The invitationals are over; let the district championships begin. The
Northern Region's four districts will all compete this Wednesday and
Thursday
with the top six performers in individual events and top three teams in
relay
events on both the boys and girls sides automatically qualifying for
the
Northern Region Championships to be held at Lake Braddock High School
on
Thursday, May 22 and Friday, May 23.
The Patriot District Championships will be hosted by T.C. Williams.
Wednesday's action begins at 4:30 p.m. with approximately half the
field
event finals while trials in the running events start at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday's
schedule will have the remainder of the field events slated for a 4:30
p.m.
start with finals in the running events beginning at 5:00 p.m.
The Lake Braddock girls will be the favorites once again and are led
in the
field events by high jumper Ashley Haislip, pole vaulter Cristina
Zuniga and
by Catherine Muehleib and Jessica Sawers in the shot put and discus
throws.
The Bruins should also show plenty of versatility on the track in the
entire
range of sprint, hurdles and distance events.
Other top performers include Hayfield senior Ashley Crocker in the
shot and
discus along with Hawks freshman Nakeisha Wineglass in the sprints;
West
Potomac's Sade Kirby in the hurdles and Jakia Wells in the 400 dash;
Robinson's middle distance group led by Joanna Rodgers, Sam Ference and
Meredith Brooks and West Springfield's Huma Husain in the 800 meter and
1,600
meter runs.
The Lake Braddock boys loom as slight favorites although they may
come back
to the pack due to a hamstring injury to senior leader Craig
Gallimore's left
leg. That will cause Gallimore to miss at least this week's district
meet and
possibly the regional meet although Gallimore does already have state
automatic qualifying times in both the 110 high and 300 intermediate
hurdles.
Top competitors include West Springfield's Jeff Day, John Cook and
Steve
Tobin along with Lake Braddock's Steve Hoogland and Gilbert Elston and
Hayfield's Brian Fussell in distance events; Nulie McCarthy and Kennedy
Kyei-Mensah of T.C. Williams in the 4x800 and 4x400 relays; Annandale's
Mike
Flint in the 800 run; Hayfield's Adam Bush and Marcus Tyus in the
sprints;
West Potomac's Jeremy Beal in the long and triple jumps and Robinson's
Steve
Huntzinger in the weight throwing events where he will be heavily
favored and
could possibly win the shot put by more than 10 feet and the discus
throw by
over 30 feet.
The Concorde District meet will be held at Jefferson this Wednesday
and
Thursday. Field events begin on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. with running
trials
starting at 6:00 p.m. Thursday's field event finals also begin at 4:30
p.m.
with the running finals starting at 6:15 p.m.
The Westfield boys will be solid favorites to defend their district
crown.
The Bulldogs will be strong in the hurdles with the trio of Alvin
Tondereau,
Philippe Tondereau and Brad Oakley; the field events with pole vaulter
David
Lewis, high jumper Louis Corum and with Brandon Dobbs in the long jump
and
triple jump. Westfield should also score well in the short sprints with
John
Schenck, the long sprints and middle distances with Chris Black, Chris
Courson, David Groff and James Scheiner and in the 3,200 run with
senior
Bryan Buckland.
The Concorde boys can match or exceed any district in the state in
the
distance races with Jefferson's Christo Landry, Keith Bechtol and Chris
Mocko
along with Herndon's Shane Young and Rasheed Thompson; Oakton's Kris
Cruz and
Ben Beiter and Chantilly freshman Brad Siragusa ready to line up
against each
other once again.
Others to watch on the boys side include Centreville sprinter Daniel
Bailey; John Gross of South Lakes in the hurdles, horizontal jumps and
pole
vault and Herndon's Steve Gillard in the 400 dash.
The girls side appears wide open for the team title. The long and
triple
jumps could be the highest quality events with Adrienne Mayo and Alisha
Bryant of South Lakes; Oakton's Kathleen Woody and Jefferson's Aparna
Hirve
entered. The short sprints feature Kathleen Woody of Oakton and
Westfield's
Carmen Meade while South Lakes junior Tara Markey will be one of the
favorites in the 400 dash and Oakton's Sarah Woody in the high jump and
100
hurdles.
The 800 run could be one of the feature events with Herndon's Heather
Fisher, Kat Schleckser of Jefferson and Oakton's Danielle Light among
the
expected entrants while Jefferson's Shauneen Garrahan will be favored
in the
1,600 and 3,200 runs and Kathryn Pettine of Westfield in the pole
vault.
The Liberty District Championships will be held at Langley with both
Wednesday and Thursday's schedule showing a 4:00 p.m. start for the
field
events and 5:30 p.m. to begin the running events.
Top competitors on the boys side include Langley's Nick Crumpton in
the
long and triple jumps; Madison's Andrew Waring, Lee's Dawit Legesse and
Michael Hagos in the distance events, McLean's Chris Kuruppu in the 400
dash
along with Madison's Justin Loda in the pole vault and W.T. Woodson's
Mason
Jennings in the sprints.
Some of the top girls include Rachel Winters and Amanda Russell of
Fairfax
in the hurdles; Woodson's Julia Rothlisberger in the middle distances,
Lee's
Jenn Dietz in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs and Tianna Boykin of
Fairfax in
the 100 hurdles and high jump.
Washington-Lee will host the National District this Wednesday and
Thursday.
All field events except for the girls and boys high jump will be held
on
Wednesday starting at 5:00 p.m. with running trials to begin at 5:30
p.m.
Thursday's high jumps begin at 4:30 p.m. with running finals commencing
at
5:00 p.m.
On the boys side, Mount Vernon senior Ernest Asante should place well
up in
the standings in the long jump, triple jump and high jump as well as
being
the solid favorite in both the 110 high and 300 meter intermediate
hurdles.
The Majors should also be strong in the shot put and discus throw with
Justin
Bell and Mike Carlock.
Washington-Lee should make noise in the horizontal jumps and sprint
running
events with Sean Somlar, Juron Williams and Frank Millien. The sprints
are
especially strong this year with Edison's Roy Coles and Tony Hayduk of
Falls
Church also among the area's best.
Wakefield's Peter Quinzio is favored in the 800 and 1,600 runs with
Edison's Matt Gambale and Brian Kirby also expected to place high in
the
distance events.
Distance events should be the Yorktown girls top scoring events with
Katie
Read and Becca Shinners capable of going one-two in the 1,600 and 3,200
runs.
The sprint scene saw a return to action for the first time in five
months for
Wakefield senior Fatima Shuler as she gets ready to make a late season
charge. Others to watch include Mount Vernon's Shea Spann in the long
and
triple jump as well as her Majors teammate Deanna Pruitt in the shot
put and
discus throw.
The Cedar Run District meet will also be this Wednesday and Thursday
at
Osbourn Park. The girls 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles will feature
Stephanie
Myers of Osbourn along with the Osbourn Park duo of Devon Alston and
Elizabeth Yates with Jill Porto of Potomac among the favorites in the
distance runs.
The Cardinal District meet is scheduled for Wednesday at Forest Park
beginning at 3:30 p.m. Top competitors include Gar-Field's Tiffany
Evans in
the shot put and discus throw along with her teammate Afua Amponsah in
the
100 dash and both hurdle events; C.D. Hylton's Jemissa Hess in the 800
and
1,600 runs and Beth Fahey of Forest Park in the 3,200 run.
The boys side has Hylton's Tyjuann Carroll in the sprints, jumper and
sprinter Darren Garrigan of Gar-Field and Forest Park's Reynold Smith
in the
long and triple jumps.