Stuarts Draft's Callo wins pole vault state title. Fort, Riverheads relay teams also win

Apr 18, 2023

HARRISONBURG — Anna Callo followed up her indoor state championship in March with an outdoor title in the pole vault Friday at James Madison University. The Stuarts Draft sophomore easily brought home gold in the event.

She waited until the bar was set at 9-feet-6 before vaulting Friday. By then the other competitors were all out, the best clearing 8-feet, so Callo's first jump was for the state title. She got it on the first try.

"I was just glad I cleared it and then I could just sort of have fun," the sophomore said. "There was no pressure."

As she waited, Callo said she watched some of the other vaulters. She also talked to those she knew, saying pole vaulting is a small community so most everyone knows everyone else. Callo also watched some of the races on the track that encircled the pole vault pit.

Right before her vault she had to do her triple jump.

"It kind of scatters you a little bit," Callo said. "You’re so focused on one thing the whole day and then all of a sudden you have to switch your mindset."

Callo went on to clear 10-6 and then tried 11-6.5 to break the state pole vaulting record. She came close but couldn't get over the bar in three attempts.

The state record of 11-6 is held by her former teammate, Leah Wood, who graduated last year.

"I’ll get it next year," Callo said with a slight chuckle but also sounding confident that she can top the record vault before her time at Draft is finished. She has two more years.

The pole vault state championship in girls Class 2 has resided in Stuarts Draft since 2020. Wood won three indoor titles and two outdoor — the outdoor championships weren't held in 2020. Now Callo is picking up where Wood left off with both titles this year.

Callo's personal best this season was 11-3.

Shenandoah District teams brought home four state championships in the Virginia High School League track and field championships this weekend. Callo was the only individual competitor to claim a title with the other three all relay teams.

In Class 3, Fort Defiance had a pair of state champion relay teams. In the girls 4x400, Taylor Cubbage, Abby Lane, Trinity Neff and Kaity Ruiz teamed up to bring home the title. They finished with a time of 4:02.20, more than two seconds in front of second-place LCA.

The four also won the 4x800 state championship in even more dominating fashion. The Fort team had a time of 9:31.21, six seconds better than Abingdon, which finished second.

Fort outperformed its seeding in both races. It was seeded second in the 4x400 and third in the 4x800.

In Class 1, the Riverheads boys 4x400 team made up of Austin Roberts, Carson Brooks, Will Gardner and Aden Slack won the state title. The team finished with a time of 3:34.91.

Stuarts Draft's Abby Mikolay finished second in the shot put and third in the discus in the Class 2 meet. Megan Walter was fifth in the 100-meter dash and seventh in the 200.

On the boys side, the Cougars’ Derrick Moore was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles. Christian Moats finished sixth in the high jump. John Hurd was fifth in triple jump and Zach Floyd brought home a seventh-place finish in pole vault. The Draft 4x400 relay team — Tyler Obaugh, Fannon Vance, Dasha Smith and Hurd — took eighth.

In Class 3, Fort's Ruiz was second in the 400-meter dash, while Lane finished third in the 1,600. As a team Fort Defiance was tied for fifth overall with 34 points.

Staunton's Maaliah Cabell was third in both the long jump and high jump. The Virginia Tech-bound track star also got eighth in the triple jump, a spot behind teammate Thomas Chisley.

For the Storm girls, Aurora Schwaner, who will compete in the heptathlon at William & Mary next year, was seventh in triple jump at the Class 3 meet.

Waynesboro's Amari Carter had a third-place finish in the 100. His teammate Adam Groves was fifth in the 3,200 while Qua’ran Patterson was eighth in the 110 hurdles. Patterson and Carter teamed with Jonah Brent and Omir Foster to finish fourth in the 4x100 relay.

In the girls meet, the Little Giants’ Jasmine Redifer finished fourth in the long jump and seventh in both the 300 hurdles and 100 hurdles.

Wilson Memorial's Cassidy Plautz was eighth in the 800-meter race.

In Class 1, Riverheads’ Slack, who was on the state-title winner, was also part of the 4x100 relay team that finished fifth. He teamed with Gian Sirico, Jonathan Talbott and Nolan Tyree.

Roberts and Carter Mooneyham tied for fourth for Riverheads in the high jump. Tyree finished third in the pole vault while Roberts was sixth. Dillon Schaefer finished sixth in the discus. The Gladiators tied for sixth in the team standings.

On the girls side, Riverheads’ Summer Wallace was second in the high jump, fourth in the 400, fifth in pole vault and eighth in triple jump. The Gladiators’ MacKenzie Roller finished seventh in discus.

Buffalo Gap's boys 4x800 relay team was sixth. The team was made up of Isaac Goff, Devyn Simmons, Lance Simmers and Alex Duquette.

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— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.