Coming off Penn and Draper Relays, Track & Field poised for run at Catholic State title

: Justin Paige prepares to lead off the Ireton boys’ relay effort at historic Franklin Field, home of the Penn Relays.

Bishop Ireton’s Cardinals feel primed and poised to challenge for the 2012 Virginia Catholic state track and field championships for boys and girls at the Abbey of Benedictine High School in Richmond on Saturday.

After a strong showing by the Ireton relay teams at the Penn Relays in the 4×100 and 4×200 by both boys and girls, Ireton headed into the prestigous Draper Relays held at St Stephens/St Agnes School. This meet is one of the area’s top private school track and field events and a bellweather for Virginia Catholic states and the WCAC meet ahead for Bishop Ireton.

The Cardinals tied for 11th place on the boys side with the Potomac School, while the girls were 15th in the team standings. Gonzaga won the boys meet while McDonogh School of suburban Baltimore captured the girls’ title. O’Connell grabbed 10th place on the boys side while Paul VI came in 19th. Georgetown Visitation was second for the girls teams, O’Connell 4th, Paul VI 6th and host St Stephens claimed 12th place.

Senior BJ Townley had a strong day for the Cambridge Road visitors claiming a 7th place in the triple jump with a leap of 39′ 2″. He captured a bronze third place in the 110 meter hurdles in a time of :15.73 seconds. The boys 4×100 and 4×200 grabbed a 4th place finish in both their races.

The girls meanwhile saw junior Nicole Bond finish 5th in the 100meter dash in a time of :13.10. Teammate Gabby Goddette scored for Ireton with her 12:26.33 run in the gruelling 3200 meter run. Ireton’s girls earned a 4th place finish in the 4×200 with a time of 1:53.80, while the 4×100 team was 8th with a time of :53.84.

Coach Rita Williams likes her teams’ chances in Richmond. “We are coming on at the right time. I think we will see some fast times from our runners, we will score more points in the field events going forward, and some of our injured runners are coming back, all good things!” said an optimistic first year head of the Ireton program.

Following this weekend’s Catholic state meet the Cardinals will head to Olney, Maryland and Good Counsel High School for the WCAC championships held May 18th and 19th.