Photo by Brian Hoffman
Lord Botetourt senior Kendal Howard is the Class 3 indoor track state champion in the shot put for the second year in a row. Kendal won the title at the Class 3 indoor meet at Liberty University last week.
Howard won the event with a distance of 52’8”, which was three feet, two and a half inches farther than second place Noah Gilliam of Abingdon. LB’s DJ Toliver was ninth in the shot put with a distance of 45’11”.
Kendal repeated as indoor state champ. He won the event in 2023 with a toss of 50’10.5” and improved that by almost two feet at this year’s state meet. His Region 3D winning toss was 54’8” and Howard also won the state Class 3 outdoor discus state championship last June.
LB’s Ethan Thorne ran in both the 1,600 and 3,200 state races. He was fifth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:26.48 and seventh in the 3,200 at 9:48.38.
TJ McGinnis set a new school record in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.60, good for ninth place. Zion Woody was 25th in the 55 dash at 6.77 while Caleb Miller was 10th in the 55-meter hurdles at 8.35.
For the girls, Anne Thorne ran both the 1,600 and the 3,200. She placed 31st overall in the 1,600 with a time of 5:40.77 and 12th overall in the 3200 with a personal record of 11:58.92.
Jillian Harris placed 13th in the 55-hurdle prelims with a time of 9.38, which was also a personal best.
LB was 13th in the boys team standings among 36 schools that scored with 16 points. Western Albemarle won both the boys and girls team championships.
“All of our athletes showed up and did their best,” said LB coach Michelle Ganthorn. “It has been an absolute joy to be a part of the LB indoor track and field program. We look forward to participating at Adidas Nationals next month in Virginia Beach.”
