the triple, third in the 200 meters, fifth in the 100 and sixth in the high jump. Michael Jorgensen won the 800 and was second in the 1,600.
George Toliver took a second in the shot put and Gavin Binns took two fourth places, in the 100 and 200 meters.
River also competed in the Christiansburg Invitational on Saturday, with Emma Francis winning the discus and taking second in the shot as the girls finished eighth overall among over 25 teams competing. VanBuren was third in the triple jump and discus and Kaia Binns was seventh in the 200.
Christiansburg will also host the Region 2C meet on May 25.
