At the St. Christopher\'s Mid-Atlantic Track Clash in Richmond, the track facility proved itself to be one of the fastest 200 meter flat tracks in the state and country with the performances turned in. There were a total of four US #2 flat track times recorded with Midlothian\'s Jason Witt in the 3200 meter run (9:17.57), Cox\'s Eddie Judge in the 1600 meter run (4:16.28), and the Manchester boys in the 4x200 (1:30.60) and 4x400 (3:22.44) meter relays.
Midlothian junior Jason Witt was worrying that he waited too long to compete in his first 3200 meter race this season. With district and regional championships for Witt being run on a slow track at the Arthur Ashe Center, the Clash was Witt\'s first and last chance to run a fast time to secure himself a spot in the fast section in the 3200 meter run at the VHSL Group AAA State Meet. Witt should run under desperate circumtances more often as he led from wire-to-wire in a solo effort and US #2 flat track time of 9:17.57 to win the 3200 meter run. Witt split 4:36 at 1600 meters to set himself up for the fast time and came back with a 4:41 last half to give himself the second fastest time in the state behind Blacksburg junior and US #1 Peter Dorrell at 9:10.76.
Dorrell was present at the Clash as he competed in the 1600 meter run later in the meet. With four entries at 4:22 or faster this season for 1600 meters, Dorrell was expected to receive some form of a challenge despite running 4:18.01 for a full mile last weekend at Virginia Tech. However, few could have expected the finish and time from Cox senior Eddie Judge. Dorrell looked to be pulling away for a convincing win entering the final lap, but Judge had a furious kick to chase down Dorrell and pass him on fhe final stretch for a personal best 4:16.28 win. Judge had a previous best of 4:20 from a win at UNC last month and now finds himself with the second fastest flat track time in the country. Dorrell finished in second with a solid time of 4:17.64.
The Manchester boys really needed this meet. After having two botched relay handoffs at CNU and Virginia Tech, the previous state leader in the 4x200 meter relay was a little down heading into championship season. After this weekend though, Manchester now finds themselves on top again and riding into championship season with a steam of confidence.
Highland Springs had knocked off Manchester for the state\'s top time last weekend at Virginia Tech, but experienced similar handoff woes at the Clash to be disqualified. Manchester was able to rectify their recent problems with clean handoffs and rolling to a state best of 1:30.60 to be the banked track time of Highland Springs. In comparision to other flat track times in the country this season, Manchester now has the second fastest from their time this weekend at St. Christopher\'s.
Manchester\'s win in the 4x400 meter relay was a bit more of a surprise and upset as Bethel came in as the favorite after running a state best of 3:21.26 last weekend at Virginia Tech. Manchester had no handoff issues in Blacksburg with their 4x400, but ran a time four seconds slower than Bethel at 3:25.46. Bethel appeared to have the win in sight with their anchor leg getting the baton in the lead. However, thanks to an outstanding anchor leg from Manchester senior Anthony Chesson with a 48.9 split, the Lancers were able to beat the state\'s top ranked team with a time of 3:22.46.
Both Manchester and Bethel\'s (3:22.58) times beat Western Branch\'s 3:23.21 from last weekend at St. Christopher\'s to dip under the facility record. All three squads should in be in contention for the state championship in the relay event at George Mason. Three of the country\'s four fastest 4x400 meter relay times have now been run at St. Christopher\'s in a two week span.
I.C. Norcom\'s Isaiah Gyasi denied Manchester from having a perfect day in taking the win in the 55 meter dash with a 6.43 clocking to win the 55 meter dash with Chesson taking second in 6.48 and teammate Reggie Hill in third at 6.55.
Matoaca\'s Aramis Massenburg was not able to improve upon his 7.48 spikeless state best, but still picked up a win over a quality field with a 7.63 clocking in the 55 meter hurdles.
Hermitage had two of the top three finishers in the 1000 meter run with Kieran Lee picking up a 2:34.82 personal best win and teammate Ben Hendrick in third place at 2:36.79. Andrew Duty gave a positive sign for Manchester\'s state title hopes as a team in finishing second in the 1000 meter run at 2:36.40 as he works himself back into shape coming off of a stress fracture injury.
Jamestown ran the fastest time in the state this season so far in the distance medley relay with a time of 10:52.45 as they plan to compete in the event at Nike Indoor Nationals.
It is hard to imagine that Midlothian senior M.C. Miller now has the fourth fastest time this season for 1000 meters on her own team. But after strong times from teammates Leia Lautzenheiser (3:00.63) and Paige Johnston (3:01.25) at Virginia and Samantha Dow\'s race at the Clash, Miller\'s 3:02.65 season best in now fourth best on the team. Dow was pulled through to the team\'s fastest time of 2:58.33 by previous state leader Cate Berenato as the Blacksburg senior lead from start to finish. Berenato was given a challenge by Dow on the homestretch, but was able to hold her off for a personal 2:58.21 and break three minutes for the first time in one of the most exciting finishes in the meet. Both Berenato and Dow had been the only Virginians to break three minutes this season until Catherine White later in the day in New York ran her 2:52.25 state best.
Blacksburg had another individual winner on the day with junior Laurel MacMillan in the 3200 meter run. Midlothian freshmen Leia Lautzenheiser led a very much intact field through 1600 meters just under 5:30 with an even faster first 800 meter pace. The hot early pace affected all in the field in the last half of the race except for MacMillan who looked strong in the final 400 meters of the race to pass Lautzenheiser and run a personal best time of 11:08.95. MacMillan also broke Katie Doswell\'s facility record of 11:17 from last year.
In a battle between two of the Central Region\'s best hurdlers, Wanetta Kirby of Huguenot and Rachel Butler of Lee-Davis, Kirby finished on top with a personal best clocking of 8.33. Her time is third best in the state this season.
The Bethel girls picked up swift flat track time victories in the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relay at the Clash. The Lady Bruins found themselves challenged by Deep Run (1:45.32), but crossed the line first in a time of 1:44.71. In the 4x400, the Bethel girls ran their fastest time of the season in a 4:02.21 victory.
Both Brooke Point and Maggie Walker were hoping to get under the AAA State Meet auto qualifying time of 9:45.60. Despite a spirited and competitive race down to the finish, both Brooke Point (1st, 9:46.45) and Maggie Walker (2nd, 9:47.59) just missed qualifying and will have to finish in the top three in their regional meets to advance onto George Mason.
Despite the hopes of the first sub 5 minute girls time at St. Christopher\'s, the race between Great Bridge\'s Kristy Tobin and Deep Run\'s Courtlin LaReau turned into a slow and strategic one with a 2:36 first 800 meters. The slow pace turned out to play right into the hands of Tobin with her 2:12 800 meter speed as she passed LaReau on the final lap for a 5:08.13. LaReau, who had ran 5:04 in a solo effort at St. Christopher\'s last month, finished second in 5:09.29 and Becky Stewart of Brentsville was not far behind in third at 5:10.69.
Matoaca\'s Shanneka Claiborne continues to be undefeated in the 55 meter dash this season on the road to her road to the state meet as she clocked a 7.16 to set a facility record in the event.
Excluding the distance medley relay since it was the first time that the event had been contested at St. Christopher\'s, 13 of the 16 high school events contested broke the previous facility record. One of the events thad did not have a facility record was also the US #1 time for the 4x800 meter relay with Fork Union\'s 7:52 performance last weekend and another event included the current facility record holder with Courtlin LaReau of Deep Run in the 1600 meter run.
More to come from the Clash including race videos!