NEW YORK, NY -- Virginia was well represented on the first day of the Hispanic Games by the small delegation from two teams in the state in Herndon and St. Catherine\'s. In particular, the Virginia girls had a handful of top six finishes in various events one of the country\'s finest indoor track facilities at the New York Armory.
Carrie Wortham of St. Catherine\'s had two top three finishes on Friday in New York in two untraditional events to be doubling in with the 3000 meter run and pole vault. Wortham ran a time of 10:33.43 in the 3K race to finish second overall. Her final time equates roughly to a 11:20 3200 meter time, which would be considerably faster from her previous best from last year of 11:41 for the defending Virginia Independent Schools outdoors state champion in the 3200. In the pole vault, Wortham matched her personal best height of 10\'6\" which she has hit on two previous occasssions. The St. Catherine\'s junior finished third with the clearance at the Armory.
St. Catherine\'s should be a tough team to beat at the private schools state championships in track with the likes of Wortham and high jumper Virginia Ginn. Ginn is a multiple state champion in the event and looked sharp in her season opener with a 5\'2\" clearance to finish tied for sixth as six other competitors also cleared the height behind a 5\'6\" winner in Saniel Atkinson of Bishop McNamara.
Herndon sophomore Hiruni Wijayarante also competed in the 3000 meter run alongside fellow Virginian in Wortham as she finished sixth overall with a time of 10:43.51. Her time would convert roughly to a 11:30 3200 meter time, which is not far off her 11:23 best from outdoors.
Herndon teammate Matt Giorgis finished tenth in a very competitive and deep invitational two mile boys\' race, which produced a US #1 time from the race winner Brandon Jarrett of New Jersey (9:14.64). Giorgis posted a time of 9:46.58 for a full two miles and just missed the AAA State Meet auto qualifying time of 9:42.35. Meanwhile, team member Ermin Mujezinovic competed in an event not contested at the indoor state meet in the 800 meter run as his time of 2:00.93 ranks him first in the state in the rarely run indoor event in Virginia.