Photo by Tom Hoerner
It was the Lynchburg area schools who were dominant at the Region III Indoor Championships on Saturday with Heritage and Brookville splitting the team titles with both boys and girls' squads for each team taking top two finishes.
The Heritage boys defeated the defending AA state champions from Brookville for a second straight weekend after winning the district title only a week earlier by 21 point margin. Heritage had a well rounded lineup including three individual champions in very different events with Mike Petty in the high jump, Dakota Pellman in the 300 yard dash, and Josh Knight in the two mile run. Ethan Nixon tried to keep his team up to pace with the Heritage boys, but his two wins in the triple jump and 55 meter hurdles as well as scoring high in the high jump and triple jump were not enough to help the Bees close the distance.
The Brookville girls were able to pull ahead of Heritage though as Shelley Parker and Janel Reeves were big contributors with a regional title and regional runner-up showing for each. Parker won the pole vault and finished second in the 300 yard dash, while Reeves was a runner-up in the mile run to Heritage's Laura Rapp before winning the two mile run. Rapp had a stellar 1000 yard race in her second event of the meet to convert to a 2:57.37 1000. The Wake Forest bound senior also ran on Heritage's victorious 4x440 yard relay to help pull her team into second place and 12 points behind the team champions from Brookville.
Justin Smith of Turner Ashby launched a personal best mark in the shot put of 58'1.75" to edge him closer, but still a full foot behind state leader Frede Spellman of Oscar Smith. Smith will be a heavy favorite for the AA state title this upcoming weekend at Liberty though.
Amherst County had two individuals win a pair of regional titles with Jeremy Lewis clocking in at 6.45 in the finals of the 60 yard dash and leaping to a mark of 22'8" in the long jump, while Lacear Hubbard was a winner in both the girls long jump (17'4.75") and triple jump (35'2.75").
Region III Meet Complete Results
Region III Meet Photo Gallery by Tom Hoerner. 850 photos total.