For three years now, winning state championships or finishing second — all by close margins — has been the norm for the West Springfield Spartans boys’ indoor track-and-field team.
This winter, the Spartans won the Virginia High School League Class 6 state crown by one of the smallest lead possible: a half-point.
West Springfield scored 57.5 points in Virginia Beach to finish first on March 11, just beating the South Lakes Seahawks, who came in second with 57.
“So many things fell in place to go our way for us to win. You couldn’t script it that way,” West Springfield coach Chris Pellegrini told FFXnow. “To win by just a half-point is a pretty incredible experience.”
The state crown was West Springfield’s second in three years and fourth in program history. The Spartans won in 2023 by 3 points over Thomas Dale and were last season’s runner-up by 8.5 points behind Western Branch.
Leading the Spartans at this year’s state meet were two winning relays and a victory by Michael Murray in the pole vault with a leap of 15 feet.
The 4×400 relay won in 3:20.76 to clinch the victory. The 4×800 relay was first in 7:52.98 and the 4×200 relay placed seventh.
Kyler Roberts, Max Englert, Gavin Smith and anchor Nicholas Bailey made up the 4×400. On the 4×800 were Mark Gaydos, Gavin Smith, Edison Dean and Jack Pritchard. The 4×200 consisted of Mark-Anthony Whyte, Maddox Sy, Carson Hall and Ivan Layerenza.
West Springfield distance runner Pritchard was seeded last but finished second in the 1,600, and sprinter White was third in the 55 dash. Fourth was Bailey in the 500, Smith was sixth in the 1,000, Dean seventh in the 1,600 and Nicholas Spada tied for eighth in the pole vault, clearing 12-6 to earn a half-point.
“At the time, we didn’t think that half-point would be important, but it sure turned out to be,” Pellegrini said.
Spada was hit with his own pole on his first unsuccessful attempt to clear 12-6. That left an upper front tooth chipped and his face bloody.
“He was rattled by that a little, but hung in there and cleared 12-6 on his third [and final] try,” Pellegrini said.
The state title was the last of three postseason championships won by the Spartans during the 2024-2025 indoor campaign. West Springfield previously won Patriot District and Occoquan Region crowns.
Before the state meet started, Pellegrini estimated the results on paper, admitting that he “barely had us scoring 50.”
“We just had a day,” he said. “Every one of our kids who competed scored. We weren’t counting on that to happen. One thing fell in place, and it continued from there.”
During the fall cross-country season, Pritchard and Dean helped West Springfield win the Liberty District championship. The Spartans went on to finish second in the region.
Leading the South Lakes boys at the indoor track state meet was Finn Middleton with a victory in the 55 hurdles (7.36) and a fifth in the 300, and thirds by Blake Jackson in the long and triple jumps.
Cliff Trapp was third in the 55 hurdles, Marcus Coker fourth in the 300, Jason Rafel sixth in the 1,600, George Hood eighth in the 1,000 and Isaac Yudkovsky ninth in the 1,600.
The South Lakes Seahawks came in third in the 4×400 and 4×800 relays and fifth in the 4×200. South County finished first in the 4×200 relay in 1:26.82.