VATech Invitational Girls Preview: Best Relays Meet Ever?


Girls State Leaderboard (National Leaderboard)

Meet Page - Boys' Preview 

Friday Heat Sheets - Saturday Heat Sheets 

Top 50 Performances All-Time @ VaTech Invite 

You can stack every single event in a meet and it be great but what makes a legendary meet that you will always remember is one with great relays. This meet will definitely be one to remember when it comes to relays. Every single relay features not only the best in Virginia but teams that could actually sweep the national championships in two months. 

In the short and exciting relay, the 4x200, we have a stacked final section with defending national champions, Parkland in lane one. Another huge NC team (Southeast Raleigh) in lane five. Three Maryland powerhouses (Riverdale Baptist, Bishop Mac, Elizabeth Seton) and of course Nansemond River. It doesn't take a genius to look at their roster and see they really have the potential to destroy the state record of 1:38.74 this weekend. They will need to run close to that regardless though as Bishop McNamara is seeded at 1:38.95. Team War (Nansemond River) went 1:39.23 last year and returns much much stronger. 

In the longest relay it will be Team War's close neighbor, Western Branch taking the track. They are the defending national champions and currently US #4 at 9:25. It should be noted though that they ran 9:25 without Faith Ross or Amanda Thomas! That means if they stack their team this weekend we are in for a show even if it is 3/4 legs running. They will have competition though from E.C. Glass who have run 9:30 this season and were all-american last indoor nationals. Leesville Road and Blacksburg will also have strong units. 

The exciting finale to the meet will be just that, exciting. It will be Battlefield, Elizabeth Seton, Parkland, Southeast Raleigh, the Bullis School and Western Branch in the always great 4x400. SE Raleigh enters with a 3:55.79 seed but there is no denying that Western Branch is the team to watch considering they went 3:38 and 3:53 at outdoor nationals. You might be wondering why their are two times listed... it is because their "B" team ran 3:53 with complete different girls. Both of these teams return their entire lineups. 


Not only will the relays be lit but nearly every event will be as well. Starting even in the 55's and hurdles we are in for a show. Lauryn Ghee (Grassfield) will have her hands full with Alexys Taylor (Osbourn Park) and Imani Prince-gay (NC). All three of these girls and numerous others are going to make for a very fast race on this mondo surface. In the hurdles though Brandee' Johnson (Nansemond River) is way ahead of the field and could throw down a monster time this weekend. She currently sits #12 all-time in VA with her 7.95 mark. 

Going up in distance we arrive at the 300m dash. This race will feature seven sections and a very fast final section where all four girls are seeded under 40. The girl to watch in this one though is definitely Faith Ross who hasn't run the 300 this season but went 39.86 last season at her conference meet. She is the one to watch because she has never raced on a banked track and has a crazy 42.10 pr in the 300m Hurdles. 

The girls 500 though could be the closest and most exciting girls' individual event of the meet. The final section will have five girls seeded under 1:17 and all with a lot of racing pedigree. It will be Team War's Syaira Richardson and Brandee' Johnson going against Parkland's (NC) McKinley McNeill. McNeil was a member of the stellar 4x200 and 4x400 last year and has run 1:14.04 to enter as the favorite on paper. Johnson though split a 52 last year at outdoor nationals so theres that!


Emma Call and Reagan Bustamante will be battling it out in the five lap 1000m race. Both of these girls and a couple others including Heather Holt are going to try and really dip under 3:00 in this race. In the race that basically swapped spots, the 1600 now at the end of the meet, will feature Libby Davidson seeded as the favorite. Libby is also the strong favorite in the 3200 on Friday night but in this race she will be joined by Sophia Link, Annie Kay Combs, Samantha Marin, and Rachel Northcutt to name a few. 

Over behind the track will be the shot put cage. Though the final flight is full of non-VA athletes, Taylor Gorum from Grassfield will have a great shot at upsetting MD's Seasons Usual (Frederick Douglas). In the pole vault Jordan Lipinski (Lee-Davis) will look to hold off Sherrill and Barredo (Western Albemarle) who both have higher career pr's while Lipinski is just jumping more consistent. 

On the horizontal runway Maya Hanks (Tabb) will be looking to hop, skip, and jump over 40 again. She is the favorite in the triple jump by over a foot. She will have to work hard though to take home at least one field event title for Virginia because in the long jump it is MD seeded 1-2-3-6. Seeded fourth is Natalie Allen from Thomas Edison at 18-3 but Taylor Woods of Riverdale Baptist is seeded at 19-6.5!

The final event on the field will be the closest and that is the high jump. The entire field is seeded between 5-2 and 5-7.25. There are 10 girls at 5-4 or higher and four girls 5-5 or higher. This means there will be no room for mistakes and the winner is likely going to be the one who comes in later and has fewer misses. Strategy will play big in this event. Naomi Whitake of IC Norcom is VA's best chance but one girl to really watch is Sydney Banks from Osbourn Park who is seeded at 5-5 as a freshman!