Hot off of the greatest XC season in Virginia history the indoor track athletes have decided they want to one up the cross country season. Over a span of three days from 12/26 to 12/29 Virginia tallied up four US #1 performances three of which made the Virginia All-Time Top 25 List. Below are some of the top performances over the previous four days that have shaken up the entire US track scene.
Kate Murphy (Lake Braddock-2017)
US #1, VA #5 All-Time 2:50.56 1000m run.
Kate has only raced the 1000 four times in her career. Unsurprisingly she has won it four times as well. Three of those times have been starkly similar in placing. Each of the last three races Kate has had quite the grouping of competition which included 6A State Champion Reagan Bustamante. This past weekend at the F.I.T. Invitational Kate toed the line right next to West Springfield's Bustamante.
The race opened with Heather Holt and Bustamante taking the pack through 200 at 35. Through six hundred meters Bustamante still led Murphy with Holt falling back as the clock read 1:45. With 350m to go Kate made her move down the back stretch and from there she just kept pulling away. She would go on to win by six seconds and drop her personal best three seconds.
Brandon McGorty (Chantilly-2017)
US #1, VA #16 All-Time 2:28.74
Just moments after Kate jumped atop the US leaderboard, fellow 6A North junior Brandon McGorty joined her. This was his third victory in the 1000 in a row and his first race since winning the 6A state title as a sophomore a year ago. In this race he blasted out to the lead at the break 150m in and never looked back. He opened in 30 seconds and followed that with a 28 2nd 200. Again he even split and went 29 for his third 200. He kept that trend going and looked very smooth as he crossed the line with a slight personal best of 2:28.74.
Western Branch Boys 4x200m Relay
US #1, VA #5 All-Time 1:28.61
Photo by: Steve Pisano
The Branch was at it again. Last year they were a major sleeper team when it came to indoor nationals in this event but once the gun went off it was all WB. They blew out to a lead and never looked back staying clear of any mishaps or crowded handoffs. This season they opened even stronger considering this is two seconds faster than where they were at this time last year. They would on to drop two additional seconds and run #4 all-time in Virginia. The state record in this event is 1:27 and the national record is 1:26... if they drop two seconds again then we could be in for a show!
Western Branch Girls 4x800m Relay
US #1 9:25.77 (w/o Ross or Thomas)
Photo by: Steve Pisano
This event may be the sole focus of Western Branch this year. This group of girls, or at least part of it, has been a part of two national titles and last year as runners-up in the Penn Relays. They have set both state records but are chasing much higher goals this season and they are going to have a ton of competition from indoor runners-up Leesville Rd.
It is a great sign for Virginia though as they ran a solid US #1 9:25 this past Tuesday at the Armory just off of their 9:17 they ran a year ago at this venue. This time is impressive because they did it without Faith Ross or Amanda Thomas running! That is right, they ran a US #1 time and a time that almost ranks on Virginia's all-time list without their 2:08 legs.
Other State Leading Performances
These weren't the only great performances over the last couple days. Also at the F.I.T. invitational the Lyles brothers teamed up to dominate every event the entered. Noah Lyles crushed the 55m dash in a new state leading time of 6.35 while his brother Josephus ran a very fast 1:04.66 US #2 in the 500m dash. Noah ran a 34.52 in the 300 which was good enough for a VA #2 and then the brothers finished it all off with a 3:24 4x400 for another VA #1.
Destiny Ward (Oscar Smith) could have had one of the biggest days improving nearly a full second to run 38.80 in the 300m dash which is good enough for VA #7 all-time. She also leads the state this year with this mark.
Maria Muzzio (James Robinson) improved quite a bit as well moving from 26th to 17th all-time in the girls shot with her 43-7.75 mark to win the F.I.T. Invitational.
The Western Branch girls also finished second in both the 4x200 and 4x400 at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic at the Armory. Their 4x200 time was 1:40.91 with three of their four legs. This time was good enough for 11th all-time in Virginia.