FORK UNION, VA -- Fork Union\'s Gus Lacy Track Classic should be once again a meet of high level competition with many of the state\'s top track programs and athletes in attendance. The boys\' side is especially loaded with excellent teams including AAA state indoor team champion E.C. Glass boys, defending private school state team champion Fork Union boys, and AA state indoor team runners-up Appomattox County. Several All-American individuals comprise the field including the Fork Union duo of Axel Mostrag and Brandon Caleb, Appomattox County\'s Rashad Kelso, and E.C. Glass\' Mike Zajac.
The team battle among the boys should be a dogfight with such reputable fields assembled at Fork Union on Saturday. E.C. Glass will be competing without 400/800 meter star Carlton Phipps as he is competing in the Taco Bell Classic in South Carolina, but do have two solid individuals in Zajac and distance runner Patterson Wilhelm. An All-American in the weight throw last month at Nike Indoor Nationals, Zajac will be heavily favored in both throwing events as he is seeded just over ten feet ahead of the nearest competitor in the shot put at 57\'10\" as recently is coming off a personal best mark in the discus throw at the Vince Bradford Relays with a distance of 182\'7\".
Meanwhile, Wilhelm has his hands full in the 1600 meter run with Nike Indoors 800 meter national runner-up Axel Mostrag of Fork Union. Wilhelm will give the 4:14 miler a challenge though as he has a 4:14 1600 meter best himself and has dipped under 4:20 on several occassions. The William & Mary bound senior certainly should at least pick up a second place finish in the event.
The homestanding Fork Union boys will be tough to beat as they not only a field a stud in Mostrag, but Brandon Caleb is the athlete for Coach Winston Brown that really picks up the most points for the squad. Caleb recently hit a personal best mark of 23\'6\" in the long jump at the Bradford Relays and is the top seed in that event as well as an event he earned All-American honors in during indoors in the triple jump. At Nike Indoor Nationals, Caleb leaped to his personal best in the event with a 46\'9.75\" mark to slip into the top six. Caleb is also a fine hurdler and finds himself ranked first in both the 110 and 300 meter hurdles at Gus Lacy. Realistically, Caleb can pick up 40 points alone in the meet. Expect Caleb to also be featured on one of FUMA\'s sprint relays.
Fork Union also just recently posted the state\'s fastest time in the 4x800 meter relay with a 8:01 clocking at the Bradford Relays and while it remains to be seen if they will load up in the event on Saturday, they do have two excellent middle distance runners who happen to be members of the relay that are entered as two of the top three seeds in the 800 meter run in Jamie Reichlen who has moved up from the 400 and 500 meter dash indoors to the middle distance event and Polish product Szymon Rolla.
Appomattox County is led by 200 meter indoor All-American Rashad Kelso as he rightfully so is favored in the event with a 21.75 best, but will get plenty of competition from Group AA rival Deangelo Wilson of Prince Edward County. Both the 100 and 200 meter dashes should be tight races between the two as wilson won the AA state title in the 55 meter dash over Kelso in March, while Kelso reversed the finishing order in the 300 meter dash. Kelso can also help his 4x100 meter relay team to victory as they will look to dip under 43 seconds this weekend. Kelso\'s brother, TK, will also be in the force in both hurdle events.
The 3200 meter run at Gus Lacy may be one of the deeper events in the meet. The event features two state champions in Group A\'s best Simon Biddle-Snead of Clarke County and the surprise Group AA indoor 3200 state champion Skeeter Morris of Nottoway and certainly a future state champion in Mountain View\'s freshmen star Thomas Porter. Biddle-Snead recently dipped under 9:30 in a strong run at Nike Indoor Nationals, while Porter won the freshmen mile national title at the same meet. Saturday will be the opening outdoor invite for Morris, who caught everyone off guard with a 9:41 win at the Group AA State Meet in March. Three sub 9:40 3200 meter runners are also featured in the eight lap event including Christiansburg\'s John Horst and the Brentsville duo of Adam Henken and Nick Gehlsen. Porter with his 9:29 best, may be the only Group AAA runner to finish in the top five or six with this loaded field of Group AA and A stars.
The biggest news among the girls entries in the meet is the return of AAA state cross country champion Rachel Rose of Albemarle as the junior was absent from competition during the entire indoor season. Rose is set to compete in both the 1600 and 3200 meter run at Gus Lacy.
A battle could be revisted from the Central Region Indoor Track and Field Championships this February with regional champion Atlee girls and regional runner-up Midlothian girls as they appear to be the two strongest teams entered in the field.
The Lady Raiders of Atlee are led by the trio of Mansfield Murph, Dana Harvey, and Nisse Chism. Murph can take both horizontal jumping events with bests of 18\'2\" in the long jump and 37\'7\" in the triple jump, while can team up with Harvey in the 400 meter dash in a possible 1-2 finish in the sprint event. Harvey is also the top seed in the 200 meter dash. Chism is a talented sophomore in the hurdles as a double win in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles is very viable. Relays are always the backbone for any great Atlee squad and this team is no exception and their 4x400 meter relay is one of the top squads entered.
Midlothian girls will also be counting on their relays for considerable points from their 4x800 and 4x400 meter relays. The Midlothian girls had the top ranked 4x800 meter relay team in the state during indoors and won the Group AAA state title in the event for the second year in the row. Each team is given two automatic entries in each event and can use one \"wildcard\" third entry in an event with the Gus Lacy format and Coach Morgan has laid his cards on the table in the 800 meter run with the top three seeds in the event in M.C. Miller, Paige Johnston, and Jessica Oakley. All three athletes have gone under 2:20 in open 800 meter races or relay splits, while Miller was the Group AAA state runner-up in the event last spring.
Another wild card is being used in the pole vault by Western Albemarle and the wild card was not actually used to enter in the third best athlete, but a last second entry by their top vaulter and the state\'s best in Ashley Early. Early had been scheduled to compete in the elite Arcadia Invitational this weekend in California, but opted to stay close to home and compete at Fork Union. Thankfully, meet management can boast and meet spectators can enjoy in having the 12\'7\" state record holder competing on Saturday at Gus Lacy.
Let\'s hope that the current weather report changes in favor of less rain for Gus Lacy and all meets across the state this weekend. However, two weekends in a row of ideal weather may be too much to ask for.