News at St. Catherine's
Times-Dispatch: St. Catherine's takes second in VISAA track
Saints finish second to Norfolk Academy.
Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2015 10:30 pm
By DYLAN GARNER
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Austin Smithers felt goosebumps watching her St. Catherine’s teammates run the 4x400-meter relay at the end of the VISAA championships. As the four girls each made their lap, it was the final time Smithers, a senior, had the chance to cheer for her teammates as a member of the Saints’ track and field team.
Even though a VISAA title was out of reach by the time they crossed the finish line, the entire team joined together and celebrated the last event of the season accordingly — with a victory.
An emotional and hard-fought day at Sports Backers Stadium resulted in a second-place finish for St. Catherine’s, with Norfolk Academy blocking the chance of a repeat, just a week after Norfolk Academy did the same at the LIS championships.
Norfolk Academy claimed the girls championship with a team score of 177, just 4.5 points more than the Saints’ 172.5. Woodberry Forest took the state title for the boys, with Fork Union Military Academy placing second.
The bulk of Norfolk Academy’s effort came from Tyler Bannister and Ellie Randolph. Bannister won the pole vault and discus; Randolph took long jump and 100-meter hurdles. With Norfolk Academy crowding the top spots in the competition’s early events, St. Catherine’s had a long way to go in the running events to close the gap.
While the Saints came as close as two points, the gap proved to be too large to close.
“It’s not that we didn’t perform. Norfolk Academy had a great day, and we had a really solid day,” said St. Catherine’s coach Sherry Edwards.
Despite the team results, some of the seniors were able to cap their careers with medals.
Senior Libby Parrish had her own redemption in the 1,600-meter run. At the LIS 1,600 last week, Parrish fell short to Norfolk Academy sophomore Julia Lambert.
Parrish led for the first three laps of the four-lap 1,600, but it was never by more than a step. The majority of the race had Parrish, Lambert and Liberty Christian’s Noel Palmer in line, 1-2-3.
Lambert made her move in the bell lap, making her kick and passing Parrish with about 300 meters left. But Parrish waited to make her move, learning from her defeat last week.
“Since I raced her, I knew exactly where to push the hardest. I didn’t want to kick right when they rang the bell,” Parrish said. “I knew it was my last mile at states, so I wanted to leave it on a good mark.”
She made her kick just before the final stretch, with about 200 meters left.
She passed Lambert and won the race, finishing with a time of 5:09.
Parrish later finished first in the 800-meter run and was the third leg on the winning 4x400 squad.
Smithers and Bri Miller, another part of the team’s talented senior class, also did their best in pushing the Saints’ score up. Smithers won the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, while Miller won the 300-meter hurdles and the triple jump.
With these three senior staples graduating, it will be the end of an era of sorts.
It wasn’t a perfect ending to their high school journeys, but Parrish said they wanted to soak in their final meet as a team together.
“It’s very emotional. It’s weird because I’ve been doing this for the past five or six years. Every year before this it’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll always have next year,’” Parrish said.
Girls
100 dash: Smithers (STC) 12.92; 100 hurdles: Randolph (NA) 14.93; 1,600: Parrish (STC) 5:09.63; 200: Smithers (STC) 26.80; 300 hurdles: Miller (STC) 47.11; 3,200:Lambert (NA) 11:26.35; 400: Khoury (TE) 58.85; 4x100 relay: Collegiate 50.72; 4x400 relay: St. Catherine’s 4:05.76; 4x800 relay: Potomac 9:52.64; 800: Parrish (STC) 2:21.41; Discus: Bannister (NA) 108-00.25; HJ: Khoury (TE) 5-04; LJ: Randolph (NA) 18-00.50; PV: Bannister (NA) 11-00; SP: Okolo (SJP) 34-05.25; TJ: Miller 36-11.50.
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Located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, St. Catherine’s School is a private, all-girls pre-K, kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school. We provide a well-rounded educational experience for girls from communities across Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico and all of central Virginia. St. Catherine’s all-girls educational experience is rooted in more than a century of history and tradition. From our revolutionary past to our dynamic present, St. Catherine’s has always focused on preparing students for a boundless future.
