Riverheads, Fort, Draft athletes bring home state track gold
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HARRISONBURG — Shenandoah District athletes brought home five individual state championships from the Virginia High School League track and field championships on June 5 and 6.
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Riverheads' Sarah Piner started it off Friday, June 5, at the Class 1 meet at James Madison University. The sophomore won the girls discus title with a personal best and school record of 125-3 1/2 for the win. She returned on Saturday to take third in shot put.
Then, on Saturday, Fort Defiance's Leah Ruiz won the Class 2 shot put, Fort's Taylor Cubbage won gold in the girls high jump, Riverheads' Storm Parker won the title in the boys 300-meter hurdles and Stuarts Draft's Conner Miller was first in the boys pole vault.
The Fort Defiance girls had the best team performance, finishing tied for fourth in Class 2, 23 points behind first place Floyd County. The Stuarts Draft girls were 17th. On the boys side, Stuarts Draft was 22nd and Fort Defiance was tied for 25th.
In Class 1, the Riverheads boys finished fifth and the girls were sixth. Auburn won the boys meet while Cumberland was the team champion in girls.
In Class 3, held at Liberty University in Lynchburg, the Waynesboro girls were 20th and the boys were tied for 24th. The Staunton boys were tied for 34th.
Riverheads' Storm Parker wins 300 hurdles
Storm Parker was nervous heading into the second day of state track and field Saturday, June 6. He had barely lost the 300-meter hurdles in the regional championship, falling by .29 seconds to finish second. He didn't want the same thing to happen at the state meet.
Parker, a Riverheads senior, finished fourth in the 110 hurdles earlier in the day June 6 before turning his full attention to the 300 hurdles.
"I just have to run as hard as I can," he said of his mindset entering the race. "This is my last day. I'm a senior so I won't be doing track anymore."
He went out in style, finishing in 39.45, just edging Chilhowie's Gabe Rouse (40.20).
His time broke a 26-year-old school record.
"That was a complete surprise," Parker said.
Parker has only been running hurdles since last year. He was a pole vaulter and ran some relay races, but about three weeks into the season his junior year he tried hurdles.
This outdoor season Parker thought about doing both hurdles and the 4x100 relay, but his coach, Ian Wallace, told him to focus on hurdles. The coach actually told him that if he did, he would win the state championship in the event.
"I told him if he was going to win states it was going to be in the hurdle race," Wallace said. "And he has worked extremely hard ... I told him, 'Today is your day. I'll be shocked if you don't go do it.' He didn't believe me, but I did."
Fort's Leah Ruiz brings home gold in shot put
Leah Ruiz threw shot put during the indoor season her freshman year at Fort Defiance High School, but it wasn't until this year, as a sophomore, that she decided to do the same event during the outdoor season.
Fort's throwing coach, Zach Boyers, had no doubts about her ability after seeing her throw for the first time.
"As soon as she picked up the shot put, it was natural," Boyers said. "I don't think from the first time picking it she's thrown under 28 feet."
On Saturday, June 6, Ruiz threw 43-9, not only good enough to win the Class 2 state meet, but good enough to break both a school and state meet record. She broke Katie Cummings' school record by six inches and the state meet by more than three feet.
"I didn't even know I could do that," Ruiz said. "I was shocked."
Ruiz was seeded second behind Liberty-Bedford's Shaina Brown. Ruiz had hopes of winning, but knew Brown wouldn't make it easy. She also knew Brown would push her to do better.
When she let go of the record-setting, state-winning shot put throw, Ruiz had no idea it was as good as it turned out to be. She didn't even think about it until she saw her coach's reaction.
Winning a state title wasn't something Ruiz thought about early in the season. All she wanted to do was see what it was like throwing outside.
Now, she is a state champion as a sophomore and Boyers sees no reason she can't repeat the next two outdoor season, plus maybe add a couple of state titles for indoor track.
"She is special," Boyers said. "She is special."
Fort's Taylor Cubbage wins third high jump title
Taylor Cubbage ended her Fort Defiance High School track and field career with another state championship. Cubbage was the defending high jump state champion in outdoor track, taking the title in 2025. She also won the indoor championship this past winter season.
"Third time's a charm," she said after winning the high jump with a height of 5-4.
Cubbage just beat out her teammate, junior Livia Clinedinst, for the title. Clinedinst was second.
"We came into this meet with the mindset of one-two, either way," Cubbage said. "FD either way. That was the plan. And we succeeded with that."
Cubbage said she would have been equally as happy if Clinedinst had won. She has worked closely with her teammate to help get her to this level.
"I just love seeing her improve and I love seeing her growth since we've been working together," Cubbage said. "I'm really happy to have won, but I'm just as happy she got second."
Cubbage will compete for Marshall University in track and field next year, with high jump her speciality. She's excited for that future, but said she'll miss Fort Defiance.
"It's been a family," she said. "Coach (Dave) Stewart is like a second father. He's just amazing. He's always there for us and he's the perfect coach anyone could have asked for. So having to leave him after this meet is really sad."
Stuarts Draft's Conner Miller wins pole vault title
Winning pole vaulting titles at Stuarts Draft is nothing new. Leah Wood and Anna Callo dominated the state meet for girls throughout their time at the Augusta County school.
But on the boys side, Draft didn't have a state champion in the event until this past March when freshman Conner Miller won the indoor title.
Now, he's followed that up with an outdoor state championship. Miller was a foot higher than second place at the Class 2 meet Saturday, June 6 at James Madison University. He won with a vault of 12-6.
"Going into states I was hoping to set a new PR," Miller said.
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The freshman has been working most nights with Waynesboro coach Tom Austin, who helps train a lot of pole vaulters. Miller said he was consistently hitting 11-6 at meets, winning the Region 2B meet at 11-6, but was getting higher than that at practice.
He finally got that practice height at a meet.
"Winning states and setting a new school record was exciting," Miller said, "but I hope to keep setting new records."
Class 1 Results (At James Madison University)
- Storm Parker, Riverheads. boys 300 meter hurdles, 1st
- Sarah Piner, Riverheads, girls discus, 1st
- Verity Jordan, Riverheads, girls 800 meter run, 2nd
- Nate Woods/Skyler Shiflett/Xavier Stuart/Jackson Fitzgerald, Riverheads, boys 4x100 meter relay, 2nd
- Olivia Keller, Riverheads, girls pole vault, 3rd
- Sarah Piner, Riverheads, girls shot put, 3rd
- Haze Williams, Riverheads, boys pole vault, 3rd
- Storm Parker, Riverheads, boys 110 meter hurdles, 4th
- Cy Jarvis, Riverheads, boys high jump, 5th
- Alexis Sacra, Riverheads, girls pole vault, 5th
- Nate Woods, Riverheads, boys 100 meter dash, 5th
- Olivia Keller/Cecilia Massie/Abi Bennington/Verity Jordan, Riverheads, girls 4x400 meter relay, 5th
- Xavier Stuart, Riverheads, boys high jump 7th
- Annie Roller/Lilly Gorden/Abi Bennington/Olivia Keller, Riverheads, girls 4x100 meter relay, 7th
- Cy Jarvis/Sean Mahon/Andrew Pereira/Cooper Boyd, Riverheads, boys 4x800 meter relay, 8th
Class 2 Results (At James Madison University)
- Taylor Cubbage, Fort Defiance, girls high jump, 1st
- Conner Miller, Stuarts Draft, boys pole vault, 1st
- Leah Ruiz, Fort Defiance, girls shot put, 1st
- Livia Clinedinst, Fort Defiance, girls high jump, 2nd
- Laird Clinedinst, Fort Defiance, boys high jump, 3rd
- Blaca Quintero, Stuarts Draft, girls pole vault, 3rd
- Henley Ann Coffman, Fort Defiance, girls 1600 meter run, 5th
- Faith Morrow, Fort Defiance, girls shot put, 5th
- Taylor Cubbage, Fort Defiance, girls 400 meter dash, 6th
- Noah Garrison, Fort Defiance, boys pole vault, 6th
- Derrick Moore, Stuarts Draft, boys 300 meter hurdles, 6th
- Camila Roadcap, Stuarts Draft, girls 200 meter dash, 6th
- Livia Clinedinst, Fort Defiance, girls 100 meter hurdles, 7th
- Camila Roadcap, Stuarts Draft, girls 100 meter dash, 7th
- Karlee Layne/Blanca Quintero/Ava Flippin/Camila Roadcap, Stuarts Draft, girls 4x100 meter relay, 7th
- Takota Moore, Stuarts Draft, girls shot put, 8th
- Faith Morrow, Fort Defiance, girls discus, 8th
Class 3 Results (at Liberty University)
- Skylar Sloat, Waynesboro, girls pole vault, 2nd
- Liam Poulson, Wilson Memorial, boys shot put, 4th
- Jordan Smith, Waynesboro, girls discus, 5th
- Zyleke Shepherd, Staunton, boys high jump, 6th
- Joseph Pincock, Wilson Memorial, boys discus, 8th
Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips are always welcome. Connect with Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and on Instagram @hitepatrick. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: State track titles at Fort Defiance, Stuarts Draft and Riverheads