LYNCHBURG — In a matter of milliseconds, Turner Ashby junior Devin Smiley knew what crossing the finish line first on Saturday was going to mean.

As Smiley had the advantage around 30 meters from the finish line in the boys 100-meter dash, the multi-sport Knights athlete knew he was about to etch his name into the history books.

“I thought about it before I crossed the finish line,” Smiley said. “I thought about, ‘I’m about to be the state champion.’”

With a blistering time of 10.90 seconds, Smiley was a state champion.

“I’m just really thankful to see how far I came,” Smiley said. “In indoor [track], I felt like I was going to win but I didn’t, so I feel amazing. … I’m just thankful.”

Later that day, Smiley became the state champion in the 200-meter dash by setting an all-time meet record time of 21.41, and his victories were a pair of many notable highlights by local track stars at the Virginia High School League Class 3 state meet at Liberty University.

“It just feels amazing,” Smiley said. “To break a state record is amazing.”

Smiley had much of his family in attendance to watch him become a two-time track and field state champion, and whether it’s his family or other runners watching on, the support fuels his fire.

“It helps me run faster to know people are supporting me and want to see me do well,” Smiley said.

Another Valley standout who earned a pair of state title victories was Broadway senior Tristan Yoder, who set an all-time meet record in the 3200-meter run with a time of 9:06 and captured first in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:13.

“Winning the team title in cross country was a really cool day,” Yoder said. “I’d say, individually, as far as Broadway performances, I’d say this is my best one. … Today, my goal was to just go out and dominantly win the 32 and 16, and that’s how I felt I did. I was really happy with it.”

Yoder’s wins played a major role in the Broadway boys placing third in the final team results.

In both races, Yoder hung back in the pack and waited for his moment to pounce.

Then, he turned on the jets and cruised to dominant wins in both events.

“It’s hard to go out and lead the whole race,” Yoder said. “I wanted to make sure I won both. Just finding a spot where my opponents are the weakest and just going. … My coach always says, ‘Make sure it’s the last move of the race.’”

Another state title-winning performance came from Spotswood senior Madison Doss, who captured the crown in the girls long jump with a first-place mark of 17-11.5.

“I never really thought I’d make it back to where I was,” Doss said. “Not that I wasn’t progressing well and having a great season. I had a really big [personal-record] and just had a really good day. Coming into finals, I was ranked second-to-last. To have that big jump and have confidence in myself and really feel like I was fully back was really great. That’s how I want to go out.”

It’s a story of a comeback from Doss after suffering a significant ACL injury nearly two years ago, one she never expected to fully overcome.

On Saturday in Lynchburg, Doss was able to reflect on a rollercoaster of the last two years for her that culminated with a state championship victory.

“One bump in the road should never fully knock you down,” Doss said. “You just keep on moving. I think that’s kind of helped me over the last year-and-a-half. To have that show up this weekend as well, I think it definitely made me reflect and be like, ‘This is what I’ve done the last year-and-a-half, what’s one more day? I can do this today just as much as I have the last year.’”

On the first day of events, Spotswood’s girls 4×800-meter relay team of freshmen Lillian Myers, Hayley Mancini, Anna Lowe, and Marykate Miller placed fourth with a combined time of 9:50.

Turner Ashby junior Jeffrey Jackson became the state champion in the boys shot put with a mark of 55-4.

After taking the state crown in shot put the day prior, Jackson posted a fifth-place effort in the boys discus throw with a mark of 156-5.

East Rockingham senior Alliyah McNair took state runner-up in the girls discus throw with a mark of 123 feet, while her fellow senior teammate Shanna Robertson nabbed 10th in the girls pole vault, marking at 9-6.

McNair, a three-sport athlete in volleyball, track, and tennis, later took fifth for the Eagles in the girls shot put with a mark of 34-0.5.

“You can always want to have more and always look back on it and see the things you could’ve done differently,” McNair said. “At the end of the day, it’s how you perform at that time and how you perform under the pressure of it. I’m very proud of myself for being able to go out there and get fifth in shot and get second in discus. On top of that, playing tennis, I didn’t get as much practice time. Being able to accomplish that is really big to me.”

Two spots ahead of McNair in shot put was Spotswood senior Jenna Townsend, who took third with a mark of 35-7.

“Going in ranked third definitely took a lot of pressure off of me,” Townsend said. “I’m not completely satisfied, but it’s all right. I have a state ring already. It was definitely hard but we still got top three. That’s all I kind of wanted — top three.”

Turner Ashby junior Alana Dennis took seventh in the girls triple jump with a mark of 35-1.75.

Broadway’s boys 4×800-meter relay squad of seniors Gavin Diehl, Asher Ryan, Grayson Jacquez, and Yoder earned fifth with a total time of 8:06.

On the second day of events, East Rockingham senior Xavia Brown placed sixth in the boys long jump, leaping to a mark of 21-1.75. The Eagles standout later finished ninth in the boys 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.91.

Spotswood senior Ashland Dickel earned state runner-up in the girls 3200-meter run with a time of 11:02, while her freshman teammate, Mancini, took fourth with a time of 11:23.

“I’m glad with how the two-mile [3200-meter] went,” Ashland said. “It wasn’t my [personal-record] but I’m glad I got second and it was fun racing with [first-place finisher Kiera Lowman (Alleghany)].”

Finishing strongly in second behind Yoder in the boys 3200-meter run was Spotswood senior Peyton Kenee, who clocked in a time of 9:19 in his final race of a decorated career with the Trailblazers.

“If anything, it’s somber,” Kenee said. “Four years of running pretty much every day, coming to an end is pretty sad. I’m also really [proud] of how far I’ve come. From running 5:05 [mile times] as a freshman and now I’m running 9:19s for two-miles. It’s such a big jump and I’m so appreciative of how far I’ve come and getting second [in the 3200] today was just the cherry on top.”

Behind Yoder and Kenee, East Rockingham junior Cade Yancey finished fifth with a time of 9:35 while Broadway senior Jaiden Santos Nguyen was close behind in sixth with a time of 9:36.

Rocktown junior Jaleel De La Cruz came home eighth in the boys 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.01.

While she led much of the race, Spotswood senior Marika Dickel took fourth in the girls 1600-meter run with a time of 5:00. Lillian Myers took seventh with a time of 5:12 and Ashland Dickel earned eighth with a time of 5:13.

“I’m happy with the [1600] but also a little disappointed that I was so close to breaking five [minutes],” Marika said. “It was a good end to high school running and I think it shows promise for the future.”

Trailing Yoder in the boys 1600-meter run was East Rockingham senior Hayden Fox, who claimed third with a time of 4:19.

Meanwhile, East Rockingham sophomore Hayden Paulette placed eighth in the girls long jump with a mark of 17-0.75.

Broadway junior Uriah Rutan placed state runner-up in the boys 400-meter dash, clocking in at 48.94, and later earned sixth in the boys 200-meter dash with a time of 22.15.

Rounding out the day was Spotswood’s girls 4×400-meter relay team of Doss, junior Carla Argueta-Romero, sophomore Macey Myers, and Marika Dickel placing fourth with a combined time of 4:06.

In the final team results, Broadway scored 38 points to place third behind runner-up Western Albemarle (47) and state champion Fauqier (63). Turner Ashby tied Grafton for fourth place with 34 points.

For the girls, Spotswood took fourth with 47 points, behind third place Western Albemarle (55), runner-up Abingdon (65) and state champion Heritage (99).