Steven Hassen lets his true colors shine through: Orange and Blue. He has made a decision to go to the University of Florida. We sat down to talk with Steven about this decision, nutrition, shoes, and 80's movies!

Orginally set up to be a two day meet for this Friday and Saturday, the VHSL Group AAA State Meet has now become a condensed version with a one day setup for Saturday at George Mason University\'s indoor track facility. Along with having to pack in many events into one day, the day will be even more so packed with great performances.

While Lord Botetourt senior Adam Linkenauger did not have his best performance of the season at the Group AA State Meet, it was still good enough for the Clemson bound high jumper to come away with a state meet record and a state title. Linkenauger, who earlier in the month posted the nation\'s third best mark in his specialty at seven feet, came away with the state title with still a respectable mark of 6-8 to earn athlete of the week honors. Linkenauger will be looking to earn his second title as an All-American as he competes in the Nike Indoor Championships next month.

Gar-Field\'s Afua Amponsah simply dominated the Northwest Region Meet held at Fork Union\'s Estes Center. Running on a 160 meter non-banked track with spikeless racing shoes, Amponsah had an impressive triple win in the 55 meter dash (7.22), 55 meter hurdles (7.99), and 300 meter dash (42.39). Her 55 meter hurdle time ranks her first in the state as her amazing performance earned her athlete of the week honors.

An interview with Hoover High School\'s newest championship-caliber hurdler.

As the Canadian runner-up in the 800 meters, Lincoln has proven to be one of the more outstanding middle distance runners in the Big Ten today. Looking ahead to the outdoor season as well, Lincoln has his mind set on a great outlook for Penn State.

As one of the top throwers in the shot put in the country, Fregerg is also part of one of the strongest groups of throwers in the nation at Florida. As the top shot performer in the SEC as well, Freberg looks to help lead the lady Gators to several titles during her career.

Kenzie Lang is a freshman at The University of South Carolina in Columbia. Lang captured the 3A Cross Country State title in 1999 with a time of 18:53. Lang ran at A.C. Flora for six years. Kenzie is studying Mathematics and Education with the hopes of becoming a teacher and with time she wants to become an assistant principal or principal.

Conference meets kicked off with the Big East, ACC, and Mountain Pacific championships as well as four smaller conference meets (Atlantic 10, Southern, America East, and MAAC). Some were close

The 2003 Big East Indoor Championships took place in Syracuse, N.Y. as the Notre Dame men and Miami women came away with the team titles on the afternoon.

It could not have been any closer or any more exciting in the way the girls\' team title was decided at the Group AA State Indoor Track Meet. Going into the meet, it was pretty clear who would be the two major favorites going in. Heritage of Lynchburg with their great depth in the sprints and Western Albemarle, having the top distance crew in all of AA, were predicted to battle and war it was Friday at Virginia Tech\'s Rector Fieldhouse.

Schmidt is the defending NCAA outdoor champion in the 800 meters. As a six-tiime All-American and two-time NCAA runner-up, the Tar Heels know they have a jewel in their hands with the talents of Schmidt.

Jennifer Boyd of Hickory put forth one of the finest distance doubles by any Virginian at the Eastern Region Meet. The N.C. State bound senior posted improved upon her state best in the 3200 meter run with her winning time of 10:49.40 and just missed eclipsing Sarah Bowman\'s state best time of 4:54.68 with her time of 4:54.84 to earn a well deserved honor of athlete of the week.

The gap between national leader Steve Huntzinger of James Robinson and the rest of the state shot put throwers is quickly closing thanks to drastic improvements of First Colonial\'s Khalif Mitchell. At the Eastern Region Meet, Mitchell threw a personal best of 59-03.25 to firmly position himself second in the state behind 60 plus foot thrower Huntzinger and as well earn athlete of the week honors.

Simon has proved to be a key factor in LSU's run for another national title. The Barton CC transfer holds a personal best of 57-00.75 in the triple jump. Looking forward to competing in the long jump as well, Simon should rack up some major points for the Tigers.

With an increase of teams and athletes now participating in indoor track at the AA level, the bar has been rising in substantial increments every year in terms of the quality of the fields that have been gathering for the Group AA State Indoor Track Meet. This year appears to be no different with some heated team battles to be waged as well as many record breaking performances to be expected in the 2003 edition.

Chris Nickinson has improved rapidly over the past year and put up some excellent performances last fall including a 6th place finish at the state meet. Recently, he posted a new PR of 4:24.38 for the indoor mile at UF. We caught up with Chris to discuss cross country, the UF mile, and what lies ahead.

An excellent photo series of the very muddy Jr. Mens 8K National Championship in Houston, Texas.

Johnson was the first Texas Tech male to earn four All-American honors as a freshman in the 800 meters and 4x400 meter relay last year. With his sights set even higher for the 2003 seasons, Johnson looks to shock the world for years to come.

Spolidoro has had a breakthrough indoor season so far by hitting both NCAA automatic standards in the 3000 and 5000 meters. With the major improvement in her times from last season, Spolidoro looks forward to the outdoor season as well.

Well the NCAA indoor track championships are just around the corner. And there has been plenty of excitement from the runners expected to perform well.

The indoor track state meet for Group AA is scheduled for this Friday at Virginia Tech\'s Rector Fieldhouse. While a performance list has yet to be received from the Group AA state meet director, I had a lot of free time on my hands today while being snowed in and made a list of the top 10 AA performances this season to give AA coaches, athletes, parents, and fans a look at the top performers in each event thus far this season. Some events are less than 10 deep though because there have not been 10 AA performances that have met the MileStat.com elite standards.

With the Eastern Region Meet getting underway today at CNU and the Northwest, Northern, and Central regional meets being held this weekend also, here is a list of the top 10 performances in each region for each event to give a strong preview of who are the individuals and relays to look out for in each region.

A number of large invitationals dominated the scene this past weekend. None of them gave us big clashes between top individuals. We

There is a major double-threat down at The University of Texas in which you can

Mike Leary's photo series follows the progression of the boys mile battle.

The National Scholastic Sports Foundation (NSSF) is pleased to announce that the 2003 Great American Cross Country Festival (GACC) has chosen SAS Soccer Park located in Cary, North Carolina as the future home of the most successful in-season high cross country meet in the United States for elite teams and individuals.

For the second consecutive year at the Nike Indoor Championships, Outback Steakhouse will sponsor a banquet for athletes, parents and officials.

At the USA Cross Country Championships held at Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston, Texas, a handful of collegiates with Virginia high school ties as well as current Virginia high school preps competed in the junior men\'s 8K race. Finishing in the top six which advances onto the world cross country championships was former Marion High runner and current Georgetown University freshmen Fleet Hower as Hower took the final spot with a sixth place finish (27:31). However, Rockbridge County senior John Crews had an equally impressive performance to Hower by finishing as third fastest high school prep in the race with his 13th place finish (28:01). Crews was only 8 seconds behind the top high school cross country runner in the nation as Foot Locker champion Chris Solinsky finished ninth (27:53). Crews beat the likes of Ryan Deak, Bobby Curtis, and Matt Keally just to name a few with his finish

The USATF hosts the 2003 USA Cross Country Championships, beind held in Houston on February 15-16, 2003. Here are the final entries.

PJ Salerno is a cross country and track & field athlete at Eastside High School. Salerno is coached by Ed Boehmke. This is Salerno's first year running cross country and track.

Photos from last weekend's high school elite mile battle which followed the college meet at UF's O'Connell Center.

At the Razorback-Tyson Invitational held at the University of Arkansas's state of the art indoor track facility, Fork Union senior Kippy Keino ran the state's fastest time of the season for 1600 meters as he ran a 4:12.97 for a full mile to finish second in the high school boys' mile race behind All-American miler Adam Perkins of Missouri, while beating other national elite milers such as Mike Poe of California and Sam Bair of Pennsylvania.

Already hitting the automatic standards in the 800 and mile runs, McGettigan hopes to bring home multiple titles back to Providence. A force in the steeplechase as well, McGettigan looks forward to the outdoor season and representing Ireland well.

Allegheny senior Jeremy Scott upped his own D3 pole vault record by going well over 18 feet again this season. With a clearance of 19 feet in his sights, the sky seems to be the limit for one of the best vaulters in the country.

With teammate Christo Landry being injured early on in the indoor track season, it has allowed Keith Bechtol to emerge out of Landry\'s shadows this winter with some impressive racing. At the Concorde District Meet held at the Prince George County Sports and Learning Complex, the William & Mary bound senior came away with two district titles with an impressive distance double of 4:25.92 in the 1600 and 9:37.68 in the 3200 meter races. Earning athlete of the week honors, Bechtol is expected to be a state title contender in the 3200 meter run.

Running in less than ideal conditions on a chilly and windy day outdoors at Landstown High School\'s track for the Beach District Meet, Kellam senior Kelley Taylor was not deterred as she proceeded to part the winds en route to breaking two meet records with her times of 5:12.89 in the 1600 meter run and 11:27.40 in the 3200 meter run to earn athlete of week honors for her tough double in tough conditions.

The TCU track and field program, which has a long history of national prominence, may be in the best shape, both internally and externally, as its ever been. And the man in charge of the powerhouse program is eighth-year head coach Monte Stratton.

Griffith - 10:59.80; Finley scores 44; Altamont sweeps 1A-4A

Lenn sets three records; Scottsboro claims 3rd and 4th trophies of the year

At the UF Indoor Meet on February 9, we caught up with some of Florida's top alumni from the last few years. Read up on what they've been up to and their plans for the spring track seasons.

McWilliams has stepped onto the national scene in a big way by proving to be one of the best milers in the nation so far. As a valueable member of the indoor DMR as well, McWilliams hopes to rack up lots of points from the NCAA Championships.

Shunk placed second indoors and fifth outdoors in the high jump at the NCAA Championships last year. Already on par with some of the best high jumpers in the country right now, Shunk hopes to bring home his first individual NCAA title.

Mountain Brook and Hoover take different roads to top

With no major scored meets, the news of the weekend once again is based on who ran how fast. It\'s amazing how a lack of team scoring or relay emphasis can take such a fascinating sport and make it so boring.

Ryan Deak and Courtney Hall won the high school elite mile at UF Indoors. Alan Webb made an appearance in the 800m and many other college stars came out at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville.

Shelley Paige is a freshman distance runner at Greenville High School. She is looking to go under six minutes in the mile during her 2003 track campaign. Paige also runs cross country for the Red Raiders.

Ashland senior Adriane Blewitt extended her national lead in the shot put while Allegheny senior Jeremy Scott upped his own D3 pole vault record to highlight the Doug Raymond Invitational in Kent, Ohio.

Jones was the first true freshman at LSU to ever earn All-American honors indoors in the 60 meter hurdles in 2001. Jones repeated in true form last year by taking fourth overall in the same event and then second in the 100 meter hurdles outdoors.

The question everyone has been asking lately: where is Marc Sylvester? The 2002 NCAA indoor runner-up and sixth place finisher outdoors in the 800 meters -- all as a true freshman -- has yet to be seen in the orange and white for Tennessee this season.

While Fork Union senior Kippy Keino faltered to a fourth place finish in the elite high school boys\' mile race at the Milrose Games, he made it a truly exciting race as he pushed the race pace when no one else was willing.

There were no major scored meets this week, so the news centers on individuals rather than teams. If you watched the adidas/Boston Invitational on TV, you didn\'t see the collegiate performance of the week.

You are either thinking; Dusty who, Dusty what, or how in the world did this guy get so good, so quick? Dusty Lieb, the 19-year-old sophomore from the University of Pennsylvania, was able to run down 10 four-minute milers at this past fall

William Fleming\'s Ryan McCoy made sure he got the crowd going before all his jumps at the Microtel Invitational. As he got the audience clapping in a momentous rhythm, McCoy sprinted down the runway to a superb national leading jump of 49-7 in the triple jump to earn athlete of the week honors.

Tallwood junior Faraign Giles staked her claim as the top 500 meter runner in the state as well as one of the best in the nation at the distance as she ran the nation\'s third fastest time with her 1:14.61 win at the Microtel Invitational to earn athlete of the week honors.

Richards was arguably the most dominant female high school athlete in 2002. The national high school record holder in the 400 meters already has proven to be a force so far this season at Texas. Richards looks to continue that success throughout her career.

Hoover\'s junior hurdle and sprint standout Erica Russ only ran two races this season before going down with an injury.

Lee is the defending indoor champion in the 200 meters. An excellent short sprinter as well, Lee has already opened her 2003 season with blistering fast times in the 60 meters. As a key point scorer for the lady Tigers, Lee hopes to also lead them to a national title.

Hoover, Mountain Brook win team titles

On the last date to qualify for next weekend\'s state championships, several Alabama athletes fully capitalized on the opportunity by not only getting marks, but ensuring top seeds as well.

Green opened her 2003 indoor campaign with an NCAA automatic mark in the shot put. As one of the favorites for the title this season, Green looks to improve upon her other events as well to score big points for the Wildcats at the national meet.

Photos from the 2003 Highschool Indoor Qualifier hosted by LSU.

A windfall of state bests and national leading times swept through the two day Microtel Invitational held at the fastest indoor track in the state of Virginia at Virginia Tech\'s Rector Fieldhouse. With a meet combining the best Virginia has to offer with some great out of state competition, great performances were bound to happen.