GIRLS:
Centreville and Westfield look like they will resume another close scoring encounter from their Concorde District meet, with four time defending champion Lake Braddock along with Patriot District titleist West Potomac and T.C. Williams also appearing able to put pressure near the top at this year's Northern Region Championships to be held this Saturday at the GMU Fieldhouse.
Field events for the one day only meet will begin at 8:30 a.m. Running event trials in the 55 meter hurdles and 55 dash for both girls and boys will start at 12:00 noon, with running event finals to begin at 1:00 p.m.
Team scoring for all events will be the same as next week's AAA state championship meet; through eight places on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
The Centreville girls finished second at last year's region indoor championships but look capable of moving up one spot this year, led by Brittni Finch.
The Wildcats junior is the defending champion in both the 55 dash and long jump and will also be among the favorites in the triple jump and high jump as well as probably running a leg on both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
Centreville also returns junior Jordan Grant as the defending champion and top seed in the 300 dash and have senior Cate Tisinger as the defending titleist in the 500 dash as well.
It also appears that Grant and Tisinger will be part of the top seeded 4x200 relay and may also be saved for legs in the 4x400 relay if the the scoring is close, going into that last event.
The Wildcats also look ready to pick up additional points in the 55 hurdles with senior Hana Tran and in the shot put with junior Stephanie White.
Westfield, like Centreville, appears able to score in excess of 60 points. However, the Bulldogs could be looking at trying to erase a possible 20 point deficit after the field events, even with senior Betsy Alter coming in as the top seed in the pole vault. Westfield should be able to score as many, if not more points, than any of the other teams in the running events though.
The Bulldogs come in with the fastest time in the 4x800 relay by almost fifteen seconds and have junior Tasia Potasinski as the defending champ in the 1,600 run, as well as the top seed in the 1,000 run with junior Kerry Hartman.
Westfield should also score points in both of the other relays, as well as in the 500 dash with junior Brittany Sevachko and the 55 hurdles with junior Haley Boone.
Defending champion Lake Braddock should pull solid field event points from junior Melanie Akwule in the triple jump; senior Allison Jones in the shot put and senior Brooke Durbin in the pole vault.
The Bruins could also combine for close to 20 points from the three relays and will also be counting on Melanie Akwule in the 55 hurdles and senior Shelley Presley in the 1,000 run.
West Potomac could get close to the 50 point mark with a good day from Kat Lee. The Wolverines junior comes into the meet with the top regional performances of the season in both the long jump (18 feet, 7 inches) and the triple jump (37-11.75) as well as the number two mark in the vault at 10-6. West Potomac's strength in the running events should be in the 1,000 run with senior Kelly Jemison; the 3,200 run with junior Elizabeth Heath and the 300 dash with Kat Lee, in addition to having one of the top times in the 4x8.
T.C. Williams has a shot at scoring as well as any school in the field events. Senior Samella Koroma comes in as the top seed and event favorite in the shot put with a best this season of 43-4.5.
The Titans also have sophomore Tynita Butts with the top high jump mark at 5-3; with Butts also having one of the top marks in both the long jump and 55 dash.
T.C. should also score in the pole vault with juniors Eva Baker and Taylor Wuerker; in the 1,000 run with sophomore Erika Weidman and Tynita Butts could also pull some additional points out of one of the slower seeded sections of the 300 dash.
Liberty District team champ Marshall will rely on senior Jacqueline Hargrove for points in the jumps and also have Hargrove as the top seed in the 500 dash.
The Statesmen also have senior Shannon McVey with one of the top times in the 55 dash and McVey and Hargrove will also be part of the 4x200 and 4x400 relays for Marshall.
West Springfield returns senior Trish Friederich as the defending region champ in the 55 hurdles as well as coming in with the second fastest time in the 500 dash. The Spartans also will rely on junior Rosemary Barber in the 500 dash and as an integral part of their 4x800 and 4x400 relays.
Others to watch include senior Veronica Day of Madison in the long jump and triple jump; Hayfield junior Jasmine Jones comes in with the top time in the 55 hurdles after setting a new Patriot District meet record of 8.51 and Stuart sophomore Danielle Williams is capable of finishing among the top three in both the 55 dash and 300 dash.
Chantilly sophomore Lia DiValentin and W.T. Woodson senior Sarrah Hadiji will be hooking up in the 1,600 run with both having the ability to go below five minutes in the event and Yorktown sophomore Andrea Oaxaca has one of the top times this season and is the defending region champion in the 1,000 run.
BOYS:
Centreville edged Westfield two weeks ago by four points at the Concorde District championships and it looks like a duel between those two schools again, with both the Wildcats and Bulldogs capable of approaching the 70 point mark and all the other schools hard pressed to surpass the 40 point mark.
Defending team titleist Centreville would not be a surprise if they scored more than half their points in the field events.
The Wildcats will look to establish an early lead in the day's first event, the long jump, with steady senior Brandon Williams and senior Brandon Davis, who set a new Concorde District meet record of 22-2.
Centreville should also get triple jump points from Davis and senior Daryl Hamilton; possible points from junior Corey McCabe in the shot put and have senior Phil Allison as the top seeded high jumper at 6-6.
The Wildcats should also score in all three relays and have additional points on the track from Brandon Williams in the 55 dash and 300 dash; senior Mark Hogan in the 1,000 run and Daryl Hamilton in the 55 hurdles.
Westfield will try to offset somewhat Centreville's points in the field events with senior Kevin Dillard, who comes into the meet with the top long jump mark this season of 22-7.5 and the number two mark in the triple jump at 45-8.5 and the Bulldogs also have the number two performance in the shot put with senior Andrew Pittman.
Almost all of Westfield's points in the individual running events will be squeezed out of the 500 dash and 300 dash with Dillard and sophomore Matt Anderson, with Dillard and Anderson also part of the Bulldogs top seeded 4x400 relay squad.
It's possible that Robert E. Lee could finish in third place with just two scoring competitors. However, one of the scorers for Lee is favored to put up 30 points by himself, in Sean Holston. The Lancers senior is the defending champion and meet record holder in both the 55 dash (6.38) and 300 dash (34.60) and also comes into the meet with almost a 2.5 second advantage in the 500 dash at 1:03.99.
Holston has not run the 500 dash in almost two months but even with that, coupled with limited practicing in the past week because of unfavorable weather conditions, Holston still has a legitimate chance at the meet record of 1:03.74.
Lee could get over the 40 point mark with the possible trio of victories by Holston along with strong showings in both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs from senior Josef Tessema.
South County should be among the top five teams led by senior Chris Bartholemew in the high jump; junior Alvin Hayes in the 55 hurdles and with senior Jeff Miller in the 1,000 run and anchor of both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.
Liberty District champ Langley could also be among the top five led by senior Jordan Calderwood, who is the defending champion in the high jump and also the top seed in the 55 hurdles. The Saxons could also score well in the pole vault led by junior Michael Chisholm and also have junior Chris Yi in the 500 dash and 300 dash.
Others to watch in the field events include top seeded Edison junior Dada Titcombe in the triple jump; West Springfield senior Andy Adell in the high jump; top seeded senior Yaky Ibia of South Lakes in the shot put and senior Alvin Siv of Annandale, junior Tommy Clark of T.C. Williams along with sophomore Wesley Sun of Chantilly in the pole vault.
Other top performers in the running events include West Potomac junior Chris Newkirk in the 55 hurdles; South Lakes senior Gabe Itoka in the 55 dash; senior Ermin Mujezinovic of Herndon along with T.C. Williams junior Brad Kenimer in the 1,600 run and seniors Dan McHale of Robinson and Jefferson's Taylor Bostick in the 1,000 run.
Lake Braddock junior Chris Letson comes in with one of the top times in the 300 dash and will be counted on heavily as the anchor in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays for the Bruins and the 3,200 run will be the only event scheduled for West Springfield senior Mike Spooner, as he eyes the regional meet record of 9:15.60 with Washington-Lee senior Chris Tyson also looking for a personal best in that event.