SNOW HILL — For the second meet in a row, Kent County High School junior RJ Peterson lowered the school record in the 300 meters — a standard that up until mid-December had stood for 17 years.
At a “regular-season” race Dec. 11 at the Worcester County Recreation Center, Peterson stopped the timer in a school record of 37.41 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 37.6 that Lamont Wesley established in February 2007.
One week later, again at the Worcester County Recreation Center, Peterson lowered his own school record to 37.15.
The occasion was the Pat Russo Invitational, named for Stephen Decatur High School’s coach of 40-plus years.
At the Dec. 18 meet, Peterson was the runner-up, a step behind Cambridge-South Dorchester star Tori Willis Jr., who won in a personal best of 36.28.
Third-place finisher Dominic Gale, a senior from WiHi, was a full second behind Peterson.
Meantime, senior Gavin Larrimore continued in hot pursuit of the school shot put record of 44 feet, 9.5 inches — established in 1982 by Mike Burton, and the longest-standing program record.
Larrimore improved his personal best to 43-8.75.
Kent Island junior Josh Fuller was the winner with a throw of 44-1.
Fuller and Larrimore were far and above everyone else in the field of 24 competitors; the third-place throw was 38-9.25.
On the girls side, junior shot putter Ke’yare Hawkins placed just out of the medals — fourth with a throw of 30 feet, 7 inches. She was 2 inches behind Washington’s third-place finisher Mikyla Bailey, who had a PR.
[Hawkins set the school record of 35-3.25 in February 2024 when she won the Class 1A East Region championship.]
Parkside senior Alana King (33-0) was the winner and Queen Anne’s junior Makena Fellows (31-6) placed second.
Also for KCHS, junior Delilah Markovic recorded personal bests in the 800 and 1600 meters, and sophomore Amara-Chi Hollins had a PR in the 55 meters.
This was the 11th edition of the Pat Russo Invitational, featuring 16 public high schools from the Eastern Shore.
The format is different from regular-season indoor track meets. The limit is two entries per school per event (instead of three). Each team (girls and boys) is given three “wild card” entries, where they can get a third runner or field competitor.
Medals were awarded to the top three place-finishers in each event and ribbons were handed out to those who finished fourth through eighth.
Printed here are the results for Kent County. Top-10 place-finishes are noted.
GIRLS
55 meters: Tess Fuchs, 8.33 seconds; and Amara-Chi Hollins, personal best of 9.05.
300 meters: Fuchs, 50.35 seconds.
800 meters: Delilah Markovic, personal best of 2 minutes, 58.62 seconds.
1600 meters: Markovic, personal best of 6 minutes, 47.44 seconds.
Shot put: Ke’yare Hawkins, 30 feet, 7 inches, fourth.
BOYS
55 meters: RJ Peterson, 6.97 seconds; and Bennett Harris, 7.67.
300 meters: Peterson, school record of 37.15 seconds, second.
500 meters: Trent Johnson, 1 minute, 25.79 seconds; and Joshua Na-El, 1:53.47.
800 meters: Johnson, 2 minutes, 22.52 seconds, ninth; and Na-El, 3:48.79.
1600 meters: Joey Homyack, personal best of 5 minutes, 32.76 seconds.
Shot put: Gavin Larrimore, personal best of 43 feet, 8.75 inches, second.
