A later release of the performance list forces the preview to be a little shorter than usual.
What to look out for....
Girls Field Events
Shakia Forbes is the state leader in the long jump and looks ready to pop the state\'s first jump over 19 feet this season at CNU.The Bethel senior has a total of six marks over 19 feet in the past including a 19\'9.75\" best last July in the USATF Junior Olympic Nationals.
Can Kayla Campbell of Bethel establish herself as one of the AAA\'s top throwers? It would certainly help Coach Eddie Williams and the Bethel girls in making another state title run being able to pick up key points in the shot put. Campbell is the top seed at CNU in the event.
Right now it is a down year from 2006 in the pole vault for the girls with only Anne Marie Gordon of Mills Godwin having cleared over 11 feet. There are three competitiors at CNU with listed bests of 10\'6\" or better with Westfield\'s Betsy Alter leading the way. Last indoor track season, Virginia had five girls clearing 11 feet or better.
The girls\' triple jump will feature Western Branch\'s Ermesha Fair, who just missed All-American honors last year at Nike Indoor Nationals with a seventh place as a sophomore. Fair is the top seed with a best of 37\'8.75\", but will have two competitors in Atlee\'s Mansfield Murph and Elaine Rhoades that have jumped over 37 feet in the past.
Possibly one of the more exciting matchups in the meet in the girls\' high jump with DeShana Briggs of Booker T. Washington and Ashley Gatling of Deep Creek. Both have cleared 5\'10\" in the past and return as some of the nation\'s best high jumpers. Gatling has the state championships with titles in indoors and outdoors, while Briggs is searching for her first after coming on late at the end of last outdoor season.
Boys Field Events:
Lake Braddock senior Ian Prohaska will be looking to move into sole possession of second in the state in the pole vault by bettering his current season best clearance of 14\'0\". Currently he shares the second place state ranking with David Inge of E.C. Glass and would like to establish himself as the favorite to win the AAA crown this year.
State leader Predist Walker of Lakeland is coming off his 22\'5.25\" best last Friday at the UMES Coach O Invitational. Walker will need to match that performance or better it with several other athletes in the long jump at the Freeman Center, who have jumped well this season. Oscar Smith\'s Wesley Smith is entered and has the state\'s second best mark this season behind Walker at 22\'3\" from the first CNU high school meet.
The big boys will be coming out in the shot put with a total of nine competitors with marks over 50 feet including state leader Frede Spellman of Oscar Smith. Spellman put his state best earlier in the season at CNU with a throw of 57\'3.75\". Look to Denbigh\'s Jaymes Brooks (55\'3.75\" season best) and Clover Hill\'s Blake Christopher (4th, 53\'2\") to attempt to knock off Spellman.
Returning AAA state outdoor champion in the triple jump and current state leader Antonio Miller will be eager to improve upon his 46\'7\" state best this weekend in Newport News. Miller has an all-time best of 48 feet that he would like to approach at CNU. Lafayette\'s Garrick Piggott is not far behind him on the state leaderboard after leaping to a mark of 46\'5\" in a polar bear meet at Louisa County High School last Saturday and will be going up against Miller this weekend.
Two high jumpers at 6\'6\" will go head to head with the state\'s top returning high jumper Kevin Nichols of Hickor y and defending private school state champion Ryan Edlich of Bishop Sullivan. Nichols cleared 6\'8\" last year at the AAA State Indoor Meet to place third behind Marlon Woods of Booker T. Washington and Corey Vinston of Phoebus.
Girls Sprints/Hurdles:
The 55 meter hurdles for the girls will be just straight nasty with three All-American hurdlers in the event with Tierra Brown of Hampton and the Menchville duo of Kali Watkins and Nicole Saunders. Both Brown and Watkins are proven 55 meter hurdlers, but Saunders has competed sparingly in the event as she has done the sprints during indoors to prepare herself for outdoors where she shines in the 300 and 400 meter hurdles. Watkins is the defending state champion in the event and earned All-American honors in the 60 meter hurdles at last March\'s Nike Indoor Nationals. Brown got the edge over Watkins during outdoors in the 100 meter hurdles, so it will be interesting to see if that translates over to indoors. Saunders will simply be the wildcard that cannot be overlooked with the success she has had in everything she has competed in. There are going to be some very good hurdlers left out of the finals with two handfuls of hurdlers with legit times well under nine seconds in the preliminary heats.
No one has really stepped up as the state\'s premier sprinter just yet with the huge void that the graduation of 300 and 400 meter high school national record holder Francena McCorory left. The CNU Showcase may be the meet in which someone answers the call.
Menchville\'s Nicole Saunders was part of the race in which McCorory set the national record for 400 meters at Nike Indoor Nationals last March and will be the favorite in Friday night\'s 500 meter dash. Saunders has rarely competed in the long spring event, but if she can run 55.73 outdoors in the open 400 meters and 58.88 with hurdles in front of her for 400 meters, she can certainly run a solid 500 meter dash time. She will be tested in the event though Landstown\'s Cierra McGee and Atlee\'s Mansfield Murph. Murph had a stellar sub 1:20 performance at VMI\'s track last week and will be looking to drop her time a few seconds on CNU\'s faster 200 meter track.
Woodside junior Dominique Jordan has raced quite a 500 meters races in the past as she has a 1:16 best to her credit, but she will be focusing on the 300 meter dash on Saturday and hoping to clock her first sub 40 second time in the event. Jordan is the top returning quarter miler in the state after running 54.53 for 400 meters last spring at the Eastern Region Meet before injuring herself in the week leading up to the state championships.
The 55 meter dash will be missing the state leader and returning 100 meter outdoor state champion Shanneka Claiborne of Matoaca as she will be competing at the FUMA Invitational on Saturday, but many top returnees in the event will be present at the Freeman Center this weekend including Crystal Carrington of Bethel, who posted a converted time of 7.08 last year at Virginia Tech from the 60 meter dash. Look out for RahSheeta Hundley as well in representing the small schools as she competes at Group A\'s West Point and is the defending 100 meter state champion.
Boys Sprints/Hurdles:
Lakeland senior Predist Walker will favored in two events this weekend with the long jump and 55 meter hurdles as he is one of the state\'s top returnees in the hurdle event and has ran 7.74 this season. However, not so fast as Kevin Newsome of Western Branch defeated Walker earlier in the season at the first CNU meet when Walker ran 7.74 with a 7.71 victory. Expect another close battle between the two in Saturday\'s finals.
Friday evening\'s 500 meter dash has several competitors that could come on top with the win. Westfield sophomore Matthew Anderson has the second fastest time in the state currently at 1:06.62 as he finished second to Sean Holston when he ran the US #1 time in the event at the F.I.T. Invite. Behind Anderson are several athletes, who have yet to break 1:08 this season with Bethel\'s Sherrard Marrow (1:08.31), Bethel\'s Russell Williams (1:08.52), Lake Braddock\'s Chris Letson (1:08.56), and Westfield\'s Kevin Dillar (1:08.67), Everyone in that group will be looking to put up season bests on the track this weekend. Anderson\'s biggest challenger will likely be Kevin Wilson of Landstown, who ran a 1:05 500 last year as a junior and also clocked a 400 meter time of 48.52 last spring.
The 300 meter dash will be Anthony Chesson of Manchester versus the Eastern Region as one of the state\'s top sprinters will be going up against a field dominated by the talented pool of sprinters found in the Tidewater region. Chesson has ran 35 flat already this season and is ranked only behind US#1 Sean Holston in the event in Virginia.
Manchester could potentially take two of three sprint events with Chesson in the 300 meter dash and teammate Reggie Hill in the 55 meter dash. Hill had a strong race last time at CNU at the Winter Frolic on December 9th as he was a close third in the finals with a personal best clocking of 6.47 in the 55 meter dash behind I.C. Norcom\'s Isaiah Gyasi (6.45) and Chesson (6.46).
Girls Distance:
Friday night will feature the 1600 meter run for the distance events with defending indoor and outdoor AAA state champion for 1600 meters in Kristy Tobin of Great Bridge headlining the field. Last spring, Tobin ran 4:53 for 1600 meters at the AAA State Meet in Newport News and will be looking to kick off her indoor season with fast early time in the event. Midlothian\'s Kathleen Lautzenheiser may be the most fit right now to challenge her after running a 5:18 1600 meter time at the Ashe Center two weeks ago, but she will be doubling back from the 4x800 meter relay earlier in the evening and Tobin\'s finishing wheels will be tough for any runner in the race to overcome.
The 1000 meter run on Saturday looks to be best race among the distance events with two sub 3 minute runners in Tobin and Tasia Potasinski as well as Midlothian\'s M.C. Miller with a 3:00 best in the event. If the race is anything like the last time both Tobin and Miller met, it should be an exciting race. The two battled it out for the 1600 meter state championship last spring with Tobin getting the win and both recording personal bests of 4:53. Potasinski is a strong threat to beat both of them though as she dipped under three minutes to earn All-State honors at last year\'s indoor state meet and is coming off a 1600 meter run last weekend at the Prince George Complex in Maryland.
It should be fairly wide open as to who will win the 3200 meter run with several runners have legitimate shots at going for the win. Leia Lautzenheiser of Midlothian looked impressive in a sub 11:20 performance at the Ashe Center in Richmond only a few weeks ago. Anastasia Abid is a returning All-State performer in AA in the event as is Midlothian\'s Samantha Dow, who picked up All-State honors indoors in the event in AAA last March. Tallwood\'s Octavia Rinehardt could make for a sweep of the distance events for the Eastern Region girls if Tobin is able to pick up wins in both the 1600 and 1000 earlier in the meet. Rinehardt had a strong close in cross country to earn All-State honors and will be looking to drop her 11:37 3200 meter personal best significantly on Saturday.
Boys Distance:
It looks to be a Central Region battle up front in Friday night\'s 1600 meter run with Atlee sophomore Ben Dejarnette and Midlothian junior Jason Witt. Witt is primarily a two miler on the track with a 9:19 best for 3200 meters, but is capable of dropping down to the shorter event and post a solid time. Meanwhile, the 1600 meter run is Dejarnette\'s specialty as ran the state\'s second fastest time for a freshmen last year behind Thomas Porter at 4:27. Witt ran his personal best in the same race as Dejarnette recorded his with a 4:24 at the Central Region Meet last May. It will be interesting to see how the switch of the 1600 meter run from Saturday to Friday affects some runners that were slated to compete in the 4x800 meter relay on Friday as well.
Several runners are in the hunt in Saturday\'s 1000 meter run as Hermitage\'s Kieran Lee leads all competitors with a 2:36 best. Teammate John Vial is not far behind at 2:37 and neither is Oakton\'s Joe Lorusso or Midlothian\'s Jason Witt. The Manchester track team has to be excited to see the return of Andrew Duty as he would be one of the favorites in the event as one of the state\'s top returning middle distance runners, but he is coming off a long break from a stress fracture suffered near the end of the cross country season.
Andrew Mearns of Jamestown has the fastest personal best coming into the 3200 meter run with a 9:35 from last spring, but does not necessarily guarantee him the win with a solid group of runners seeded behind him. Daniel Cummings of Bethel and Andrew Earehart should fair well in the race among the Eastern Region runners, while Hermitage\'s Ben Hendrick and Midlothian\'s Jonathan Mellis are capable of winning it as well. Mellis could finally give the state champion and NTN cross country team from Midlothian their second sub 10 performer in the event behind ace Jason Witt.
Girls Relays:
The 4x800 meter relay looks to be a preview of the top three contending teams for the AAA state title in the event. The race will feature defending outdoor champions Lake Braddock, defending indoor champions Midlothian, and the team with the fastest returning time in Westfield. Lake Braddock returns three members of their 9:15 outdoor state champion squad. Midlothian returns all four members from their 9:20 indoor state champion squad. Westfield returns all four as well from their 9:14 state leading outdoor squad. Also an interesting twist in the event will be the \"B\" team of the Midlothian girls also racing with a squad that could well under 10 minutes with the Lautzenheiser twins, Kathleen and Leia, featured on the relay.
Expect to see plenty of teams well under 1:50 when the Eastern Region girls butt heads in the 4x200 meter relay. Bethel has consistently had one of the best relays in the state in this event over the years and they will be putting two of their top sprinters on the relay with Crystal Carrington and Shakia Forbes. Look to Landstown to challenge if they load up as well.
It will be another Eastern Region Meet preview in the 4x400 meter relay as Landstown will likely be stacking this event over the 4x200 meter relay and the Bethel girls will be looking to make statement that they are still the team to beat in life after Francena McCorory. Menchville, Hampton, and Oscar Smith are all other teams to be wary of with the talent on their rosters.
Boys Relays:
Look to see a battle between two of the state\'s better cross country teams this fall in Oakton and Hermitage to do battle in the 4x800 meter relay. Oakton, the 3A state runners-up, will feature All-State cross country runner Joe LoRusso in their lineup and Alex Nissen and Matt Saunders both should be solid legs as well. Hermitage has no Alex Bowman to run down an entire field and bring them from behind on anchor, but have four steady legs in Walter Kidd, Ben Hendrick, Kieran Lee, and John Vial who should not drop them out of any contention at any point of the race.
Manchester holds the state\'s fastest time in the 4x200 meter relay currently at 1:31.10 and will have to a clear big hurdle of a bunch of Eastern Region teams looking to knock them off the top. Deep Creek has the tradition on their side despite major losses due to graduation. Meanwhile, Bethel returns a lot of talent from promising young sprint relays last year. This race will start to really filter out who will have the relays to be reckoned with this season.
Another hotly contested race should close the meet in the 4x400 meter relay. Bethel returns everyone from a 3:20 outdoor state champion relay team and should be the favorites to win. Sherrard Marrow is their top leg after breaking 50 minutes for 400 meters last spring only as a sophomore. Manchester will be loading up as well with the current state leaders at 3:29. Westfield should challenge as well with a squad that features 1:06 500 meter runner Matthew Anderson and another solid leg in Kevin Dillard.