By its very nature, it takes depth to win a team title in track and field and that depth carried host Fork Union to a championship in the Fred Hardy Invitational Saturday.
The Blue Devils outpaced runner-up Broadway 85.5 to 40 points by the Gobblers in the 16-team meet. It was an impressive team performance on a day that also included strong individual outings by other local athletes in a meet populated by teams from across the state.
Fork Union’s Will Stupalsky had a monster day as one of the area’s most versatile athletes had a big day in the jumps, winning the long jump and the triple jump. He also took third in the pole vault and ran a leg of a title-winning 4×200 team.
Ebruba Etta gave the Blue Devils a big spark with a win in the 55-meter dash and a runner-up finish in the 500-meter run. R.C. Walbrook also came up big, winning the 55-meter hurdles while taking third in the 300.
Daniel Reynolds, Logan Justice, Stupalsky and Nathan Disbrow combined for the win in the 4×200 relay. Justice also contributed a fifth place finish in the 300 while Reynolds took third in 55-meter dash. Disbrow took eighth in the high jump.
Julian Yescas finished third in the 1000-meters for the Blue Devils and Tifeoluwa Akintan took sixth in the triple for FUMA and Harrison Duncan was seventh in the long jump. The squad’s 4×800 team took seventh.
Also on the boys side, Western Albemarle’s 4×800 squad finished second. Louisa took second in the 4×200 while Orange took fourth. The Hornets took fourth in the 4×400 and Louisa took fifth in that race.
Albemarle’s Nicholas Gardella finished eighth in the 1600. Louisa’s Dillon Nelson took third in 3200 and Albemarle’s Evan Burns took eighth. Louisa’s Matt West finished seventh in the 55-meter dash while Western’s Connor Pearson finished seventh in high jump.
Orange County’s Ty Warren and Jordan Presley finished fourth and fifth in the long jump. Western’s Jackson Smith took fourth pole vault, Louisa’s Jacob Woodson sixth and Western’s Landon Smith seventh. Louisa’s Tyler Haywood was the runnerup in the triple jump while Nelson’s Devante Rose took third.
On the girls side, Louisa’s girls took third in the 4×200 while Albemarle finished eighth. Albemarle’s 4×400 team took third and Fluvanna finished sixth in the 4×800.
Western Albemarle’s Katie de Jong won the long jump while Louisa’s Dahja Price was third and the Warriors’ Caroline Koester finished fifth. Koester also took eighth in the 300 and Price also took fifth in the 55-meter dash.
Louisa County’s Alayna Campbell took fourth in the 3200 meters while Albemarle’s Abby Murphy took eighth. Louisa’s Celia Agee finished third in pole vault, Fluvanna’s Amina Wilson was seventh. Albemarle’s Anna Blank took third in the triple jump.
Western’s Leah Ackerman took third in the shot put, Orange’s Jasmine Tompkins took fourth, Nelson’s Megan Brown was sixth and Hallie Reese of Covenant finished seventh.
