William Fleming Boys and Cave Spring Girls come away with the trophies

RADFORD, VA -- The rain showers did not dampen the enthusiasm or the competition in the inaugural South West Track and Field Invitational at Radford University.

The William Fleming boys and the Cave Spring girls took the team championships in impressive fashion. William Fleming's boys placed first in five events. Calvin Bannister was a double winner as he won the 400m with a time of 51.45 and took the long jump with a distance of 21' 9.5". Jermaine Thompson won the shot put with a throw of 47"00". The other two victories came in the relays where the Colonels edged Floyd County in the 4x100m relay in a time of 46.55 while dropping a baton and destroyed the field in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:30.4. Cave Spring's girls put on a show with a dominating point spread. The lady knights posted a 93-53 spread over runner-ups Pulaski County and Amherst County. Ashley Reyer was a double winner with victories in the long jump (17'9") and the 400m hurdles (1:08.72). The Radford University track was not marked for the normal high school 300m, and the meet officials elected to run the college distance. The knights also took victories in the 1600m by Jennifer Beury with a time of 5:22.37, and in the 4x400m relay team with a time of 4:10.86.

Two all-state contestants we were hoping to watch were nursing injuries and did not compete. Ryan McCoy, William Fleming - triple jump, had a slight muscle pull, and Shannon Saunders, Jefferson Forest - 1600m and 3200m), is reported to have some type of hip problem.

Even with McCoy and Shannon Saunders missing the meet had plenty of stars to watch. Most notably was in the men's distance events with Rockbridge County's 1000m Indoor AA State Champion John Crews and Marion's Foot Locker All-American Fleet Hower. The 1600m was the first of the competitions and Crews, a junior, came away with the victory with a time of 4:21.97 while Hower had a very respectable 4:27.01. In the 3200m a tactical race by Hower enabled the Marion senior to stay on Crews' shoulder until the final 400m lap where a quick burst carried him to the finish line in 9:39.82 as Crews came across in 9:43.43.

Pulaski County girls had two first place finishes as Liz Hager won the discus (121'02") and the versatile Brenna Blevins won the 400m (59.62). Blevins also took 2nd in the high jump, 5th in the 100m, and 4th in the triple jump.