Two CCHS athletes advance to state track and field meet

By Shane Mettlen

Published: May 23, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Eleven Culpeper County High School athletes came into the Northwest Regional track meet with hopes of advancing to the VHSL Group AAA championships and two left Lannigan Track at the University of Virginia with a spot in the state meet.

CCHS junior 800-meter runner Steven Reynolds and senior high jumper Dira Hansen each qualified for next weekend’s state championships in Newport News and both will be making return trips after qualifying for states a year ago.

Hansen, who was forced to sit out several meets this spring with a stress fracture, excelled in multiple jumping and sprinting events during the indoor season, but was forced to focus on fewer events in outdoor. She chose to compete in the high jump at regionals and finished fifth after clearing 5-0.

“She really deserved it,” CCHS girls coach Libby Ouellette. “She’s a hard worker and she had a great indoor season and that got us all pepped up. A few weeks ago we started talking about the best event to get her to states and one that would be less painful for her. High jump was an area where we knew she would have a good chance at.”

The top-six finishers in each individual event automatically qualified and Reynolds finished seventh in the 800 with a time of 1:57.69, but already had his ticket punched for states by breaking 1:58 and meeting the qualifying standard earlier this spring.

Reynolds was also entered in the 1600-meter run, where he finished eighth in 4:33.53 and earned an earful from CCHS boys coach Kim Williams after the race.

“I don’t normally call out runners,” Williams said. “But I was unhappy with the 1600-meter performance. I needed to get his attention and I got his attention and he ran a good race. He found out what he was capable of doing.”

Reynolds’ time in the 800 was just off his personal best, but with a week to get ready for states and only one race to focus on, both he and Williams expect a better time in Newport News.

“I’m sort of tight right now and I keep using that as an excuse, but I need to move past that,” Reynolds said. “This entire week I need to stretch out better and hydrate more. I just want to go down there and race my butt of because it’s the last race of the season.”

Other Culpeper athletes who competed Friday included Meyhonia Layne, who finished 12th in the 100-meter in 13.10 seconds and Dominique Danquah, who was 15th in the 100 at 13.24. Brian Minor ran both the 100 and 200 for the Blue Devil boys, placing 12th in the 100 at 11.54 and finishing the 200 in 23.25.
John Ross Hawkins threw the discus for Culpeper, receiving a mark of 109-8. Cameron French just missed a spot in the state meet, finishing seventh in the triple jump at 42-11 and Nick Donovan finished 14th in the triple jump at 40-3. Sophomore Chris Bush was 17th in the 400 at 53.48 seconds. Kyle Majors finished 10th in the long jump, going 20-7, and Donovan was 17th in the event at 19-5 3/4.

Osbourn’s Melvin Villalta, a transfer from CCHS, also earned a trip to states. He finished sixth in the high jump at 6-0.

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext.127 or