Pole vaulters catapult New Kent to fifth place finish at Region 3A indoor track and field championships

By Andre Jones | February 15, 2025 11:41 pm

New Kent’s boys’ indoor track and field team’s strong performance in the pole vault competition elevated them to a fifth-place finish in the Region 3A track and field championships held Feb. 14-15 at the Boo Williams Sports Complex in Hampton.

Ryan Wright emerged as the top vaulter for the Trojans, clearing 14’9” in the competition to finish first in the competition. Four other teammates scored for New Kent in the event, with Liam Holloway finishing third (11’6”), Tayten Hybiak finishing fourth (11’0”), Landon Evans placing fifth (10’6”), and Mason Schalasny earning a sixth-place finish (10’0”).

New Kent’s boys scored 47 points, good enough to finish fifth overall at the meet. Grafton won the meet with 165 points.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Trojans put together a 56-point performance, also placing fifth in the regional competition.

Madison Johnson and Gabrielle Butler were top performers for the Lady Trojans. Johnson placed second in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:19.40, while Butler placed second in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:19.88. Johnson and Butler were joined by teammates Brooklyn Wiles and Madison Clements to also garner silver in the girls’ 4×400 meter relay, accumulating a time of 4:16.79.

Grafton’s Lady Clippers also captured the Region 3A championship, scoring 118 points in the process.

Other results (NK only)

Girls: 55 Dash- 23. Wiles 7.97, 24. Clements 8.06, 26. Cheeseman 8.23. 300 Dash- 3. Butler 43.33, 15. Ross 47.27, 16. Cheeseman 47.47. 500 Dash- 3. Johnson 1:23.36, 6. Thompson 1:30.94. 1600 Run- 10. Bess 6:31.76. 55 Hurdles- 5. Thompson 9.71. 6. Moeller 9.91. 4×200 Relay- 6. NK (Butler, Clements, Wiles, Ross) 1:55.71. 4×800 Relay- 6. NK (Bess, General, Thompson, Wetherell) 12:00.30. Long Jump- 10. Clements 14’1½”, 14. Ross 12’8¼”, 16. Brandon 12’0½”. Triple Jump- 5. Ross 31’10”. Shot- 11. Luntzer 23’8”.

Boys: 55 Dash- 17. Mason 6.98, 19. Uzzle 6.98, 26. Meekins 7.14. 300 Dash- 4. Uzzle 37.52, 14. Nelson 39.05, 15. Meekins 39.24. 500 Dash- 10. Jenkins 1:14.96, 12. Branch 1:17.47. 1000 Run- 12. Davis 2:56.08, 13. Bohardt 2:57.12, 15. Crooms 3:02.56. 1600 Run- 8. Bohardt 4:56.11, 13. Holloway 5:18.28 14. Crooms 5:28.24. 3200 Run- 12. Lee 11:57.33, 13. Scott 12:14.08. 55 Hurdles- Omodan 10.15. 4×200 Relay- 6. NK (Meekins, Mason, Cash, Uzzle) 1:36.76. 4×400 Relay- 7. NK (Davis, Branch, Jenkins, Nelson) 3:53.11. 4×800 Relay- 5. NK (Holloway, Bohardt, Crooms, Davis) 8:58.93. Shot- 5. Jenkins 40’5”.