Morris, Johnson lead area athletes at states

Published 9:05 pm Saturday, March 2, 2019

Prince Edward County High School’s varsity indoor track and field program produced two state champions during the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 2 State Championships held Monday and Tuesday at Roanoke College in Salem.

Lady Eagles junior Makayla Morris won the girls high jump with a 5-foot-2-inch leap, and Eagles junior Abdul Johnson won the boys long jump with a 21-7 1/2 leap.

The Prince Edward girls team produced 30 points to finished sixth out of 30 teams competing. Prince Edward’s boys team scored 24 points to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place out of 39 teams competing. Points were earned by athletes and relay teams placing in the top eight of any given event.

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The Lady Eagles’ 4×200-meter relay placed second with a time of one minute, 52.51 seconds. The team featured senior Salma Muhammad, Morris, sophomore Haniyyah Johnson and junior Naomi Jones.

Abdul Johnson’s stellar showing at states also included a second-place finish in the boys triple jump, with a 42-5 result, and a third-place finish in the boys 55-meter dash, with a time of 6.75 seconds.

Haniyyah Johnson rounded out Prince Edward’s top-two finishers, placing second in the girls 55-meter dash with a time of 7.46 seconds.

In addition to her win in the high jump, Morris also generated points for the Lady Eagles by placing seventh in the girls 55 and the girls triple jump.

Cumberland County High School’s varsity boys team generated four points, with two top-eight finishes, to tie for 32nd among all boys teams generating points.

The Dukes 4×400-meter relay team placed sixth with a 3:45.08 time. According to the results listed on MileStat.com, the relay team was comprised of senior Justin Stimpson, freshman Nasir McDonald, senior Devon Rivera-Reed and sophomore Jeremy Johnson.

Rivera-Reed also placed eighth in the boys 500-meter run, followed closely by Stimpson in ninth.