What a heartbreaker for the Middlesex High School (MHS) Charger boys track team as MHS just missed winning the State Class 1 track and field championships at James Madison University in Harrisonburg this past weekend with a 73-72 loss to Brunswick High School.
On the first day of the meet on Friday, it looked like no one could touch Middlesex as the Chargers ended the day ahead with 39 points.The MHS 4 by 800 meter relay team upset the field by winning the event in a photo finish. The Charger foursome of Gunnar Marston, Thomas Dobb, Cameron Lambert and Darius Jones ran in the race.
The relay team beat Parry McCluer (8:11.19) in a nail-biter as Lambert had a photo finish to win the race in meet and school record time (8:11.18). Lambert ran an anchor leg of 1:55.28 and won the race by a step. The team beat the old school mark of 8:27.9 set this year by the same team in March at the Denbigh Patriot Track Classic in Newport News.
The Chargers had two first place individual winners on Friday as JaQuan Griffin won the triple jump (46’ 75”) and Davonte Griffin captured the high jump (6’ 4”). The premier event of the meet for Middlesex was the high jump as MHS scored 19 critical points as D. Griffin scored 10 points for his first place finish, Jamar Hammond finished fourth (6’ 2”) for 5 points; and Kevin Turner, fifth (6’) for 4 points. It was the most points MHS scored in any one event.
On Saturday, Nielson McMinn won the discus (166’ 06”) and was the only first place finisher for MHS that day. McMinn’s throw was just short of his own school record (168’ 6”) set in a meet at MHS in May. Lambert finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters running his second fastest time of the season (9:47.51) just short of his own school record time (9:47.26) that he set in April at Denbigh Patriot Track Classic in Newport News.
Others to score on Saturday were J. Griffin, sixth, long jump (21’ 2.25”); Gunnar Marston, sixth, 800 meters (2:04.85) and fifth, 1,600 meters (3:37.46); Turner, eighth, 400 meters (52.24); and D. Griffin, fifth, 110 high hurdles (15.14).
Others who participated in events but did not score were JaMar Hammond, 13th, 200 meter dash (23.69); Jones, ninth, 800 meters (2:06.27); Lambert, 11th, 1,600 meters (4:46.75); Dobb, 17th, 1,600 meters (5:01.39) and 14th 3,200 meters (10:34.44); D. Griffin, 16th, 300 meter hurdles (47.92) and ninth, long jump (20’ 4”); and McMinn, 15th, shot put (43’ 8.5”).
The Chargers 4 by 100 meter relay team finished 20th (46.85). J. Griffin, Chris Butler, D. Griffin and Hammond each ran a leg.
The team scores for the Class 1 state track and field meet were:
- Brunswick High, 73
- Middlesex, 72
- Auburn, 60
- Parry McCluer, 45
- Mathews, 39
- Altavista Combined School, 35
- Narrows, 35.
- Sussex Central, 35
- Patrick Henry (G. Spring), 33
- Rural Retreat, 30
- Galileo High School, 26
- Westmoreland, 24
- Grundy, 23
- Lancaster, 22
- Eastern Montgomery, 20
- Essex, 12
- Chilhowie, 11
- Rappahannock, 10
- King & Queen Central, 9
- Chincoteague, 8
- Northumberland, 7
- George Wythe (Wytheville), 7
- Hurley, 6
- Buffalo Gap, 6
- Surry County, 4
- Castlewood, 3
- Cumberland High School, 2
- West Point, 2
- Giles, 1
- Rye Cove, 1
- Northampton, 1
- John I. Burton, 1
