The 2016 installment of the Virginia Tech Invitational is going to be huge! Nearly every single event is stacked with state champions and even national record holders. From top to bottom this is going to be a huge meet and you can basically say good bye to the entire state leaderboard after this event.
Boys State Leaderboard (National Leaderboard)
Friday Heat Sheets - Saturday Heat Sheets
Top 50 Performance All-Time by Event @ VaTech Invite
Though the entire invitational is going to be jam packed, the main event of this meet is going to be the boys' 300m dash. It will feature both Lyles brothers and Michael Davenport all in the final section. Noah will be in the prime lane four and Josephus will be to his outside with Davenport in lane three. Though all of the guys in the final section are big names, this is Noah's race and all indications point to a national record chase in this one. The national record is 33.05 and Noah's personal best is 33.32 run here last year. He definitely has the speed to take this record down but he will need a good start and the motivation to push that final 100m.
Both Lyles brothers will be teaming up in the 4x200 it looks like to chase down some other records as well. In this event though they are going to have to go through Archbishop Carroll (DC), Phoebus, Largo, Bishop Mac, and DeMatha Catholic. The slowest team in this section is seeded at 1:31.94! This heat could see the entire section under 1:30 and some pushing within a second to a national record! 1:26.09 is the time to chase with the meet record being 1:28.10. Carroll has gone 1:27.54 already this season and T.C. has gone 1:29.91 too. T.C. did this performance though without Josephus Lyles so can start them at 1:28.00 since they will be stacking this relay. The state record is 1:27.09 is very much in danger of falling.
Aside from these two blazing fast events we are also going to get some huge showdowns in the 4x400 and 4x800s. If T.C. stacked the 4x400 as well it will be another thing to watch and yet another event where the Lyles brothers will be attempting to take down the state record.
If T.C does not stack the 4x400 then Potomac Senior or Western Branch have a serious shot at taking home the title while Grafton and Glen Allen both have a serious shot at taking home the 4x800 title. Regardless, both races are going to be fast and close.
In the other sprint events are some big names as well. Grant Holloway will be the Virginia favorite in the 55 but Isiah Garland and Michael Davenport both will be contending for Va. Garland ran a stellar race a couple weeks ago but this will be his first test against anyone within half a second of him!
In the longer sprints, it is no surprise to see Josephus Lyles as the heavy favorite in the 500 with his 1:03.57 seed time. That seed is almost two seconds fastest than anyone else in the field! He is a two-time national 400m champion and ready to rumble his senior year. 1:02.61 is the time to chase for him and that is the state record.
The boys 1000 and 1600 are almost identical and going to make for some interesting strategies. The schedule here though is very different and will have the 1000 run at 10:10am and the 1600 run a couple hours later at 12:45. This will give the athletes some time to rest but strategy is still going to be huge for this. Leading the way in the 1000 for Virginia is Tyler Cox-Philyaw seeded just ahead of Trevor Whiteside at 2:31.06. These two guys are seeded second and third overall behind Mitchell Resor of North Carolina at 2:30.80.
Just a few short hours later though Cox-Philyaw will have his hands full again against an even more stacked field in the 1600. He does have a five second (4:14) seed times advantage but also has some tough competition. This includes Gannon Willcutts, Connor Peebles (NC), Ryan Drew, Konrad Steck, and Sam Teller to name a few. The slowest seed in this final section is 2:24!
In the longest event of the weekend, the 3200, it looks to be a one man race with Gannon Willcutts seeded 16 seconds clear of any competition. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him really push the pace and try and break 9:00 to move into the top 10 all-time for Virginia. The meet record is 9:05.
In the hurdles, Bethel's Isaiah Norris will look to benefit from Grant Holloway's absence and capture a huge win. He enters the weekend with a 7.43 seed and will need a 7.35 to make the all-time list. On this quick mondo surface, it is very possible. Just remember that you have to dip at the 55m line and not the 60!
Though many invitationals sometimes forget the field events, this meet practically caters to them to provide an awesome meet that stacks the field events as well and this year could see better field events than running in many instances! In the boys' long jump for example we will see Grant Holloway trying to propel himself to a state record. He has already gone 24-6.75 this season and will need a 25-9.25 to equal the state record. This isn't too far fetched though considering his outdoor best last season was 25-8.75. All he needs is one perfect jump and it is his.
In the triple jump, Western Branch's Akinshe Hill enters the competition with a 48-5 mark to make him the favorite by exactly a foot. If he just equals that performance it would be good enough for US #5 this year. He will be pushing much further though to continue Virginia's dominance in the triple jump rankings. US #1 is 49-3.5.
Happening on the infield all weekend will be two other great events to keep an eye on with the boys' pole vault and high jump. In the pole vault Virginia has five boys between 14-0 and 14-6 with a great shot at raising the bar in the state rankings. These guys are Miller, Kowal, McEvoy, Barstow, and St. Helen. They will all be chasing Bailey Frederick though who is seeded at an impressive 15-4.25.
Down near the finish line we will have a great high jump competition between three guys over 6-7 with Richardson at 6-7, Lyles at 6-8 and Michael Tyler at 6-9. Noah Lyles is the defending champ after he cleared 6-9 last year and beat out Grant Holloway. This is definitely an event he will be focusing on Friday since he will not be running in any races that day.
And in the final event of the field event schedule is arguably the most stacked ones relative to state rankings. That of course is the boys shot put with 10 guys seeded over 50'. Leading the way though is Middle Creek's Adam Terrell with his 56-4.25 best. He is chased though by defending 6A State Champ Seth Harrell at 53-1.5 and Jordan Patti at 52-3.25. This will definitely come down to the last throws for all of these guys.
Regardless of whether you are more into distance running or relays or whatever. This meet is going to be huge and could see a number of state records and even a national record fall. Get excited because it is only a couple days away!
Photos by: Jon Fleming, John Herzog, Lisa McArthur
The 2016 installment of the Virginia Tech Invitational is going to be huge! Nearly every single event is stacked with state champions and even national record holders. From top to bottom this is going to be a huge meet and you can basically say good bye to the entire state leaderboard after this event.