With the season now officially over it is time to go back and award those most deserving for athlete of the year overall and specifically in their discipline.
Athlete of The Year
Caroline Alcorta (West Springfield)
After having one of, if not, the most prolific distance careers in the state of Virginia, West Springfield's Caroline Alcorta is the only logical pick for athlete of the year. Alcorta posted season best times in the 1600 at 4:44, in the 3200 at 10:12 and was also a double state champion winning both the 1600 and 3200 in the same day. Something that is rarely ever done. Caroline has also been a strong relay leg all season long. She ran a 2:08 leg on West Springfield's 4x800 at NBON to help her team set a school record and VA #2 All-Time mark. She also anchored her teammates to another DMR victory and third national title in that event. She was also the anchor for their victorious DMR at the Penn Relays Carnival this past April. She is not done however with the season as she will finally face stiff competition when she laces up her shoes to race in the Brooks PR 2 Mile race this upcoming weekend.
Runner of The Year
Caroline Alcorta (West Springfield)
Field Event Athlete of The Year
Zakiya Rashid (Nansemond River)
Zakiya not only finished the season ranked as the top discus thrower with her 149-10 season best but she also finished the season third in the shot put at 44-9. She won her EE classification at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the shot put with that mark. She is also a quality triple jumper and budding long jumper too. She also ran a leg on an all-american shuttle hurdle relay team. Though she was not the best thrower of the year, that award went to Galissia Cause, she was the best field event athlete for her talent and ability across the board in the field events.
Sprinter of The Year
Kiana Hairston (Osbourn Park)
Though Kiana does not lead the state in a single running event, she is however the only girl to be ranked inside the top five in the 100, 200, and 400m dashes. Kiana showed this versatile skill off the first weekend in June when she swept, yes swept the sprint events winning the 100, 200, and 400 at the 6A State Championships. This is only more impressive when you remember she had to run qualifying in the 100 and 200 the day prior as well. Kiana finishes her season ranked second int he state in the 100 at 11.89, 5th in the state in the 200 at 24.48, and 5th in the state in the 400 at 55.48.
Distance Runner of The Year
Caroline Alcorta (West Springfield)
Thrower of The Year
Galissia Cause (Battlefield)
Galissia did not disappoint one bit in her senior season. She won both the shot and discus at the 6A state championship to be the only girl thrower to do this outside of the 1A classification. She finished the season atop the leaderboard in the girls shot put with her season best of 45-2.25. She also finished ranked third in the discus at 138-0. More impressively, Galissia compiled 15 first place finishes this year, the majority of which were at high caliber meets such as The Southern Track Classic or championship meets.
Jumper of The Year
LaChyna Roe (Henrico)
LaChyna did not mess around this season and proved early on that she was the girl to beat in this state in the triple jump and long jump when it came to the 5A classification. She finished the season ranked first in the triple jump by nearly a foot over her competition with her 40-7 season best. LaChyna did this mark just hours after having competed at the Penn Relays Carnival. She then traveled back down south and won the MileStat.com Elite Track Classic. She was the 5A State Champion in this event and finished fourth in the 5A long jump competition.
Hurdler of The Year
Chantel Ray (Hampton)
Chantel Ray will go down as one of the best hurdlers the state has ever seen. She has not finished her high school career though as she has one more meet this week (Brooks PR) where she will look to redeem herself for falling at NBON. She has stood atop the state leaderboard all season with a season best of 13.42. That time for the majority of the season was the only sub 14 time in the state until regionals and states. She was the 5A state champion in this event and the 300m hurdles and also was a leg on the victorious 4x100 team. She will be chasing the state record of 13.30 this weekend at Brooks.
Vaulter of The Year
Hannah Meador (Fluvanna County)
After you lead the state nearly the entire season and win seven straight pole vault state titles you kind of become a shoe in for this award. Hannah will go down in history as one of the most dominant and consistent pole vaulters the state has ever seen. She had a season best of 12-6 which tied her with Jacqueline Meeks atop the state leaderboard. She wins this award for not only consistency and continued dominance but for stepping up big when it mattered most. She finished highly at her two biggest meets of the year, Penn Relays (finished 7th) and New Balance Outdoor Nationals (finished 8th).
Freshman of The Year
Lauryn Ghee (Grassfield)
Lauryn Ghee had quite the season. Not to mention she is only a freshman. Unlike the boy freshman, Lauryn had a shot at winning multiple state titles. She was the runner-up in the 200 and 4th place in the 400 at the 6A state track meet. She had season bests of 24.44 in the 200 and 54.84 in the 400. She culminated her season by winning the freshman girls 400 at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in a new meet record time. She also finished the season ranked in the top five in both the 200 and 400 including second overall in the 400. Her 54.84 400 time also ranked her 7th nationally amongst her fellow freshman.
Coach of The Year
Claude Toukene
There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said about "Touks". His Bruins completely destroyed their competition this year winning almost any event in which they entered. This year's team that scored 148 points at the state track meet is arguably the most dominant team in state history based on amount of points scored. His team won all three relays at states, two relays at Nationals, set a national record, set two state records, and also finished with multiple all-american finishes too. He was also named the NSAF national coach of the year for how great his team was.
With the season now officially over it is time to go back and award those most deserving for athlete of the year overall and specifically in their discipline.
Athlete of The Year