BY MARK PIFER • STAFF WRITER
Bath County seniors Natalie White, left, and Abbey Phillips combined to win three events last Thursday in the Pioneer District track championships at Giles High School. White won both the 800-meters and 3,200-meters, while Phillips won the 100-meter hurdles. (Photo courtesy BCHS track)
PEARISBURG — In less than 30 minutes, Natalie White won a pair of district championships here last Thursday.
White, a Bath County senior, won both the 800- and 3,200-meter races, highlighting the Chargers’ and Rams’ efforts at the Pioneer District championship meet at Giles High School.
Abbey Phillips joined her classmate with a win in the 100-meter hurdles, while the Rams won both the girls’ 4×100 and boys’ 4×400 relay races.
“We left Highland at 5:45 in the morning and I was kind of concerned with what I would get with them,” said HHS coach Colby Jackson. “Honestly, it’s the best they’ve been all year, so I couldn’t have been more happy with their performance — all of them. To me, they went above and beyond what the expectations are for the program. I’m proud of them.”
Charger coach Mark Weiss was equally as pleased with his girls.
“For the most part, all the kids did great,” he said. “I think they handled themselves very well. It was the first really, really big meet for a lot of those girls. They did a good job. I was really proud of them. They did themselves proud, they did the high school proud, too. I think the whole team did.”
Highland’s Annah Moyers placed fourth in the long jump. (Recorder photo by Mark Pifer)
White, who had already run a state qualifying time in the 3,200, posted a personal best and an 800-meter qualifying time of 2:37.80 for her first win and followed it quickly with a two-mile victory (12:53.56).
“Natalie was kind of out there by herself in the two-mile, but I thought she ran a great race,” said Weiss. “She was really focused in on meeting the state qualifying time (in the 800),” he added. “It was a personal goal. She really wanted to meet that. I still think she thinks that race is a little bit out of her comfort zone. She has to work extra hard at it. She also knows, because of Bath County’s graduation schedule, that the 800 might be the only race she will be running at the state meet.”
Phillips could have been out of the hurdles before that event even started. After the race was delayed a couple different times, Phillips clipped a hurdle in warm-ups, fell and sprained her ankle.
Ram Eli Moore finished sixth in the long jump.
“At first, Craig (BCHS assistant coach and Abbey’s father) wasn’t going to let her run,” Weiss said. “She said, ‘No, I’m running.’”
The Charger senior gutted it out, won the race without a mishap, posting a winning time of 19.57.
“She ended up running, won it, and almost met her personal best time,” Weiss said. “It was uncanny how it worked out.”
Kenley Smith subbed for Phillips in the 4×100-meter relay, helping the Chargers to a second-place finish.
It was the foursome of Highland girls — Jazmine Douglas, Zalea Good, Colleen Adams and Annah Moyers — who beat Bath County out, running a winning time of 56.62.
“I knew the girls’ 4×1 team, if they had clean handoffs, I knew they had the potential to be pretty quick,” said Jackson. “That was their best time all year. I’m obviously pleased with that. Jazmine (Douglas) and Briannah (Moyers) have both just gotten progressively faster. They’re peaking at the right time of the year.”
Annah Moyers runs the anchor leg in Highland’s 4×100-meter relay win.
John Wagner subbed in for the Ram 4×400 team and joined Eli Moore, Patton Hull and Zach Armstrong for a district-winning time of 4:01.18.
Moore paced Highland with 7½ points, placing in four different events.
Narrows outpointed Eastern Montgomery for both the boys’ and girls’ team championships.
The Chargers and Rams were both back at Giles on Wednesday for the Class 1, Region C meet. The Class 1 state championships are next Friday and Saturday, May 31 and June 1, at James Madison University.
Last Thursday’s Summary
Girls’ team scores
• 1. Narrows, 173; 2. Eastern Montgomery, 112; 3. Highland, 47; 4. Parry McCluer, 46; 5. Bath County, 39; 6. Craig County, 14
Bath County’s Kenley Smith, right, hands the baton to Zy Coleman in the 4 x 100-meter relay. (Recorder photos by Mark Pifer)
Area girls’ individual results
• 100-meter dash: 2. Jazmine Douglas (H), 13.77; 3. Annah Moyers (H), 13.99; 6. Colleen Adams (H), 14.71; 7. Zalea Good (H), 14.76; 9. Samantha Horne (BC), 14.84; 11. Laci Ryder (BC), 14.85; 12. Zy Coleman (BC), 15.07
• 200-meter dash: 2. Jazmine Douglas (H), 29.06; 5. Annah Moyers (H), 29.68; 6. Laci Ryder (BC), 30.46; 9. Samantha Horne (BC), 32.03; 10. Zy Coleman (BC), 32.08; 11. Colleen Adams (H), 32.41
• 400-meter dash: 7. Zalea Good (H), 1:18.04
• 800-meter run: 1. Natalie White (BC), 2:37.80
• 3,200-meter run: 1. Natalie White (BC), 12:53.56
• 100-meter hurdles: 1. Abbey Phillips (BC), 19.57
• 4×100-meter relay: 1. HHS (Jazmine Douglas, Zalea Good, Colleen Adams, Annah Moyers), 56.62; 2. BCHS (Kenley Smith, Zy Coleman, Samantha Horne, Laci Ryder), 58.33
• Long jump: 4. Annah Moyers (H), 13- 9; 6. Zalea Good (H), 12-8½; 11. Jazmine Douglas (H), 10-7½
Highland’s Cash Chambers had a sixth-place finish in the shot put.
• High jump: T2. Collen Adams (H), 4-2
• Discus: 7. Sierra Gardener (BC), 64-4; 11. Kenley Smith (BC), 56-7
• Shot put: 10. Kenley Smith (BC), 21-0; 13. Sierra Gardener (BC), 20-9
• HHS girls’ individual points: Jazmine Douglas 18½, Annah Moyers 14½, Colleen Adams 10½, Zalea Good 3½
• BCHS girls’ individual points: Natalie White 20, Abbey Phillips 10, Laci Ryder 3, Kenley Smith 2, Zy Coleman 2, Samantha Horne 2
Boys’ team scores
• 1. Narrows, 200; 2. Eastern Montgomery, 145; 3. Parry McCluer, 50; 4. Highland, 22; 5. Craig County, 20
Area boys’ individual results
• 100-meter dash: 7. Eli Moore (H), 12.21; 8. Zach Armstrong (H), 12.37; 11. Patton Hull (H), 12.64;
• 200-meter dash: 9. Patton Hull (H), 25.82
• 400-meter dash: 5. Eli Moore (H), 56.19
• 4×100-meter relay: 2. HHS (Patton Hull, Elijah Good, Zach Armstrong, Eli Moore), 49.11
Rams Jazmine Douglas, second from left, Annah Moyers, fourth from left, and Colleen Adams, far right, run in the 100-meter dash.
• 4×400-meter relay: 1. HHS (Eli Moore, John Wagner, Patton Hull, Zach Armstrong), 4:01.18
• Long jump: 6. Eli Moore (H), 18-11¾; 8. Patton Hull (H), 15-11
• Discus: 8. John Wagner (H), 90-4; 11. Cash Chambers (H), 80-10; 12. Elijah Good (H), 78-2
• Shot put: 6. Cash Chambers (H), 37- 11; 11. John Wagner (H), 33-11; 15. Elijah Good (H), 30-0½
• HHS boys’ individual points: Eli Moore 7½, Patton Hull 4½, Zach Armstrong 4½, John Wagner 2½, Elijah Good 2, Cash Chambers 1
Bath County’s Abbey Phillips was the Pioneer District champion in the 100-meter hurdles.
Highland’s Patton Hull, far left, Eli Moore, third from left, and Zach Armstrong, far right, compete in the 100-meter dash.
Charger Laci Ryder, left, and Highland’s Zalea Good get out of the blocks in the 100-meter dash. (Recorder photos by Mark Pifer)