After 372 days since their last competition, the WildCats journeyed up on a windy day to Bridgewater College's North River Track & Field Meet held at the Jopson Athletics Complex.
 
Mitchell Doss (Hurt, Va./Gretna) and Sha-Ron Bass (Greensboro, N.C./First Colonial) were the first two WildCats to compete, taking to the circles for the Hammer Throw.  Doss was able to make the finals with his first throw of 31.76m, before making his best throw of the day with a mark of 33.68m to clinch 7th overall.  Bass was the most consistent thrower of the meet without a single foul on his record.  His mark of 21.95m makes for a new lifetime best in the event.
 
The men's distance squad then kicked off the track events with the 1500m.  Alex Dye (Honaker, Va./Honaker) and Izaiah Burgos (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek) went 1-2 in their heat, running 4:26.25 and 4:29.25 respectively.  These times now rank them 3rd and 6th best in school history.  Tristan Palmer (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone HS) and Tanner Cochran (Cumberland, Va./Cumberland) battled to the line with Palmer edging out a 4:50.71 to Cochran's 4:50.89 to be the next WildCats to cross the finish line.  Aaron Scott (Woodbridge, Va./Colgan) and Justin Bliss (Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest) wrapped up the 1500m with times of 4:53.71 and 5:16.31 respectively.
 
Lamont Mohabir (Mechanicsville, Va./Mechanicsville) took to the blocks for his first 100m since 2019.  He ran into a strong headwind for a time of 12.46 to earn 6th place overall.  He would later double back in the 200m Dash in a time of 25.68 with a headwind of 1.61 m/s.
 
First-year Cole Torres (Thurmont, Md./Catoctin) made his hurdle debut with the 110m Hurdles.  His time of 19.72 was good for a 5th place finish.  A fall at hurdle 7 later kept him from breaking into the top-5 in the 400m Hurdles, but his final time of 1:17.24 would allow him to team score points with a 7th-place finish.  Senior DeAndre Jackson (Madison Heights,Va./Heritage) started his track season with a 56.40 in the 400m Dash and a 25.07 in the 200m.
 
Doss and Bass would continue on in the Discus Throw and Shot Put.  Throwing disc for his first time since 2019, Doss threw for 28.99m to place 9th overall, with Bass making his debut at the event with a toss of 17.78m.  Moving to the rotational technique this year, Doss was able to keep consistent with his throws, hitting 10.61m on his 5th attempt.  Bass would make his outdoor shot debut with a power throw of 7.90m.
 
The men of Randolph had a strong showing in the 800m.  Dye and Burgos would once again go 1-2 for the WildCats, running 2:07.77 and 2:09.60 respectively.  Their times now mark them in the top-5 individuals in school history at the event.  Palmer was the next WildCat to finish, running 2:13.32 for 7th overall.  Tanner Cochran would then lead Scott and Bliss as the final three WildCats in the event with times of 2:19.28, 2:31.61, and 2:32.31 respectively.
 
The day would be concluded with the 4x400m.  Randolph ran two teams in the final event of the meet.  The quartet of Dye, Burgos, Cochran and Scott would outlast the second team of Jackson, Torres, Palmer and Mohabir to go 2-3 overall with times of 4:00.68 and 4:07.29.
 
The WildCats would earn 27 team points to finish 5th overall.
 
"I was really happy with how our guys did today," Coach Purrington said, "We wanted to use this meet to test where everyone's at in a competitive environment.  We now have 3 weeks before our next competition and have a lot of things to work on, but I know that we will be able to put things together in time for ODACs in May."
 
The Track & Field Teams will return to competition on March 27th at the Dr. Jack Toms Invitational hosted by cross-town rivals, University of Lynchburg.