There is plenty of meets to look forward to this weekend as the state's best track athletes will be coming out of hiding and hibernation from the winter break to compete.
Preview article to come on all of the major meets this weekend!
Performance Lists:
Bulldog Invitational
CNU Showcase
Montgomery Invitational
Southeastern Invitational
UVA bound Vrhovac leads Albemarle gang into Hispanic Games
Albemarle will be bringing their best to New York City this weekend for the 15th annual Hispanic Games. There will be no 4x800 meter relay put together from the 7:42 squad one year ago, but all four of those relay members will be racing individually on the fast banked track at the New York Armory and will be expected to roll with some impressive performances.
Zachary Vrhovac (pictured left by Brandon Miles), the 2008 AAA state runner-up in the 800, will be one of the race favorites in the event with his 1:52.82 best as the top seed. Vrhovac recently committed to stay locally in the Charlottesville area and will run at the University of Virginia. Albemarle teammate Garrett Bradley will be seeded third in the event with his 1:55 best.
Luke Noble made it into the invitational mile race for the Hispanic Games, while teammate Anthony Kostelac with a nearly identical 1600 meter best just over 4:20 will in the second fastest section for the one mile run. Noble will be in a hot race featuring the nation's fastest returning miler in Brett Johnson from New Jersey, who will be teammates with Noble's current teammate Vrhovac at UVA next year. Johnson ran 4:08 for the mile last spring. Noble has the 12th fastest mile time in a stacked field.
Albemarle senior Liz Barclay will be making the trip with the boys to try her luck against the great distance running girls from New York in the invitational mile race. Her race will include five sub 5 milers and Barclay at 5:01 will be seeded just ahead of a pack of girls around 5:02-5:03.
Albemarle did not only bring its middle distance stars to the Big Apple as junior jumper Jordan Hill will also be competing in the high jump and long jump. Hill is one of the top athletes in the Northwest Region and will play a major role in Albemarle's state title hopes on the track.
First year Bulldog Invite has solid numbers and will have star power as well
A total of 31 schools and nearly 800 athletes will be competing in the first annual Bulldog Invitational hosted by Liberty Christian Academy at the Tolsma Track Center in Lynchburg, VA.
The meet will be the season opener for returning Nike Indoor Nationals and AAA state triple jump champion David Wilson (pictured right by Tim Fulton of ArmoryTrack.com) of George Washington. Wilson, who had several marks last year as a junior approaching 50 feet including a 49'11.25" best, will be competing in his specialty event this weekend as well as three other events which he is one of the top seeds in all three in the high jump, long jump, 55 meter dash, and 300 meter dash. A big jump might not come from Wilson in the triple jump with his busy day of events, but it would be impressive given his heavy plate on Saturday.
The top two teams in the meet for both boys and girls should be Blacksburg and Deep Run as both schools have squads which will be in the running for regional team titles this year.
The Blacksburg girls will be loading up their 4x800 meter relay featuring the Stevens twins, Trinity Foreman, and Allison Homer who are all capable of running 5:10 or faster for 1600 meters. All of the legs minus Kathleen Stevens (top seed in the 500) will be doubling back for the 1000 meter race, which should be a quick race with the Blacksburg girls and William Byrd's Alisha Royal. Stevens stepping down to the 500 meter dash should have a good race with Liberty Christian's Meghan Burgraff, who has already ran 1:19 this season.
Burgraff will also be competing later in the 300 meter dash as she will attempt to double with two first place finishes in the sprints, but as will Kenara Hurt of Liberty. Hurt is the top seed in the 55 meter dash and 300 meter dash, which she is the defending Group AA state champion in.
AA state cross country champion Janel Reeves of Brookville will be the strong favorite to win the 1600 meter run and pushing to run under 5:10 in the race, while Courtney Dobbs of Deep Run with a 11:16 personal best will be tough to beat in the 3200 meter run.
Two of Group AA's top hurdlers will be facing off on Saturday in Danyelle Kent-Robinson of Brentsville and Amber Church of Pulaski County. Church had a great close to her sophomore season of outdoor track including winning the emerging elite division of the 100 meter hurdles at Nike Outdoor Nationals. Church had the fastest time in the prelims at the AA state outdoor meet, but it was Kent-Robinson who was the fastest in the finals to win the state title.
Deep Run's Briana Hudson, a past AAA state champion in the high jump and triple jump, will be competing in the long jump and high jump at the Bulldog Invite along with teammate Marlena Daly as a 1-2 finish from both in each event is possible as Daly has already went over 17 feet in the long jump and cleared 5'4" this season.
The long jump will have one of Group A's top athletes though as the top seed in Marissa Thompson. Saturday will be Thompson's first meet since losing her home in a fire this summer. Her state championship medal in the 100 meter dash was lost in the final, but the VHSL was willing to replace her 2007 Group A state track medal.
Matthew Armentrout of Deep Run leads a solid trio of vaulters over 14 feet in the pole vault with Brookville's Andrew Epperson and Jefferson Forest's Josh Drablos having both cleared over the height as well. Armentrout, a AAA state champion as a sophomore and 15'6" best, will be looking to keep pace with Allen Kelly of King's Fork after Kelly cleared 15'8" this past weekend. Meanwhile, Epperson and Drablos see each other often competing in the same district (Seminole) and could be facing off later in the season as challengers to Jamestown's Nick Durante for the Group AA state crown in the pole vault.
Top distance race of the day could come in the 1000 meter run with a mix of sprint, middle distance, and distance. Drew Hall of William Byrd will be coming up from his usual at 500 meters (1:06.32 best) for his 1000 meter race ever, but did not do too bad moving up to 800 meters last spring with a 1:53 best. Meanwhile, the 1000 meters appears to be the perfect event for a mid-distance runner such as Blacksburg's Brian Hencke, who has already posted a time of 2:36 in the event this season. His teammates and primarily two milers Matt Howard and George Carter will be stepping down to try their luck in the shorter event. Another runner in the field to keep an eye on is L.C. Bird's Justin Kendall, who had a 2:40 1000 and 1:09 500 double last month in a polar bear meet.
Jefferson Forest's Josh Morris could pull off a distance double with victories in the 1600 and 3200 meter races as a top seed and favorite in each race. He had a fine double last month on the same track at Liberty University with personal best times of 4:27 in the 1600 and 9:34 in the 3200. Centreville's Yazid Zouaimia could be a darkhorse in the 3200 against Morris as he has clocked a 1600 meter time equal to Morris this season of 4:27.
Travis Hudson could potentially have a big meet for Christiansburg as a top seed in the 55 meter hurdles and high jump and also one of the better athletes coming into the long jump competition. Hudson is one of only two hurdlers in the meet to have dipped under 8 seconds in the 55 meter hurdles this season.
Previews coming for CNU, Montgomery, & Southeastern
There is plenty of meets to look forward to this weekend as the state's best track athletes will be coming out of hiding and hibernation from the winter break to compete.
Preview article to come on all of the major meets this weekend!
Performance Lists: