Another heat advisory was issued Monday morning for Hampton Roads as the National Weather Service expects the heat index to reach as high as 109 degrees in some areas.

The heat advisory includes southeast Virginia, from South Hampton Roads up to Williamsburg and west to Emporia, and northeastern North Carolina down to Windsor. The heat indices for these areas will be between 105 and 109 degrees, which can cause serious health concerns.

While it will feel much hotter, the actual temperatures for this area will range from 91 to 97 degrees.

The heat advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. Monday. To stay safe, residents in these areas should drink plenty of water, limit time doing strenuous activity outdoors, check up on neighbors and relatives to make sure they’re doing the same, and never leave children or pets locked in a car for any period of time.

There is also a slight risk of severe storms Monday afternoon and evening, according to the weather service. The main threats are damaging winds and frequent lightning.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, [email protected]

Three houses were severely damaged and “many” people will be displaced as a result of a two-alarm fire in Norfolk Monday morning, according to Norfolk Fire-Rescue.

Fire crews were dispatched to the 9100 block of Granby Street in the Northside Ocean View neighborhood at 5:12 a.m. Heavy flames were visible on one of the houses when firefighters arrived, and it spread to two other houses as well as a detached garage and storage shed, according to a news release.

No injuries were reported. A fire department spokesperson said “many” residents will be displaced by the fire, but was unable to specify the exact amount as of Monday morning.

The fire was under control by 6:20 a.m. The extent of the damage to all the structures is unclear, though one of the homes is believed to be a total loss, according to a fire department spokesperson.

The cause has not yet been determined. One of the affected houses was struck by lightning last week, according to the news release, but the fire department has not shared whether that was a factor in this fire.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, [email protected]

BLACKSBURG — Da’Quan Felton had spent his entire football career in the 757 area code before deciding after the 2022 season it might be time for a change.

As it turned out, Virginia Tech’s football program was making changes of its own and thought if Felton would consider moving across the state, it might benefit both parties. When he chose the Hokies, Felton transferred from Norfolk State and immediately became part of a drastic overhaul second-year head coach Brent Pry was overseeing with his offense.

Since the 2022 season came to an end, Pry has insisted that Virginia Tech’s offense needed a quick upgrade, which would include an infusion of experienced skill players that would be ready to go for the Hokies’ Sept. 2 season opener against Old Dominion at Lane Stadium.

Last year’s Hokies offense averaged just 314 yards per game — the lowest total since the 2008 team averaged just 303. That Virginia Tech team, however, still managed to win the ACC championship and played in the Orange Bowl.

Last year’s 3-8 Hokies needed a complete offensive overhaul.

Felton is one of four skill position players added to Virginia Tech’s offense via the transfer portal.

In the backfield, ex-North Carolina A&T running back Bhayshul Tuten has joined redshirt sophomore Malachi Thomas to bolster a running game that struggled with consistency all season.

And besides Felton, the Hokies also welcomed former Old Dominion and West Virginia receiver Ali Jennings as well as Middle Tennessee transfer Jaylin Lane.

The Hokies wanted the 6-foof-5 Felton, a Churchland High graduate who has been part of the Norfolk State football team since 2019, for his ability to fight for a football in a crowd — such as in red-zone situations. Felton, who in 2021 was Norfolk State’s top receiver in both total catches (39) and receiving yards (573), said he was intrigued by the plan that Pry and his coaching staff pitched to him.

And while he absolutely was looking for a change in atmosphere — football-wise — living in Blacksburg means more change than just a different style of offense and new teammates.

“Out here, it is different — with the mountains and everything,” Felton said Tuesday during Virginia Tech’s media day. “… But it’s good. It’s not like being in the city.”

Jennings had earned a reputation at Old Dominion as someone with great hands and speed. Jennings, who may have the highest expectations of the new receiving trio after earning all-Sun Belt Conference honors in 2022, was still healing from a hamstring injury when he arrived in Blacksburg. That problem is in his past now and he sees progress with the offense every day.

“I don’t feel there were a lot of growing pains this offseason,” Jennings said Tuesday. “We had to build chemistry with each other on the field, but off the field, everyone jelled real well, everyone enjoyed being around each other and that translated into allowing us to put in a lot of hard work on the field.”

Lane, who refers to himself as “small and shifty,” said as the summer went on and the receivers had a chance to spend time with the Hokies’ top two quarterbacks — 2022 starter Grant Wells and Baylor transfer Kyron Drones — confidence began to build and all the receivers found they enjoyed being pushed by each other to improve.

“The biggest thing us three brought in was the competition,” said Lane, who led MTSU in receptions last year with 69. “The biggest thing you want within your team is to be able to compete with each other. That’s the only way you can grow.”

Pry said on Tuesday that while there is still a lot of work ahead, he believes the offense is going in a good direction.

“We’re in a much better place currently,” he said. “There’s more guys that can make more plays at more positions. We’re not where we need to be, and we’re still young with some of those players I’m talking about, but I feel better about the opportunity to make plays. I feel better about the opportunity to be competitive with the personnel we have than last year at this time.”

Even more important, despite having so many new faces in the receiving room, the players say comradery is solid. Egos have not clashed, they say, and that has led to constant improvement.

“These are my guys,” Felton said. “Everybody in our room has a nice bond, everybody is talented. “We’re pushing each other, but in a good way. I love competition.”

Small companies, ranked No. 25

What makes your business a top employer? Our vision is to create a work environment where employees develop personally and professionally, have fun, develop advocate clients and create profit for the company. LCE is a strengths-based organization focused on turning individual talents into strengths and in turn, channeling those strengths into organizational performance that supports our clients’ success. Our policies and practices are focused on employee success and work-life balance, and we have embraced the increasing role of teleworking in this equation. We like to have fun, which in turn creates a positive atmosphere for innovation and creativity for our employees. All of this coupled with our values of honesty, integrity and mutual respect in everything we do fosters a supportive, team-oriented work environment. We pride ourselves on the family feeling in our organization. Everyone from the CEO to the receptionist knows you by name and are there to celebrate life’s achievements and support you through somber moments.

How do you measure employee satisfaction? LCE conducts annual employee surveys based on the Gallup Path.

What strategies do you have for retaining employees? Internal mobility, employee recognition, flexible work schedules, telework options and wellness initiatives. The employee stock ownership plan, completely funded by the company, offers a secondary retirement savings.

What do you do to develop employees and help them grow? LCE offers an education reimbursement program. Employees can take advantage of full reimbursement for seminars and certifications and/or up to $7,500 per year towards degree reimbursement. Employee resource groups build community, provide support and contribute to the personal and professional development of its members. Our initial Veterans Employee Resource Group has been a big success and we are working on implementing additional groups to represent the interests of our employees. LCE offers mentoring, job shadowing/cross training, attendance at leadership workshops or other formal leadership education, and support of leadership roles within volunteer organizations outside of our company.

Are you hiring? Yes. We offer an employee referral bonus and recruit in diversity websites, universities, niches, blogs and advertisement media. We advertise in all state unemployment agencies. We actively participate/contribute with local United Way agencies to help connect local job seekers with openings. We maintain strategic partnerships with recruiting firms and we have invested in an artificial intelligence sourcing tool, Rolebot, which guarantees a more diverse pool of candidates.

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About the company

Life Cycle Engineering, Inc. has been serving clients since 1976 — helping them accomplish their goals and improve performance in a reliable, cost-effective way. Over the last 44 years, we have worked with hundreds of private companies and government programs. That adds up to a lot of problems solved.

Address: 5301 Robin Hood Road, Suite 108, Norfolk

Phone: 757-857-1311

Website: LCE.com

Top executives: Bob Fei, CEO; Peter Thomas, vice president; Larry Tate, director

Employees: 60

Benefits include: Medical, dental, vision, long- and short-term disability, EAP, 401(k), ESOP, life insurance, HSA, FSA, telehealth, critical illness and accident, personal insurance solutions

Fun factor: Social events/gatherings, annual Steak Out (management grills steaks for the entire team), potlucks, holiday parties, picnics

Community service: Annual United Way drive and Stuff the Bus

Midsize companies, ranked No. 22

Volvo Penta has operated in Chesapeake since 1992 as an engine and propulsion systems manufacturer for marine and industrial applications.

Melissa Stewart, marketing communications manager for Volvo Penta of the Americas, said in an email that its people, its partnerships and a strong benefits package make the company a great place to work.

Asked about the company’s culture, she said: “Our cultural values are in line with Volvo Group and include customer focus, passion, teamwork and professionalism. We build on our strong heritage, industrial and marine engineering expertise and our pioneering reputation to provide comprehensive business solutions that truly make a difference.”

“We develop close partnerships with original equipment manufacturers all over the world to fulfill not only their but also their customers’ requirements,” she continued. “We’re an open and inclusive organization with a long and proud history of successful partnerships.”

Additionally, she said, its global team enjoys a shared commitment to the environment.

“We also have a great mission that our employees embrace,” she said. “Through our marine and industrial engines and systems, we aim for total sustainability — economic, social and environmental.”

She said that the company attracts top talent by working with its parent company, Volvo Group, through Volvo Group University relations, campus recruiting, job fairs and online recruiting. Additionally, the company’s employee referral program offers generous financial rewards.

Volvo Penta enjoys healthy retention rates averaging five to 10 years and has several employees who have worked there for more than 40 years, Stewart added.

Regarding benefits, she said, “Our employer contribution to health benefits is 85%. We also offer a 5 to 5 match on 401(k). At 55, you receive an additional 7%.”

She said the company addresses work-life balance with a generous earned time off program that averages 29 days per year. And, the company closes between Christmas and New Year’s to allow employees to spend time with their families.

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About the company

Address: 1300 Volvo Penta Drive, Chesapeake

Phone: 757-436-2800

Website: volvopenta.com/en-us/

Top executives: Fredrik Hogberg, president; Jens Berring, vice president, marine sales; Darren Tasker, vice president, industrial sales; Lars Ljungstrom, vice president, strategy and business development; Paola Gaiao, vice president, finance and business control; Christopher Clements, vice president, legal and compliance; Tony Kelleher, vice president, customer support and training; Yichen Gu, vice president, parts business development; Joakim Falck, director, engineering North America; Victor Falkenby, director, dealer development; Christine McKone Carlson, director, marketing

Employees: 159

Benefits include: Stand-out health, vision and dental insurance; 401(k) retirement plan with matching; competitive compensation, generous earned time off plan.

Fun factor: Groups and planning committees such as Early Career Professionals Network and Culture Committee; employee events and appreciation gifts; annual family day and holiday party; welcome gifts; participation in ADP Corporate 5K; focus on health and wellness through Health Fair and wellness rewards program; Popcorn Wednesdays; occasional ice cream truck visit to the office.

Community service: YMCA charity bowling event; Beach Clean-Up Day; canned food and toy drives

NORFOLK — Police arrested a husband and wife for an assault Friday that resulted in a death.

Officers found 45-year-old Jose Moreno dead around 6:40 p.m. Friday inside an apartment on the 700 block of Mariners Way.

Police arrested James C. Lynch, 50, and Kristie M. Lynch, 43, following an investigation, and charged each with second degree murder.

Both are being held at the Norfolk City Jail without bond.

By CLAIRE RUSH, AUDREY MCAVOY and CHRISTOPHER WEBER (Associated Press)

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Parishioners mourned the dead and prayed for the missing Sunday in Hawaii churches as communities began looking ahead to a long recovery from last week’s wildfire that demolished a historic Maui town and killed more than 90 people.

Maria Lanakila Church in Lahaina was spared from the flames that wiped out most of the surrounding community, but with search-and-recovery efforts ongoing, its members attended Mass about 10 miles up the road, with the Bishop of Honolulu, the Rev. Clarence “Larry” Silva, presiding.

Taufa Samisoni said his uncle, aunt, cousin and the cousin’s 7-year-old son were found dead inside a burned car. Samisoni’s wife, Katalina, said the family would draw comfort from Silva’s reference to the Bible story of how Jesus’ disciple Peter walked on water and was saved from drowning.

“If Peter can walk on water, yes we can. We will get to the shore,” she said, her voice quivering.

During the Mass, Silva read a message from Pope Francis, who said he was praying for those who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods. He also conveyed prayers for first responders.

Silva later told The Associated Press that the community is worried about its children, who have witnessed tragedy and are anxious.

“The more they can be in a normal situation with their peers and learning and having fun, I think the better off they’ll be,” Silva said.

Meanwhile, Hawaii officials urged tourists to avoid traveling to Maui as many hotels prepared to house evacuees and first responders.

About 46,000 residents and visitors have flown out of Kahului Airport in West Maui since the devastation in Lahaina became clear Wednesday, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

“In the weeks ahead, the collective resources and attention of the federal, state and county government, the West Maui community, and the travel industry must be focused on the recovery of residents who were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses,” the agency said in a statement late Saturday. Tourists are encouraged to visit Hawaii’s other islands.

Gov. Josh Green said 500 hotels rooms will be made available for locals who have been displaced. An additional 500 rooms will be set aside for workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some hotels will carry on with normal business to help preserve jobs and sustain the local economy, Green said.

The state wants to work with Airbnb to make sure that rental homes can be made available for locals. Green hopes that the company will be able to provide three- to nine-month rentals for those who have lost homes.

“There’s very little left there,” Green said, holding up a map of the area titled “Buildings Damaged in Maui Wildfires Lahaina Area.”

More than 2,700 structures were destroyed in Lahaina and “an estimated value of $5.6 billion has gone away.” But mostly there are people suffering and the government is continuing to work to find them, he said in a video statement Sunday,

As the death toll around Lahaina climbed to 93, authorities warned that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. The blaze is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

“I will tell you this, as a physician, it is a harrowing sight in Maui,” Green said. “When those providers, the police and this division, do come across scenes in houses or businesses it is very difficult for them because they know, ultimately, they will be sharing with our people that there have been more fatalities. I do expect the numbers to rise.”

Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said Saturday.

Lylas Kanemoto is awaiting word about the fate of her cousin, Glen Yoshino.

“I’m afraid he is gone because we have not heard from him, and he would’ve found a way to contact family. We are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst,” Kanemoto said Sunday. Family members will submit DNA to help identify any remains.

The family was grieving the death of four other relatives. The remains of Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone, their daughter, Salote Takafua, and her son, Tony Takafua, were found inside a charred car.

“At least we have closure for them, but the loss and heartbreak is unbearable for many,” Kanemoto said.

As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.

J.P. Mayoga, a cook at the Westin Maui in Kaanapali, is still making breakfast, lunch and dinner on a daily basis. But instead of serving hotel guests, he’s been feeding the roughly 200 hotel employees and their family members who have been living there since Tuesday’s fire devastated the Lahaina community just south of the resort.

His home and that of his father were spared. But his girlfriend, two young daughters, father and another local are all staying in a hotel room together, as it is safer than Lahaina, which is covered in toxic debris.

Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapor exposure.

“Everybody has their story, and everybody lost something. So everybody can be there for each other, and they understand what’s going on in each other’s lives,” he said of his co-workers at the hotel.

Hawaii Island Mayor Mitch Roth warned that the recovery effort will be a “marathon not a sprint.” In order to keep the effort “coordinated and thoughtful,” Roth urged Hawaii residents to contribute money to established nonprofits and hold off on donating physical items because there is not yet a reliable distribution system in place.

The latest death toll surpassed that of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise.

The cause of the wildfires is under investigation. The fires are Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946 killed more than 150 on the Big Island.

Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the flames on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.

The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.

Elsewhere on Maui, at least two other fires have been burning: in south Maui’s Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry. No fatalities have been reported from those blazes.

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Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Haven Daley in Kalapua, Hawaii; Ty O’Neil in Lahaina, Hawaii; Bobby Caina Calvan and Beatrice Dupuy in New York; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Pat Eaton-Robb in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

We lose

Re “Getting ready for school: Hampton Roads parents should expect some changes” (Aug. 7): Let me see if I can understand this: Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his Republican minions are working hard to give corporations a tax break, which they don’t need, while allowing the sales tax holiday to expire last month?

Although not a major tax break, parents have looked to this “holiday” for years to get their children ready for the upcoming school year. Countless parents in this state count on that holiday, and too many small retailers do the same.

This is the same Republican governor who is traipsing around the state claiming to care about “everybody in the commonwealth”? It’s getting to the point where each and every time Republicans open their mouths claiming to “care about everybody,” the only everybody they really care about is their Republican base, corporations and their wealthy Republican Party donors. The masses of everyday working folks lose each and every time, and we see what’s happening each and every day.

Billie Montgomery-Cook, Portsmouth

17th Amendment

It’s time to remove the 17th Amendment from our Constitution. We should not elect U.S. senators. The original Constitution required the state legislatures to elect senators to have them represent the state. Virginia has two senators who represent Northern Virginia and Richmond. Sadly, both senators vote in lockstep with liberal philosophy. Let us get back to the belief that when senators are not representing the people, they could be replaced. Wake up America, we can do better.

Dick Jones, Virginia Beach

Trump’s plan

Re “Trump eyes more presidential clout” (July 18): Former President Donald Trump has always had designs to become a wannabe dictator and with the aid of his associates he will strive “to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government,” according to the New York Times article.

If elected, not only would Trump endeavor to bring independent agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission, under direct presidential control, but he would also reinstate the practice of “impounding” funds, “refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like — a tactic that lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon.”

But, he wouldn’t stop there. He would stop at nothing to remove all obstacles that would stand in the way of his agenda, including the removal of officials in the intelligence agencies, the State Department and the defense bureaus who he “has vilified as ‘the sick political class that hates our country.’”

Gerald and Ron Newman, Norfolk

Women voters

I cannot express how angry it makes me that certain people think they should have an opinion on my private life. I am talking about abortion. I cannot express how frustrating and sad it makes me that commonsense gun safety laws cannot pass. Our children are afraid to go to school. That should break everyone’s heart.

I plead with Republican women to stop this by not voting for any Republicans. With your help, we can say loudly, as written by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton, “I am woman, hear me roar.”

Margaret Williams, Virginia Beach

Homicides

Re “No. 1 threat” (Your Views, July 7): The letter claims white supremacists are our nation’s greatest threat but provides no data because there is scant evidence.

This is evidence: Using FBI statistics, Black people make up about 14.2% of the U.S. population and commit roughly 49% of homicides. This has been true for decades but ignored by a progressive media determined not to expose the effects of the collapse of the nuclear family.

Sanger Burk, Newport News

Trust is always harder to build than to destroy, and that’s true for financial markets too. The U.S. has borrowed tens of trillions of dollars and promised to pay it back, but investors have become increasingly skeptical. On Aug. 1, U.S. debt received a downgrade, meaning the Treasury appears less likely to be able to pay back the nation’s debt in a timely manner. That’s going to cost taxpayers.

The company behind the downgrade of U.S. Treasuries was Fitch, a nationally recognized statistical ratings agency (NRSRO). This isn’t the first time an NRSRO has downgraded U.S. debt. Standard & Poor’s did so in 2011, and Egan Jones followed suit in 2012. Each of these three downgrades has been preceded by high levels of government spending and record levels of government debt.

The downgrade by Fitch is not a big move in terms of overall rating, but it is significant. The drop from AAA to AA+ is still firmly in investment-grade territory, meaning the odds of default in the near term are still extremely unlikely, but it should not be ignored.

Debt is downgraded because the borrower is waving red flags. In the case of the U.S., we have more than $32 trillion in debt and are adding trillions per year. Total annual interest payments alone on that much debt costs us about $1 trillion — more than the entire Defense budget — and spending keeps growing. That is a recipe for insolvency and eventual default.

Unlike commercial paper (debt issued by corporations), governments have more than one way to default on their debt. Both corporations and governments can simply fail to make timely payments on their debt, resulting in an explicit default, but governments can also inflate their debt away by devaluing their currency. That’s precisely what we’ve seen under President Joe Biden.

Since Biden became president, the dollar has lost 16% of its value — about 6% per year. If you lent the Biden administration money at the time of his inauguration, say at 2% interest, after inflation you would have actually lost 4% per year, or 12% on your investment.

Investors realized this long before Fitch announced its downgrade of U.S. debt. Congress and the White House have been on a multi-trillion-dollar spending binge for three years, and the Federal Reserve has been all too happy to print the money needed to finance these blowout budgets.

That’s why the yield — the interest rate, meaning how much investors demand to be compensated for loaning their money — on U.S. debt has been steadily rising this year. My own empirical research has shown that NRSRO ratings tend to be lagging indicators of sovereign debt yields, since investors already know which governments are fiscally sound and which are barreling towards financial oblivion.

In terms of impact, a higher yield on U.S. debt means borrowing is more expensive for the Treasury, resulting in higher interest expenses. Like any Treasury expense, this cost is passed on to taxpayers. The financing cost of the U.S. debt is already exploding and quickly eclipsing almost everything else in the budget.

In June, the most recent month for which we have data, the Fiscal Service showed that the U.S. Treasury spent $120 billion on interest on the debt and a cumulative $650 billion in the current fiscal year. Interest on the debt now exceeds every line item in the Fiscal Service’s monthly statement except for the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.

And the problem is getting worse as the government continues racking up gargantuan deficits. In the first nine months of this fiscal year, the federal government has already amassed a larger deficit than the entire previous fiscal year — and we still have a whole quarter to go.

Congress and the White House need to immediately get their financial house in order. If they don’t, we’ll be right back on the inflation roller coaster with more hidden defaults on U.S. debt.

That will mean even higher yields, which leads to higher interest payments, which means even faster growing debt, and so on — a veritable death spiral. Time is running out before we reach the point of no return.

E.J. Antoni is a public finance economist at The Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow at Committee to Unleash Prosperity.

Monmouth County of New Jersey became the 2023 United States Lifesaving Association national champion, holding off a strong challenge from Delaware’s Sussex County to win the Howard Lee Trophy on Saturday.

Monmouth County last won a national championship in 2017.

The powerhouse from LA County Surf Life Saving Assoc., which has won the overall competition 46 times, rounded out the podium with a third-place finish.

“The Virginia Beach Lifeguard Association was honored to host the best lifeguards in the entire country this week,” said Tom Gill, the VBLA’s president. “Congratulations on a job well done to all of our courageous lifeguards who put their lives on the line every single day to keep our beachgoers safe.”

Monmouth County benefited from a strong team performance that included 60.25 open points and a top-five men’s overall individual finish from Ryan Matthews, 50.375 points from Charlie Rennard, 44.5 from Amy White, 42 from Brendan Kipnis and Peyton Ouano and 40.5 from Mary Kate George.

Sussex County swept the men’s and women’s beach flags (Sophia Gulotti and CJ Fritchman), men’s and women’s 4×100 relay and the women’s 90-meter sprint (Gulotti).

The top individual performers included women’s overall points leader Casey Francis, from Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, who won the American IronWoman and tallied top-five finishes in board rescue race, rescue race, surfboat race and run-swim-run. It was her third consecutive points title.

The men’s overall points winner was Thomas O’Neill from Riis Park, New York, who successfully defended the title he won last year in Hermosa Beach, California. O’Neill was impressive all week, winning the board rescue race and rescue race, finishing second in surf race, the Taplin race and Ironman, and third in run-swim-run.

LA County continued its excellence despite a reduced roster in 2023. Kelsey Cummings, who won the individual women’s title in Virginia Beach in 2019, finished in second place for the third year in a row. Holly Maine finished in fifth place, and Brian Murphy was the men’s individual runner-up.

The VBLA’s David Dierstein won the men’s age 45-49 2K Beach Run. His VBLA teammate Nancy Hodges was the 2K Beach Run runner-up in the age 65-69 category.

In the open women’s Landline Rescue, the VBLA team of Carson Yoder, Maddie Brooks, Samantha Tadder and Savannah Denis placed third.