A large and competitive field is expected Saturday when the Cave Spring track team plays host to the 12th annual Knights Track Classic at Cave Spring High School. Both Lord Botetourt and James River will be sending athletes to the meet.
The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. The last field events are scheduled for 11:45 a.m. and the running events will begin at 9 a.m. and run through late afternoon. There will be a break after the 4×100 relay to dedicate a bench to former Cave Spring coach and Roanoke College Hall of Fame runner Joe LaRocco, who passed away in 2021.
Both LB and River ran in the Golden Eagle Invitational at Staunton River High School last Saturday. The Lord Botetourt boys had a good day with Evan Gates placing second in the 3,200 and Kendal Howard taking a second in the shot put. The boys 4×100 team of Joey Isaacs, Zion Woody, Cade Lang, Dylan Knick and Elijah Rose was third.
Isaacs also took sixth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. Woody was eight in the 100, Lang was sixth in the 300 hurdles, Knick was seventh in the 110 hurdles and Rose was fourth in the high jump, fourth in the 300 hurdles and fifth in the 110 hurdles.
Others placing in the top 10 included Rye Jackson with a sixth in the 400 and a seventh in the 800, Carter Hudson with a fourth in the 1,600, Jack McDaniel with a ninth in the 400 and Conner Shifflet with a ninth in the 300 hurdles.
For the girls, Maddie Malue was fourth in the 100 hurdles and Jillian Harris took 10th. Harris was also sixth in the 300 hurdles and ran on the eighth place 4×100 relay team with Annalise Coon, Alexa Carillo, Karis Hambrick and Ava Brumfield. Elizabeth Hodges was seventh in the shot put.
For River, Holly Hylton won the 400 and took fourth in the 100. Holly also ran on the sixth place 4×100 team with Ella Wright, Kelsey Firebaugh and Ava Thacker. Naveah VanBuren won the discus and Emma Francis was fifth in both the shot and discus.
Ben Bailey was third in the high jump for the River boys. The 4×400 relay team of Jacob Hill, Chase Minnix, Nathan Etzler and Walker Wilson was third and Etzler also took a fifth in the 400. Michael Jorgensen was fifth in the 3,200 and Alex Eastman was sixth in the shot put.
River will have a limited number of athletes at the Cave Spring meet Saturday as it is the same day as the prom.