6A North Summary
GIRLS: This may well have been the best team battle seen over the last decade at the Regional Championships. 4 teams slugged it out, all with different strengths. In the end, there was drama in the last event. As the announcer Pearl Watts proclaimed at the finish, “This is why they run the 4x4 last!”
With only the 4x400 to go, Patriot led Lake Braddock 66-64.33. Both teams relays were not compromised of the same girls that had run their seed times. Both teams featured all underclassmen. Patriot ran with 3 sophomores and a junior and Lake Braddock with a freshman, 2 sophomores and a junior. If Patriot finished ahead of Lake Braddock, they would clinch. Lake Braddock had to finish at least 7th and ahead of Patriot to have a chance to win.
The first section of the race set the tone of what was to come. McLean and Westfield dueled with both teams running well below their seeds. McLean prevailed 3:59.62 to 4:00.19. Section 2 was even better. Oakton and Madison dueled up front and ran blazing times with Oakton in 3:54.97 to 3:55.10 for Madison. Chantilly and Yorktown finished 3rd and 4th in 4:02.97 and 4:03.59. The stage was set for the fastest seeded section. From the gun, South Lakes quartet of Lozama, Nieusma, Jones and Kumi-Darfour made it clear they were the best running 3:52.50 and a new region record! Behind them Battlefield, Langley and Lake Braddock were all together as the anchor legs got the batons. Patriot was next. Langley would come home second in 3:57.24 and Lake Braddock would cross 3rd. With Battlefield’s anchor struggling home with an injury, Patriot’s anchored closed fast as both teams cross almost simultaneously. The times were too close to call by hand. After a few minute wait, the results were: South Lakes, Oakton and Madison from heat 2. Langley in 4th. McLean from heat 1 in 5th. Lake Braddock edging Westfield(from heat 1) for 6th and Chatilly in 8th. All in all, the top 12 teams ran state autoqualifying times. For the team scores- Lake Braddock’s 6th place finish got them 3 points, just enough to edge Patriot for the title 67.33-66.
4x800 Talk about starting the meet off with a bang! The Patriot team of Carina Garcia, Candace Jones, Sierra Bieber and Rachel MacArthur lit up the track with their 9:03.04, #4 all time in Virginia. The top 9 teams all state qualified.
Long Jump Kiana Seabrook of Hayfield took the win with 17’4.5 almost exactly matching her seed mark.
Shot Put Alexus Foreman continues to impress going over 42’ for the second week in a row. In second, fellow junior Maria Muzzio, also cracked the 40’ barrier. These two will see each other a lot more!
High Jump Suzannah Stark of Battlefield surprised the field with her 5’3 winning jump. Starting the day in a tie for the #6 seed, Stark showed why the vertical jumps can be difficult to handicap.
Discus With the # 2 seed a scratch, you would have thought this to be an easy event for #1 seed Maria Muzzio. Fouls on her first two throws forced Muzzio to take a safe throw on her third attempt to make the finals. In the finals, she righted herself and took the win at 127’6.
Pole Vault #1 Seed Emily Harrison from Battlefield cleared 10’6 to repel a trio of challengers at 10’3 for the title.
Triple Jump Bhrandi Crenshaw (TC Williams) outdueled Astrid Logonde (Annandale) for her first regional title. The sophomore has a bright future.
100 Hurdles West Springfield’s Hannah Bowden broke 15 seconds for the win. Alaina Pagliaro of South County showed she is the likely one to beat in the future as the sophomore ran 15.05.
100 Dash Alexys Taylor started off her attempt at the sprint triple with a nice victory in 12.12.
1600 Run A battle between top 10 nationally ranked runners in this one with Kate Murphy winning over Rachel MacArthur. Lauren Berman (Robinson) and Leya Salis(Oakton) also broke 5 minutes and the top 10 all ran state auto times.
4x100 Relay Stonewall Jackson led two others under 50 seconds for the win. Fairfax closed well with No’elle Taylor on anchor for second. Lake Braddock grabbed third.
400 Dash 2nd piece of the Sprint Triple for Alexys Taylor with her victory here. 58.69 seconds just to make the finals.
300 IH Christina Quigley of South County powered her way under 45 seconds to grab the victory. South County had 4 finalists in the event. Definitely Hurdler High of 6A North.
800 Run Running from the front of the first section, Herndon freshman Olivia Duston wins her first title. In the faster seeded section- Candace Jones of Patriot held off a fast closing Kate Murphy to grab runner-up honors.
200 Dash Alexys Taylor of Osbourn Park finishes the deal by winning her 3rd sprint title in 25.16
3200 Run Patriot’s Rachel MacArthur controlled this one throughout in 10:35.15. Casey Kendall stayed close for the runner up spot in 10:41.56. Madison freshman Jeana Bogdon had a huge PR to finish fourth in 11:04.22.
4x400 Relay SEE TEAM TITLE HUNT ABOVE
Boys:
In the team title hunt, Patriot conference champs, Lake Braddock used a blend of 48 points from their distance runners and Dejoun Lee’s 17 individual points along with 18 points in the shorter relays to claim the title with 102 points. Battlefield was dominant in the field events (winning both vertical events) and sprints to grab the runners-up trophy with 78.5.
The 4x800 produced a meet record with Lake Braddock taking the lead during the second leg and extending it from there. 9 teams hit the State auto-qualifying mark and 5 broke 7:55. The winning relay was comprised of Freshman Andrew DelVecchio, Seniors Alex Corbett and Bryan Bergan and Junior Ben Fogg. West Springfield was the runners-up in 752 with a fine anchor leg from Nahom Teshome.
Discus Sophomore Benedict Draghi of Washington & Lee hung on for a close win in the discus. 2 feet separated first from third.
Long Jump South County put on a show in this event. Bishop Dorr led his teammates to a 1,2,7,8 finish. 21 huge points for the team.
Pole Vault Andrew Arlint of Battlefield continued to be the best vaulter in Northern Virginia with his 15’3.5” jump.
Shot Put Brandon Flores of Westfield was the only one over 50’ in this one. The entire top 6 are seniors, so there will be a changing of the guard in this event next year.
Triple Jump Top seed John Lim of Westfield squeaked out the victory over Bishop Dorr by 2 inches. Dorr was joined in the finals by 2 teammates, who finished 6th,9th. South County was certainly the kings of the runway.
High Jump Xyan Xrichardson of Battlefield outdueled Anthony Kidd of Stonewall for the victory. 6’7 to 6’6. Both are underclassmen, so we will get to see this battle again.
100 Dash With Noah Lyles not running, Joseph Tay of Patriot bested Dejoun Lee of Lake Braddock for the title as both broke 11 seconds.
110 Hurdles Nathan Stone of South Lakes squeezed by Jahvante Marcelle of Patriot 14.78-14.79 for the win. Centreville High School had three in the final after an incredible semis where places 7,8,9 were decide by the thousandth of a second.
1600 Run Lake Braddock senior Alex Corbett set a quick early pace and motored to the win in a quick 4:11.59. Ryan McGorty closed well for 2nd in a personal best 4:17.70.
4x100 Relay Lake Braddock grabbed their second relay win with a great third leg to get 100 meter runner up Dejoun Lee a lead he would not relinquish. In the team title hunt, this one was big as the top 4 teams all had highly seeded teams.
400 Dash Josephus Lyles just missed his own Region record, but was the class of the field. 3 runners sub 49 in this one!
300 IH Jahvante Marcelle of Patriot held off Kevin Bishop of Centreville to win in 39.29. Marcelle was the runner up in the 110’s, so he gets the title as best hurdler in the region!
800 Run Fireworks started early in this one as the slow section proved to be anything but. Lake Braddock’s Tommy McArdle led a quintet of runners under 2 minutes in this section. The fast section then upped the ante with Alex Maguire of Fairfax and Loozie Goolsby pulling away for the top 2 spots. Maguire’s time of 1:53.05 was almost a second and a half better than his seed. Goolsby 3 seconds better than his seed.
200 Dash Josephus Lyles took his brother’s Regional record with a blazing time of 21.12 South County’s Trevor Stewart followed up his 48.99 on the 400 with a 21.71 for runner up honors.
3200 Run The pack stayed together for most of this race. As the laps dwindled, Alex Corbett of Lake Braddock moved to the front and earned his 3rd regional title of the meet. Oakton’s Chris Holland was the best of the rest over the last lap to earn second.
4x400 Relay With TC Williams a scratch, this race was wide open. Five teams were in the hunt when the anchor legs stepped on the track. Battlefield with 400 dash finalist Kurt Waller on anchor was able to hold off Lake Braddock and South Lakes. Less than a second separated the top 3.