State championships wrapped for outdoor track and field Saturday and close to home, classes 3 and 4 finished up at Liberty University with more local athletes claiming state gold.
Amongst standouts, the Class 3 boys 1600 meters, Eric Duncan of Lord Botetourt added another championship to his resume. Fresh off a victory in the 3200 meters, Duncan crossed the finish line first to earn his second state title of the day.
“It was a close race the entire way through,” Duncan said. “On the second lap, I said a little prayer in my head: ‘God, just help me put everything I have in my body out there.’ I think that really helped me. With about 500 meters to go, I started smiling because I knew I still had a good kick left.”
The Class 3 boys 4x100-meter relay produced one of the day’s most exciting finishes. Cave Spring edged the field and set a meet record with a time of 42.05 seconds.
The accomplishment was even more impressive considering the Knights used a substitute in their lineup.
“One of my teammates was out, so I had to step up in his position,” said Langston Lamour, a Cave Spring Senior. “It was a team effort. Everybody did a good job. I’m actually a substitute, so this was my first time ever running in this event.”
The Class 4 boys 4x100-meter relay was equally competitive. George Washington of Danville held off Charlottesville by just three-tenths of a second to win the state title in 42.53 seconds.
“We worked for this,” said Jason Bryant, a GW Sophomore. “I knew I had to go get it. I’m just happy we got the baton around smoothly and set a record.”
“You’ve got to trust your team,” said Antonio Matos. “Injuries have been beating up on us. I felt like I let them down yesterday in the 100 meters, so I wanted to give everything I had today. They put me in position to win, and I brought it home for them.”
In the Class 3 boys team standings, Lord Botetourt won the state championship with 62 points. Cave Spring finished second with 52 points, while Pulaski County placed third with 46.
On the girls side, Heritage dominated the Class 3 competition, scoring 106 points to win the team title.
In Class 4, Churchland captured both the boys and girls team championships. Blacksburg won the Class 4 boys title with 86 points.
In Class 1, Auburn ran away with the boys championship, totaling 101 points. The Auburn girls finished third with 50 points.
Class 2 brought more success for Floyd County, as the boys team claimed the state title while the girls finished second, just two points shy of first place. Radford placed third in the boys standings.
In Classes 5 and 6, Patrick Henry finished fifth. Freedom won the Class 5 boys championship, while James Robinson claimed the Class 6 girls title and Western Branch captured the Class 6 boys championship.
All three Classes can be found here:
Classes 1 & 2 Link: https://va.milesplit.com/meets/742523-vhsl-class-1-state-championships-2026
Classes 3 & 4 Link: https://va.milesplit.com/meets/742520-vhsl-class-3-state-championships-2026
Classes 5 & 6 Link: https://va.milesplit.com/meets/742518-vhsl-class-5-state-championships-2026