Giants battle in the pit

Kevin Jackson didn’t know what his long jump meant, or at least he didn’t show it.
The Waynesboro freshman put up a 19-foot, 3-inch jump on his first attempt during the Little Giants’ quad-meet with Stuarts Draft, Rockbridge and Grace Christian that made assistant coach and pit boss Charlie Cox shout out the mark for all in attendance to hear.
“All my family is here, and they can’t come to the away meets, this is the first home one,” Jackson said. “I’m just a freshman, but I just do work.”
At a school where the pit always draws a crowd to watch Waynesboro seniors Tim Brown and Will Walter compete against each other and ignore everything else, a freshman was on top of the leader board, surprising everyone but himself. Walter and Brown both looked at each other and disbelief before congratulating Jackson on his way back to the long line of jumpers that were waiting.
“First off all I don’t know what Kevin came out of,” Walter said. “He’s in ninth grade, but he killed it today.”
For most of the day, Jackson held the mark to beat, with Brown flirting with the idea of knocking him off, missing the freshman’s mark by ½-inch on his second jump.
It wasn’t until the near the end that Walter finally overtook his younger teammate with a 20-foot, 11-inch jump. Jackson finished in second.
Walter, whose graduation draws closer with every jump, saw Jackson’s performance as a good sign for the Little Giants’ track and field program.
“Kevin is going to be stud when he gets older,” Walter said.
Walter, Brown and Jackson swept the top-three spots in the triple jump as well, but some sign of normalcy was present with Brown taking first, Walter second and Jackson third.
“We are just out here having fun,” Brown said.
The trio went on to win gold together later in the day along with Ian Henneman in the 4x100-meter relay. Henneman, Brown and Walter are regulars on the team, but Jackson was a fill-in for Terrell Thompson. Thompson was in Stuarts Draft, taking on the Cougars on the diamond in Southern Valley District action.
Walter took the first leg, and quickly put the Little Giants up front before making the handoff to Brown. Brown gave the Little Giants plenty of breathing room before a near-perfect exchange with Jackson. Henneman was the anchor and escaped a charging Ryan Moore from Stuarts Draft. The Little Giants finished with a 45.40 second run.
“We’ve been practicing it and it just ran smooth,” Brown said. “Practice makes you better. That’s what they say right?”
Brown also won the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.
The Cougars won both the girls and boys events, overall scoring 106 points for the boys and 127 for the girls.
Waynesboro finished second, Rockbridge was third and Grace Christian was fourth in both categories.
Draft’s Lucas Moffett was back up front on Wednesday, after nursing a nagging knee injury he suffered during the cross country season. In the 800-meter run, Moffett led his teammate Colton Berrington across the finish line with a 2:17 run.
“Not quite there, my finishes aren’t right but I’m getting there,” Moffett said.
The Cougars’ Quincy Diggs and the Little Giants’ William Bane-Harrison tied for first in the high jump both posting 6-foot jumps. Diggs also won the 110-meter hurdles with a 16.9 second run, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of Waynesboro’s Nick Vela in second.
Draft’s Moore also won the 400-meter dash with a 55.9 second run. The Cougars’ Jake Craig took first in the shot put and discus. The Cougars’ J.D. Rines placed second in the shot and Chaz Crews from Waynesboro took the silver in the discus.
The Cougars won both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.
In the girls events, the Cougars’ Jessica Crobin won both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Natashia Byers won the high jump, 300-meter hurdles and the 100-meter hurdles. Draft’s Tia Smith won the long jump and the 400-meter dash.
Waynesboro won one event with Leanne Brooks taking first in the triple jump with a 30-foot leap.
The Cougar girls swept the relays.