The last weekend in April may be about relay performances in Philadelphia but the first weekend in May is about Virginia taking over the leaderboards. The 2015 Dogwood Track Classic at UVA's Lannigan Field is shaping up to be one of the best meets in the state this spring as several of Virginia's biggest stars will be in attendance.
Friday evening's Boy's Sprint Medley Relay looks like it could rival Penn Relays & the NBON meet as the fastest SMR of the season with a salivating showdown between Hermitage & Fork Union. Hermitage is the 2014 outdoor national champs (3:24) and returns three of four from last year's squad including multiple-time state champ Devin Barnes on anchor. Fork Union is fresh off a 3rd place showing (3:27) at last month's NBIN meet and just ran 3:20.00 (VA #1) in the 4x400 at Saturday's Gus Lacy Classic. Anchor man Alex Lomong is currently US #4 courtesy of a big PB 1:51.72 at the Gus Lacy 800, and will be joined by older brother Peter (1:05.79 500m) and 10.70/21.68 man Drake Davis. Other potential teams include Bayside (3rd at '14 NBON in 3:26), Lee-Davis (8th at Indoor Nats) and Western Branch (11th at Indoor Nats).
As impressive as the boy's race will be, the girl's could be even better as there are rumbles that Western Branch will load up and take a shot at the 3:50.82 national record set last year by Columbia out of New Jersey. If any Virginia program looks poised for a run at the record, it would be the Bruins as they have been arguably the best program in the state this past decade and have run 3:45.06 in the 4x400 this year. Coach Toukene has a scary deep roster. He not only has depth but talent and range as well. His 200 legs will be from their All-American 4x200 but his biggest weapons in this race could be juniors Amanda Thomas and Faith Ross who both have the ability to split 2:07 or faster. Thomas and Ross both have split under 56 for 400 too. Although the race has the potential to be one against the clock, it would greatly help the record chances if a team like Nansemond River (US #3 4x400 right now thanks to their 3:45.80 Arcadia victory) decided to attend, probably one of the few teams in the entire country that brings equal if not greater sprint talent to the table then Western Branch.
Saturday's portion of the meet will include many high quality events, but the main attraction of the day will undoubtedly be the 1600 meter races. The boy's race will be a who's who of Virginia distance running, and will include Andrew Hunter (4:09 PB), Matt Novak (4:08), Alex Corbett (4:17) and Alex Lomong (4:16). Although Hunter may carry the highest pedigree thanks to his cross country and two mile success, there's little doubt that Novak, the Wahoo commit, will relish the chance to take on Virginia's best at his premiere event on what will be his future track. Of the four, the Fork Union junior may be the sleeper pick as the younger Lomong brother was 3rd here last year as a sophomore in a big PB of 4:16 and has been virtually untouchable on the track ever since, losing only once in that time span (to his older brother Peter in the '14 Outdoor Prep League 800).
The girl's race is a little murkier at this point, but could very likely feature an equally impressive group of Virginia's best including Kate Murphy of Braddock (4:51 PB), Rachel McArthur (4:53) and Weini Kelati (16:59 indoor 5,000).
Other notable athletes include Grassfield sprint wunderkind Lauryn Ghee and fellow superstar teammate "All-Everything" Grant Holloway, as well as Bayside senior Tayvon Burris (1:51.91) in the Boy's 800.