Massaponax-King George Polar Bear Invitational Preview

Fredericksburg, VA -- "Who said it is too cold to compete?" The 3rd annual Massaponax-King George Polar Bear Invitational Track Meet will be held at Massaponax High School track on Saturday afternoon January 24, 2004 barring any kind of significant snow accumulation overnight. The field is stacked with nearly 500 athletes from all the Battlefield District Teams, Jamestown and Tabb from the Bay Rivers District, and Liberty and Millwood from Region II to round out the AA competition and AAA participants from 6 of the 7 Commonwealth District schools, 3 of the 4 Cardinal District schools plus a Tallwood contingent from the Eastern Region. Many athletes will be trying to improve on or achieve marks for state and regional competition.

The sprints and field events are stacked with tight marks. Hard to pick out favorites but Courtland's Sha'tia Hart, and the Brooke Point duo of Chadnee Green and Jarryd Mushatt-Valrie are a few of the lady sprinters/field athletes to watch out for. On the boys side, Brooke Point's Taili Evans and Tallwood's Darnell Uzzle will square off in the jumps, while Uzzle and the Moulton twins from Tallwood will give area competitors a heavy dose of Eastern Region in the sprints.

In the distance events, the main show may very well be the girls 1000 meter run, where Forest Park's Karen Richardson, Colonial Forge's Amy Slocum, and Brooke Point's Christina Markish are all seeded with 1 sec of each other atop a large field of runners. On the large track, even in the chilly temperatures any or all of these ladies are capable of going sub 3:00. Favorites in the longer distance are Colonial Forge senior Tina Porter in the 1600 and Footlocker finalist Beth Fahey of Forest Park in the 3200. In the boys distance events, Forest Park junior Bryce Iverson will be attempting to nail down a state qualifying time in the 3200 meter run, while his junior counter part at Massaponax, Brandon Dick, will be attempting to do the same in the 1600 meter run.