The Craig County track team competed on a beautiful Virginia day in Daleville last week and had some good performances. The Rockets ran, jumped and threw against host Lord Botetourt, William Byrd, Glenvar and Roanoke Valley Christian.
“The kids battled hard against much bigger schools,” said Craig coach Jayke Dowdy. “We were flying out there today and had a lot of kids set new personal records. We now have three kids already automatically qualified for the state championship meet in June and that’s huge for our program. We hope to continue to improve and grow the team in future years so we can fill out more of the boys and girls events.”
Bradyn Dunbar and Carter Calfee had huge personal bests in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Dunbar ran 11.32 in the 100, which is an automatic state qualifier, with Calfee coming in at 11.65. Dunbar took third overall in the 100m. In the 200m Dunbar ran 23.62 and Calfee ran 24.27. Bradyn finished second overall and Calfee placed fifth.
The 4x100m Relay team of Robbie Eakin, Noah Paxton, Calfee and Dunbar took first place and broke another team best. They’re inching closer to automatic state qualification.
The Throwers Relay of Fowler, Carter Price, Marcus Donithan and Peyton Fields took first place and beat the next closest team by 3.9 seconds.
In the 300 Hurdles Caleb Cregger tried out a new event and placed second with Bentley Smith finishing fifth. In the 110 Hurdles Eakin placed third and Smith was fourth. Cregger was second in the High Jump and Triple jump and Smith placed third in the High Jump.
In the throwing events Paxton placed third in the shot while Jeremiah Fowler took fourth. In discus Paxton was second and hit the distance he needed to automatically qualify for state. Caleb Fields placed third for the boys.
In the girls’ events newcomer Desirae Will set two new PR’s in the 100m and 200m for the girl’s team while winning both heats for the first time.
“Tons of PR’s and great placements against a lot of tough opponents,” said Dowdy.
“Track is a proven way to improve whatever sport may be your first love. Speed is the tide that lifts all boats. If you want to get better at football, volleyball, basketball, softball, etcetera, getting faster and more athletic is usually a good place to start.”
The Rockets’ next meet is back at Lord Botetourt on May 6th.
