Holston: The next Triple Crown Winner at the State Meet
Ronnie Ray of Ferguson set the state and national record in the 440 Yard Dash at 45.8 at the 1972 State Meet held at the University of Virginia.
Using the Track and Field News conversion chart to convert this time to an equivalent metric time you would subtract 0.3 seconds – giving you a 45.5
To convert the hand time to automatic time the VHSL says to add .24 seconds
(Track and Field News would only add .14 seconds as the start is beside the timers) this would give a 45.74 for the VHSL or 45.64 for T & FN.
The closest any AAA runners have come to this was the
46.21 Rickey Harris ran at the 2000 State Meet and the
46.25 Kerry Wooden ran at the 1987 State Meet.
The talk of the “experts” for the 2007 State Meet is Sean Holston of Robert E. Lee
He comes into the state meet with very impressive nationally ranked times:
10.59 for the 100 Meter Dash
21:07 for the 200 Meter Dash
46.47 for the 400 Meter Dash
How does this stack up with some of our past greats actual state meet performances:
Charles Clark of Bayside in 2006
100 Meter Dash 10.51
200 Meter Dash 21.47
400 Meter Dash 47.21
LaShawn Merritt of Wilson in 2004 (into a horrible headwind)
100 Meter Dash 10.47
200 Meter Dash 21.13
400 Meter Dash 47.69
Rickey Harris of Centreville in 2000
100 Meter Hurdles 13.50
200 Meter Dash 21.35
400 Meter Dash 46.21
Kerry Wooden of Warwick in 1987
400 Meter Dash 46.25
200 Meter Dash 21.0 (hand time - auto timing failure)
Ronnie Ray of Ferguson in 1972
220 Yard Dash 21.6 (first time the 220 was run with a curve – before it was a strait race)
440 Yard Dash 45.8
Mile Relay 3:17.7
Ray Pollard of Huntington High School in 1964 (now coaches Heritage)
100 Yard Dash 9.6
220 Yard Dash 21.0
440 Yard Dash 46.6 (this was his record split that earned him MVP at the ’64 Penn Relays
You compare
Will the 400 record be in jeopardy? To quote Al Borlin on Home Improvements “I don’t think so Tim.”
Will Holston make history?
Let’s pull for Sean to become one of the very few Virginia Triple Crown Winners.
Photo of Holston by Ted Plunkett.
6'0 High Jump at the AAA State Meet?
6’1/8” is the AAA Girls High Jump Record. It was set in 1976 at the AAA State Meet held at the University of Virginia by Paula Girven of Gar-Field. It is the oldest of the many old AAA State Meet girls’ records. Once again certain “track experts” predict that this record will fall this year.
Ashley Gatling of Deep Creek, who has been the dominant high jumper in Virginia the last four years (winning the state outdoor titles in 2004, 2006) is the likely candidate to break the record. She comes in with an impressive 5’10” jump from last weeks Eastern Regional Championships. (She is the only jumper coming in with a jump over 5’8”)
But will she finally get the record?
Only two girls have jumped over 5’8” at the AAA State outdoor meet since Girven’s record jump in 1976. (Girven’s 5’10” in 75 was the only other over 5’8” jump prior to that). Carmen Mann of Falls Church jumped 5’9 in 1985. Krystle Moss of Thomas Jefferson jumped 5’11” in 2001
Gatling won her two previous championships with jumps of 5’8” and her 2nd place in 2005 was also with a jump of 5’8”. Will she make history or join the past greats that, though dominant in their events, do not hold an individual event state outdoor meet record:
Dawn Sowell, LaTasha Colander, Benita Fitzgerald, or Francena McCorory
Lets pull for Ashley to break the 6'0" barrier!
Photo by John Herzog
.JPG)
20' Long Jump at the AAA State Meet?
Only three girls have gone over 20' feet at the AAA State Meet. Record holder Piper Bressant of JHW went 20'6 1/2" to edge out Tamela Penny of Hermitage who had just jumped 20'2" in the classic 1981 long jump.
It would be 2000 before 20' was reached again. Sheena Johnson of Gar-Field went 20'2 1/2" at Sports Backers Stadium at the 2000 State Meet. Since Johnson's jump in 2000 only two girls have jumped over 19' at the AAA state meet.
Amy Seward of Salem VB jumped 19'4" in 2001
Yvette Lewis of Menchville jumped 19'10 3/4" in 2003
Last year our best jump was 18'9 by Brittni Dixon of Woodbridge.
This year the odds makers say Bethel Senior Shakia Forbes, last year's runner up at 18'8", has the best shot at breaking the 20' barrier. She has been at the door all season. She will be joined by a stellar returning group of long jumpers:
Brittni Dixon-Smith of Woodbridge last years champion at 18'8"
Brittni Finch of Centreville 18'7 1/2" at last years state meet
April Sinkler of Brooke Point 18'4" at last years meet.
Rachel Butler of Lee - Davis did not jump last year.
All these ladies come into the meet having jumped 18'11" or better (Forbes 19'8” and Sinkler's 19'7” the best)
Can they match the greatest girls long jump in state meet history:
1981
Piper Bressant JHW 20'6 1/2"
Tamela Penney Hermitage 20'2 1/2"
Tracy Valentine Armstrong - Kennedy 19'9 3/4"
Patricia Richardson GW - Danville 19'2 1/4"
Angela Jones Groveton 19'2 1/4"
You may ask where did these jumps come from:
Bressant was seeded with a 18'2 1/4"
Penney was seeded with a 19'6 1/2"
Valentine was seeded with a 18'5 3/4"
Richardson was seeded with a 18'1 1/2"
Jones was seeded with a 18'5 1/2"
All of these girls stepped up to the plate under pressure.
Will the 2007 jumpers do the same?
The record jumps at Todd Stadium were made at the other side of the stadium. The boys jump there now and they hold the pole vault at that end. It seems that the girls have not jumped as well with a few exceptions on the runway that was built on the other end of the track.
Let’s hope for some great jumps with no wind assistance.
Photo by John Herzog