Gallery by Greg Barnett
Gardner – Riley Bowling’s name wasn’t a familiar one entering this year.
The PikeView junior was going to run track her freshman year but Covid nipped that. She sat out last season but this year decided to give running a whirl.
Early on, it’s been a success.
The junior finished with the second-best time in the girls 100-meter dash Tuesday at the PikeView Invitational, edged only by Graham, Va. runner Chlow Martin. The surprising part of her finish was she came in ahead of the reigning Class AA Region 3 champion in Wyoming East’s Layla Stover, finishing ahead of her as the two competed in the same heat.
Bowling’s 14.49 seconds was just behind Martin’s finish of 14.25 seconds. She also helped her 4×200 relay team hold off Wyoming East by a second as the lead-off leg. Both were nice early-season victories over a runner (Stover) and a team (Wyoming East 4×200) that won the region last year.
So where has she been?
“Last year I was busy and freshman year I did but it got cut short,” Bowling said.
It was another strong day on the rubber for Bowling who’s found success early. It’s already led her to set the bar high from the jump. Prior to Tuesday’s meet on her home turf, both of her prior meets had come in Charleston, somewhere she’d like for her season to end.
“I’d like to make it to states for the 100 because I think it’d be cool because it’s just me going by myself,” Bowling said. “I’ve done a lot better than I expected. I didn’t think I’d get top five in every race I’ve been in but I have somehow.”
The route to Charleston will likely involve beating Stover’s time again, which is no easy task. Stover along with last year’s Region 3 runner up, Nevaeh Canterbury (Shady Spring), will both be in the mix but Bowling has proven early she can add to a competitive field.
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It would’ve been hard to call Jacorian Green’s day a disappointment. He fell in the 100-meter dash to teammate Amir Hairston but blazed ahead of the competition in the 200, beating Hairston by nearly a full second. It was just another day at the office for the reigning Class AA 200-meter state champion, but the 24.45 finish was well behind the 23 seconds that made him the a state champion last June.
He’s not worried.
“I wasn’t so good today,” Green laughed. “It’s too cold. My nose was getting stopped up and I couldn’t really run that good today.”
Green still successfully blazed the track in 40 degree temperatures but has his eyes set on repeating as a state champion. He’s already making corrections to get his time down as he aims to beat last year’s 23 second mark, aiming for somewhere in the late 22 second range.
“I’ve had to get better in my block starters,” Green said. “I’ve had to get a quicker burst in my block starts to decrease my time so I’ve been working on blocks a lot.”
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Westside had one representative Tuesday in Gardner. She did just fine for herself.
Sophomore Sydney Cochran was the high scorer on the girls side with 32 points, taking first in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run. She also finished second in the high jump and fourth in the 200-meter dash but what was most impressive was the fact she even participated in the 200.
After winning a competitive 800 over PikeView’s Lacey Necessary, Cochran rested briefly while the boys ran their 800 and immediately jumped right back on the track to compete in the 200. Despite being visibly gassed she was highly competitive, finishing with a time of 32 seconds with Bluefield’s Arionna Dowell finishing in first with a time of 30.89.
Cochran was the only runner to compete in both events but stood out, having arguably the best day of anybody in the competition.
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Jacorian Green naturally draws most of the attention because he’s already a state champion but the rest of Beavers aren’t too shabby and they proved it. Gerard Wade scored 29 points on the day to become the boys high scorer. Ethan Spangler followed up with 20 points, good enough for second place while Green and Hairston finished third with 18 points.
In all the Beavers won the team competition as well, scoring 195 total points while PikeView finished second with 160.
On the girls side PikeView ran away with the meet, scoring 166 points while Graham came in second with 78 points.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
