Down the Line: Virginia Beach athletes, one visually impaired, await competition for Team USA in Chile

Norfolk Academy graduate and Tide Swimming competitor Kayla Wilson of Stanford soon will compete for Team USA at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

During the Oct. 21-26 event, Wilson is set to compete in the 200-meter freestyle and the 4×200 free relay. In last season’s NCAA championships, she placed fourth in the 200 free and was part of the second-place 4×200 free relay after taking Pac-12 titles in both events.

Wilson, a sophomore from Virginia Beach, is on an American team rife with connections to Virginia. Abby Harter, Anna Keating, Paige Madden, Reilly Tiltmann and Emma Weber are in NCAA team champion UVA’s program. Texas swimmer Olivia Bray (from Daleville) and two Tennessee competitors — Josephine Fuller (Richmond) and Camille Spink (Haymarket) — also are from the Commonwealth.

The men’s team has a pair of UVA seniors — Jack Aikins of Atlanta and Noah Nichols of Midlothian — and one of the group’s five coaches in UVA’s Jake Shrum.

King hopes to reign in goalball: Not too long after Wilson and her teammates compete in Santiago, another Virginia Beach athlete will be headed there to compete for Team USA — in the Parapan American Games.

Christian King was named as one of six players on the USA goalball team, which will be trying to qualify for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. His team will have to finish first or, if Brazil wins the gold medal, second.

King’s visual impairment is defined as “B3,” which the Canadian Paralympic Committee lists as “no more than 10% functional vision.” Goalball players all wear blindfolds to make the competition fair.

King, who turns 24 this weekend, has gone to Tidewater Community College. He scored six goals in eight games for the 2022 IBSA Americas Championships Team in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that won the silver medal.

Goalball was invented in 1946 to help rehabilitate veterans who had lost their sight in World War II. King learned it while attending the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in Staunton. Teams of three try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside of it into the opponents’ goal.

Czech champ from Gloucester: Gloucester High graduate Brett Lindsay played a large role in helping his Jablonec Blesk baseball team capture the 1 Liga pro title in the Czech Republic.

The Blesk swept a pair of best-of-three series, defeating Skokani Olomouc 5-2 and 6-4 and the Sabat Praha 7-4 and 7-5. Lindsay batted 7 for 17 with a double and three RBIs and handled 11 of his defensive chances at shortstop.

Including the playoffs, Lindsay hit .416 (62 for 149) with 48 runs, seven homers, 14 doubles and 35 RBIs. He walked 21 times and struck out just eight times and is seeking offers to play next season.

Lindsay is an assistant baseball coach at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, where he was a five-year starter. The Royals’ head coach is another Hampton Roads native, former Poquoson High pitcher Adam Posey.

Lindsay’s father is longtime Gloucester softball coach David “Red” Lindsay.

Mud bog masters: Virginia Motor Speedway, located in Middlesex County, soaked its dirt track to create its 16th annual Run-A-Muck Mud Bog last weekend.

Michael Sutphin, Corey Maines, Austin Ragland, Chris Bradshaw and Gary Sabella won their classes. Bradshaw’s pass, in a truck called “Fast Money,” was a record 3.603 seconds.

What’s coming up

Tuesday: Virginia Wesleyan’s women’s soccer team, looking for a high finish in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, plays host to Shenandoah at 6 p.m.

Wednesday: Christopher Newport’s volleyball team visits Virginia Wesleyan for a 6 p.m. match. Expect a thriller in TowneBank Arena.

Thursday: The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns come to Old Dominion to start a two-match volleyball series at 6:30 p.m. … William & Mary’s women’s soccer team takes on Towson at Martin Family Stadium at 7 p.m.