It will not be a packed house at the FUMA Invitational this year as some prior years with tthe rack facility filled to max capacity, but it will be a quality house with room to breathe for some of the state\'s best athletes and teams that will be in attendance at the Estes Athletic Center on Saturday.
The meet features three current state leaders with Aramis Massenburg of Matoaca, Carl Johnson of Orange County, and Shanneka Claiborne of Matoaca while has several athletes that are not far away from getting on the top of the state leaderboard.
Massenburg has clocked a 7.52 in the 55 meter hurdles and is the top seeded in the event for Saturday. In 2006, Massenburg as a junior finished second in the Central Region meet in the 55 meter hurdles and advanced to the finals of the event at the AAA State Indoor Meet. He is the second fastest returnee from the state finals at George Mason.
Johnson was a consistent performer at 6\'0\" in the high jump until clearing a four inch personal best of 6\'8\" at Liberty in December. The current state leader in the event will look to shake off over a month wait from the event and match his 6\'8\" best performance. He will need to with two 6\'4\" high jumpers also competing with Fork Union\'s own Brian Zitterkopf and Matoaca\'s Aramis Massenburg. Zitterkopf cleared 6\'4\" last Saturday at VMI.
Claiborne ran a state leading of 7.24 in the 55 meter dash without spikes at the CVTF Clinic Meet at the Ashe Center in Richmond last month and will be competing without spikes again at the Estes Center. Racing without spikes has not slowed her down in the past and in particular at Fork Union as she won last year at the FUMA Invite with a personal best time of 7.13 and will look to make it two in a row on Saturday.
Claiborne could potential pick up two wins on the day in the 300 meter dash, but will need to prove she has the endurance to last beyond 100 meters as she has been unable to find the same success in the 200 meters outdoors and 300 meters indoors as she has found in the 100 meters outdoors and 55 meters indoors.
The jumping events for the girls will be highly competitive with several of Virginia\'s premier athletes competing. Matoaca\'s Mia Aghaji is a top seed in two events in both the high jump and triple jump as she comes in with bests of 5\'8\" and 38\'2\" respectively, but will be tested. If Aghaji has an off day in the high jump, expect Brentsville\'s Danyelle Kent-Robinson to be in contention for the win as is one of AA\'s top returning high jumpers at 5\'4\".
Aghaji will need to close to personal best day in the triple jump to win with the likes of J.R. Tucker\'s Jasia Richardson and Kellam\'s Jenn Healey in the competition. Fellow Central Region athlete Richardson is coming off a big win at the Keydet Invite with a mark of 37\'.6.50\", which ranks second in the state currently. Aghaji\'s season best of 35\'3.75\" came at the Arthur Ashe Center as did Healey\'s 35\'6.50\" season best two weeks prior at the Richmond indoor track facility.
Healey is also the top seed in the 55 meter hurdles as she has a 8.84 best from last year, but should be challenged by Danyelle Kent-Robinson who went 8.96 earlier in the season at Geoge Mason.
Richardson\'s Tucker teammate K\'Lynne Robinson is also looking to win her second consecutive invite victory as she is currently ranked third in Virginia in the shot put after putting up a mark of 37\'7\" at VMI last Saturday. Robinson is the top seed and favorite at FUMA for this weekend.
The 1600 meter race for the girls looks to be a great showdown between Liz Barclay of Albemarle and Becky Stewart of Brentsville. Both runners had outstanding cross country seasons with Barclay clocking a 5K best of 18:02 to finish the year at Footlocker South, while Stewart finished as a state runner-up in AA for the second year in a row. The top two seeds have nearly identical personal bests with the sophomore Barclay at 5:10 and the senior Stewart at 5:09 to make for what should be a race to the finish.
Brittany Cabbler of William Fleming will be the overwhelming favorite in the 500 meter dash as she has the third fastest time in the state currently in the event with a 1:19.21 clocking at Liberty last month. Cabbler is the top seed by six seconds at FUMA.
A sub 3 minute 1000 meter runner in Ashley Kukura of Kellam leads all entries in the event with Brentsville\'s Amelia Emerson and Gloucester\'s Hannah Varnell appearing to be Kukura\'s challengers. Kukura earned All-State honors in AAA last March in the 1000 clocking her personal best time of 2:59.54 to finish in fifth overall.
Albemarle senior Rachel Rose will be making her indoor debut in the 3200 meter run as the two-time AAA cross country champion and defending AAA 3200 meter outdoor state champion would like to pick up where she left off last spring in the event. Rose had three sub 11 minute performances outdoors last spring in the 3200 meter run including a 10:45 personal best at the Dogwood Track Classic and 10:50 win at the state meet.
Rashad Cannon of Highland Springs will be looking to bounce back with a win at FUMA in the long jump after finishing third in the event at VMI with a mark of 21\'6\". Cannon has a 22\'10\" best from outdoors, while his season best of 21\'9.50\". Cannon is also the top seed in the triple jump at 45\'8\".
Justin Smith of Turner Ashby had no problem winning the shot put at the Keydet Invite as the only thrower over 50 feet and looks to do it again as the only competitor with a 50 plus mark at 51\'3\".
Daniel Inge of E.C. Glass leads all entries in the pole vault with a 14\'2\" best in the event. Inge cleared 14 feet last month at Liberty and Broadway senior Michael Miller with a 13\'6\" clearance last week in th Spotswood Invite appears to be his biggest threat for first place.
Halifax\'s Patrick Terry has not competed yet this season in the 55 meter dash, but his 6.44 best from last year has to make him the favorite in the sprint event on Saturday.
One of the more anticipated races on the day will be when Axel Mostrag toes the line for the 1600 meter run. Mostrag ran 4:13 for 1600 meters last spring before heading home to Poland where he ran a 3:52 1500 meter time. Mostrag is hoping to have an invitation extended to him for the Millrose Mile. Last year at the FUMA Invitational, Mostrag ran a stellar time of 4:22.85 on the 160 meter unbanked track and will be looking to go for a sub 4:20 effort Saturday.
Fork Union looks to have another star emerging in the middle distance events this season as Jamie Reichlen has only continued to get stronger from a successful cross counry season as FUMA\'s fifth runner. Reichlen ran a 2:33 1000 in earlier December at the Estes Center and split a 2:00 on last Saturday\'s 8:07 4x800 meter relay for Fork Union. Reichlen is entered as the top seed in the 500 meter dash and has a best of 1:08 in the event.
Szymon Rola could make it a sweep for Fork Union in the middle distance races if Mostrag and Reichlen precede him with wins in the 1600 and 500 meter races. Rola is the defending FUMA Invite champ in the event as he posted his 2:36 personal best in last year\'s race.
Look to defending VISAA 3200 meter state champion Matthew Richardson to take the win in the 3200 meter run with his 9:47 best.
