The Bulldogs are preparing for the state meet this weekend after coming off of a productive regional meet last weekend.

The King’s Fork High School boys’ track and field team placed fifth at the Class 4 Region A meet last weekend at Wilson High School. Even though they fell right outside of a top-three finish, they had some impressive performances.

Bryan Walker capped off a breakout season by winning regional titles in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Shamond Smith won the 800-meter dash and finished second in the 1600-meter. Robert Vasquez also advanced to state after finishing as runner-up in the 800-meter. If it were not for a botched handoff in the 4×100, the Bulldogs possibly could have placed higher.

On the girls’ side, Kaia Young advanced to state competition after finishing second in the 300-meter hurdles and fourth in the 200-meter dash. In the girls’ discus, Shade Williams qualified for state with a third-place finish, and freshman Shalia Sharpe capped off her first season by finishing fifth.

The state meet will be held in Harrisonburg, but it will come at an unfortunate time for King’s Fork. King’s Fork has prom this weekend. With some students opting to attend their prom, the Bulldogs will not be at full strength this weekend. Coach Shawn Warren understood his athletes’ decision.

“As a coach, I would have loved if they had opted for the state meet, but the senior prom and the state meet are both valuable parts of the high school experience,” he said. “Unfortunately, the powers-that-be have put the kids in the difficult situation of having to choose between the two. I’m greatly disappointed because, after months of hard work and preparation on the track, they should be able to experience both.”

Nine kids who qualified for events on Friday will miss them due to prom, but King’s Fork will still go up Saturday morning to compete in the remaining events.

Including indoor and outdoor, the track season has been somewhat challenging for various reasons. The boys’ team was bitten by the injury bug as their top sprinters, Nasir Davis and Joe Iglesias, were unable to perform for much of the outdoor season after nursing indoor injuries. On the girls’ side, some chose not to compete in the outdoor season while some off-track issues hampered others.

“All that aside, we still had quite a few bright spots as evident by the folks that performed well at regionals,” Warren said. “We’re trending in the right direction from a foundational standpoint, but we lose quite a few seniors this year. Hopefully, some of our underclassmen and any newcomers that come along will step up to replace a very talented senior class.”