LANDOVER, MD -- On the same track that Sean Holston ran a US #1 500 meter dash time of 1:03.93 at last weekend\'s F.I.T. Invitational, he did it again with another national leading time in the event he considers his specialty in the 300 meter dash. At the Southern Maryland Mega Meet held at Prince George County\'s Sports and Learning Complex, the Robert E. Lee senior put his name on the national leaderboard once again on an unbanked track with a 33.99 clocking in the event. With state leading times in three events, Holston is setting himself up for a rare sweep in the sprint events at the AAA State Meet in March at George Mason.
Just under 25 schools competed in the meet as two Virginia schools came out as team champs in Landover with the Centreville girls (74 pts) and Wesfield boys (60 pts).
The Centreville girls were led by junior Brittni Finch as the AAA State Indoor Meet record holder in the long jump picked up two wins on the day in the long jump (17\'6.50\") and triple jump (36\'4\").
Jordan Grant also picked up ten points with a victory in Landover as her 41.62 clocking gave the Centreville junior the win in the 300 meter dash. Grant also finished fourth in the 55 meter dash (7.55). She also helped close out the team victory on the Lady Wildcats\' 4x400 meter relay as they won in 4:07.23.
Meanwhile, the Westfield boys were pushed to a team title due greatly to the efforts from sophomore Matthew Anderson in the sprints. Anderson earned All-State honors last year indoors in the 500 meter dash, which is a tough event for any freshmen to make a splash in on the state scene. Anderson was a winner on Saturday in the 500 (1:06.96), while winning his section of the 300 meter dash (35.77) to take second overall to a US #1 run from Holston.
The Westfield girls had two runners cross the line first in the distance races. Tasia Potasinski of Westfield won the 1600 meter race in a time of 5:18.01 with Centreville freshmen Jenna Richmond in second at 5:19.58. Westfield teammate Brittany Sevachko came in third at 5:21.51.
In the 3200 meter run, Westfield had two of the top three finishers in similar fashion to the 1600 with sophomore Melissa DiVecchia picking up the win in 12:01.50 and Kayla Messell in third at 12:30.43.
George Marshall senior Jacqueline Hargrove had the first state best performance of the meet prior to Holston\'s state and national leading time in the 300 meter dash. Hargrove clocked a season best time of 1:18.91 and it appears the endurance she gained from the cross country season in which she ran under 21 minutes for 5K is paying dividends in the long sprint event. Hargrove finished fifth in last year\'s AAA State Meet in the 500 meter dash to garner All-State honors.
The reason why Holston may consider tripling up at the state meet is his team may have a shot at winning the AAA state crown if he can pull off the three wins and get points out of Josef Tessema in the distance events. Tessema is one of the top returning distance runners on the track after running 4:22 for 1600 meters and 9:29 for 3200 meters as a junior. In Landover on Saturday, Tessema won the 3200 meter event in a time of 9:49.46.
Finishing second in the race to Tessema was Thomas Jefferson junior Brian Landry in a time of 9:59.56, which is positive for Landry and the Thomas Jefferson team after their star runner missed all of the outdoor and cross countr season due to injury.
Centreville senior Phil Allison was unable to match his 6\'6\" personal best clearance from last Friday\'s F.I.T. Invite, but won yet again at the Prince George Complex with a height of 6\'4\".
Two throwers from the Northern Region went over 50 feet in the shot put with Yaky Ibia of South Lakes (50\'9\") edging out Andrew Pittman of Westfield (50\'6.75\") for first place honors. For Ibia, it was his first throw ever over 50 feet in a personal best performance.
With a 1:56 leg from Footlocker finalist Mike Spooner, the West Springfield boys clocked the second fastest time in the state this season in the 4x800 meter relay and earned an early season auto state qualifier in the event with a time of 8:10.89.
West Springfield sophomore Trish Friederich competed on the cross country team in the fall with Spooner, but track is where she shines and especially with hurdles in front of her as shown with a 8.56 win in the 55 meter hurdles at the Southern Maryland Mega Meet. Friederich was also a member of the winning 4x200 meter relay (1:49.04).
Thomas Jefferson senior Paul Norland was an easy winner in the 1600 meter run as he won by nine seconds in a time of 4:32.97.
Oakton junior Hallie Eilerts won the 800 meter run in a time of 2:25.45, while also helping the Oakton girls dip under 10 minutes to win the 4x800 meter relay (9:57) earlier in the meet.