Carla B Linkous
With the season well underway, the young PCHS indoor track and field program has seen many successes thus far. Most notably, is junior Cole Boone who securely holds the current US #1 spot in the 1000m and is the official Virginia state record holder of all time. Boone broke Alan Webb’s previous record set in 2001. Webb went on to represent the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Cole Boone’s 1000m time of 2:23.50 earned him the national record holder for the junior class and makes him the 4th all-time high schooler in the United States. In addition, Boone broke the Virginia 1600m indoor record this season with a time of 4:06.92. He currently holds the US #8 spot in the 1600m. Boone holds 9 different individual PCHS school records in events ranging from the 400m to the 5k.
Senior Aiden Moore holds a significant lead in first place of the VHSL Class 3 shot put rankings throwing a personal best of 53’-7.25”. Sophomores Anius Slaughter and Chris Hayden have also turned in impressive shot put performances improving their personal bests by 3 and 4 feet respectively this season. Moore, Slaughter and Hayden hold 3 of the 4 top spots in region 3D action. Additionally for the Cougar throwers, David Wright is in the top 15 freshman shot putters in Virginia with his personal best of 35’-4.75”. The Lady Cougar throwers significantly added to their numbers this indoor season and continue to improve. First time high school throwers include Evonnia Hayden, Dajanae Connor, Carmen Ferguson, Jordan Smith, Lilli Simmers and Devae Carter. In her first year of shot put, junior Violet Fiscal-Ambros’ season best throw of 27’-3.25” leads the Lady Cougars.
The all junior 4x400m relay team of Bryant Nottingham, Silas Sweet, Tanner Linkous and Cole Boone punched their ticket to the state championship in their first race of the season on December 7th at Liberty University. This relay team holds the PCHS indoor track school record for the 4x400m. The boys 4x200m relay team of Kaleb Sartin, Bryant Nottingham, Johnny Anderson and Tanner Toney earned their ticket to the state championship while competing amongst some of the top national high school talent at the VA Showcase in Virginia Beach on January 18th.
Senior Nadia Jackson shines as a multi-event specialist competing in sprints and jumps. Jackson holds a top 5 spot in the region in the 55m, high jump and long jump. Sophomore sprinters Tanner Toney and Kaleb Sartin are hundredths of a second off the state qualification marks in the 55m running season best times of 6.78 and 6.79 seconds respectively. In his first time competing in the 300m, junior Tanner Linkous finished 5th at the East Coast Elite meet at Roanoke College on January 23rd with a time of 37.80 seconds. Linkous is also currently ranked in the top 5 in the region for the 500m and 1000m. Sophomore Andrew Allen is the only athlete on the team to throw, jump, hurdle and sprint. Allen is currently in the 10th spot in the region for the 55m hurdles running a season best time of 9.16 seconds also at the East Coast Elite meet at Roanoke College. Sophomore Olivia King is the lone Lady Cougar hurdler this season. Her season best of 11.30 seconds ranks in the 15th spot in the region. King along with Junior Victoria Hale hold top 10 spots in the region triple jump rankings.
Distance runners Dani Carroll, Chloe Duncan, Eleanor Speed, Isabel Weigel, Gaige Barton, Josh Sechrist, Landon Clark, Milan Patel and Zaccarion Burton have competed in events this season ranging from 500m to 3200m which require both speed and endurance. First time runners Autumn Chandler, Jackson Squires and Carley Hight have improved each time they have toed the start line.
The PCHS indoor track and field team will be back in action at Liberty University on February 1st for the Bulldog Invitational. This meet will feature top athletes from 60 high schools in the surrounding states plus Washington, DC.
