LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR) — The Rustburg and Salem boys 4x100m relay teams lived up to the expectation of being the top seed at the VHSL state track, and field championships held at Liberty University on Saturday, June 3.

The Red Devils’ quartet of Jamier Flemming, Marshawn Rosser, Elijah Sherard, and Kaydon Taylor set a new state record in Class 3 with a time of 42.47 seconds to win the event.

“The state record, we ran way below that before so we knew we could do it,” said Sherard. “We just want to make Rustburg an actual track school, so when you go to track meets, you just gotta check that Rustburg is there so we just want to make sure people know that Rustburg is a good track school.”

Salem dominated the Class 4 field in the 4x100m relay event. The team of Jonathan Vernon, Josiah Persinger, Daron Wilson, and Peyton Lewis ran a combined time of 41.16 seconds, more than a second ahead of Deep Creek high school, which placed second.

“We knew from the beginning that we were going to prevail. We were going to do good at States, we had just been waiting all season and we have great chemistry, ever since the beginning when we started running with each other,” said Lewis. “So we knew that as soon as we get the baton, as soon as they say go, we already knew it was over with.”

In the girls’ 200-meter dash, Northside’s Simone’ Hamlar earned her third career state title, winning with a time of 26.05 seconds and realizing a moment she has envisioned for months.

“A lot of long nights training and probably a bit of tears too. Every athlete is amazing. To make it to states is a big deal. So I’m very excited for them and I’m very excited that I came out on top,” Hamlar said. “I was just like pump your arms. That’s the only thing I could do, if I could pump my arms fast enough, my legs move too.”

In Harrisonburg, the Auburn girls took home the team title in Class 1 while the Glenvar boys won the Class 2 championship.

At Newport News, Franklin County’s Isaiah Moorman won the 100-meter dash, his first state title in his only year competing in track. His teammate, Nathan Atchue, won gold in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter races. The senior heads to Tennessee with a total of eight state titles in his career.

Other notable results from this weekend include:

  • Class 1 girls 3200m champion: Kasey Rosenbaum (Auburn)
  • Class 1 girls 400m champion: Stacy Lewis (Auburn)
  • Class 1 girls shot put champion: Emily Edwards (Galax)
  • Class 1 boys 3200m champion: Kovyk Chandler (Parry McCluer)
  • Class 2 girls 100m hurdles champion: Sydney Loder (Glenvar)
  • Class 2 girls 4x100m relay champions: Mahre Swanson, Brooklyn Woolwine, Ryan Harris, Sydney Loder (Glenvar)
  • Class 2 girls 4x400m relay champions: Aubrey Quesenberry, Leah Altizer, Mia Spangler, Reagan Lynch (Floyd County)
  • Class 2 girls shot put champion: Emma Francis (James River)
  • Class 2 boys 3200m champion: Mason Erchull (Floyd County)
  • Class 2 boys 4x400m relay champions: Colby Thompson, Caeden Bowker, Joey Loder, Heath Bowker (Glenvar)
  • Class 2 boys long jump champion: Parker Prioleau (Radford)
  • Class 2 boys 4x800m relay champions: Caeden Bowker, Charlie Horrell, Davis Norman and Heath Bowker (Glenvar)
  • Class 2 boys triple jump champion: Andrew Craft (Alleghany)
  • Class 3 boys discus champion: Kendal Howard (Lord Botetourt)
  • Class 3 boys long jump champion: Markus White (Heritage)
  • Class 4 boys 3200m champion: Conner Rutherford (Blacksburg)
  • Class 4 boys 4x800m relay champions: Miles Wilson, Zach Davis, Eli Sterling, Conner Rutherford (Blacksburg)
  • Class 4 boys shot put champion: Diego Turner (Pulaski County)