The VHSL State Championships are upon this weekend with all three classifications contesting their championship meets in different corners of the state with the AAA State Championships at Todd Stadium in Newport News, AA State Championships at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, and the A State Championships at Radford University in Radford. MileStat.com will have in-depth coverage of all three championships with photos and videos from the AAA and AA State championships and photos from the A State Championships. Pre-meet coverage will include meet previews, athlete spotlights, rankings, and other features. Click for more...
Pictured above by John Herzog: Hampton senior Tierra Brown cooked her preliminary race in the 300 meter hurdles at Todd Stadium on Friday evening with a then US #1 time of 41.62! Brown moved ahead of Tennessee's Jackie Coward, who held the nation's fastest time of 41.66 since the Arcadia Invitational (California) in April. After getting the US #1 time under her belt in her final state meet, she had her eyes on meet records for Saturday including the 100 meter hurdles meet record of 13.81, which was set in 1988 by Lisa Wells of Manor. Brown clocked in at 13.73 in Saturday's finals to win her second state title in the event and then came back later to win her third title in four years in the 300 meter hurdles. The usually all-business on the track Brown showed her smiling face on several occasions including above with her new 100 meter hurdle meet record as well as for a MileStat.com post-300 hurdles finals audio interview (to be posted soon!).
Saturday Highlights: Deep Creek program becomes the first since 1983 in AAA to win both the boys (57 pts) and girls (46 pts) outdoor team titles. They were both pushed to the state titles to the final event as second place finishers Landstown girls (43 pts) and Western Branch boys (55 pts) kept it close by claiming the 4x400 meter relay titles to make things interesting at the end. The story of the meet was the youth with large group of underclassmen playing a large role in their team's success as well as more than a handful of individual champions. Sophomore boys champions include Matthew Armentrout of Deep Run in the pole vault (15'0"), Damien Thigpen of Stonewall Jackson in the 300 meter hurdles (37.50), and Matthew Anderson of Westfield (1:53.98) among top finishers in many other events Much more highlights and stories to come!
Live Results/Updates
AAA State Meet Complete Results
We will be attempting to post virtually live results from the AAA State Meet as well as brief updates of meet developments event by event. Meet begins at 3 PM on Friday.
Parents: You will be happy to know that we will be selling photos from the AAA (John Herzog) and AA (David Fleenor) State Meets!
Bulk of photos will be uploaded late Saturday night and into Saturday.
AAA Photos: To Buy Prints - To View/Download
AA Photos: To Buy Prints - To View/Download
State Meet Information & Time Schedules:
State Meet Previews:
- Group AAA Meet Preview - Say it ain’t so! Could we possibly have another tie with the same two teams from last year for the AAA state crown? It is certainly within the realm of possibility in looking how the top teams will stack up against one another this weekend for the VHSL Group AAA State Championships at Todd Stadium in Newport News. In 2006, Deep Creek and Landstown amassed the largest point total in the field with 41 points each for a share of the AAA state team title. Can Western Branch dominate the other AAA teams as they did at the indoor state championships this March with their great depth and their talented sophomore class of athletes? Or can their Southeastern District and Eastern Region rival in Deep Creek take them down after giving them their toughest challenges all year long the past two weeks? Will Sean Holston join an exclusive club of triple crown winners in the sprints and help his Robert E. Lee squad to a state championship? There is one question that is certain: the price of admission is well worth it to see some of Virginia’s best high school track and field stars do battle over the two day AAA State Championships at Todd Stadium.
- Group AAA State Meet Historical Tidbits by the "Historian" - Historical tidbits of facts and information on this weekend's AAA State Outdoor Championships in Newport News by regular MileStat.com message board contributor, the "Historian".
- Group AA Boys Team Predictions - MileStat.com's Brandon Miles predicts the top 5 finish order of boys' teams for Friday and Saturday's Group AA State Outdoor Championships at Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg. Miles projects Brunswick Senior to go from fifth in their regional meet to first in the state thanks to four individuals capable of taking home individual state titles or state runner-up finishes. In the state runner-up spot is Region II champs Harrisonburg with more points out there to gain for the Blue Streaks with a team of numbers. Retaining their third place finish from a year ago at the AA State Meet is Region I champs Caroline, who return defending state champions in the long jump and 4x100 meter relay. The indoor state champions in Brookville find themselves in the underdog role, but will be kept within striking distance by the versatile Ethan Nixon. Louisa County, led by one of the state's top discus throwers in Todd Shelton and a top seeded 4x400 is capable of breaking into the top five.
- Group AA Girls Team Predictions - MileStat.com's Brandon Miles makes his top five team prediction for the Group AA girls in this weekend's state championships. Charlottesville girls are picked to win led by Rashawnda James (pictured left by John Herzog at the Dogwood Track Classic) and a possible state meet record breaking 4x100 to follow up their indoor state title with an outdoor one. In a close second is Region II champs Park View, who will have very reliable points in the throwing events from Natalie Baird and her two fellow junior teammates Lauren Tomlinson and Julia Anyaugo in a possible 1-2 finish in both the shot put and discus. Their distance girls will have to deal with brutal heat and tough competition, but the Blacksburg girls should slip into the top three. Meanwhile, Kristin Smith and Catherine White can to score 30 or more (for Smith at least) the points for their teams in Rustburg and Northside to take top five showings.
- Potential Group AA State Triple Winners - There are a handful of athletes capable of winning three individual state championships at the 2007 Group AA State Championships. Five athletes in particular have a hard but obtainable road to three state titles in Harrisonburg this weekend. Meanwhile, Catherine White (pictured right by David Fleenor at Arcadia) has been there and done that as last year the Northside distance star won all three distance races (3200, 1600, 800) at the AA State Championships. If White wins all three again, she will have finished her high school career with a legendary total of 15 state championships in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track.
- Spotsylvania County athletes forced to miss AA state meet due to graduation - Spotsylvania County Schools officials are forcing kids to have to decide between this weekend's Group AA State Championships in Harrisonburg or high school graduations on Saturday. The conflict is impacting many of the teams and athletes from the area including the defending Group AA state outdoor champion girls' squad in Courtland.Check out the the Free-Lance Star article on the graduation situation for the Spotsylvania track athletes.
- Sophomore Strength - They may or may not end up as your state champions this weekend, but they are your future state champions as well as All-Americans and possibly national champions. The sophomore or class of 2009 boys, are one of the most talented groups of track and field athletes that our state has seen in recent history come through in such a wave. It is almost as if there was a radioactive chemical in the water or air when these boys were born 16 years ago. There seems to be a strong concentration of superhuman sophomores in the Chesapeake area and Group AA’s Region II.
- Virginian Pilot article: Shorter spikes at state track meet anger athletes - Excellent article by Larry Rubama on the controversy surrounding the 1/8 inch spike rule at Todd Stadium, which many people think affects the times and performances of the athletes. In fact, a whopping majority of 83.9% of MileStat.com visitors agreed that the AAA State Meet should be moved from Todd Stadium as a result of the spike limitations in a recent site poll.
- Virginian Pilot article: Coach's prediction of a state title in '07 may be understatement
- Daily Press article: Hampton's Brown ready to face her fears
Performance Lists:
How Did We Get Here?
Check out MileStat.com's Regional and District Meet Coverage
Top 25 Performance Rankings:
Top 25 performance rankings by events contested at this weekend's VHSL State Championships. Find out where athletes and relays achieved their times and marks from the state meet performance lists.
Team Rankings: