New Balance Nationals

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Virginia Day 1 Recap
Virginia Day 2 Recap
Noah Lyles State Record 10.21 100m Recap
Drew Hunter's State Record 8:39 2mi Recap (Brooks PR)
VA Relay Previews: Boys - Girls
VA Individuals' Previews: Boys - Girls
Virginia All-Time List
Virginia Leaderboard: Boys - Girls

Day 3 VA

The day started off again with a bang for Virginia. Thanks to Casey Kendall's amazing 5:00 split for the full mile, Oakton girls' 4xMile team made it to the podium with their 20:30 3rd place finish. Their splits were 5:16, 5:04, 5:08, and 5:00.

After their race we had a nice little rest between action to catch our breath and thank goodness we did because after the opening ceremonies we had non-stop action for Virginia. That action started with the 400m Hurdles that saw Brandee' Johnson, only a junior, from Nansemond River take home the silver medal in 57.63. This worked out perfectly for her to get a little extra rest from being in the slower, unseeded section.

Next on the track for Virginia was a whole lot of 4x100s including the Western Branch Boys team that got the stick around cleanly to win the national title in 41.11. This team was comprised of Akinshe Hill, Micaiah Harris, Jahkwan Blackley, and Stephan Arjoon. This was also their second national title on the day and fourth overall for their boys team.

Giving Branch a run for their money though was the 4A squad from Phoebus taking the national runners-up spot in 41.20. Also making it to the podium and making up for their DQ at 5A States was Brooke Point finishing in 4th in 41.65. Tell us having Virginia go 1-2-4 in that race (6A, 5A. and 4A) does not make you want a meet of champions just that much more!?

The girls from Team War though wanted some attention too and got just that finishing second with a top five time all-time in the state with their 46.25 time. This team was also the small schools champions from Penn Relays but with this time they will end the season as VA #1.

After these fast relays things kept getting faster for Virginia with Josephus Lyles storming back down the final stretch to retake the lead in the 400 final in 45.99 which is VA #3 all-time. This time also helped him hold on and defend his national title. So keep an eye on the Lyles brothers next year because they will have nothing but gold bibs on!

Finishing right after these races was the 1500m decathlon event that featuring two great Virginians, Jack Claiborne of Woodberry Forest and Isaac Agyemang of Woodbridge. Agyemang led the competition throughout day one and retook the lead first thing Sunday morning with his swift 110h time. He then held onto that lead through seven events until the pole vault where he unfortunately relinquished his hold on that spot. He finished strong and ultimately placed 5th with 6127 points for All-American honors. Claiborne did the opposite and capitalized on the pole vault to move up substantially and finished in a close 7th just 16 points shy of being an All-American.

Next on the track was the much anticipated boys mile featuring Matthew Novak of Deep Run. Novak, a senior and UVA commit, just needed one great race and that is exactly what he got this weekend. All along VA knew he deserved this great race and finish and it was great to see him cross the line first as National Champion in 4:09. Matt ran a perfect race gapping the field and ultimately holding onto the lead down the stretch when the field finally tried to make up the deficit but it turned out to be too late for them.

In the boys 200, indoor national champion Noah Lyles did it again by running 20.54 to pass Ryan Clark down the home stretch and help complete the Lyles sweep of the sprints. This could be the first time ever that a pair of brothers swept the sprints at a national championships at any level! Noah will also be competing at the junior trials late this month in Oregon.

The next to last race of the day was the boys DMR featuring Chantilly's boys team finishing 6th in 10:10.74. This team comprised of McGorty, McGorty, Jeffries, and Mitchell returns three of their legs next year. This team was very impressive all season after fighting injuries and moving distance to come away with a great run at the penultimate time.

In the final event of the championships we had the showdown of the century with Nansemond River and Western Branch. This was a great matchup because both teams basically refuse to race each other except in either the Penn Relays final or the National Championships. On the year though both split their two meetings with each winning one. Western Branch though won when it mattered most this weekend when they crossed the line in 3:38 to break their own state record by a full three seconds.

Nansemond River impressively finished fourth in 3:39 which is #2 all-time in the state of Virginia. This time, though very impressive, is just a fraction of what they could have run. Team War did this amazing performance without their fastest 400 runner, Kara Lyles, who has been battling injuries this weekend and was unable to run. It doesn't take a genius to see that is she ran the race could have gone a whole lot different.

In the field events Grant Holloway and DaJuan Seward both snagged All-American finishes in the long jump placing 5th and 6th respectively.

In the emerging elite division Oakton's boys DMR stole the show by winning in a fast time of 10:24.05. This really is 1200-400-800-1600 and was run in some sweltering heat making this performance just that more impressive.

All Americans from Day 3: Oakton Girls 4xMile (3rd Place)

Final Qualifiers: Noah Lyles 10.69 to advance to 100m final, Funlayo Oluwole 13.74 to advance to 100h final, Grant Holloway (13.78) and Charles Graham (13.8) to advance to 110h final, Nansemond River runs the 6th fastest qualifying time in the girls 4x100 (46.75), Western Branch + Phoebus + Brooke Point all advance to 4x100 final.