With district championship week approaching, a look at the top 8 performers in each event and hypothetical team scores based off those top 8 lists for each district in Virginia with virtual meet rankings.  

    Group AAA virtual meet rankings including top 8 in each event and team scores based on performances in the MileStat.com database as of May 10th. A slew of boys' teams are in the hunt as the current #1 ranked squad being the Ahmed Bile-led Annandale squad with 39 points, while the same two schools from the indoor state championships in Cosby and Western Branch are the top two teams in contention for the girls' team title. For Western Branch girls to regain their perch as state track champions over the indoor champs from Cosby, they will need some of their top individuals come through including Tiffany Ellick, who had a big day in the triple jump at the Penn Relays two weeks ago with a third place PR mark of 39'9.25" to become the leading perfomer in Group AAA.

  Photo by Don Rich   Group AA virtual meet rankings including top 8 in each event and team scores based on performances in the MileStat.com database as of May 10th. The Loudoun County boys and John Handley girls are the current top ranked teams ahead of the class in Group AA. Skyline junior Thomas Madden has had a pretty epic spring of racing. Not only did the 2011 Foot Locker finalist Madden win the prestigous Penn Relays high school 3K in a time which would convert around 9 minutes for 2 miles, but has showcased improved leg turnover with his season best times in the 1600 (4:15) and 800 (1:57).

    Group A virtual meet rankings including top 8 in each event and team scores based on performances in the MileStat.com database as of May 10th. Narrow margins separate the top teams in Group A currently with a one point edge for the Stonewall Jackson boys over George Wythe as well as for the James River girls over Strasburg. Strasburg has two individuals who could rack up a lot of points by themselves in state competition between distance runner Katlyn Ayers and thrower Taylor Cockerille. The Christopher Newport University recruit Cockerille launched a personal best mark of 128'8" in the discus at the Falcon Track Classic last Friday night.

    Private school virtual meet rankings including top 8 in each event and team scores based on performances in the MileStat.com database as of May 10th. The Liberty Christian and St. Catherine's girls are currently tied at the #1 spot with 114 points each, while Fork Union is well out in front by nearly 100 points in the boys' team rankings. Fork Union senior Staton Mayfield has really taken himself to new heights in the pole vault this spring after a third place finish at the state indoor championship with a string of clearances over 14 feet as well as topping out at 15 feet at the Gus Lacy Track Classic in April. Mayfield recently defeated one of the state's best and Group AA state champion Chance Parmly of Fluvanna on Parmly's home runway at Fluvanna County last Friday night.

  Photo by Aaron Banks   Virtual meet rankings for Group AAA schools in Virginia as of April 20th based on performances currently in the MileStat.com database. Virtual meet scores site's database rankings through 8 places for team scores. Osbourn Park senior Breanna Walker clocked a state leading time of 12.17 in the 100 meter dash last Friday night at the Gojekian Twilight Classic in Woodbridge. Walker is coming off a successful indoor season which included a third place sub 40 second clocking in the 300 meter dash at the AAA State Indoor Championships.  

  Virtual meet rankings for Group AA schools in Virginia as of April 20th based on performances currently in the MileStat.com database. Virtual meet scores site's database rankings through 8 places for team scores. A third place finisher at the Group AAA State Meet and Northwest Region champion last spring in the 110 meter hurdles, Heritage's Marcus Finney is now finding himself as the clear cut best hurdler in Group AA right now with season best times of 14.38 in the 110 hurdles and 38.64 in the 300 hurdles for the senior from Leesburg.  

    Virtual meet rankings for Group A schools in Virginia as of April 20th based on performances currently in the MileStat.com database. Virtual meet scores site's database rankings through 8 places for team scores. Unfortunately cannot exclude the 4x800 and the pole vault which are not contested in championship season for Group A because those are the default events in Virginia for the other classification. Amelia County junior Jasmine Mitchell is the defending Group A state champion in the high jump, long jump, 400 and returning state runner-up in the 800. Her versatility remains one year later as Mitchell is the current Group AA leader in the 100, 400, 800, long jump, and high jump.

  Photo by John Herzog   A list of the Virginia state leaders in each event (as well as links to full event rankings) so far in the 2012 outdoor track & field season prior to meets held on April 11th or after. Atlee junior Griffin Carmichael quietly snuck in a state leading time at 800 meters last Wednesday in a quad meet at Douglas Freeman High School. Carmichael, who was All-State indoors at 1000 meters and ran a season best of 2:32 in that event this past winter, dropped considerably time in the 800 last week from his sophomore year best in the event. A 12th place finisher in the 2011 Central Region Outdoor Championships at 800 meters, a much improved Carmichael will be a favorite to win a regional crown this spring with a 3 second PR to open his 2012 outdoor season with a VA #1 time of 1:55.34 at Freeman.

  A weekly Head of the Class rankings article will breakdown Virginia's best by grade level to see where athletes match up against their peers in the same graduation class.  Nansemond River's Zakiya Rashid (pictured above by Ryan Kelly) has been putting out some impressive marks during her freshmen year in the throws. Last weekend at CNU, Rashid was runner-up to state champion thrower Kiara Howell of Grassfield in the shot put and discus with personal best marks of 39'5" and 128'6" respectively.

South County junior Felecia Majors wasted no time moving up the the state leaderboard in her first meet of the spring at the Wildcat Invitational last Saturday. The AAA indoor pole vault and long jump state champion Majors recorded three VA #1 performances between the 100 meter dash (12.29), 200 meter dash (24.58), and pole vault (11'6"). (Photo by Dave Watt)   A list of the Virginia state leaders in each event so far in the 2012 outdoor track & field season prior to meets held on April 4th or after.

  A weekly Head of the Class rankings article will breakdown Virginia's best by grade level to see where athletes match up against their peers in the same graduation class. Battlefield's Ellison Grove (pictured above) won the 800 on Saturday at the Brian Watkins I-95 Invite in a sophomore best as well as state leading time of 2:18.28.

At this past Saturday's Charles City Invitational, Fork Union senior Jordan Roach uncorked a strong opening throw to his 2012 outdoor season with a personal best and state leading mark of 168'0" in the discus throw.  Last year, Roach was won the discus in every one of his meets with the exception of the Volunteer Track Classic in Tennessee including a VISAA state outdoor title with three marks over 160 feet last spring.   A list of the Virginia state leaders in each event so far in the 2012 outdoor track & field season prior to meets held on March 28th or after.

  Virginians competing in college for the week of March 19, 2012 - March 25, 2012.

The VHSL has recently released a proposal for a 6 classification system for championship/playoff season for high school sports in Virginia to go into effect for the 2013-2014 school year. Each classification is broken down into two sectionals which are made up of four conferences. Its still early to tell how a 6 classification system would be applied to track & field and cross country in Virginia in regards to the championship meets. Football and basketball basically already have 6 state champions with two divisions in the 3 class system  based on school size. Track & cross country could be split up as the proposal indicates down to 6 classes (roughly 50+ schools/class) or there could be a combining of the 6 classes (6A/5A, 4A/3A, 2A/1A) for state championship meets (roughly 100+ schools/class).   Several interesting discussions and stories are created if this proposal comes to reality including many schools dropping down or moving up to make new rivalries (Ex: Blacksburg vs. Midlothian in a 4A/3A class cross country meet). Then some schools moving into classifications with schools who have predominantly not had indoor track seasons or offered such events as the pole vault or 4x800 meter relay (Ex: Maggie Walker dropping all the way down to 2A). The new system would certainly help smaller Group AAA and Group AA schools be more competitive in championship season meets being placed against schools of similar size rather than schools with geographic or traditional rival ties.  Some of the inner city schools in Richmond, Portsmouth, and Norfolk have seen their enrollment numbers dwindle compared to their Group AAA regional schools growing larger in nearby counties which they compete against.   MileStat.com was able to make projections of how schools would compete in their new classifications by doing virtual meets from the past cross country and outdoor seasons in 2011 as well as virtual meet previews of the returning athletes for the 2012 outdoor and cross country seasons.    Virtual Meet Previews for the VHSL proposed 6 Class Asslignment VHSL Proposal

Photo by Victah Sailer of photorun.net   A list of the top returnees in each event for the upcoming outdoor season in each classification (AAA, AA, A, private) based on performances from the 2011 outdoor track & field season. Loudoun County is one of the better counties for high school track & field in the state of Virginia (especially outside of the Hampton Roads area), yet the powers that be in the county do not allow their high schools to have an official indoor season. One of Loudoun County's and the state's best returning track athletes is Broad Run senior Jonathan Russell, who last summer competed for Team USA at the World Youth Championships in the 400 meter hurdles. With Broad Run moving up to Group AAA this year, the 2011 Group AA state champion in the 300 meter hurdles and 200 meter dash will make the AAA state outdoor championships very intriguing and even more competitive. After a dormant winter in Loudoun County, Russell is ready for the new challenges in Group AAA.

    It is rare for a sophomore to win any state title in a boys' event, but Forest Park's Mustaqeem Williams has set himself up to become a three-time champion if able to successfully defend his 55 meter dash from last week over the next two years. His 6.37 clocking from the state meet finals is third fastest among non-seniors nationally and he has the third best returning mark among all Virginians in the long jump at 23'0.75" as well. (Photo by Ryan Kelly)   With the exception of the upcoming New Balance Indoor Nationals for Virginia's best, the 2011-2012 indoor season is essentially in the books for the vast majority of high school track & field athletes in Virginia  So lets take a look at next year's top 50 returnees in each event for the boys based on performances from this past season.

  Foot Locker All-American Sophie Chase of Lake Braddock will return next year for indoors with the fastest times from this past season at 1600 (4:52.43) and 3200 (10:29.66) meters as well as fourth fastest time in the 1000 (2:55.96). (Photo by Ryan Kelly)    With the exception of the upcoming New Balance Indoor Nationals for Virginia's best, the 2011-2012 indoor season is essentially in the books for the vast majority of high school track & field athletes in Virginia  So lets take a look at next year's top 50 returnees in each event for the girls based on performances from this past season.

A look at the Virginia boys individuals and relays ranked among the top 50 in the United States for the 2011-2012 indoor season based on the MileSplit US national rankings database as of February 29th. The 7 foot clearance by Rashaan Jones of South Lakes in mid January at Liberty University still puts him as a co-national leader in the high jump. A nice consolation for Jones after being knocked off for the state title this past weekend by Nick Simmons of J.R. Tucker with a US #3 height at 6'10". Tallwood's Steven Dunbar joins them in the top 10 nationally with a 6'8" season best performance.   Next are three US #2 performers from Virginia between Ahmed Bile of Annandale in the 1000 meter run, Jamarian Bates of Matoaca in the long jump, and David Johnson of Charlottesville in the triple jump. Bile has clocked two 2:26 performances this season with his season best of 2:26.37 on the banked track of Virginia Tech in late January and his most recent 2:26 run came this past weekend at the state meet with a Boo Williams Sportsplex facility record time of 2:26.44 to repeat as state 1000 meter champ by 6 seconds.   Only former Nansemond River and current Norfolk State star James Taylor has jumped further at Boo Williams than Matoaca senior Jamarian Bates (pictured right by Scott Reid) on the above ground runway at Boo Williams. With the boys long jump finals occurring during the excitement of running event finals on Saturday, the big US #2 mark of Bates was overlooked at a personal best leap of 23'11.25". A second state championship for Bates, who claimed his first state title last June at the outdoor state meet in the long jump.   Charlottesville's Johnson nearly eclipsed one of the more impressive meet records at Group AA in the triple jump (Ryan McCoy of William Fleming - 49'0.50" - 2003). His season best of 49'10.25" would have gotten the record, but only was able to muster a best mark of 48'10.50" this past weekend at Liberty University, which would have won at the Group AAA State Meet by nearly a foot and a half.   Oscar Smith junior Michael Cherry sits #4 nationally in both the 500 and 300 meter dash after successfully doubling to win state titles in both events this past weekend at Group AAA, which is a rare accomplishment in the sprints. Cherry leads 8 Virginians among the top 50 in the 300 with his 34.08 best, while leading a whopping 19 runners from VA among the US fastest 50 at 500 meters with his 1:04.20 state meet performance.  

A look at the Virginia girls individuals and relays ranked among the top 50 in the United States for the 2011-2012 indoor season based on the MileSplit US national rankings database as of February 29th. There are no national leaders or US #1's from Virginia, but the state is well represented among the top 10 and 20 in many events. The highest national ranking for a Virginian at US #3 belong to Grassfield's Kiara Howell in the shot put with state record tying throw of 48'4.75" and Louisa County's Javanique Burruss (pictured right by Andrew Kicinski) in the long jump with personal best leap of 20'1".    Quite a few athletes are ranked nationally in multiple events including South County's Felecia Majors (5 - 300, 500, PV, LJ, TJ), Nansemond River's Shakeela Saunders (5 - 55, 300, 500, LJ, TJ), Ocean Lakes' Audrey Batzel (3 - 1000, 1600, 3200) Hidden Valley's Carolyn Bethel (3- 500, 1000, 1600), Monacan's Kaila Blackburn (3 - 1000, 1600, 3200), Lake Braddock's Sophie Chase (3 - 1000, 1600, 3200), Western Branch's Tiffany Ellick (3 - 55H, LJ, TJ), Mountain View's Kimberley Ficenec (3 - 500, 1000, 1600), Cosby's Megan Moye (3 - 1000, 1600, 3200), Herndon's Carina Peter (3 - 55, LJ, TJ), and Western Branch's Taranisha Taylor (3- 55, 300, 55H).   At 500 meters, 28 of the top 50 times in the nation are from Virginia, but important to note that the event is not run in several states which have an official indoor season. In a historically great and fast year for the 1000 meter run in the state with 14 girls running under 3 minutes, Virginia has nearly one half of the top 20 times in the United States (9 total) in the mid-distance event. The 55 meter hurdles was not as deep of an event as the 1000 meter run nationally, but definitely was loaded up front with four girls dipping under 8 seconds to give Virginia four of the nation's seven fastest hurdlers.

As regional results come in this week and the times and performances from those meets are updated in the database, take a look at the individual event and team rankings for each classification of Group AAA and Group AA. Might be useful to coaches finalizing their state meet entries.   Group AAA Event Rankings: Boys - Girls Virtual Meet Team Rankings: Boys - Girls   Group AA Event Rankings: Boys - Girls Virtual Meet Team Rankings: Boys - Girls   State Meet Entry Pages: Central Region - Eastern Region - Northern Region - Northwest Region