Reynolds, Hansen finish strong at state track meet

Staff Report
Published: May 31, 2008

Two CCHS track and field athletes finished off their spring seasons with strong performances at the VHSL Group AAA championships in Newport News Saturday.

Steven Reynolds capped off a strong season with a 10th place in the 800-meter run. The Blue Devils junior finished in one minute, 57.99 seconds, just shy of his season-best time of 1:57.46.

Reynolds came into the race seeded 15th in the 27-man field. The top 10 finish, while just shy of the all-state distinction given to the top eight, is a sharp improvement 2007. Reynolds finished 23rd in last year’s competition.

The race was won by Reynolds’ rival, Eric Hoepker of Battlefield, who broke the tape in 1:54.07.

Reynoldswill be in elite company next spring. Based on Saturday’s results, he will be the seventh fastest returning half miler in the commonwealth.

CCHS senior Dira Hansen closed out her stellar Devilettes career by placing 23rd in the high jump with a leap of 5-0. DeShana Briggs of Booker T. Washington High School won by clearing 5-8.

Hansen was also making her second trip to the state championships. She qualified in the long jump, triple jump, and high jump as a junior, but a stress fracture slowed her earlier this spring, so she opted to focus on a single event at this year’s meet.

She was also the Devilettes’ top cross country runner in the fall, when she finished eighth in the Cedar Run District meet and 16th in the Northwest Region meet, one spot shy of a state berth.