South Lakes Seahawks double up at Northern Region 6D Indoor Track & Field Championships

by Shanen Elliott, Guest Writer

SLHS Indoor Track and Field team captured both the Boys and Girls regional titles

The South Lakes Seahawks delivered when it mattered most, earning clutch points down the stretch to capture both the Boys and Girls Northern Region 6D Indoor Track and Field titles.

After sweeping the Concorde District championships, Coach Scott Raczko’s teams repeated the feat at regionals, adding to the program’s legacy with its ninth regional championship for the boys and seventh for the girls.

Boys pull away late

The Seahawk boys tallied 75 points, pulling away from runner-up Chantilly Chargers (63.33 points) in the closing events.

Caroline Elliott winning the 1600 meter race. Photos by Brooks Ross, rossvisualzz

Senior Alex Guthrie accounted for 28 points with a dominant all-around performance: first place in the 300 meters, second in the 55 meters, third in the long jump, and fourth as part of the 4x200-meter relay. Earlier this season, Guthrie set a school record in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.31 seconds, a mark that currently ranks 12th nationally.

Senior Blake Jackson added 22 crucial points, winning both the long jump (22 feet) and triple jump (45 feet, 9 inches)—the latter by an impressive four-foot margin. Jackson then sealed key team points with a fifth-place finish in the 300 meters to help secure the regional title.

Girls dominate with depth and relays

The Seahawk girls combined balanced scoring with relay dominance to amass 105 points, comfortably ahead of Chantilly’s 85.

South Lakes swept the relays, earning a perfect 30 points with first-place finishes in the 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800.

Sophomores Tia Tuffour and Collins Han delivered standout performances. Tuffour captured the regional title in the 55-meter hurdles, while Han narrowly missed first place in the 55-meter dash, finishing second by less than one-hundredth of a second. The Seahawks placed three runners in the top five in that event (second, fourth, and fifth). Han later added another second-place finish in the 300 meters and ran the anchor leg in the victorious 4x200 relay.

Senior leaders Caroline Elliott and Aya Ryan once again paced the team, each contributing 30 points. Elliott won both the 1600 and 1000 meters, breaking a 25-year-old Northern Region record in the 1000 with a time of 2:51.77. Ryan claimed her first individual regional title with a dramatic victory in the 500 meters, winning by just six-hundredths of a second.

The duo also anchored two relay victories, with Ryan closing out the 4x800 before handing off to Elliott for the meet-ending triumph in the 4x400.

Eyes on the state meet

Next up, the Seahawks travel to the Virginia Beach Sports Center for the VHSL Class 6 Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The girls will look to extend their dominance in the 4x800 relay, where they have won three consecutive indoor state titles and hold the Virginia state record. Elliott aims to defend her back-to-back state championships in the 1600 and 1000 meters (2024 and 2025), while

Guthrie will chase the 55-meter sprint crown.

The Seahawk boys enter the state meet motivated after a narrow runner-up finish at last year’s championship.