June 9th and 10th, 2000 at Sports Backers Stadium the fastest Virginia high school girls 800 Meter Run took place.
27 girls took to the track for the Friday prelims. The winner of each of the four preliminary heats and the next four fastest times would advance to the Saturday finals. Three of these heat leaders had already run under 2:15 during the season.
For two of the finalists the 1600 would come before the 800 finals.
Nikeya Green of Hayfield and Lauren Goldsmith of Cave Springs would place first and third in the 1600 running 5:03.49 and 5:08.93.
Now the stage was set for the fastest girls 800 in VHSL history:
800 METER RUN
1 Nikeya Green Hayfield *2:09.30
2 Leslie Treherne Western Branch 2:09.38
3 Kelley Otstott Thomas Jefferson - A 2:11.38
4 Nicole Cook Petersburg 2:12.94
5 Lauren Goldsmith Cave Spring 2:15.56
6 Carin Miller Chantilly 2:15.57
7 Leslie Schultz Langley 2:15.68
8 Lea Nikeita George Washington - D 2:16.16
Nikeya and Leslie are the only two girls to have ever gone under 2:10 in the girls AAA state meet.
Nikeya would go on to Wake Forest
Leslie would go on to Tennessee
Kelley would go on to Georgetown
Nicole would go on to Tennessee
Nikeya and Nicole are still continuing their running careers as professionals.
This year's 800 features 30 entrants with 14 having run under 2:18 and just as in 2000 three have run faster than 2:15.
The top seed Tasia Potasinski of Westfield, like Nikeya in 2000 is also entered in the 1600.
Let us hope for another spectacular 800 from the ladies.
Here are some of the 2000 runners from then and again later in their college careers: