Albemarle High’s Kathryn Mayo repeated as the Group 5A 800-meter champion Saturday at the Group 6A/5A Championships in Newport News, and Mayo did it in style, winning the event by more than three seconds.
Mayo clocked a 2:11.77 to get the win, outpacing second place Ashley Brown of Henrico who registered a 2:14.84.
Mayo also ran a leg for Albemarle’s girls 4×800 squad, teaming up with Hailey Dillenbeck, Ryann Helmers and Lauren Hughlett to take third in the state.
Helmers finished third in the 3200-meters while Gabriella Bock too sixth in the same event. Kenzie Lloyd took 12th in the event as part of a strong distance performance by the Patriots. Helmers also took seventh in the 1600 while Bock took 14th.
Orange County’s Dequane Simmons had a huge day as the Hornets’ senior put together a strong performance against some of the state’s best. Simmons was the state runner-up in the 400-meters with his time of 48.91 finishing just behind Bethel’s Ed Richardson III in 48.69. Simmons was also fourth in the 300 hurdles. Those two performances were enough to make Orange County finish 12th as a team.
On the boys side for Albemarle, Rooney Turay finished eighth in the 300 hurdles while Ben Gersbach took seventh in the 800. The Patriots’ 4×400 squad finished seventh in the state, with Turay, Dacarai Clark, Law Clark and Noah Gregory.
