PE, Cumberland athletes win at Henrico track meet
Published 6:41 pm Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Area track and field athletes made their presence known at the 31st running of the Cannonball Cooper Age Group Championship held at Varina High School in Henrico on July 2.
The invitational featured competitive opportunities for athletes ranging in age from 5 to adults.
Three event winners hailed from Prince Edward County and one came from Cumberland County High School.
The 10 athletes from Prince Edward competed under the team name Farmville Area Track Express. There were seven girls who, as a group, placed fourth, and three boys, who placed fifth as a group.
Rajai Walton, of Prince Edward, claimed first in the high jump for the young men division (ages 17 and 18) with a 6-06 jump.
“The guy that he beat in the high jump was the kid that beat him at the state track meet,” Prince Edward County High School Head Track and Field Coach James Baker said.
Walton edged out state champion David Danek, who also produced a 6-06 jump at the invitational but with an important difference.
“Rajai cleared 6-06 on his first attempt, and this other kid got it on his third attempt,” Baker said. “So to break the tie then, they go back to the last height cleared and see who cleared it in the fewest attempts.”
Walton also took fourth in the long jump with a 20-03 leap.
In the girls youth division (ages 13 and 14), Prince Edward’s Mia Seay won the long jump, generating a personal best 14-11 mark. She also finished the 200-meter dash in 29.19 seconds, good for 10th place.
Tonishea Ford, of Cumberland, won the discus throw in the young women division with a 93-foot throw. Prince Edward thrower Haleema Muhammad came in second, producing an 81-11 mark.
Ford also competed in the shot put, her 27-7 1/4 throw putting her in fourth behind Muhammad, who produced a 29-09 throw.
Elizabeth McElfresh, of the Farmville Area Track Express, was the lone runner in the 3000-meter run for the girls midget division (ages 11 and 12), finishing in 13 minutes, 56.17 seconds.
Other Farmville Area Track Express athletes who took second in events included Jordan Booker in the triple jump for the girls intermediate division (ages 15 and 16) with a 31-9 1/2 jump and Saye Woodard in the discus throw for the girls midget division with a 29-06 mark.
Buckingham County High School’s Tamiyah Gough claimed third place in the girls intermediate division triple jump event, leaping 31-5 1/2. She also covered 14 feet in the girls intermediate division long jump event to place 11th.
In the girls intermediate division, Salma Muhammad, of Prince Edward, placed third in the long jump with a 15-09 jump and tied for fourth in the triple jump with a 30-11 leap.
Booker’s mark of 15-06 was good for fifth in the long jump, and she took 10th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 29.29 seconds.
In the girls midget division, Woodard also placed fourth in the long jump (11-04) and 10th in the 400-meter dash (1:15.52).
Prince Edward’s Montiera Wynn competed in the young women division, finishing fifth in the 200 meters with a time of 27.50 seconds, fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 1:04.06 and sixth in the long jump with a 15-09 leap.
Brandon Scott, of Prince Edward, had a pair of sixth-place finishes in the young men division, competing in the 200 meters, finishing in 23.82 seconds, and the 100-meter dash, finishing in 11.43 seconds.
Hykeim Wynn participated in the boys bantam division (ages 9 and 10), placing seventh in the 100 meters with a 15.86-second finish and ninth in the long jump with an 8-11 jump.