varsity.roanoke.com

Sawyer Russell is a hard guy to miss.

Even among the behemoths that put the shot and sail the discus at high school track and field meets, the 6-foot-4, 280-pound James River senior is an imposing presence.

However, Russell has maintained a relatively low profile, finishing sixth in Group A in the discus last year and failing to place in the shot put.

Do most of his competitors even know who Russell is?

"They do now," he said.

No kidding.

Russell stepped to the forefront Saturday as he won both events to highlight the inaugural Knights Invitational meet at Roanoke College. He won the shot at 50 feet, 5 inches and took the discus with a throw of 159-9.

Both marks were slightly under the 51-11 and 161-2 that Russell used to win both events last week in the Vince Bradford Relays in Lynchburg.

"I guess working out in the weight room" got him stronger, Russell said. "A lot of technique and a lot of practice."

Russell was not the only athlete from a Group A school to prosper Saturday.

Group A cross country champion Megan Marsico of Glenvar swept the girls' 1,600 meters (5:10.52) and 3,200 (11:32.5). Marsico's victory in the 1,600 produced a photo finish as she edged Hidden Valley freshman Annie LeHardy by four-hundredths of a second.

Marsico used the winter season for cross training, since the VHSL does not sponsor a state indoor meet at the Group A level.

"It would be nice if we did," Marsico said. "You can get burned out. I guess it's good to have that period of not racing."

The Glenvar sophomore was eager to prove herself against runners from the bigger schools.

"I'm glad they mix these meets up with Double-A and Triple-A," Marsico said. "Against better competition, it gets your times down."

Timesland's first major meet of the season produced a tight finish in the girls' meet as Blacksburg nipped Franklin County 80-79 ¹₂ despite a sweep by the Eagles' Jasmine Hariston in the long jump (17-5 ³₄) and triple jump (36-3 ¹₂). Cave Spring was third with 50.

Blacksburg's boys -- getting a sweep in the 1,600 and 800 from Peter Dorrell -- outscored Northside 85-47 for the title. William Byrd placed third with 45. Dorrell won the 1,600 in 4:19.04 and the 800 in 1:56.65.

Northside's effort was led by sophomore sprinter Philip Scott, who won the 100 (11.13), placed second in the 200 behind Radford's Jon Thompson and anchored the winning 400 relay team.

Scott was making up for lost time, after missing the 2007 outdoor season when he was academically ineligible.

"That's what it was, not taking school seriously," Scott said. "I didn't know this was going to happen."

Watching from the sidelines was painful.

"I cried at Cosmo, I ain't going to lie," Scott said.

Staunton River's Sarah Witt was the other double winner, sweeping the 100 hurdles (15.56) and 300 hurdles (47.71).

"A lot of people look at me when I say 300 hurdles is my favorite race, they think I'm crazy," Witt said.

"I love 'em. I've fallen plenty of times. I've got plenty of battle scars."

Witt's time in the 300 hurdles was impressive considering the howling headwind on the homestretch.

"I hit the wind in the curve and it was like a smack, but it was good," she said.

Not everyone was as fortunate. The wind uprooted a tent on a hillside overlooking the track. As the structure collapsed it tumbled down the hill and almost blew onto the track.

One of the tent poles struck a female spectator in the head, requiring attention from Cave Spring trainer John Swartz. Cave Spring coach Laurence Loesel said the spectator was not seriously injured.

In other highlights:

n Both 400-meter races produced tight finishes. Patrick Henry's Natalie Woodford nipped Megan Burggraf of Liberty Christian by two-hundredths of a second in 59.26. Byrd's Luke Elbino won the boys' race in 51.45 by three-hundredths over Christiansburg's Zac Evans.

n Group AA indoor champion James Bell of Staunton River won the pole vault at 13-0.

n Cave Spring's Aimee Veach won the girls' discus by almost 10 feet with a throw of 128-8 ¹₂.

n Liberty's Kenara Hurt, the Group AA indoor champ in the 300, won the 100 in 12.79 seconds.

n Blacksburg's Avery Mattingly took the girls' 800 with a strong early time of 2:18.08.

Knights Invitational

At Roanoke College

Boys team scores

1. Blacksburg (Bla) 82, 2. Northside (N) 47, 3. William Byrd (WB) 45, 4. Salem (Sal) 41, 5. Appomattox County (App) 36 1/2, 6. Patrick Henry (PH) 34, 7. tie, James River (JR) and Cave Spring (CS) 31, 9. tie, Staunton River (SR) and Franklin County (FC) 30, 11. Christiansburg (Cbg) 28, 12. Spotsylvania (Spot) 26, 13. Liberty Christian (LCA) 19 1/2, 14. Amherst County (Amh) 18, 15. Radford (Rad) 14, 16. tie, Pulaski County (Pul), Roanoke Catholic (RCath) and Lord Botetourt (LB) 10, 19. tie, Liberty (Lib), Glenvar (Glen) and Floyd County (Floyd) 8, 22. Auburn (Aub) 7, 23. Stuarts Draft (SD) 5, 24. Hidden Valley (HV) 4, 25. Rockbridge County (Rock) 2, 26. Grayson County (Gray) 1.

Boys results

Shot put -- 1. Russell (JR) 50-5, 2. Burwell (FC) 47-1 1/2, 3. Mesadieu (PH) 46-8, 4. Taylor (Cbg) 46-7, 5. Pollifrone (Sal) 46-3, 6. Duncan (Aub) 45-2.

Discus -- 1. Russell (JR) 159-9, 2. Moles (FC) 144-4, 3. Mesadieu (PH) 143-11, 4. Rixey (Appo) 134-7, 5. Burwell (FC) 131-9, 6. Hubble (WB) 123-6.

High jump -- 1. Alderman (LB) 6-4, 2. Morris (Glen) 6-4, 3. Diggs (SD) 6-2, 4. Ross (JR), 5. Early (Rock) 6-0, 6. Hudson (Cbg) 6-0.

Long jump -- 1. Scott (App) 21-11 1/2, 2. Morgan (App) 21-8 1/2, 3. Lewis (Amh) 21-7, 4. S.Campbell (Sal) 20-10, 5. Seay (FC) 20-7 1/2, 6. Elbino (WB) 20-5 1/2.

Triple jump -- 1. Brown (Pul) 44-2 1/2, 2. Morgan (Appo) 43-8 1/2, 3. Elbino (WB) 42-7 1/4, 4. Ross (JR) 42-6 3/4, 5. Lewis (Amh) 42-3 1/2, 6. Taylor (FC) 42- 1/4.

Pole vault -- 1. Bell (SR) 13-0, 2. Smith (PH) 11-0, 3. Hutchinson (Amh) 11-0, 4. Bingham (LCA) 10-6, 5. Spradley (Amh) 10-6, 6. tie, Ford (Appo) and Spencer (LCA) 10-0.

3,200 relay -- 1. Spotsylvania 8:30.66, 2. Christiansburg 8:36.46, 3. Liberty Christian 8:45.62, 4. Cave Spring 8:47.99, 5. Patrick Henry 8:56.81, 6. Salem 9:03.99.

110 hurdles -- 1. Booker (N) 15.47, 2. Fisher (WB) 15.64, 3. Sterrett (Bla) 15.65, 4. Nall (FC) 15.75, 5. Hudson (Cbg) 16.15, 6. Garland (Amh) 16.46.

100 -- 1. Scott (N) 11.13, 2. Keith (PH) 11.20, 3. Cunningham (SR) 11.29, 4. B.Campbell (LCA) 11.40, 5. S.Campbell (Sal) 11.43, 6. Thompson (Rad) 11.47.

1,600 -- 1. Dorrell (Bla) 4:19.04, 2. Smith (CS) 4:27.33, 3. Carter (Bla) 4:33.41, 4. McConnel (RCath) 4:38.17, 5. Howard (Bla) 4:38.55, 6. Mogen (Rad) 4:39.62.

400 relay -- 1. Northside 45.14, 2. Blacksburg 45.98, 3. Appomattox County 45.71, 4. Staunton River 45.89, 5. Patrick Henry 46.01, 6. Franklin County 46.29.

400 -- 1. Elbino (WB) 51.43, 2. Evans (Cbg) 51.48, 3. Webb (Lib) 52.69, 4. Seay (FC) 53.63, 5. McCrowey (JR) 54.49, 6. Cobbs (Pul) 54.84.

300 hurdles -- 1. Medley (Sal) 40.34, 2. Villaneuva (Sal) 41.61, 3. Nall (FC) 42.34, 4. Wood (Aub) 42.51, 5. Garland (Amh) 42.53, 6. Sterrett (Bla) 42.85.

800 -- 1. Dorrell (Bla) 1:56.65, 2. Hencke (Bla) 1:56.92, 3. McConnel (RCath) 2:01.78, 4. Capps (CS) 2:02.51, 5. Brame (Rad) 2:02.55, 6. Kingery (WB) 2:03.04.

200 -- 1. Thompson (Rad) 22.88, 3. Scott (N) 23.42, 3. Pace (Spot) 23.74, 4. Evans (Cbg) 23.85, 5. Webb (Lib) 23.95, 6. Phelps (N) 24.44.

1,600 medley relay -- 1. William Byrd 3:46.80, 2. Salem 3:47.80, 3. Staunton River 3:52.40, 4. Blacksburg 3:53.50, 5. Patrick Henry 3:53.90, 6. Liberty Christian 3:54.00.

3,200 -- 1. Smith (CS) 9:45.8, 2. Carter (Bla) 9:55.5, 3. Howard (Bla) 10:04.9, 4. Morris (LCA) 10:07.6, 5. Lewis (HV) 10:17.2, 6. Davis (Gray) 10:21.7.

4,000 medley relay -- 1. Blacksburg 10:57.9, 2. William Byrd 11:26.9, 3. Salem 11:54.0, 4. Cave Spring 11:55.9, 5. Hidden Valley 12:09.0, 6. Franklin County 12:12.6.

1,600 relay -- 1. Spotsylvania 3:37.16, 2. Northside 3:46.32, 3. Blacksburg 3:47.35, 4. Staunton River 3:48.21, 5. Auburn 3:48.35, 6. Cave Spring 3:51.87.

Girls team scores

1. Blacksburg 80, 2. Franklin County 79 1/2, 3. Cave Spring 50, 4. Halifax County 45, 5. Hidden Valley 38, 6. Amherst County 35, 7. Pulaski County 30, 8. Staunton River 29 1/2, 9. Stuarts Draft 25, 10. Northside 21, 11. Glenvar 20, 12. Liberty Christian 18, 13. Patrick Henry 16, 14. tie, Lord Botetourt, Spotsylvania and Christiansburg 13, 17. Roanoke Catholic 12, 18. Liberty 11, 19. Rockbridge County 10, 20. Auburn 8, 21. Chatham 7, 22. Salem 6, 23. James River 5, 24. Appomattox County 4.

Girls results

Shot put -- 1. Martinez (Rock) 34-2 1/2, 2. Washington (N) 32-4 1/2, 3. Travis (Bla) 32-4 1/4, 4. McCrowey (JR) 32- 1/4, 5. Glover (Amh) 31-10 1/4, 6. Stafford (Cbg) 31-11 3/4.

Discus -- 1. Veach (CS) 128-8 1/2, 2. Anthony (FC) 118-10, 3. Preston (FC) 109-11, 4. Stafford (Cbg) 100-11, 5. Carper (CS) 93-7, 6. Spinner (Lib) 91-3.

High jump -- 1. Fenske (SD) 5-4, 2. Filla (SD) 5-0, 3. Bingham (LCA) 4-10, 4. tie, Carroll (Aub) and Foor (CS) 4-10, 6. Hariston (FC) 4-10.

Long jump -- 1. Hariston (FC) 17-5 3/4, 2. Bostwick (Cbg) 17-3 1/2, 3. Cook (FC) 16-5, 4. Foster (Hal) 16-4, 5. Hubbard (Amh) 16- 1/4, 6. Pointer (Hal) 16-8.

Triple jump -- 1. Hariston (FC) 36-3 1/2, 2. Cook (FC) 35- 1/2, 3. Cornett (LB) 34-10, 4. Ferrell (Hal) 34-6 1/2, 5. Pointer (Hal) 33-10, 6. Tolley (N) 33-6.

Pole vault -- 1. Patterson (FC) 10-6, 2. McGinn (Amh) 7-6, 3. tie, Schnurer (Amh) and Witt (SR) 7-6, 5. Williamson (Appo) 7-6, 6. tie, Shrewsbury (SR) and Wood (FC) 6-6.

3,200 relay -- 1. Hidden Valley 10:23.00, 2. Cave Spring 10:30.29, 3. Blacksburg 10:48.84, 4. Pulaski County 10:51.78, 5. Roanoke Catholic 11:05.59, 6. Franklin County 11:37.33.

100 hurdles -- 1. Witt (SR) 15.56, 2. Church (Pul) 15.80, 3. Cornett (LB) 17.01, 4. Bingham (LCA) 17.07, 5. Tolley (N) 17.09, 6. Hariston (FC) 17.28.

100 -- 1. Hurt (Lib) 12.79, 2. Hamlett (Hal) 12.93, 3. Thompson (Chat) 12.97, 4. Davis (Hal) 13.03, 5. Brown (Bla) 13.08, 6. Kyle (Amh) 13.33.

1,600 -- 1. Marsico (Glen) 5:10.52, 2. LeHardy (HV) 5:10.56, 3. J.Stevens (Bla) 5:12.73, 4. K.Stevens (Bla) 5:16.64, 5. MacMillan (Bla) 5:20.42, 6. Norbo (PH) 5:41.34.

400 relay -- 1. Halifax County 50.90, 2. Amherst County 51.53, 3. Salem 51.98, 4. Appomattox County 53.55, 5. Christiansburg 54.88, 6. Lord Botetourt 56.31.

400 -- 1. Woodford (PH) 59.26, 2. Burggraf (LCA) 59.28, 3. Azar (CS) 1:01.61, 4. Wolter (N) 1:02.47, 5. Western (CS) 1:02.93, 6. Filla (SD) 1:03.60.

300 hurdles -- 1. Witt (SR) 47.71, 2. Church (Pul) 50.99, 3. Hariston (FC) 51.07, 4. Cook (FC) 51.44, 5. Cranwell (Bla) 52.04, 6. Dorrell (Bla) 53.40.

800 -- 1. Mattingly (Bla) 2:18.08, 2. Tyler (CS) 2:27.02, 3. Long (RCath) 2:30.71, 4. Wolter (N) 2:31.45, 5. MacMillan (Bla) 2:33.22, 6. J.Stevens (Bla) 2:34.00.

200 -- 1. Evans (Hal) 27.29, 2. Davis (Amh) 27.46, 3. Brown (Bla) 27.47, 4. Pack (Aub) 27.54, 5. Davis (Hal) 27.67, 6. Knight (Amh) 27.74.

1,600 medley relay -- 1. Blacksburg 4:37.08, 2. Spotswood 4:39.79, 3. Patrick Henry 4:51.75, 4. Roanoke Catholic 4:55.70, 5. Hidden Valley 5:05.18, 6. Chatham 5:11.50.

3,200 -- 1. Marsico (Glen) 11:32.50, 2. Sowder (HV) 12:02.30, 3. Fitchett (Bla) 12:37.70, 4. Andrusky (SR) 13:01.70, 5. England (Pul) 13:04.10, 6. Turner (Cbg) 13:08.60.

4,000 medley relay -- 1. Hidden Valley 13:32.4, 2. Pulaski County 13:41.9, 3. Blacksburg 14:13.2, 4. Franklin County 15:51.9, 5. Cave Spring 16:07.2, 6. Lord Botetourt 16:28.5

1,600 relay -- 1. Blacksburg 4:11.59, 2. Cave Spring 4:17.32, 3. Stuarts Draft 4:26.20, 4. Spotsylvania 4:27.37, 5. Appomattox County 4:29.78, 6. Auburn 4:42.92.