BY MARK MORING, Eastern Shore Post —
The Rylee Coates Show was on full display at the VHSL Class 1 State Track & Field Championships last weekend in Harrisonburg.
A junior at Northampton, Coates won three events, racked up a whopping 48 points, and was named girls MVP at the meet.
She won gold in the 100 hurdles, winning by 1.3 seconds and reaching the finish line while her competitors were just clearing the final hurdle, more than 30 feet behind. Coates won the final in 14.68 seconds, just barely short of her own state record of 14.65 seconds. But in the preliminaries, she shattered her state record with a run of 14.45 seconds.
Coates also won gold medals in the long jump and pole vault. She finished second in the high jump and fourth in both the 100 dash and the 300 hurdles. Along the way, her 48 total points singlehandedly lifted the Yellow Jackets to fourth place in the team standings.
Coates managed the remarkable feat despite having to compete in all six events on the second day of the two-day event, held June 6 and 7 at James Madison University. Many of the Friday events were postponed due to bad weather, filling Saturday’s schedule to the brim.
“It was basically a heptathlon in five hours for me,” said Coates, who sometimes had only minutes between events, barely able to catch her breath. “I feel I did my best. It was exhausting, but I pushed through and am very proud of myself. I’m super excited about winning MVP; it’s a great accomplishment.”
The accomplishment was even more extraordinary considering that Coates missed two weeks of practice and competition in early April with a nasty injury. She had accidentally spiked her own thigh while landing on a long jump, ripping open a long gash that needed 43 stitches.
But last Saturday in Harrisonburg, she seemed almost invincible.
Coates wasn’t the only Shore athlete to bring home gold from the state meet.
In the Class 2A boys championships, Arcadia senior Lavor Johnson won the triple jump, and Nandua sophomore Oberto Jean won the high jump.
“It felt great winning a state championship in my favorite event,” said Johnson, who also finished sixth in the 100, seventh in the long jump, and anchored the eighth place 4×100 relay. “Preparation is a big thing. You work on your flaws during the regular season so that when it’s time to perform on the big stage, you’ll be ready to give your best.”
Arcadia’s boys finished seventh in the 36-team field, led by Johnson, Jordan Cropper (third in high jump), Lucas Djasley (fourth in pole vault), and Aaron O’Shea (fifth in each the 800 and 1600). Nandua’s boys finished 18th in the team standings.
Nandua’s Jean was unavailable for comment, but his coach, James Lawrence, said his high jumper showed astonishing improvement just in the last few months, going from a best jump of 6-0 early in the season to 6-7 to win the state.
“He was very relaxed and focused on fundamentals and just executed very well,” Lawrence said. “I wasn’t surprised at the height he cleared. He has worked nonstop.”
Another Nandua athlete, Keira Wheatley, had hopes of defending her 2024 title in the high jump. Her goal was to clear 5-5 or 5-6, but her best jump of 5-0 earned her a fifth place finish. The winning jump was 5-5.
“I was very disappointed because I know my true potential and how well I can perform,” Wheatley said. “It just really got into my head. I just couldn’t stop overthinking about clearing the bar.”
“Keira was almost there,” said Lawrence. “Unfortunately, there is just not a lot of room for error once you get past five feet. But I told her after the meet the results don’t define how great you truly are.”
In the Class 1 team standings, Auburn won the girls and Brunswick won the boys. In Class 2, Clarke County won the girls and Floyd County won the boys.
Eastern Shore finishers at the VHSL Class 1 & 2 State Track and Field Championships (all running distances in meters) were:
Class 1 Girls
100: 4 Coates, Rylee (Northampton) 12.73.
800: 12 Maquire, Lindsey (Chincoteague) 2:48.96
100 hurdles: 1 Coates, Rylee (Northampton) 14.68.
300 hurdles: 4 Coates, Rylee (Northampton) 48.17.
High jump: 2 Coates, Rylee (Northampton) 5-00.
Pole vault: 1 Coates, Rylee (Northampton) 10-06.
Long jump: 1 Coates, Rylee (Northampton) 17-05.
Class 1 Boys
300 hurdles: 11 Hope, Elijah (Northampton) 44.85.
4×100 relay: 13 Northampton (Jace Logan, Jeremiah White, Elijah Hope, Khaidn Davis) 45.24.
Triple jump: 8 Collins, Kendrick (Northampton) 41-05.75.
Class 2 Girls
400: 14 Bailey, Jaynae (Nandua) 1:05.87.
High jump: 5 Wheatley, Keira (Nandua) 5-00.
Discus: 16 Stern, Trinity (Nandua) 75-01.
Pole vault: 7 Reed, Jemelia (Arcadia) 6-00.
Class 2 Boys
100: 6 Johnson, Lavor (Arcadia) 11.16.
200: 20 Johnson, Lavor (Arcadia) 23.36; 18 Lewis, Camden (Nandua) 23.29
800: 5 O’Shea, Aaron (Arcadia) 2:00.59.
1600: 5 O’Shea, Aaron (Arcadia) 4:30.52.
110 hurdles: 7 Scarborough, Amari (Nandua) 16.04.
300 hurdles: 22 Scarborough, Amari (Nandua) 44.02.
4×100 relay: 8 Arcadia (Zyair Harmon, Brian White Jr., Kyshaun Elmandorf, Lavor Johnson) 43.63; 16 Nandua (Elijah Parker, Oberto Jean, Camden Lewis, Amari Scarborough) 44.65.
High jump: 1 Jean, Oberto (Nandua) 6-07; 3 Cropper, Jordan (Arcadia) 6-04.
Pole vault: 4 Lucas, Djasley 11 Arcadia 10-06; 10 Normil, Kerson (Arcadia) 9-06; 2 Wilson, Nakahi (Arcadia) 9-00.
Long jump: 7 Johnson, Lavor (Arcadia) 21-02; 14 White Jr., Brian (Arcadia) 20-03.25; 17 Cropper, Jordan (Arcadia) 19-10.50.
Triple jump: 1 Johnson, Lavor (Arcadia) 46-03.75.
Discus: 15 Smith, Zac (Nandua) 118-06.
