varsity.roanoke.com

Peter Dorrell of Blacksburg High School won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:58.07 during the River Ridge District track meet.

Photos by JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times

Boys run the 110-meter hurdles during the River Ridge District meet at Salem High School. Blacksburg's Robert Sterrett won the race.

Amber Church of Pulaski County High School won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.71 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 47.30 during the River Ridge District track meet and scored 50 points for the Cougars.

Big Brown is dominating horse racing. Big Red rules Timesland track and field.

Blacksburg thoroughbred Peter Dorrell added another River Ridge District meet record to his file Saturday, setting a new mark of 1 minute, 58.07 seconds in the 800 meters to lead the Bruins to a sweep of the team championships at Salem High School.

Blacksburg took the boys title over Christiansburg 134-122, while the girls standings were almost as tight as the Bruins outscored Cave Spring 137-123 despite winning just three individual events in the two-day meet.

Dorrell, who swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 last spring at the VHSL Group AA championships, is pointing toward a repeat of that difficult feat that will be even more demanding at the state meet in Harrisonburg in two weeks.

The William and Mary-bound senior stands at the head of one of the deepest distance-running fields in Group AA history. At the moment, Dorrell ranks behind William Byrd's Drew Hall in the 800 in the Timesland rankings.

"The competition is a lot better," said Dorrell, who set a meet record Friday night in the 3,200. "Last year I won the 3,200 in 9:10-ish. This year we've got three people under that and I think two of them are going to run that race and they're going to be rested for it. That's going to be really fast race.

"Then there's the mile. There a bunch of people under 4:15. Last year I won it at 4:14 so that's going to be hard too. Then the 800 there's some tough guys too."

In an effort to build up some speed for the 800, Dorrell skipped the 1,600 and ran the 400 Saturday, placing third.

Christiansburg's Zac Evans held off Dorrell in the fast heat to win the event in 51.03.

"He's good," Evans said. "I give it to him. He's legit."

Evans, who plans to study architecture at Virginia Tech, nearly pulled off the sprint triple, conquering a stiff headwind to win the 100 (11.87) and placing second behind Salem's Antonio Medley in the 200.

Medley also won the 300 hurdles, going under 40 seconds for the second time this year at 39.96.

Pulaski County sophomore Amber Church was the dominant performer in the girls meet, winning two events and personally accounting for 50 of the Cougars' 68 team points.

Church took the 300 hurdles in a personal-best time of 47.30 and also won the 100 hurdles (15.71). She placed second in three events -- high jump, long jump and triple jump -- and was third in the 200.

Church and senior Sabrina Hall, who won the 3,200 Friday, combined for all but one of Pulaski's points.

"I wish more people would come out for track," Church said. "It keeps you in shape."

Salem sprinter Ericka Claytor began the season at less than 100 percent courtesy of a pulled hamstring. The Spartans senior is hitting her stride after sweeping the 100 (13.38) and 200 (26.50) Saturday.

Claytor outleaned Blacksburg's Courtney Brown at the tape to win the 100 by two-hundredths of a second.

"Just run hard for the finish line and duck your head through because every little bit counts," Claytor said.

The technique did not come by accident.

"She tends to gear down about two steps from the end of the race," Salem coach Tom Roth said. "We've been harping on it in practice for about two weeks. I told her today, 'You didn't slow down. Thank you.' "

Cave Spring's Tim Smith broke the meet record he set last year in the 1,600 with a time of 4:24.50. Smith was shooting for the Knights' school record of 4:15, but without Dorrell in the field the pace was not fast enough.

Smith, whose best time this year is 4:17.68 will have another chance Saturday at the Region IV meet.

"I've been training very hard for it and am going to work my hardest to get it," Smith said. "I'd like to break it, the sooner the better. Our team goal next week is to get our [3,200-meter] team to the state."

Smith, a Richmond signee, would be getting major accolades locally had his career not coincided with Dorrell's.

"I'm very glad to get the opportunity to be able to run with guys as fast as this," Smith said. "It makes you run faster and do your very best."

Cave Spring's Aimee Veatch set a meet record in the discus Friday at 117-11, while the Hidden Valley girls 3,200 relay team also set a record with a time of 9:53.42 that was not verified until Saturday.

Boys team scores

1. Blacksburg (B) 134, 2. Christiansburg (C) 122, 3. Salem (S) 102, 4. Cave Spring (CS) 71, 5. Pulaski County (PC) 33, 6. Hidden Valley (HV) 29.

Boys results

Discus -- 1. Turley (S) 136-5, 2. Pollifrone (S) 136-3, 3. McCauley (S) 131-0, 4. Taylor (C) 122-0, 5. Bostwick (C) 121-0, 6. Crowder (C) 114-8; High jump -- 1. Hudson (C) 6-0, 2. Burnette (C) 6-0, 3. Brown (PC) 5-8, 4. Dobbins (C) 5-6, 5. Hager (CS) 5-6, 6. Flanagan (B) 5-4; Long jump -- 1. Campbell (S) 21-8, 2. Hudson (C) 20-6, 3. Brown (PC) 19-7 1/2, 4. Cole (CS) 19-7, 5. Carr (B) 18-8 1/2, 6. Bredberg (HV) 18-2 1/2; 110 hurdles -- 1. Sterrett (B) 15.56, 2. Dobbins (C) 16.02, 3. Hudson (C) 16.21, 4. Ivanco (CS) 16.88, 5. Fuhrman (S) 17.36, 6. King (B) 17.76; 100 -- 1. Evans (C) 11.87, 2. Campbell (S) 12.06, 3. Carr (B) 12.27, 4. Dobbins (C) 12.34, 5. Jennings (B) 12.36, 6. Wright (CS) 12.46; 1,600 -- 1. Smith (CS) 4:24.50 (breaks meet record of 4:29.72 set by Smith in 2007), 2. Carter (B) 4:36.78, 3. Viehland (B) 4:38.39, 4. Eddleton (C) 4:39.14, 5. Ledwith (S) 4:41.73, 6. Howard (B) 4:43.18; 400 relay -- 1. Blacksburg 44.98, 2. Christiansburg 45.33, 3. Cave Spring 46.83, 4. Pulaski County 47.18, 5. Hidden Valley 47.31; 400 -- 1. Evans (C) 51.03, 2. Hencke (B) 51.19, 3. Dorrell (B) 51.41, 4. Restrepo (C) 53.33, 5. Capps (CS) 53.90, 6. Wright (PC) 54.13; 300 hurdles -- 1. Medley (S) 39.96, 2. Villaneuva (S) 40.95, 3. Sterrett (B) 41.23, 4. Hudson (C) 42.68, 5. Ivanco (CS) 43.08, 6. Gerl (CS) 44.15; 800 -- 1. Dorrell (B) 1:58.07 (breaks meet record of 2:00.12 set by Dorrell in 2007), 2. Hencke (B) 1:58.59, 3. LeHardy (HV) 1:59.92, 4. Hughes (C) 2:00.01, 5. Hull (B) 2:00.91, 6. Capps (CS) 2:03.81; 200 -- 1. Medley (S) 23.29, 2. Evans (C) 23.32, 3. Reichel (HV) 23.42, 4. Foreman (B) 23.66, 5. Carr (B) 23.87, 6. Campbell (S) 23.96; 1,600 relay -- 1. Blacksburg 3:36.48, 2. Christiansburg 3:41.08, 3. Cave Spring 3:43.95, 4. Pulaski County 3:44.25, 5. Salem 3:49.69.

Girls team scores

1. Blacksburg 137, 2. Cave Spring 123, 3. Pulaski County 68, 4. Salem 56, 5. Christiansburg 55, 6. Hidden Valley 36.

Girls results

3,200 relay -- 1. Hidden Valley 9:53.42 (breaks meet record of 9:58.28 set by Hidden Valley in 2004), 2. Blacksburg 10:06.24, 3. Cave Spring 10:39.14, 4. Christiansburg 10:52.24, 5. Salem 12:08.22; Shot put -- 1. Travis (B) 34-2, 2. Snell (C) 30-6, 3. Stafford (C) 30-0, 4. McCollum (B) 29-8, 5. Clowser (S) 29-6, 6. Carper (CS) 29-6; Long jump -- 1. Bostwick (C) 17-2, 2. Church (PC) 16-4 1/4, 3. Largen (CS) 15-10 1/2, 4. Western (CS) 15-7, 5. Crum (CS) 15 1/4, 6. Wilkins (C) 14-7; 100 hurdles -- 1. Church (PC) 15.71, 2. McCollum (B) 17.07, 3. Foor (CS) 17.19, 4. Cranwell (B) 18.07 5. Tamaro (CS) 18.44, 6. May (HV) 18.59; 100 -- 1. Claytor (S) 13.38, 2. Brown (B) 13.40, 3. Bostwick (C) 13.87, 4. Eason (S) 14.03, 5. Ndem (CS) 14.07, 6. McCollum (B) 14.08; 1.600 -- 1. LeHardy (HV) 5:15.06, 2. J.Stevens (B) 5:15.92, 3. S.Hall (PC) 5:20.76, 4. Foreman (B) 5:26.60, 5. MacMillan (B) 5:30.04, 6. Sowder (HV) 5:32.49; 400 relay -- 1. Salem 50.81, 2. Cave Spring 52.56, 3. Blacksburg 52.59, 4. Christiansburg 53.03, 5. Hidden Valley 55.51; 400 -- 1. Mattingly (B) 1:00.49, 2. Tyler (CS) 1:02.22, 3. Western (CS) 1:02.54, 4. Azar (CS) 1:02.55, 5. Brennan (HV) 1:04.89, 6. Delutis (C) 1:05.38; 300 hurdles -- 1. Church (PC) 47.30, 2. Smith (S) 49.34, 3. Cranwell (B) 50.77, 4. Harding (HV) 50.81, 5. Dorrell (B) 50.96, 6. Foor (CS) 52.89; 800 -- 1. K.Stevens (B) 2:22.99, 3. Tyler (CS) 2:23.36, 3. J.Stevens (B) 2:24.41, 4. Foreman (B) 2:26.03, 5. Dillon (HV) 2:26.74, 6. S.Hall (PC) 2:26.83; 200 -- 1. Claytor (S) 26.50, 2. Smith (S) 27.04, 3. Church (PC) 27.26, 4. Eason (S) 27.39, 5. Brown (B) 27.96, 6. Bostwick (C) 27.99; 1,600 relay -- 1. Blacksburg 4:15.31, 2. Cave Spring 4:31.21, 3. Christiansburg 4:37.82, 4. Salem 5:05.88.