While most of the nation’s attention was on the two cross country national championships in San Diego and Richmond, action heated up on the Tolsma Indoor Track at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. The Albemarle High Boys ruled the day with their big four burning up the distance and middle distance races, after running a blazing 4x800 relay to start off the day. The short sprints on the boys side were won by a duo from George Washington of Danville for the second week in a row at Liberty. The Blacksburg distance corps hot off a strong cross country season transitioned well into indoor with impressive times on both the boys and girls sides.
Sprints
On the Boys side George Washington took both the open sprint races for the second week in a row as both Javis Petty and DeVaughn Benion won their second invitational at Liberty this season.
Benion started off the winning earlier on Saturday as he clocked a 6.55 in route to his 55 meter dash win over Mark Carter of Jefferson Forest’s 6.59. Javis Petty improved on his top 300 meter time from last week, dropping a half of a second to 36.15.
Lamont Jackson of R.J. Reynolds in Winston Salem, North Carolina made the trip up to Lynchburg and made an impact on the Virginia running scene. The Carolinian took the 55 meter hurdles in a swift time of 7.63. He later came back to place 3rd in a race that he rarely runs, the 500 (1:06.75).
The 500 meter became a duel between the two top returning 800 meter runners in the state. Zachary Vrhovac of Albemarle clocked a 1:52.82 at Nike Outdoor Nationals last year while Drew Hall of William Byrd ran a 1:53.80 at the historic Southern Track Classic. In the 500 meter race, Vrhovac came out on top again cruising to victory in a 1:06.35, with Drew Hall trailing behind closely with a runner-up 1:06.69. Vrhovac will look to add an individual state championship to his resume this season as he focuses on the 500.
For the girls, a strong contingent of runners from North Carolina schools gave the Virginians a great race. Christine Council of Parkland ran one of the fastest times of the indoor season winning in a time of 7.32. She was trailed closely by Brittany Wilkins of Hugh Cummings who clocked in a 7.42, who had the fastest time in the prelims with a 7.39.
Ashontae Jackson (41.85, 1st) of Orange County was the sole Virginian much under 44 seconds as she took the event in one of the Commonwealth’s fastest times out of the slower section. Sherice Walker of Hugh Cummings matched her teammate Watkins’ runner-up finish with one of her own, trailing Jackson in the 300 meter dash with a time of 42.33.
The 500 meter race contained some drama as the top finisher, Natalie Woodford of Patrick Henry of Roanoke, was disqualified after her run for cutting in before the break. Woodford ran a great time of 1:18 and showed that she is definitely in shape. She will look to be a threat at the state championships at the Boo Williams Center later in the season. Running a strong race for the second week in a row was Meghan Burgraff of Liberty Christian Academy, who recorded her second win in as many weeks, running a solid time of 1:19.58.
Distance
The podium for the distance races saw many familiar faces as the highly decorated Blacksburg girls along with Liz Barclay of Albemarle and Janel Reeves of Brookville stole the show.
The day started off with the 1600 meter, showcasing one of Virginia’s Nike Cross Nationals finalists Allison Homer, and her fellow teammates, the Stevens sisters and Trinity Foreman. The Stevens sisters led their National finalist teammate in the 8 lap race as Joanna (5:08.92, 1st, VA #1) beat out Kathleen (5:09.40, 2nd) at the line. Homer finished 3rd with a time of 5:12.63 in her first race of the season, followed by Foreman (5:13.23) in 4th to complete the sweep for the Blacksburg girls.
Homer came back later on in the meet to compete in the 3200 meter run. The race would feature a rematch between two of the top AA girls distance runner as Janel Reeves of Brookville was in the race as well. The pace went out slow, and finished with Homer of Blacksburg avenging her earlier loss to Reeves at the AA State race clocking a fast early time of 11:22.09 (VA #1) with Reeves finishing in a close second with a time of 11:30.50.
After a hard cross country season, where she had to deal with a broken ankle, then came back surprisingly to lead her team to a state meet appearance, Liz Barclay looked to gain her top form again. Saturday Barclay showed off her speed as she pulled away from a strong field in winning the girls 1000 meter race with a time of 3:03.00. Picking up a runner-up finish in addition to her previous victory was Joanna Stevens with a time of 3:03.65 followed by her sister Kathleen at 3:04.38. All three should be strong threats for a state championship, as Barclay will compete for the AAA title and the Blacksburg girls for the the AA title.
The boys' distance races were similar in result to the girls' races. Albemarle won again in the 4x800 meter relay. An Albemarle runner won the 1000 meter race over a group of Blacksburg runners, while two Blacksburg runners took the top positions in the 1600 meter run.
The star-studded 4x800 meter relay from Albemarle has been turning in fast times since the indoor season last year, and no one was surprised Saturday when they ran a blazing indoor time winning the event by 40 seconds in 8:00. The team consisting of Garrett Bradley, Zachary Vrhovac, Luke Noble, and the anchor Anthony Kostelac, who split a team best 1:57, showed off its potential at the Elite meet and will look to vastly improve on its time next week as the boys will travel up to New York to race the best of the north at the Loughlin Games in the Armory.
Brian Hencke, senior from Blacksburg, started off the day hot with a fast 1600 meter time beating his freshman indoor All-American in the mile teammate George Carter. The two both broke 4:30 with Hencke winning in a 4:28.52 and Carter trailing with a 4:29.75. Carter is coming off a great sophomore year in cross country as he recorded a 15:56 a few weeks ago at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast meet.
Brian Hencke had his second victory of the day within his sights on the bell lap of the 1000 meter race, however Anthony Kostelac had a different plan in mind. With 100 meter left in the race, Kostelac unleashed an incredible kick that left Hencke in the dust, as he went on to win the race in a swift time of 2:36.67, with Hencke finishing in second with 2:38.58.
Another runner fresh off a trip to Oregon, Ben Veilleux came into Tolsma Indoor facility looking to lay down a fast time while still in peak form from the cross country season. Running the second fastest time in the state in a solo effort, Ben Veilleux clocked a fast personal best of 9:19.79. Following in a distant second was Luke Noble of Albemarle who finished with a 9:47.65.
Field Events
The field events on the boys' side saw two state topping marks as Justin Jackson of Charlottesville cleared a height of 6-8.00 to lead the state, and Jordan Hill leaped to a distance of 46-01.50.
The state’s leading shot putter from Charlottesville threw a few feet shorter than his leading mark, but Melvin Carter still won the competition throwing a distance of 50-10.25.
For the girls, Sherice Walker and Brittany Wilkins split the jumps as Wilkins (17-08.00) beat Walker (17-04.00) in the long jump, but Walker (38-07.5) beat Wilkins (36-10.5) in the triple jump.