Bethel goes the distance to lead Hidden Valley girls to state track title 

HARRISONBURG - Hidden Valley girls track and field coach Dan King held an ace and a wild card.

And that was enough to again make the Titans the queens of the Group AA championships Saturday at Harrisonburg High School.

Senior Carolyn Bethel and sophomore Breontae Crump combined for all of Hidden Valley's points as the Titans outscored runner-up E.C. Glass 41-39 to bring the big trophy back to Roanoke County.

Bethel produced 30 points by winning three events - the 3,200, 1,600 and 800 meters - while Crump added 11 more with a third-place effort in the shot put and a fourth-place showing in the discus.

King expected Crump to perform well in the shot put, but her fourth-place throw of 117-9 in the discus proved to be the x-factor in Hidden Valley's title.

"I was hoping for a point," King said. "You figure she started the season 87, 88 feet. Even coming in, she was 109 feet. I expected to get points in the [3,200 relay] we didn't get, so points in the disc were big."

Meanwhile, Bethel stamped herself among the most successful distance runners in Group AA history.

The Northern Arizona signee added the 1,600 meters (5 minutes, 8.48 seconds) and 800 (2:15.12) on Saturday to the title she won Friday night in the 3,200, matching the sweep of the three distance events last performed at the state level by former Northside star Catherine White in 2007.

Bethel finished her career with eight individual state titles - two in cross country, and three each in indoor and outdoor track to at least earn mention in the same breath with former Timesland greats such as White and Blacksburg twins Kathleen and Joanna Stevens.

"Those girls are really prestigious," Bethel said. "For me to be labeled up there with them, that's like, awesome. I guess that's the only way I can explain it.

"I never thought when I was a freshman that I'd be coming in and be put in the same category with those girls. I viewed them as the untouchables."

Northside's 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams proved to be uncatchable Saturday.

The foursome of Tierra Saunders, Annie McGowan, Bonnie McGowan and freshman Aleah Keaton won both events in sizzling times, finishing the 400 relay in 48.59 and the 1,600 in 3:57.86.

The 400 relay came on the heels of last week's Region III meet when the Vikings appeared headed for victory until Bonnie McGowan and Keaton missed the connection on the final handoff.

The dropped baton produced some tossing and turning at night.

"I had dreams about it," Keaton said. "Every time I'd wake up, I'd be like, 'OK, it's not going to happen. We're focused to get this next one.' We practiced it a lot this week to make sure it wouldn't happen."

All three handoffs were smooth this time, and Keaton gave up little ground in hitting the finish line first ahead of Harrisonburg anchor Mikaila Williams.

"We knew we needed a little bit of a lead, but Aleah's got a great stride and with this wind she can power through it where some other people get blown back," Bonnie McGowan said.

Northside saved the real drama for later.

The 1,600 relay produced the meet's most exciting finish as Saunders and Tabb anchor runner Micah Banks ran stride for stride over the last 100 meters.

Banks appeared ready to pass the Northside junior, but Saunders somehow came up with one last spurt to win by a margin of five-hundredeths of a second.

"I'm not going to lie," Saunders said. "I was giving up right there, but I saw her from the corner of my eye. I could see her arm right there, so I had to give it my all."

Saunders had less than a full tank after placing second to Charlottesville's Taylor Watkins in the 400 meters, a result that helped Northside finish fourth in the team standings with 32 points.

"It drained me a lot, but I went under that tent and put towels on my body, cold towels, and got ready for [the relay]," she said.

Timesland athletes produced 11 individual or relay titles in the two-day meet.

Placing second Saturday were Cave Spring's Katie Fortner in the 1,600 and 800, Staunton River's Lily Garrecht in the girls long jump, Pulaski County's Sara Wright in the girls shot put and Marion's Sam Lincoln in the boys high jump.

Brunswick outscored Blacksburg 68-44 to win the boys team championship as Virginia basketball recruit B.J. Stith won the 300-meter hurdles and led the Bulldogs to the 1,600 relay title.

Two meet records fell as Matthew Zajac of E.C. Glass won the discus at 186-2, while Lisa Meneau of John Handley took the 300 hurdles in 42.82.

Fortner dueled Bethel in all three distance races. While the Cave Spring junior was winless, she amassed 19 points in the final prep races between the neighborhood rivals.

"I'm really sad it's over, in all honesty," Bethel said. "Katie came up to me and said, 'It's our last race together.' I started getting a little choked up. It's a great way to go out, but I was sort of reluctant to start that [800]."

Will Fortner be glad to see Bethel out of the way in 2014?

"Sort of, but she always poses a challenge," Fortner said. "I've had three years with her. We've kind of grown pretty close. She's somewhat in my head. It's a runner thing. We're in each other's heads but as it should be.

"Hopefully, I'll follow in her footsteps and get a triple, but it will be harder because she won't be there pushing me to the limit."

Bethel, who overcame an early-season Achilles tendon injury, will compete in the 5,000 and 800 meters outdoor national meet in two weeks in Greensboro, N.C.

"The big thing with Carolyn is she's got that fire that you very seldom see," King said. "You cannot coach fire. You can't coach it. She's very businesslike. She's very unique. She's set herself up very well for the next level. I think she'll be very successful there as well."

GROUP AA TRACK AND FIELD

At Harrisonburg H.S., Harrisonburg

Boys team scores

1. Brunswick 68, 2. Blacksburg 44, 3. Loudoun County 43, 4. Caroline 37, 5. Brookville 36, 6. Lafayette 32, 7. Marion 26, 8. Smithfield 25, 9. E.C. Glass 24, 10. Briar Woods 22, 11. New Kent 20, 12. Charlottesville 19, 13. Fluvanna County 18 ½, 14. Christiansburg 17 ½, 15. Heritage-Lynchburg 17, 16. tie, Western Albemarle and Fauquier 14, 18. Tuscarora 13, 19. John Handley 19 ½, 20. Greensville County 12, 21. tie, Millbrook and William Byrd 10, 23, tie, Warhill, Louisa County, Dominion and Broadway 9, 27. tie, Amherst County, York, Turner Ashby, James Monroe and Potomac Falls 8, 32. tie, Loudoun Valley, King George and John Champe 6, 35. tie, Pulaski County and Salem 4, 37. tie, Tabb, Alleghany, Abingdon, Martinsville, Sherando and Courtland 3, 43. tie, Fort Defiance and Lord Botetourt 2, 45. Warren County 1 ½, 46. tie, Chancellor, Brentsville and Southampton 1.

Boys results

Discus - 1. Zajac (E.C. Glass), 186-2 (breaks meet record of 179-0 set by Kuster of Liberty-Bedford in 2007), 2. Neff (Millbrook) 165-0, 3. Key (Fluvanna County) 158-7, 4. Folley (Charlottesville) 152-8, 5. Chirinos (Tuscarora) 149-0, 6. Evans (Turner Ashby) 145-7, 7. Bowling (Marion) 145-4, 8. Cullop (Marion) 145-3.

Long jump - 1. Childress (Smithfield) 21-10 ¼, 2. Hardy (Brunswick) 21-10, 3. Pollard (Caroline) 21-8 ¼, 4. Bishop (Louisa County) 21-7, 5. Johnson (Smithfield) 21-6 ¼, 6. Green-Gause (Christiansburg) 21-5 ¼, Cook (Brookville) 21-2 ¾, 8. Seward (Brunswick) 21-1 ¾.

High jump - 1. Pollard (Caroline) 6-8, 2. Lincoln (Marion) 6-2, 3. Green-Gause (Christiansburg) 6-2, 4. Bevels (James Monroe) 6-2, 5. Childress (Smithfield) 6-2, 6. tie, Robinson (John Handley), Nicholson (Warren County), Hills (Fluvanna County), Smith (Sherando), 6-0.

110 hurdles - 1. Boykins (Greensville County) 14.59, 2. B.Stith (Brunswick) 14.63, 3. Seward (Brunswick) 14.88, 4. Pannell (E.C. Glass) 15.29, 5. Pollard (Caroline) 15.31, 6. Cox (Heritage-Lynchburg) 15.47, 7. Lightfoot (Abingdon) 15.54, 8. Jordan (Salem) 15.56

100 - 1. Polk (Briar Woods) 11.085, 2. Racanelli (Brookville) 11.087, 3. Davis (Charlottesville) 11.25, 4. Pankey (Caroline) 11.29, 5. Alexander (Heritage-Lynchburg) 11.35, 6. Dedmon (Warhill) 11.38, 7. Mosley (Greensville County) 11.41, 8. Carter (Martinsville) 11.41.

1,600 - 1. Joseph (Loudoun County) 4:18.09, 2. Connell (York) 4:21.57, 3. Link (Blacksburg) 4:22.60, 4. Borny (Blacksburg) 4:22.92, 5. Taylor (Western Albemarle) 4:23.56, 6. Ginnings (Salem) 4:23.68, 7. Hughes (Briar Woods) 4:24.88, 8. Lancaster (Dominion) 4:25.36.

400 relay - 1. Brookville (Payne, Calloway, Goard, Racanelli) 42.45, 2. Caroline 42.54, 3. John Handley 43.06, 4. Charlottesville 43.14, 5. Heritage-Lynchburg 43.17, 6. James Monroe 43.34, 7. Warhill 43.46, 8. Smithfield 43.52.

400 - 1. Graham (Loudoun County) 48.89, 2. Robinson (Dominion) 49.64, 3. Wallace (John Champe) 49.68, 4. Clark (Turner Ashby) 49.93, 5. J.Stith (Brunswick) 50.18, 6. Sandidge (Amherst County) 50.38, 7. Reed (Christiansburg) 50.44, 8. Fenner (Southampton) 50.46.

300 hurdles - 1. B.Stith (Brunswick) 38.63, 2. Seward (Brunswick) 39.69, 3. Hardy (Brunswick) 40.42, 4. Sherrod (Loudoun Valley) 40.60, 5. Fort (Potomac Falls) 40.72, 6. Christian (Alleghany) 40.86, 7. Faint (Millbrook) 40.94, 8. Reynolds (Abingdon) 41.01.

800 - 1. Joseph (Loudoun County) 1:53.86, 2. Holdsworth (Lafayette) 1:54.29, 3. Hagen (Blacksburg) 1:55.79, 4. Savage (New Kent) 1:56.39, 5. Steck (Lafayette) 1:56.58, 6. Carrington (Tuscarora) 1:56.74, 7. Thibodeau (Fort Defiance) 1:56.92, 8. M.Carter (Blacksburg) 1:57.30.

200 - 1. Polk (Briar Woods) 22.50, 2. Racanelli (Brookville) 22.80, 3. Alexander (Heritage-Lynchburg) 22.86, 4. Graham (Loudoun County) 22.96, 5. Dedmon (Warhill) 23.08, 6. Davis (Charlottesville) 23.18, 7. B.Carter (Martinsville) 23.36, 8. Pankey (Caroline) 33.66

1,600 relay - 1. Brunswick 3:21.58, 2. Loudoun County 3:23.60, 3. Lafayette 3:24.16, 4. New Kent 3:25.39, 5. John Handley 3:25.99, 6. Christiansburg 3:26.23, 7. Blacksburg 3:26.56, 8. Courtland 3:28.13.

Girls team scores

1. Hidden Valley 41, 2. E.C. Glass 39, 3. Brunswick 34, 4. Northside 32, 5. tie, Tabb and Grafton 27, 7. John Handley 24, 8. Charlottesville 23, 9. tie, Pulaski County and Staunton River 21, 11. Blacksburg 20 ½, 12. Western Albemarle 19 ½, 13. tie, Cave Spring and Turner Ashby 19, 15. Harrisonburg 18, 16. Lafayette 16 ½, 17. tie, New Kent and Fauquier 17, 19. James Wood 15, 20. King George 14 ½, 21. tie, Christiansburg, Warhill and Powhatan 14, 24. Caroline 12, 25. tie, Heritage-Lynchburg and Liberty-Bealeton 11, 27. tie, Jefferson Forest, Liberty-Bedford, Greensville County and Fluvanna County 10, 31. Louisa County 9, 32. tie, Woodgrove, Potomac Falls and Tuscarora 8, 35. Kettle Run 7, 36. Bruton 6, 37. tie, Courtland and James Monroe 5, 39, tie, Broadway and Fort Defiance 4, 41. tie, Salem, Millbrook, Sherando and Chancellor 3, 45. Heritage-Leesburg 2, 46. tie, William Byrd and Loudoun Valley 1.

Girls results

Shot put - 1. Morgan (Brunswick) 40-2 ½, 2. Wright (Pulaski County) 39-10 ¼, 3. Crump (Hidden Valley) 39-9 ¾, 4. Paige (Heritage-Lynchburg) 37-4 ¼, 5. Eddleton (Christiansburg) 37- ¼, 6. Kooken (Western Albemarle) 36-2 ½, 7. Good (Harrisonburg) 35-11 ½, 8. Johnson (Fauquier) 35-9.

Long jump - 1. Johnson (Powhatan) 18- ¾, 2. Garrecht (Staunton River) 17-8 ½, 3. Bennett (Brunswick) 17-8 ½, 4. Hill (Fauquier) 17-3 ¾, 5. Brown (Kettle Run) 17-2, 6. Boswell (Broadway) 16-11 ¾, 7. Jones (Staunton River) 16-11, 8. Progar (Tabb) 16-8 ¾.

Pole vault - 1. Meador (Fluvanna County) 11-6, 2. D.Jones (New Kent) 10-9, 3. Garrecht (Staunton River) 10-9, 4. tie, Barredo (Western Albemarle) and Tomczak (Lafayette) 10-6, 6. tie, Legard (Western Albemarle) and Rayle (Western Albemarle) 10-0, 8. tie, Armentrout (King George) and Olszewski (Blacksburg) 10-0.

100 hurdles - 1. Meneau (John Handley) 14.47, 2. Toliver (Caroline) 14.87, 3. Stith (Brunswick) 14.98, 4. Allison (Lafayette) 15.54, 5. Myrtle (Turner Ashby) 15.57, 6. Mallory (Louisa County) 16.20, 7. Brown (Kettle Run) 16.41, 8. Boswell (Broadway) 16.69.

100 - 1. Bateman (E.C. Glass) 12.27, 2. A.Morris (Harrisonburg) 12.35, 3. L.Morris (Heritage-Lynchburg) 12.50, 4. Watkins (Charlottesville) 12.54, 5. Hanks (Tabb) 12.59, 6. M.Jones (Lafayette) 12.82, 7. Hill (Fauquier) 12.85, 8. S.Jones (James Monroe) 13.02.

1,600 - 1. Bethel (Hidden Valley) 5:08.48, 2. Fortner (Cave Spring) 5:09.26, 3. Rabbitt (Grafton) 5:09.81, 4. Green (King George) 5:10.55, 5. Shannon (Bruton) 5:13.94, 6. Brown (Liberty-Bealeton) 5:15.19, 7. Hawkins (James Wood) 5:16.59, 8. Taylor (Western Albemarle) 5:17.12

400 relay - 1. Northside (Saunders, A.McGowan, B.McGowan, Keaton) 48.59, 2. Harrisonburg 49.26, 3. E.C. Glass 49.50, 4. Fauquier 49.57, 5. Lafayette 49.98, 6. Salem 50.03, 7. Warhill 50.13, 8. Heritage-Leesburg 50.41.

400 - 1. Watkins (Charlottesville) 56.39, 2. Saunders (Northside) 57.32, 3. Wells (Warhill) 57.55, 4. King (Tabb) 57.79, 5. Goodlet (New Kent) 57.89, 6. Wiles (Blacksburg) 58.02, 7. Anderson (Pulaski County) 58.04, 8. Randall (Loudoun Valley) 59.33.

300 hurdles - 1. Meneau (John Handley) 42.82 (breaks meet record of 43.43 set by Smith of John Handley in 2006), 2. Fauteux (Potomac Falls) 44.72, 3. Myrtle (Turner Ashby) 46.52, 4. Edmonds (Tuscarora) 47.00, 5. Toliver (Caroline) 47.19, 6. Schrank (Millbrook) 47.32, 7. Armentrout (King George) 47.60, 8. Stith (Brunswick) 47.61.

800 - 1. Bethel (Hidden Valley) 2:15.12, 2. Fortner (Cave Spring) 2:18.45, 3. Shupe (Jefferson Forest) 2:19.05, 4. Goff (Goff) 2:19.40, 5. Gilies (Woodgrove) 2:21.78, 6. Omweg (Tabb) 2:21.86, 7, DeCarmo (E.C. Glass) 2:21.90, 8. Burke (Fauquier) 2:22.59.

200 - 1. Bateman (E.C. Glass) 25.50, 2. Watkins (Charlottesville) 25.50, 3. Hanks (Tabb) 25.90, 4. Goodlet (New Kent) 26.13, 5. Keaton (Northside) 26.23, 6. Hill (Fauquier) 26.25, 7. Wells (Warhill) 26.45.

1,600 relay - 1. Northside (A.McGowan, B.McGowan, Keaton, Saunders) 3:57.96, 2. Tabb 3:58.01, 3. E.C. Glass 4:04.29, 4. Pulaski County 4:05.13, 5. Pulaski County 4:05.13, 6. Blacksburg 4:07.94, 7. Jefferson Forest 4:08.57, 8. King George 4:11.25.

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