Virginia High hosted the Southwest District track and field championships on June 2, with Tazewell’s boys running away with first. Marion finished fifth with 44 points. The Cane girls were fourth with 64 team points.
Gracie Umbarger led the Marion crew, hauling home a gold in the 100-meter dash with a 13.77 finish. Destiny Meeks was sixth, finishing in 15.48. Alyssa Tolbert took 10th, clocking in at 16.46.
Umbarger padded her gold collection with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash, racing to a 28.78 finish. Meeks finished sixth with a time of 32.40.
Umbarger took first in the long jump and triple jump. In the long jump, Umbarger hit the 13-foot, 9-inch mark and in the triple jump, she cleared 30 feet, 8 inches. Meeks was fifth in the long jump, leaping 11 feet, 5.5 inches.
Caroline Nipper took first in the high jump, clearing 3 feet, 8 inches.
Meeks claimed fifth in the shot put with a 23-foot, 8-inch heave. Hannah Funk and Tolbert took eighth and ninth, respectively. Funk tossed for 18 feet, 6 inches and Tolbert 17 feet, 10.5 inches. Tolbert was eighth in the discus with a 51-foot throw. Meeks finished 10th, hitting 47 feet, 7 inches and Funk tossed 46 feet, 4 inches for 11th.
The Marion girls took second behind the host in the 4×100-meter relay, clocking in at 59.01.
Among the boys, Cooper Billings scored a bronze, taking third in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:08.59. Jeremy Salks took 10th, finishing in 5:45.13. Billings took fourth in the 3200-meter run, clocking in at 11:35.49. Salks was seventh, posting a 12:10.17 finish.
Alex Cress finished second in the 300-meter hurdles, stopping the watches at 51.61. Cress was fifth in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 27.12.
In the 800-meter runs, Ryan Jones finished fifth and Cameron Draper eighth. Jones clocked in at 2:25.60. Draper finished at 2:51.64.
In the high jump, Jones was second, clearing four feet, 8 inches. Ethan Campbell was third with a 4 foot, 6 inch leap. Jones took sixth in the long jump leaping 14 feet, 7 inches. Campbell took sixth in the triple jump, clearing 31 feet, 5 inches.
Nathan Shaft was fourth in the shot put, tossing for 35 feet, 11 inches. Drew Frazier took seventh with a 32-foot, 6-inch effort. Jonathan Creasy’s 31 feet. 0.5 inches earned ninth.
Cress nabbed eighth in the discus with an 80-foot, 9-inch throw. Kyle Mabe’s 66 feet was good for 11th.
Joseph Atwell finished 12th in the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 14.08. Atwell ws fifth in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 1:06.58.
