varsity.roanoke.com

Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Runners competing in the 3,200 relay leave the starting line during Saturday's Cosmopolitan Invitational. Blacksburg won the event.

Patrick Henry's Phillip Mesadieu puts the shot during the Cosmopolitan Invitational. Mesadieu won both the shot put and discus Saturday.

A former gymnast helped Cave Spring flip its fortunes in the Cosmopolitan Invitational.

Rachel Crum, in her first year competing in the hurdles, won both the 100-meter highs and the 300-meter intermediates Saturday at Salem High School in leading the Knights to their first Cosmo girls track and field title in seven years.

Crum took the 100 hurdles in 16.27 seconds and came back for the 300 hurdles in 50.12 despite having no background in either event before the 2009 season.

"I did gymnastics for 13 years," Crum said. "Last summer I decided I wanted to do hurdles, so every day I went over there every single morning before work."

And how much technical expertise did Crum have about hurdling?

"I knew you had to go low over them and sprint in between them," she said.

"The only thing that's wrong with me when I do hurdles is my arms. My arms fly out and they're supposed to be down, tucked in. We actually tried to fix my arms and it slowed me down."

Crum said her gymnastics background came in handy when it came to Hurdling 101.

"There's this jump in gymnastics called a 'wolf jump.' " she said. "I know it doesn't make sense but the form you do in a wolf jump is the exact same form you do when you're going over a hurdle."

Winning the team title proved to be no obstacle for Cave Spring, which claimed seven straight girls championships from 1996-2002 before the former Group AAA school lost most of its enrollment with the formation of Hidden Valley.

Also getting wins from Lauren Bosche in the high jump (5 feet), Edy Ndem in the triple jump (35-3 ¹₂) and Tatum Tyler in the 800 (2 minutes, 21.70 seconds), the Knights outscored a depleted Blacksburg team 116-84. Christiansburg was third with 70 points.

"This is really the first year we've gone after it since the split," Cave Spring coach Tommy Maguire said.

Blacksburg claimed its second straight boys team title 82-74 over Christiansburg. Salem placed third with 62.

The Bruins were keyed by a double-win from George Carter in the 1,600 (4:27.96) and 3,200 (10:04.31), less than 24 hours after joining several teammates in a meet in Richmond.

No varsity meet records were set Saturday, but Patrick Henry's Phillip Mesadieu came close to a pair.

The PH strongman swept the shot put (55-9 ¹₂) and discus (156-3), missing the mark in the shot by 11 inches and in the disc by just over 5 feet.

"I was close to the records but I psyched myself out," Mesadieu said. "People around me kept telling me, 'Man, you can do it.' It was a lack of focus.

"One of my throws I know was over the record in the shot but I scratched it. They said one of my toes was over the rim."

Mesadieu is the athletic opposite of his older brother, former PH sprinter Joseph Mesadieu, who swept the 100, 200 and 400 in the 2007 Cosmo.

Phillip Mesadieu hopes to join Liberty University's football program as a walk-on. Joseph is a running back at Glenville State (W.Va.). The two schools will meet on the gridiron in 2010.

What would happen if the two brothers collide at the line of scrimmage?

"I don't know, but I know I'm not going to be the one on the ground on their back," Phillip said.

Glenvar junior Philip Morris nearly matched the 31-year-old record of 6-10 in the high jump. Just three days after suffering a foot injury that he believed would keep him out of the meet, Morris cleared 6-9 and had three jumps that nearly equalled the record set in 1978 by William Byrd's Anthony Conner.

"We found out my foot was just slightly irritated," Morris said. "There's nothing really wrong with it. They said if there's any pain just to use ice."

Glenvar's other returning VHSL Group A champion -- distance star Megan Marsico -- is returning to form after missing five weeks with groin and IT band pulls.

Marsico won the 3,200 (11:26.60) but placed third in the 1,600 behind Blacksburg's twins -- Kathleen and Joanna Stevens -- as the first two laps were run at an extremely slow pace.

"The mile was very strategic, I would have say," Marsico said. "It's never happened to me like that. No one wanted to lead it."

William Fleming's Kayla Lewis came up short in her bid to improve her meet record in the shot put, but she won the event at 40-4 ¹₂ and also took the discus (115-4).

Salem's Scott Campbell was a double winner for the boys, claiming the long jump (21-4) and the 200 (22.75) in a photo finish with 100-meter champ Phillip Scott of Northside.

Cosmopolitan Invitational

At Salem H.S.

Boys team scores

1. Blacksburg (Bla) 82, 2. Christiansburg (Cbg), 3. Salem (Sal) 62, 4. Northside (N) 59, 5. Patrick Henry (PH) 48, 6. William Fleming (WF) 39, 7. Franklin County (FC) 36 1/2, 8. Staunton River (SR) 28, 9. tie, Cave Spring (CS) and William Byrd (WB) 22, 11. Hidden Valley (HV) 20, 12. Alleghany (All) 14 1/2, 13. Glenvar (Glen) 10, 14. Roanoke Catholic (RC) 6, 15. Liberty (Lib) 3, 16. Lord Botetourt (LB) 1.

Boys results

Shot put -- 1. Mesadieu (PH) 55-9 1/2, 2. Burwell (FC) 49-3, 3. Mills (Sal) 49-1, 4. Taylor (Cbg) 48-4, 5. Bostwick (Cbg) 46-9, 6. Cobb-Ozanne (Bla) 45-7 1/2.

Discus -- 1. Mesadieu (PH) 156-3, 2. Burwell (FC) 141-10, 3. Turley (Sal) 133-11, 4. Taylor (Cbg) 131-5, 5. Persinger (All) 127-1, 6. Hall (WF) 125-2.

High jump -- 1. Morris (Glen) 6-9, 2. Hudson (Cbg) 6-4, 3. Dobbins (Cbg) 5-10, 4. N.Brown (N) 5-8, 5, tie, V.Brown (All) and Funk (FC) 5-8.

Long jump -- 1. Campbell (Sal) 21-4, 2. Borders (N) 21-3, 3. Hudson (Cbg) 21-2 1/4, 4. Dobbins (Cbg) 20-6 1/4, 5. Carr (Bla) 20-4 1/4, 6. Taylor (FC) 19-10 1/4.

Triple jump -- 1. Taylor (FC) 44-7 1/2, 2. Brown (N) 43-8, 3. Hudson (Cbg) 43-6, 4. Villanueva (Sal) 43-5, 5. Davis (Lib) 41- 3/4, 6. Funk (FC) 41-0.

Pole vault -- 1. Smith (PH) 13-0, 2. Smither (SR) 9-6, 3. Gordon (SR) 9-6, 4. Ivanco (CS) 8-6, 5. Williams (SR) 8-6, 6. George (CS) 7-6.

3,200 relay -- 1. William Byrd 8:31.97, 2. Christiansburg 9:05.83, 3. Blacksburg 9:12.67, 4. Hidden Valley 9:24.90, 5. Franklin County 9:27.58, 6. Cave Spring 9:31.12.

110 hurdles -- 1. Wyatt (WF) 15.03, 2. Dobbins (Cbg) 15.26, 3. Villanueva (Sal) 15.38, 4. Ivanco (CS) 15.62, 5. Campbell (Sal) 15.63, 6. Bess (All) 16.53.

100 -- 1. Scott (N) 11.27, 2. Campbell (Sal) 11.37, 3. Phelps (N) 11.58, 4. Dean (WF) 11.65, 5. Penn-Timity (N) 11.80, 6. Carr (Bla) 11.82.

1,600 -- 1. Carter (Bla) 4:27.96, 2. Lewis (HV) 4:28.96, 3. Howard (Bla) 4:36.77, 4. Flynn (RC) 4:36.92, 5. Eddleton (Cbg) 4:40.17, 6. Hencke (Bla) 4:44.87.

400 relay -- 1. Northside 44.32, 2. Patrick Henry 44.59, 3. Blacksburg 44.89, 4. Christiansburg 45.36, 5. Franklin County 46.24, 6. Liberty 46.93.

400 -- 1. Hall (WB) 50.33, 2. Travis (Bla) 51.12, 3. Sims (Bla) 52.79, 4. Diller (Bla) 53.25, 5. Mooney (WB) 53.92, 6. Brown (All) 53.94.

300 hurdles -- 1. Villanueva (Sal) 40.11, 2. Wyatt (WF) 40.70, 3. Ivanco (CS) 41.62, 4. Jenkins (WF) 43.30, 5. Bess (All) 43.72, 6. Jones (FC) 44.30.

800 -- 1. Pendergraft (SR) 2:04.84, 2. Eddleton (Cbg) 2:05.13, 3. Overstreet (CS) 2:06.69, 4. Doucette (PH) 2:06.51, 5. LaBarge (FC) 2:07.55, 6. Umstead (All) 2:12.12.

200 -- 1. Campbell (Sal) 22.75, 2. Scott (N) 22.77, 3. Manns (PH) 23.39, 4. Dean (WF) 23.69, 5. Borders (N) 23.72, 6. Carr (Bla) 23.81.

3,200 -- 1. Carter (Bla) 10:04.31, 2. Lewis (HV) 10:21.05, 3. Howard (Bla) 10:27.57, 4. Schmitt (Bla) 10:40.83, 5. Flynn (RC) 11:02.60, 6. Luedtke (LB) 11:08.68.

1,600 relay -- 1. Blacksburg 3:27.65, 2. William Fleming 3:37.96, 3. Alleghany 3:40.48, 4. Christiansburg 3:41.22, 5. Staunton River 3:44.85, 6. Northside 3:46.47.

Girls team scores

1. Cave Spring 116, 2. Blacksburg 84, 3. Christiansburg 70, 4. William Fleming 47, 5. Northside 35, 6. tie, Franklin County and Patrick Henry 32, 8. Liberty 24, 9. Hidden Valley 20, 10. Glenvar 16, 11. Salem 11, 12. tie, Staunton River and Lord Botetourt 10, 14. Alleghany 9, 15. Roanoke Catholic 8.

Girls results

Shot put -- 1. Lewis (WF) 40-4 1/2, 2. Evans (Cbg) 34-4, 3. Craighead (FC) 33-4, 4. Stafford (Cbg) 32-8, 5. Nelms (FC) 32-7 1/2, 6. Clowser (Sal) 31-10.

Discus -- 1. Lewis (WF) 115-4, 2. Stafford (Cbg) 99-6, 3. Nelms (FC) 97-10, 4. Craighead (FC) 92-11, 5. Carper (CS) 89-5, 6. Williams (FC) 84-11.

High jump -- 1. Bosche (CS) 5-0, 2. Western (CS) 4-10, 3. tie, Bostwick (Cbg) and Crum (CS) 4-10, 5. Dooley (FC) 4-8, 6. Johnson (WF) 4-6.

Long jump -- 1. Bostwick (Cbg) 17- 3/4, 2. Wright (LB) 16-8 1/2, 3. Ndem (CS) 16-7 3/4, 4. Smith (N) 16-2 3/4, 5. Johnson (WF) 15-8 1/2, 6. Brown (Bla) 15-7.

Triple jump -- 1. Ndem (CS) 35-3 1/2, 2. Graves (Cbg) 34-6, 3. Bostwick (Cbg) 34-4 3/4, 4. Bosche (CS) 34-4, 5. Tolley (N) 33-10, 6. Brown (Bla) 33-2 3/4

Pole vault -- 1. Shrewsbury (SR) 7-0, 2. Swaffer (CS) 7-0, 3. Smith (CS) 7-0, 4. Wood (FC) 6-0.

3,200 relay -- 1. Blacksburg 10:38.79, 2. Christiansburg 10:41.51, 3. Northside 10:57.12, 4. Cave Spring 11:17.64, 5. Franklin County 11:53.21, 6. Alleghany 12:11.78.

100 hurdles -- 1. Crum (CS) 16.27, 2. Tolley (N) 17.37, 3. Bosche (CS) 17.80, 4. May (HV) 18.60, 5. Harding (HV) 18.87, 6. Eichblatt (CS) 19.00.

100 -- 1. Hurt (Lib) 12.98, 2. Brown (Bla) 13.00, 3. Bostwick (Cbg) 13.32, 4. Coleman (WF) 13.38, 5. Wright (LB) 13.47, 6. Smith (N) 13.55.

1,600 -- 1. K.Stevens (Bla) 5:24.97, 2. J.Stevens (Bla) 5:29.53, 3. Marsico (Glen) 5:31.65, 4. LeHardy (HV) 5:36.55, 5. Dillon (HV) 5:40.35, 6. Caffrey (PH) 5:51.18.

400 relay -- 1. William Fleming 51.00, 2. Northside 51.91, 3. Cave Spring 52.27, 4. Franklin County 54.74, 5. Patrick Henry 54.76, 6. Blacksburg 57.36.

400 -- 1. Woodford (PH) 58.47, 2. Hurt (Lib) 1:00.36, 3. Manley (WF) 1:01.78, 4. Lewis (All) 1:02.68, 5. Eason (Sal) 1:03.36, 6. Dillon (HV) 1:04.31.

300 hurdles -- 1. Crum (CS) 50.12, 2. Quesenberry (Bla) 50.72, 3. Tolley (N) 51.38, 4. Cranwell (Bla) 52.23, 5. Bosche (CS) 53.67, 6. Harding (HV) 54.77.

800 -- 1. Tyler (CS) 2:21.70, 2. Long (RC) 2:21.90, 3. Brown (Bla) 2:23.03, 4. Dorrell (Bla) 2:25.70, 5. Beck (PH) 2:30.77, 6. Woodford (PH) 2:34.14.

200 -- 1. Brown (Bla) 26.37, 2. Eason (Sal) 27.04, 3. Hurt (Lib) 27.28, 4. Lewis (All) 27.33, 5. Manley (WF) 27.36, 6. Graves (Cbg) 27.66.

3,200 -- 1. Marsico (Glen) 11:26.60, 2. Fitchett (Bla) 11:43.70, 3. Caffrey (PH) 12:04.64, 4. Sowder (HV) 12:07.58, 5. LeHardy (HV) 12:23.14, 6. Kaiser (Bla) 12:26.98.

1,600 relay -- 1. Patrick Henry 4:09.96, 2. Cave Spring 4:10.51, 3. Christiansburg 4:16.11, 4. Blacksburg 4:16.31, 5. William Fleming 4:31.46, 6. Franklin County 4:40.05.

Boys Junior Division team scores

1. Cave Spring 64, 2. William Byrd 54, 3. Liberty 52, 4. Blacksburg 50, 5. Patrick Henry 48, 6. Salem 39, 7. Franklin County 30, 8. tie, Christiansburg and Northside 22, 10. William Fleming 14, 11. Glenvar 12, 13. tie, Roanoke Catholic and Alleghany 5, 15. tie, Lord Botetourt and Hidden Valley 4.

Boys winners

100 -- Wright (CS) 12.05, 200 -- Wright (CS) 23.84, 400 -- Murphy (WB) 54.79, 800 -- Young (PH) 2:06.93, 1,600 -- Woodford (PH) 4:38.84, 110 hurdles -- Anderson (Lib) 17.97, 300 hurdles -- Anderson (Lib) 44.26, 400 relay -- Patrick Henry 46.92, 1,600 relay -- William Byrd 3:49.97, High jump -- Smith (WB) 5-6, Long jump -- Palmer (FC) 20-3, Triple jump -- Anderson (Lib) 40-5, Shot put -- Brundidge (Bla) 40-5, Discus -- Clay (FC) 102-3.

Girls Junior Division team scores

1. Salem 81, 2. Cave Spring 63, 3. Lord Botetourt 48, 4. Franklin County 31, 5. tie, Hidden Valley and William Byrd 30, 7. Glenvar 29, 8, tie, Blacksburg and Staunton River 28, 10. Alleghany 26, 11. Roanoke Catholic 24, 12. William Fleming 6, 13. Patrick Henry 5, 14. tie, Northside and Liberty 2.

Girls winners

100 -- Carter 14.35, 2. 200 -- Gravely 28.54, 400 -- Clark (Glen) 1:07.59, 800 -- Sorrentino (RC) 2:33.99, 1,600 -- Sorrentino (RC) 5:44.50, 100 hurdles -- Tamaro (CS) 18.27, 300 hurdles -- Gravely (Sal) 50.50; 400 relay -- Franklin County 56.91, 1,600 relay -- Hidden Valley 4:39.65, High jump -- Jamison (Glen) 4-8, Long jump -- Carter (All) 16-1, Triple jump -- Gulliford (CS) 30-8, Shot put -- 1. Miller (SR) 29-1, Discus -- Miller (SR) 87-2.

Boys Middle School team scores

1. Andrew Lewis (AL) 92.1, 2. Lucy Addison (Add) 67, 3. Clifton (Clif) 58, 4. Christiansburg (Cbg) 38, 5. Ben Franklin (BF) 34.6, 6. Northside (N) 32.2, 7. William Ruffner (Ruff) 31, 8. Blacksburg (Bla) 28.6, 9. Staunton River (SR) 16.5, 10. Central Academy (Cent) 15, 11. tie, Cave Spring (CS) and Read Mountain (RM) 8.

Boys winners

100 -- Harris (AL) 12.32, 200 -- Harris (AL) 24.99, 400 -- Prince (Add) 54.71, 800 -- Carter (Bla) 2:17.17, 1,600 -- Link (Bla) 4:51.09, 110 hurdles -- Prince (Add) 17.64, 300 hurdles -- Washington (AL) 43.78, 400 relay -- Andrew Lewis 49.80, 1,600 relay -- Christiansburg 3:57.88, High jump -- 1. Burks (Clif) 5-2, Long jump -- Prince (Add) 20-7 1/2, Triple jump -- Prince (Add) 40-9, Shot put -- Williams (N) 43-2 1/2, Discus -- Deacon (CA) 111-11.

Girls middle school team scores

1. Hidden Valley 64, 2. Central Academy 55.1, 3. Andrew Lewis 50, Christiansburg 40, Northside 36, 6. Ben Franklin 32.5, 7. Lucy Addison 28, 8. Clifton 26, 9. William Ruffner 25, 10. Blacksburg 23, Roanoke Catholic 20, 12. Read Mountain 12.6, 13. Cave Spring 11.2, 14. tie, William Byrd and Staunton River 4, 16. Liberty 2.6

Girls winners

100 -- Hamm (CA) 13.41, 200 -- Hamm (CA) 26.61, 400 -- Sorrentino (RC) 1:05.85, 800 -- Sorrentino (RC) 2:22.14, 1,600 -- Burns (Cbg) 5:48.21, 100 hurdles -- Bethel (HV) 18.96, 300 hurdles -- Hooper (AL) 55.25, 400 relay -- Lucy Addison 56.64, 1,600 relay -- Christiansburg 4:47.00, High jump -- Sweet (HV) 4-8, Long jump -- Hooper (AL) 15-2, Triple jump -- Hamm (CA) 30-7, Shot put -- Conway (HV) 26-6, Discus -- Trussell (Ruff) 68-9.

Individual awards

Outstanding boys runner -- George Carter, Blacksburg; Outstanding boys field events -- Phillip Mesadieu, Patrick Henry; Outstanding girls runner -- Rachel Crum, Cave Spring; Outstanding girls field events -- Kayla Lewis, William Fleming.

Junior Division awards

Outstanding boys runner -- Craig Palmer, Franklin County; Outstanding boys field events -- Derek Anderson, Liberty; Outstanding girls runner -- Julianna Sorrentino; Outstanding girls field events -- Rebekah Miller, Staunton River.

Middle School awards

Outstanding boys runner -- Dorian Harris, Andrew Lewis; Outstanding boys field events -- David Prince; Outstanding girls runner -- Sadee Hooper, Andrew Lewis; Outstanding girls field events -- Reanna Hamm, Central Academy.