Patriot boys, South County girls seize Class 6 track and field titles

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Patriot boys and South County girls took different paths to the same destination Saturday, winning the Virginia Class 6 outdoor track and field championships at Todd Stadium.

South County won by a wide margin, taking first place in two individual events and a relay. Patriot took the title by a relatively slim one, holding off Western Branch and West Springfield despite having no first-place finishes.

The Patriot boys built their winning point total by amassing seconds, thirds and fourths. Distance runner Patrick Lowry took second in the 3,200 meters and fourth in the 1,600. Jacarius Randall was second in the high jump. And the 4x100-meter relay team of Malik Dark, Jackson McCarter, Shadrach Nvodjo and Aaron Glover also placed second.

"We told them all week that we had a shot," Patriot Coach James DeMarco said. "West Springfield was the indoor champ, and they were probably the favorite on paper, but we knew what we could do."

DeMarco said the school's only previous state titles had been from the swimming team, and he was glad to see his track squad add hardware to the Prince William County school's collection. Patriot High opened in 2011.

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"This is such a cool experience," he said. "We’ve got guys on this team who play football and basketball, and we’ve got wrestlers. Now we’ve seen these kids from all different sports come together to pull off a state championship."

For the South County girls, Catalina Sanchious won the 100 meters in 11.89 seconds and the 200 in 24.15. In both races, teammate Cameron Thompson was second — by 0.02 seconds in the 100 and by 0.14 in the 200. Sanchious and Thompson are sophomores.

"What those two did was great, obviously," Coach Maurice Hutton said. "But they got us 32 points in those two events, and that's not enough to win or even to get on the podium. It takes the whole team."

The group of Jordann Germain, Ajayla McNeel, Destinie Williams and Jordan Salisbury won the meet's final event, the 4x400 relay. The Stallions, despite a disqualification in one of the earlier relays, won the state title by 13.5 points over runner-up Grassfield.

"We didn't take anything for granted," Hutton said. "Grassfield's a really good team, and they’re not going to roll over. Nobody was going to give this to us. It was up to us to get the job done."

Herndon senior Gillian Bushee finished her high school career by winning the 3,200 and 1,600, giving her seven state titles in indoor and outdoor track to go with the state cross-country championship she won in the fall.

"This is my last time in a Herndon jersey, so it's bittersweet," said Bushee, who will run at the University of Virginia. "I’ve been thinking about that. Coming down those last 100 meters, I was telling myself, ‘Last one, fast one.’ I wanted to finish strong."

In the Class 6 boys’ 800-meter run, Oakton senior Iyasu Yemane won his first state title in an individual event. Yesame trailed for the entire race but caught up to Ocean Lakes’ Lambert Edigin at the finish line and outleaned him to win the race by four-hundredths of a second. Yesame's winning time was 1:55.42.

Afterward, he beamed and tried to hold back tears as teammates and friends swarmed him.

"I can't believe it," he said. "I lost a little hope when we got to the 600-meter mark, but I saw them starting to slow down, and I told myself, ‘I want this the most out of everyone.’ When we leaned at the finish line, I could see out of my peripheral vision and I knew I had it."

Ty’Heak Buie of Potomac won the triple jump with a leap of 50 feet 0.75 inches, and McLean's Mikhael Cristo-Ezewoko won the long jump at 47-10.5. Jonah Friedman of Washington-Liberty won the discus with a toss of 172 feet.

The South County boys’ relay team won the 4x800 meters.

On the girls’ side, Viviana Rodriguez of Osbourn Park took first place in the pole vault, clearing 11-9. Her teammate Lena Gooden won the long jump at 19-10.75. Naomi Woolfolk of Hylton won the shot put with a toss of 44-3.

The South Lakes girls’ relay team won the 4x800 meters.

In the Class 5 meet, Hannah Riolo of Independence won the high jump at 5-6, and Independence won the girls’ 4x100 relay. Aria Ibiezugbe of Riverside won the shot put with a toss of 38-1.25.

At the Class 4 meet in Lynchburg, the Tuscarora girls tied Heritage for first place with 62 points.