LYNCHBURG 鈥 As the Class 3/4 state track and field meet stretched into its 11th and final hour, the Blacksburg High School girls squad found itself in contention for a team title.
All they needed was a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay, the final event of the meet.
That鈥檚 exactly what they got.
The foursome of Mirra Bowman, Tess Dickhans, Allie McDonald and Cameron Lee handled the pressure of a dramatic finish Saturday, finishing where they needed to and lifting the Bruins to the Class 4 state championship at Liberty University鈥檚 Osborne Stadium, winning the title by half a point.
鈥淭hey kept saying it on the loudspeaker, like 鈥業t all comes down to the 4x400,鈥 and I was trying not to listen so I wouldn鈥檛 get nervous,鈥 McDonald said. 鈥淏ut I feel like we all knew coming into it that we had to do our best if we wanted this team title. It was really good to end our season this way.鈥
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Blacksburg's Mirra Bowman hugs a teammate after competing in the girls 4x400-meter relay that won the Bruins the Class 4 state championship Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg.
McDonald handed the baton off to Lee, a fellow senior, having helped put Blacksburg in third place. All Lee needed to do was hold her position, which she did masterfully, finishing well over five seconds ahead of fourth-place Courtland.
Lee ran a split of 57.686 seconds as the Bruins recorded a personal-best time of 3:58.64, taking more than eight seconds off their No. 2 seeding time.
鈥淚 handed the baton off in third, and Cameron, she鈥檚 a beast, so I knew then,鈥 McDonald said. 鈥淚 was like, we got this, we鈥檙e getting top three. I put all my faith in her.鈥
Lee ended the race with a muted response. It wasn鈥檛 until an official approached her and told her the good news that she emoted.
鈥淚 was taking off my spikes,鈥 she said. 鈥淗e came over and was like, 鈥榊ou guys just won the state meet,鈥 and that鈥檚 when I started celebrating.鈥
Blacksburg girls track and field coach Stephen Howard hugs his 4x400-meter relay team after it placed third to win the Bruins the Class 4 state championship on Saturday.
The victory came after Bowman bowed out of the 400 earlier in the day due to a migraine. The coaches decided to save the junior for the 4x400, should a situation arise.
鈥淚t was definitely a little bit of a miracle,鈥 Bowman said. 鈥淚 probably wouldn鈥檛 have had as much energy, and I certainly wouldn鈥檛 have done as well.鈥
Resting proved fruitful, as the relay victory, which also broke the school record, netted Blacksburg the crucial six points it needed.
鈥淭here鈥檚 tons of little choices throughout the whole season that add up to that, that was just one of them,鈥 Bruins coach Stephen Howard said. 鈥淲e all felt good about it, she felt good about it, and she was like, 鈥業 just want to do what I can for my team,鈥 and it totally paid off.鈥
Blacksburg鈥檚 Cameron Lee crosses the finish line to place third in the 4x400-meter relay and win the Bruins the Class 4 state title Saturday.
Blacksburg finished with 74 points, while Atlee ended with 73.5 and Manor collected 52. The state title, Blacksburg鈥檚 first since 2019, comes even sweeter after Atlee had handily defeated the Bruins at the indoor state meet in February.
鈥淲e lost to [Atlee] pretty badly at indoor, so we really wanted to come back for this one,鈥 Howard said. 鈥淭his meant a lot. A lot went into this. A lot of heartache and a lot of blood went into it.鈥
Blacksburg earned the bulk of its points with performances from Layla Boyle, who won the pole vault on Friday, Mia Littlejohn, who placed runner-up in the high jump and broke the school record with a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles, and the relay team of Lee, McDonald, Penny Griggs and Dickhans, who came in second in the 4x800.
But perhaps no individual performance was more dramatic than from Kionna Grubb and her photo finish in the 300 hurdles.
Grubb, a sophomore, came into the event as the No. 2 seed but had just enough to clip Atlee鈥檚 Josie Rempe, clearing the last hurdles and crossing the finish line in 42.902 seconds, beating Rempe by just four-thousandths of a second.
鈥淚 was a little shocked, to say the least,鈥 Grubb said. 鈥淚 wanted to cry a lot because I鈥檝e been wanting to achieve that goal for a very long time, so I鈥檓 glad I finally got it. It feels amazing.鈥
Blacksburg鈥檚 Kionna Grubb celebrates after winning the girls 300-meter hurdles at the Class 3/4 state track meet Saturday.
Grubb said she asked her competitors before the race if they were gunning for personal records. They all answered yes.
鈥淕etting into blocks I was a little scared, and I was freaked out a little bit,鈥 she said. 鈥淛ust because they all had great starts, they all had caught me on the curve, so I was a little freaked out, but I looked in front of me and I just had to run and keep doing what I do.鈥
Her victory made a difference in the team standings, as the results gave the Bruins two more points than it gave Atlee, helping them finish atop the standings.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the most amazing part about being on our team; there鈥檚 so much depth and unit,鈥 Bowman said. 鈥淎s all high schoolers are, there鈥檚 drama every once in a while, but at the end of the day we鈥檙e a team and we always show up when we need each other, and I think that鈥檚 my favorite part about this team.鈥
Lamanna caps off career with 2 titles
Jefferson Forest's Zoie Lamanna competes in the girls 3,200-meter run聽at the Class 3/4 state track and field championships Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg.
Before she heads to Knoxville to run for the Tennessee Volunteers, Zoie Lamanna gave one final memorable performance at the state meet Saturday.
The Jefferson Forest senior capped off her high school career by winning a pair of state championships, adding to her hefty collection.
She wasn鈥檛 expected to win the Class 4 3,200 but raced to the front of the pack in the first 200 meters and rode that start to a first-place finish with a personal-best time of 10:15.70.
鈥淚 think it was definitely one of those moments where you just keep knocking to break the ice, and then all of a sudden you kind of break through,鈥 said Lamanna, who took more than 10 seconds off her previous best time.
A few hours later, she returned to the track and won the 800 by more than three seconds in 2:12.78.
"It was one of those where I was so focused, like to the point where you don鈥檛 really realize the pace you鈥檙e going, so you鈥檙e just trying to click off,鈥 Lamanna said after winning the 3200. 鈥淚 was trying to click off 76s (lap pace) and keep that fluid motion through the whole thing, so yeah it was definitely cool coming down the stretch and seeing the times.鈥
