Fluco track athletes excel at FUMA mini-meet

In this meet, which brought together a number of schools with strong track and field programs, only one female athlete turned in a performance that met the “national silver standard.” That female athlete was Meador, who achieved a winning pole vault of 11 feet 6 inches. This vault was the best by a female athlete by one foot six inches. National silver and gold standards are elite performance standards for high school athletes across the United States that are established by the Milesplit US organization.
In this meet, team scores were not recorded, as the purpose of the meet is to see if athletes can achieve various standards in times, heights and distances. However, both the Fluco girls and the Fluco boys performed extremely well, turning in a number of impressive individual performances.
For the girls’ team, distance running events were a specialty. Nicole Douma won the girl’s 1600 meter event (the metric mile). She turned in a time of 5:34.01, winning by a comfortable margin of almost six seconds. In the 3200 meter run, Fluco Stephanie Bossong finished in first place, with a time of 12:30.42.She also won by approximately six seconds. Winning by an even more comfortable margin for the Fluco girls, was La’Dietra Jackson, in the shot put. Her best toss of 34-08.50 was six feet longer than the second best throw.
The Fluco girl’s team also had two third place finishers. Tiffani Shaheen placed third in the 55 meter hurdles, and Devon Burger was third in both a track event and a field event. She ran the 1000 meter run in 3:28.01 and leaped 30-01.50 in the triple jump. A fourth place finisher for the girls’ was Lexi Scott in the high jump.
The girl’s team also did well in the relay races. A team consisting of Douma, Brooke Haislip, Rachel Devore, and Meador took second place in the 4X400 meter relay. The team of Haislip, Bossong, Burger and Hayley Kline was second in the 4X800 meter relay.
Coach Tom Casto describes his boys team as “not as deep as the girls”, but his athletes turned in some very solid performances in a meet that included two strong boys’ teams from private schools (i.e. FUMA and Woodberry Academy).
The boys’ team only won one event but had some strong finishes in a number of events. Travis Moe was the first place finisher in the 3200 meter run (approximately two miles). His time was 10:44.24. He won by a wide margin, finishing 25 seconds ahead of the second place runner. Chris Markham, an excellent miler, was second for the Fluco boys in the 1600 meter run. In the dash events, Jesse Van Dyke was excellent for the Flucos. He took third in the 300 meter dash and fifth in the 55 meter dash. In the 55 meter event, he was the fastest runner from a public high school.
In the field events for the Fluco boys, standout pole vaulter Chance Parmly was third, and the two vaulters who beat him out both achieved national silver standards with their vaults. Also achieving a third place finish for the boys was Terrell Key, who was third in the high jump. Van Dyke showed his versatility by placing fourth in the triple jump. Michael Mattson also recorded a fourth place for the Flucos in the 500 meter run. In the boys’ 4X800 relay race the Flucos took second place with a team of Moe, Markham, Jonathan Corbin and Mattson.
The Fluco indoor track and field team will compete at FUMA again on Jan. 19, they will travel to two day Virginia Tech Invitational on Feb. 1 and 2. The Jefferson district year end meet will be Feb. 6, and the Region II meet will be held on Feb. 13.