The Lord Botetourt indoor track team finally got to run a meet indoors last week competing in the Class 3 state championship at Liberty University. The boys took eighth place and the girls were 11th as the Monticello boys and Western Albemarle girls won state championships.
“Ironically it was the first meet we actually got to run ‘indoors,’” said Cavalier coach Chris Caldwell. “The athletes performed extremely well in a very different environment. For those new to indoor track, it was their first experience on a banked track and an indoor surface. The athletes rose to the challenges and performed extremely well.”
The top six finishers in each event received state placing medals. The top finish for the LB boys was a fourth place in the 4×200 relay with the team of Joey Isaacs, Jonah Clark, Dylan Knick and Jacob Hodnett. They ran a time of 1:37.10.
The 4×800 relay also placed with a sixth. That team of Evan Gates, Evan Poff, Carton Hudson and Bryson Cook finished with a time of 8:53.43.
Individually, Cook was fifth in the 500 at 1:10.24 and Hodnett placed fifth in the 300 at 37.24. Knick took a sixth at 8.48 in the 55 meter hurdles and Isaacs just missed a medal with a seventh place finish in the 55 dash, clocking 6.80.
For the girls, Sydney Vokus set a new Lord Botetourt High School indoor record in the 3,200 meters, finishing second in 11:47.84. She also ran on the second place 4×800 relay team with Sophia Hernandez, Brielle Jackson and Lauren Duff, finishing in 10:27.61. The 4×400 team of Brooklyn Hornback, Duff, Hernandez and Jackson was seventh at 4:30.97.
Duff and Hornback also ran in the 500-meter dash, with Lauren taking sixth at 1:24.24 and Hornback finishing 11th at 1:29.73. Maddie Malue took a fifth place medal in the 55 hurdles at 9.54.
“The athletes represented their school and community well,” said Caldwell. “The coaching staff is extremely proud of the entire team for their accomplishments this season.”
The LB cross country season is scheduled to begin today at Franklin County, while the outdoor track season won’t start until April 26 due to the adjusted seasons set by the VHSL due to the coronavirus pandemic.