Middlesex High School’s Darius Jones finished seventh in the state in cross country on Saturday, at Green Hill Park in Salem in the 5K (3.1-mile) race with a blazing 16:58.30 time.
Jones was named to the Virginia Class 1A all-state cross country team. The top 15 runners in the race are automatically named to the all-state team.
The Chargers had one other runner in the race as Jayden Tang finished 40th with an 18:29.50 clocking. With only two Middlesex runners to qualify MHS did not have a full team. Throughout the race, West Point’s Quinn Agnew and Jones were battling for the seventh and eighth positions. Agnew was right behind Jones at the finish line finishing with a 17:00.20 time to take eighth place.
Parry McCluer High School won the overall team competition with 51 points. Auburn High School was second, 58 points; Galileo, third, 91 points; Rappahannock of Warsaw, fourth, 157; George Wythe, fifth, 161; Mathews, sixth, 169, West Point, seventh, 173; Altavista Combination School, eighth, 188; Northampton, ninth, 206; Honker, 10th, 206; Eastside, 11th, 220; and Castlewood, 12th, 224 points.
