Marion senior Anthony Bowling earned his third state title in the shot put Feb. 26.

Bowling swept the Group AA indoor and outdoor championships in the shot as a junior. On Feb. 26 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, he captured the Group 2A/1A indoor title.

His 55-9 winning effort was two feet and eight inches better than the second-place effort of Auburn’s Michael Hinkley. Another Marion senior, Jordan Propst, was third with a 51-6½, and Scarlet Hurricane sophomore Austin Wyatt placed sixth with a 46-4½.

Marion junior Riley Blevins was the runner-up in the boys’ long jump Feb. 26. He jumped 20-10½ to trail only the 22-2½ of Brunswick junior DaJuan Seward.

Also placing Feb. 26 was Lady Scarlet Hurricane junior Mara Briggs, who took fourth in the high jump. She cleared 4-10, with Buffalo Gap senior Kristy Verbeek winning the event at 5-4.

The highlight for Smyth County athletes on the second day of the meet, Feb. 27, came in the girls’ 500-meter dash. Chilhowie junior Leah Richards (1:23.92) and senior Ckareekeea Branch (1:23.97) placed second and third behind Maggie Walker senior Eliza Goodpasture (1:22.03).

In the girls’ 300 meters, Branch (45.27) and Marion senior Katie McCarty (45.44) were fifth and sixth. McCarty was also fifth in the 55 meters with a time of 7.64 seconds.

The 300 and 55 meters were two of the four events won by George Wythe junior Meredith Willis. She ran the 300 in 41.88 and the 55 in 7.39. Her other titles came in the long jump (18-3½) and triple jump (38-4¼).

The Hogoheegee District and Wythe County had another state champ during the meet, with Rural Retreat senior Matthew Farmer placing first in the 1,600 meters in 4:23.83.

Marion’s boys wound up third in the team standings behind Maggie Walker Governor’s School of Richmond and Brunswick. Contributing to Marion’s team score Feb. 27 were a fifth-place finish by senior Keith Norris in the 300 meters (37.73) and sixth- and seventh-place finishes by junior Matthew Mitchem and Blevins in the high jump (with each clearing 5-8).

Maggie Walker and Brunswick were also first and second in the girls’ team standings, with Chilhowie tying for seventh and Marion ninth. For the Lady Warriors, junior T.J. Howell was sixth in the 1,000 meters (3:33.18).

In the girls’ 4×200 relay, Marion placed sixth (1:57.68) and Chilhowie seventh (1:58.45). Listed as the Lady ‘Cane runners were: McCarty, Bakker Cullop, Taylor Richardson and Briggs. Listed as Chilhowie’s runners were twins Leah and Ginny Richards, Taylor Billings, and Branch.

In the girls’ 4×400, Marion was eighth. Listed for that event were: Jessica Headlee, Carmen Gaver, Molly Maurin and Kalyn Blevins.

The boys’ team scores were: Maggie Walker 140, Brunswick 94, Marion 36, Nelson County 34, Auburn 31, Prince Edward County 31, Northumberland 25, East Rockingham 22, Appomattox County 21, Parry McCluer 18, Rural Retreat 17, John Battle 16, Radford 16, GW 15, Martinsville 12, Bruton 11, Robert E. Lee of Staunton 6, Wilson Memorial 6, Floyd County 5, Mathews 5 and William Campbell 2.

The girls’ scores were: Maggie Walker 182, Brunswick 92, Buffalo Gap 45, Bruton 42, GW 40, Wilson Memorial 28, Chilhowie 23, Virginia High 23, Marion 16, Auburn 15, Floyd County 12, Nelson County 12, Appomattox County 11, East Rockingham 8, Northampton 8, Robert E. Lee 7, Lancaster 6, William Campbell 5 and James River 4.