Track Athletes are running, jumping, throwing, and winning at states

Last meet of the season, seeded second, nervous, but ready, Jacob Johnson ‘25 is prepared to run the  500 meter race of his life. Not only has he worked hard for this all season, but he has been training for this since summer break, joining Cross Country for the first time in an effort to improve his fitness. Practice after practice, lap after lap, meet after meet, Johnson has worked for this moment. Now on the line, Johnson anxiously awaits the BANG of the gun signalling the simultaneous sprint off the line. 
“That was crazy,” Josh Miao ‘25, teammate and friend to Johnson, said. “The entire meet and even leading up to it Jacob was like okay, there’s this guy from Blue Ridge I got to beat; he’s got the fastest time in the state,” Miao continued. “Blue Ridge actually, they were ahead of us for the first part of the meet, so it was really, really important [to have Jacob beat the Blue Ridge runner]. Just to see him go out there and give it his all, and pass [the Blue Ridge Runner] in the final 200m was just crazy. And it was a huge moment for the team and really helped us, you know, to capture that momentum to win the state championship.”
“It was awesome,” fellow 500m athlete and friend, Thomas Frieben ‘27 said. “He really worked, really hard this season. He improved by probably eight seconds, which is really amazing and I’m just really happy for him.”
 Johnson ran a time of 1:12.36 in the 500 meter dash, just barely beating Jedrek Sneary of Eastern Mennonite School, who ran a time of 1:12.49. The Blue Ridge runner finished third. This performance made a huge contribution to the Boy’s Indoor Track team taking home the 2025 Division II Boys Indoor Track VISAA State Championship. Frieben, who trained and raced with Johnson throughout the season, came in fourth in the 500m, clocking in at 1:14.20. 
The athletes were able to compete at their best thanks to the help of the student volunteers who came to support and cheer on their classmates, the coaches preparing each athlete for their events, the parents cheering and calling out split times. Johnson was one of four athletes who won individual state championship titles that day.  He also ran a speedy 39.93 seconds in the 300 meter dash placing him in 5th. Between his 1st place finish in the 500 meters and his 5th place finish in the 300 meters, he alone contributed a total 14 points for the team. 
Brooklyn YueHan Chen ‘26 took home her second Indoor Track State Championship title in the shot put, throwing a distance of 35-5.50 feet. “Be hard on myself but don’t let it get me down,” Chen said. In 2024 Chen threw a distance of 33-8.50 feet allowing her to take home her first championship. This year Chen returned to states with more experience and stronger than before, paving the way for yet another title. 
Kerrigan Chaney ‘25 took home two state championship titles in both the 1600 and 1000 meter distance runs. This should come as no surprise to any North Cross high schooler, as Chaney is well known for her spectacular endurance and the many individual championship titles and school records she has earned in Cross Country and in Indoor and Outdoor Track. Chaney won the title of Outstanding Runner of the meet for scoring the most points of any female runner in division II. 
“I was pretty tired that day,” Chaney admitted. “I felt really strong before, but really tired after my mile, and I had to push it really hard in my 1000m, but I was able to just barely make it. I didn't really focus too much on my wins because I was excited for the 4 by 4 (400 meter relay) and the boys winning States.” 
Other than the 1600m and the 1000m, Chaney competed in the 4 x 400 relay with teammates Ainsley Myles ‘27, Faith Johnson ‘28 and Gabrielle Miller ‘26. They came in fifth with a time of 4:37.50. 
Jase Rhodes ‘26 secured a state championship title in the high jump, as well as placing second in both the 300 meter dash and the triple jump, and third in the long jump. Rhodes will soon have a state ring for every finger as his recent win at States marked his 10th state championship. Rhodes also competed in the 4 x 200 meter relay with teammates Nate Bonds ‘25, Sander Frogner ‘25, and Chris Carter ‘25. They came in third with a time of 1:42. 
“It felt good [to win a 10th championship],” Rhodes said, “it felt like I accomplished something that I never thought I’d be able to accomplish before. And for it to come into play my last year running indoor track, it felt like a blessing towards me.” Rhodes is graduating in December and will not be participating in indoor track next year, but he has certainly accomplished a lot in his time running track so far. Rhodes was also named Outstanding Field Event Athlete of the meet for scoring the most points of any male field athlete in division II. 
“I felt very happy [to see Rhodes win],” Bonds said, “because I want to see all my friends succeed in life and what they did to help win the state championship means a lot to us.” 
Not only did the athletes winning state championships contribute to making it such a successful day, there were many other notable athletes who medaled and scored valuable points for the team. Faith Johnson ‘28 placed third in the 300 meter dash with a blazing time of 45.72. Lillian Phillips placed eighth in the 1000 meter as just an eighth grader. 
Spencer Britton ran the 1600 meter 4:31 seconds, finishing second and ran the 3200 meter in 10:4 seconds placing third. Nate Hayes ‘26 threw a distance of 45-2 feet placing second in the shot put and Frogner threw a distance of 42-7.5 feet placing third in the shot put. 
As a team, the boys scored a total of 113 points, placing themselves 13 points ahead of Trinity Christian School and 19 points ahead of Blue Ridge School. The girls’ team scored a total 50 points placing sixth, right behind Cape Henry Collegiate and Trinity Christian School. Coach Ed Dickenson won the Coach’s Award following the announcement of the championship. Whether the athletes scored their first or 10th state championship win, every win contributed to making it a very successful day.