Track team takes third place at VIC Championships

The Fishburne Track and Field team finished third at the VIC championships on Friday.

While the weather was threatening the entire day, we were fortunate the heavier showers held off until after the meet. Otherwise, cloudy and relatively cool temperatures were ideal for such an event.

In the field events, Nolan King earned a silver medal in the discus, throwing 109’, and a 5th place finish in the shot put at 36’. Nolan also came in 5th in the 100 meters and 4th in the 200 meters, capping off a very busy and productive day for the senior.

Mahmoud Soliman was 4th in the shot put at 37’, and 4th in the discus at 81’, concluding an excellent season as one of our strong men.

In perhaps the most exciting event I’ve witnessed at a track meet, our 4 x 800 relay of Colin Turnnidge, Chance Berry, James Park, and Alex Burkard surprised the field and won in dramatic fashion as Burkard held off a furious final leg by Liberty. Alex “heard the footsteps” of the pursuing runner and dug as deep as he could to bring home the win. I wish you all could have been there to see it. I’m sure Alex will never forget the moment.

Turnnidge picked up his second medal of the day with a second place in the 1600 meters in a near personal record of 4:49 and a very impressive improvement as a distance runner over the past year, including 4th place and all-state in cross country.

In addition to a great leg in the 800 meters, Chance Berry ran his best solo race of the season, running 2:28 in the 800 meters. Chance has great potential as a runner and will increasingly be one our go-to guys in the future.

The 4 x 400 team of Tyrone Mason, Kevin Valverde, Nolan King, and Lozie Goolsby finished third before we found out they were disqualified for a baton handoff just outside of the exchange zone. I felt bad for those guys, but these things happen.

Lozie Goolsby struggled in his main event, the high jump, but rebounded nicely with 4th place finish in the 400 meters, with Kevin Valverde scoring points in 6th place.

Travis Knapp ran well in the 300 meter hurdles in 4th place, and had been solid for us all season.

Concluding a strong day for our athletes with several personal records and many that came close, Alex Burkard earned a bronze medal in the 3200 meters in 11:15, and another personal record on the day.

I am very thankful to Bryan Greene for coaching the throwers to the best season they’ve had in over a decade, and for being a great influence on the team throughout the course of the season in many ways.

Overall, we had a good day, and the seniors ended their athletic careers at Fishburne on a successful note. Coach Greene and I will miss them.