VHSL Press Release: The discovery of a clerical error in the girls Group AA 800-meter race Saturday at Harrisonburg High School resulted in Park View-Sterling and Brentsville District sharing the 2008 VHSL Group AA girls track title with 42 points apiece. Brookville finished third with 39 points. “The officials at our Group AA meet have a great deal of experience running state level events,” said VHSL assistant director Tom Dolan. “No group is more disappointed in what occurred than our officials. We apologize to Park View for not properly recognizing their co-championship at the conclusion of the state meet. We also apologize to our athletes and teams who were involved in the 800-meter run.” During the third section of the girls 800-meter race, there was a failure in recording times in the primary camera/computer. Pictures were recorded; however, times were not recorded. The backup camera/computer was then checked and both pictures and times were recorded and then typed into the primary computer. A typing error was made which was not caught at that time. The error was brought to the attention of meet management and was checked and corrected on Monday. The correction resulted in the reduction of three points by Brentsville creating a tie with Park View-Sterling.
Coverage
Complete results are posted and all performances are entered from the 2008 VHSL Group AA State Championships held at Harrisonburg High School on Friday, May 30th and Saturday, May 31st. Photos, videos, and articles will added over the next few days from the meet in our complete coverage of the AA State Meet. VHSL Group AA State Championships - Complete Results VHSL Group AA State Championships Photo Gallery by Tom Hoerner - Photos to be posted soon. Natalie Baird broke not only her own state meet record in the discus, but shatters the 27 year old Virginia high school state record of 159'9" held by Lafayette's Jackie Wallace (1981) in her final attempt in Friday night's discus competition with a US #4 mark of 161'7". Her teammates did pretty well also with Julia Anyaugo as state runner-up at 129'11" and Lauren Tomlinson in fourth at 129'5", which helped give Park View a day one lead in the team scoring. With her win, Baird became a four-time state champion in the discus. She came back in Saturday's shot put competition to win her third title in the shot and seventh overall with a mark of 43'9". Photo by Joe Showker The Park View girls got all they possibly could have out of the two throwing events in their bid to try and defend their Group AA state title with 39 points contributed to their total team score of 42 points by their throwers, but the lack of point scorers in the running events caught up to them at the end as the Brentsville girls were able to move past them in points and take the Group AA state title with 45 points. Danyelle Kent-Robinson was the top individual performer for the Brentsville girls as she won the 100 meter hurdles state title in a 15.12 clocking, while finishing as a state runner-up in the 300 meter hurdles (45.96) and high jump (5'3"). The team also picked up points in the distance races with their 4x800 meter relay placing fourth and Maggie Gentry scoring in both the 3200 and 1600 meter races. The odds were stacked against him last year, but he stil pulled it off. Blacksburg senior Peter Dorrell almost did it once again despite having an even tougher road in his pursuit of the triple crown in the distance races. He did his part in the first two races with a two second win over Western's Tyler Stutzman in the 3200 at 9:19.73 and a much closer race in the 1600 with Turner Ashby's Alex Ott (2nd, 4:18.85) in a 4:18.28 win. Logan Collins of Orange County though was determined not to be Dorrell's third victim or repeat the outcome of the 1000 meter race from the indoor state meet between the two as he finished half a second ahead of Dorrell to win the 800 meter state title in 1:55.55. Outstanding effort by Dorrell though with a 1:55.96 runner-up performance in his third race of the weekend, which saw oppressively hot weather on day two. Photo by Joe Showker Western Albemarle boys (54 pts) added an outdoor state title to their indoor state title in 2008, but not before a challenge from the Brookville boys (45 1/3 pts) and Ethan Nixon. Nixon was a state champion in the triple jump (45'5.00") and 110 meter hurdles (14.78), while finishing in a tie for second in the high jump to keep Brookville within striking distance of the Warriors. Western Albemarle finished the meet in first place, but did not have a single first place finisher throughout the meet. Their 4x800 meter relay at 8:02.38 placed second to William Byrd (8:00.63) on Friday night and their top distance runner Tyler Stuzman was a state runner-up to Peter Dorrell in the 3200 meter run (9:22.38). Stutzman scored in three distance races for Western Albemarle as he came back on Saturday to place third in the 1600 (4:21.25) and sixth in the 800 (1:59.16). Points in the pole vault also gave them a boost with Ben Cherniawski as a state runner-up to Jamestown's Nick Durante and Tyler Lewandowski also placing in the event. More VHSL Group AA State Championships Highlights: Andre Wanzer of Brentsville had a break out meet as the junior won state championships in the 400 (50.00) and 200 (22.88) meter dash as well as anchoring the Brentsville 4x400 meter relay to a state title in 3:23.38. Krystal Parrish, a junior from Park View of South Hill, had a weekend of big marks in the jumps as she leaped to state titles in the long jump (18'10.25" wind-aided) and triple jump (38'2.25" wind-aided). The girls sprints were highly competitive as expected between York's Sherelle White, Grafton's Michelle Speede, and Dominion's Michelle Weatherly. White won the 100 in 12.61 (4.2 headwind), Speede won the 400 in 56.37, and Weatherly won the 200 in 26.00. After being unable to pick up wins in the 3200 on Friday and 1600 on Saturday, Laura Rapp somehow found the energy to win the 800 meter state title in her third race of the meet in 2:17.15. Only a freshmen, Hidden Valley's Annie LeHardy won her first state title in a very close 1600 meter race with Marion senior Maggie Graham with a final time of 5:06.13. The Heritage of Leesburg girls came close to the state meet record in the 4x400 meter relay with their sub 4 minute performance of 3:59.72. More to come from the VHSL Group AA State Championships...
Newspaper coverage across the state of the VHSL State Championships this past weekend: Daily Press: Watch and Learn Daily Press: York's White tops 100 Daily Press: Seventh isn't heaven for Peterson Daily Progress: Western takes state title Richmond Times-Dispatch: Witt beats heat, field Roanoke TImes: Dorrell short of triple Roanoke Times: Hart aids Byrd's relay win The Virginian-Pilot: Landstown girls, Western Branch boys complete indoor-outdoor sweep The Washington Post: Oakton's Lorusso seizes 1st outdoor championship The Washington Post: Afriyie wins discus for T.C. Williams The Washington Post: Amid controversy, Tigers shine
Photos taken by Tom Hoerner from the 2008 VHSL Group AA State Championships held Friday and Saturday, May 30th and 31st at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, VA.
The greatest double performance of all-time in the boys distance events took place Saturday evening at the California State T&F Championships. German Fernandez (Sr., Riverbank, CA), who'd been running incredibly well all year, ran one of the fastest 1600m times ever in 4:00.29 and the fastest all-time 3200m performance of all time in 8:34.23. See what else took place this weekend, as well as State Championship wrap-ups are up for CA, IN, KY, MI, VA and WI. **German Fernandez (CA) 4:00.29 1600m, 8:34.23 3200m at Cali State Meet!!! **Christine Babcock (CA) runs 4:33.82 at CA State Meet, U.S. #2 All-Time!!! **Jordan Hasay (CA) beats Laurynne Chetelat (CA) 9:52.13-9:52.51 3200m, U.S. #2 & #3 A-T!!! Top Boys Weekend Highlights - Dominguez (CA) blazes new U.S.#1 4x400m relay in 3:09.59 - Rob Finnerty (MN) runs 4:06.49 1600m, 9:00.94 3200m in MN - Nico Weiler (CA) vaults 17-03 to break state meet record in CA - Joey Hughes (CA) runs U.S.#1 400m in 46.28 at CA State Meet - Randall Carroll (CA) 100m in 10.42, 200m in 20.91 at CA State - Detroit Mumford (MI) wins 4x8 at MI State Champs in 7:44.79 - Mike Alleman (NJ) beats Nick Vena (NJ) in SP with 66-00.25 toss - Marcus Jenkins (WI) leaps 24-04 to win WI State long jump Top Girls Weekend Highlights - Vashti Thomas (CA) wins 100mH, LJ, TJ at CA State Meet - Shakeia Pinnick (IL) wins heptathlon with U.S.#1 5053 points in IL - Anna Jelmini (CA) 169-04 discus, 48-03.50 shot put at CA State - Akawkaw Ndipagbor (CA) runs U.S.#1 400m dash in 53.35 in CA - Long Beach Poly (CA) runs 3:40.87 in 4x400m relay at CA State - Rebecca Addison (MI) wins 1600m in 4:50.80 at MI State Champs. - Leslie Aririguzo (MI) runs 13.84 to win 100m hurdles at MI State - Ashley Beutler (WI) runs 10:33.43 in 3200m at Wisconsin State - Natalie Baird (VA) throws 161-07 in discus at Virginia State - Felisha Johnson (IN) throws 47-06.25 to win shot put at IN State - Alex Banfich (IN) wins 4:55.12 1600m, 10:46.55 3200m in Indiana
Congratulations Natalie Baird on setting a new VA state girls discus record at the VHSL Group AA State Championships with a throw of 161'7"! Photo by Tom Hoerner On Friday night at the VHSL Group AA State Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Natalie Baird gave her dad who also happens to be her coach a few more gray hairs. Baird waited until her final and sixth attempt to break Jackie Wallace’s 1981 state record in the girls discus throw of 159’9”. The Park View senior started out with a throw of 139 feet and then launched her next four throws over 150 feet. It looked like it would be another typical state meet for returning three-time discus state champion Baird: consistent and dominating. When she stepped into the discus circle for her final attempt in a high school state meet, all eyes were on the red-headed girl to see if she could pull it off in the clutch. She delivered. One hundred-sixty one feet and seven inches and a new Virginia high school state record.
Photo by John Herzog Natalie Baird makes track fans who know nothing about the throwing events, appreciate and draw attention to events often neglected in the sport. Her form and technique is clearly on a whole another level of sophistication than her fellow high school competitors in Virginia. You do not even have to know what is the proper way to throw a discus or explain the technical aspects of the throws, but can simply just point to her and say "that is how you do it right". Baird will be competing in her final VHSL State Championships this weekend at Harrisonburg High School. She will be the most decorated active high school state champion in Virginia this weekend. The William & Mary bound senior will be shooting for her fourth consecutive state title in the discus and third consecutive state title in the shot put. Few past throwers have maintained the consistent level of dominance within the state as Baird has since winning her first title as a freshmen in the discus. While she may have a season best mark of 158'11" which puts her 25 and 30 feet ahead of the next best discus throwers in the state, Baird is driven by the six inches which separated her last June from Jackie Wallace's Virginia high school outdoor state discus record of 159'9" in her 159'4" meet record mark at the 2007 AA State Meet.
It was not as certain after the cross country season if the regional realignments of the Group AA schools prior to the 2007-2008 year had done an adequate enough job of distributing the strength and depth in the classification among its four regions as Region II still held strong as the Group AA's superior region having a high proportion of individual athletes and teams finish among the top percentage at the state meet with also some deserving teams and individuals being left home after failing to advance out of a still fiercely competitive region meet. After reviewing the regional meet results last week, it appears that track is a different story with Region III virtually even with Region II as the best region in Group AA with Region I not too far behind. Read more...
Photo by John Herzog Dominion senior Jennifer Weatherly nearly won state titles in three sprinting events in the 2007 AA State Outdoor Meet as only a third place finishing time of 57.05 in the 400 meter dash spoiled a sweep after picking up a win prior in the 100 meter dash and another win afterwards in the 200 meter dash. She has positioned herself again to make an attempt at the state champion triple in the sprints as the leading entrant in the 100 (12.08), 400 (56.98), and 200 meter dashes (24.98). The UVA recruit has a strong shot at three first place finishes, but there are two good reasons named Sherelle White and Michelle Speede of Grafton why the rare feat will be challenging. She would be the first athlete to complete the triple since 1997 when Broadway's Keena Schuler won all three for the third year in a row. Read more...
Photo by Tom Hoerner The Western Albemarle boys will have an opportunity to win both the indoor and outdoor AA state crown this year as they head into this weekend's VHSL Group AA State Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the favorites coming out of Region II. With Tyler Stutzman leading the way for the Warriors as he attempts the distance triple (3200 on Friday, 1600 and 800 on Saturday), Western Albemarle could . The effect of AA switching their state meet schedule to including the 3200 meter run on Friday night several years ago will potentially have a big impact on the team scoring as the top two ranked teams coming in are both relying on their stud distance runner to come through in the three races with Western's Stutzman and Blacksburg sitting in second with the king of the distance triple in Peter Dorrell returning to see if he can pull it off again with victories in all three races. Only a handful of points separate the remaining teams contending for top 10 finishes including Brookville, Brunswick, Charlottesville, Heritage, Louisa County, Orange County, and Turner Ashby. These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We took the individual rankings and relay rankings and scored them as a normal meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. Note: Rankings do not include Region IV Meet results because results were never received. View full rankings with 47 teams scoring and see where each team may be getting their points at the state meet this weekend.
Performance list to the 2008 VHSL Group AAA State Outdoor T&F Championships to be held Friday, May 30th and Saturday, May 31st at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, VA.