Every year, the same question is asked once track season rolls around. Can anyone top the Deep Creek boys' track team? The answer is no for this indoor track season as the Purple Hornets won their third consecutive indoor team state title. Deep Creek with a team total of 59 points was able to hold off a tough challenge by Westfield, who took runner-up honors with 52 points.
Senior Joe Cezard was Deep Creek's sole event winner as Cezard took the state title crown in the shot put with a strong toss of 57-6.75. Teammate Thomas McCutchan also picked up additional points in the event with a fifth place finish (51-7.50).
The 4x200 meter relay team of Quentin Moore, Keshaun Jones, Steven Brickhouse, and Brandon Custis placed second in the relay event with a time of 1:32.55 to pick up eight additional points for Deep Creek. Also, Jones finished seventh in the long jump (21-7.75) and Brickhouse took eight in the pole vault (13-6) to garner Deek Creek a few more points.
Helping Deep Creek defend their state title was the surprising second place finish by Carlos Morales in the 55 meter hurdles with his 7.60 clocking. Morales was seeded with the fifth fastest time coming, so his finish was clearly not expected.
John Hyman was Deep Creek's big point scorer as he took runner-up honors in the 300 meter dash (35.15) and 500 meter run (1:04.68). Hyman also anchored Deep Creek's 4x400 meter relay to a second place finish in the event (3:22.46). However, controversy surrounded Hyman's race in the 300 meter dash as a referee claimed Hyman stepped out of his lane. After a lengthy review which included a fiery arguement with Coach Cox of Deep Creek and meet officials, Hyman was not disqualified.
The Northern Region champs, Westfield, dubbed as Deep Creek's biggest challenger heading into the meet, lived up to their billing as they made Deep Creek sweat out their third straight title win. Leading the Bulldogs was some strong performances from their distance crew. On Friday night, the team of Chris Courson, Chris Black, James Scheiner, and David Groff broke the year old state meet record in the 4x800 meter relay with a nation's best time of 7:48.63. Through the first three legs, last year's outdoor state meet record setters, Midlothian, led thanks to legs Ryan Witt (1:58), Ryan Call (2:01), and Billy Berlin (1:56). However, when Scheiner handed off to Groff after putting Westfield just behind Midlothian in second with a 1:55 split, the race winner and new meet record was already decided. Groff blazed a 1:52 split to give Westfield the win and new record.
On Saturday, Scheiner and Groff picked up more crucial points for Westfield as the duo doubled up in the distance events. Scheiner finished seventh in a very competitive 1600 meter run (4:22.41) and later would come back to take fourth place honors in the 3200 meter run (9:30.65). Meanwhile, coming back from his strong anchor run the previous night, Groff led from start to finish in a state best time of 2:29.82 in the 1000 meter run. In a odd and tough double, Groff competed in the 3200 meter run and gutted up an All-State performance for the team with his eighth place finishing time of 9:38.05.
Westfield 4x800 and 4x4000 member Chris Courson notched a eight place finish in the 500 meter run with his time of 1:06.90. Courson also anchored the 4x400 meter relay team as teammate Chris Black took the lead from Deep Creek's Brandon Custis on the third leg and then Courson proceeded to hold off a closing John Hyman of Deep Creek to give the Bulldogs the win with a time of 3:21.62.
Westfield senior David Lewis finished second in the pole vault with a clearance of 15-3 to give the Bulldogs eight more on the board. The pole vault competition was one of the best yet in recent years as three vaulters cleared over 15 feet. Great Bridge junior Daniel Magness came up clutch in his final attempt at 15-6 as he cleared it cleanly. Sophomore teammate Michael Morrison showed plenty of promise for the future with his third place finishing clearance of 15 feet.
Woodrow Wilson finished third (36 pts) in the team scoring with only two athletes competing in Lashawn Merritt and Jamel Deans. While Deans gave six points to the team effort with his third place finish in 55 meter dash (6.49), Merritt pulled in the remaining 30 points as he became the first male athlete in VHSL AAA State Meet history for indoor track to win three individual running events. Merritt came in as the top seed in the 55 meter dash, 300 meter dash, and 500 meter run and came through with wins in all three events. Merritt nearly suffered an upset in the 55 meter dash as Osbourn Park sophomore Devin Thompson (6.40) tried to upstart to the heavy favorite Merritt, but Merritt was able to get one step ahead of Thompson at a 6.39 clocking. Merritt had much easier work in the 300 and 500 meter races with times of 34.56 and 1:04.09. His 500 meter time is currently the nation's fastest of the season.
Colonial Forge was the Northwest Region's top finishing school as the Miller brothers, Jerome and Jason, were the sole contributors to the Eagles' 35 points. Jerome walked away with two state titles in the jumping events with his winning marks of 6-8 in the high jump and 45-11 in the triple jump. Jerome also finished third in long jump (22-0.25) as well. Twin brother Jason finished third in the high jump (6-4) and sixth in the triple jump (44-6.25).
In the long jump, Thomas Dale junior Dennis Boone won yet another state title in his specialty as he springed to a mark of 24-0.25. The jump is currently the nation's fourth best mark of the season.
Another state titlest from the Central Region, but a more surprising one, was found in Daniel Howard of Maggie Walker's win in the 1600 meter run. Running in the back of the pack for much of the race, Howard roared back in the final 400 meters with a 57 second last 400. Green Run senior Steven Walters appeared to have his first state title within reach as he held a decent lead over the field into the final lap, but Howard would prove to have too much left in the lank for Walters to hold off. With a 28.8 second last 200, Howard ran down Walters on the final straightaway to take the win in a time of 4:18.07. Walters would take state runner-up honors in a time of 4:18.52.
The 3200 meter run would see another exciting battle down to the end as seniors Christo Landry of Thomas Jefferson and Hari Mix of Albemarle set a brisk early pace as the two were both driven and determined to win their first state titles. Landry would do much of the leading and pace work throughout the race and as a result, Mix was able to draft off Landry to save up for a hellacious kick in his final two laps to win going away in a time of 9:06.13. Landry would still hold on to run an indoor personal best time of 9:15.17.
Joining Boone and Howard as state titles from the Central Region, Hermitage's Melvin Edison, merely a sophomore, won the 55 meter hurdles with a swift clocking of 7.57.
Petersburg overtook the favored Eastern Region relay teams in the 4x200 meter relay to take a surpring win with their time of 1:32.35. The team consisted of Tyrone Redd, Brett Jones, Ronald Walker, and Jermaine Hobson.
While the Deep Creek boys were able to defend their state title for the third consecutive year, the Bethel girls won their first state team title since 1993. After finishing second to Yvette Lewis and company from Menchville last year, the Bethel girls were able to seize the state title throne this year (55 pts).
Also known for the great talent he produces in the sprints and field events, this year was no different for Bethel head coach Eddie Williams. Leading the Lady Bruins' state title charge was sophomore Francena McCorory. McCorory defended her state titles in both the 55 meter dash (7.09) and 300 meter dash (38.23). McCorory's 300 meter time set a state meet record as she bested the four year old record by seven hundreths of a second (38.30, Alyssa Aiken, Chantilly, 2000). The time also ranks her second currently in the nation.
While Bethel teammate Britni Spruill, the top seed in the long jump, had an off day in the long jump with an eighth place finishing mark of 17-4.50, Bethel senior Christina Ford stepped in her place to win the event with a personal best jump of 18-8.50. Spruill would later make up for her disappointing finish in the long jump with a third place finish in the 300 meter dash (40.17).
Bethel's Shakirra Pinnock, a transfer from Western Branch, was a valuable addition in helping Bethel win this year's team title as she was a state runner-up in 1:14.67. Pinnock finished second to Tallwood's Faraign Giles in the event as Giles' winning time of 1:14.00 is the nation's fourth fastest time of the season.
Showing the Lady Bruins' great depth in the sprints, Coach Eddie Williams sat out star sprinter McCorory from his top seeded 4x200 meter relay just in case her services would be needed for the 4x400 meter relay later in the meet. With McCorory, Bethel would have most likely broken their own state meet record of 1:41.01, but all Bethel really needed was the ten points and they got them with their winning time of 1:42.13. Manchester gave Bethel a surpisingly good run with their second place finishing time of 1:42.87.
The only negative on a state meet that would give the Bethel girls full reason to celebrate and rejoice occured in the 4x400 meter relay as anchor leg Shakirra Pinnock pulled up lame on the back stretch and was unable to finish the race. While Bethel's state title win was already wrapped up before the event, it does damper the Lady Bruins chances of performing as well as they would like at national meet competition in the sprint relays next week if Pinnock is unable to race.
Lake Braddock, state team champions in 2001 and 2002, took runner-up honors to Bethel as they were ten points behind at a 45 point total. Lake Braddock had a well balanced attack with points coming from the field events, relays, and distance events. Highlighting the strong performances from Lake Braddock individuals and relays during the two day meet was junior Ashley Haislip on Friday night as she set a new state meet record in the high jump with a clearance of 5-8.50.
Lake Braddock had another state champion in the field events with senior Nicole Graziano as she defeated Mills Godwin freshmen Anne-Marie Gordon in a jump off at 10-6. A great way for Graziano to end her final season of indoor track, while even a better start for the freshmen Gordon. Lake Braddock teammate Anna Noguchi also earned All-State honors and additional points for the team with her sixth place clearance of 9 feet.
Senior Jessica Preko was a another point scorer for Lake Braddock in the field events as she finished fifth in the long jump with a mark of 17-7.75.
The team of Erin Klein, Mary Carter Jacocks, Michelle Presley, and Kesley Snowden took state runner-up honors in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 9:31.37 as Snowden helped propel Lake Braddock to the strong finish with an impressive anchor leg. Also, Lake Braddock's 4x200 meter relay finished seventh in the event with a time of 1:47.01.
Snowden and Klein would return to racing action on Saturday to earn All-State honors individually. Snowden took state runner-up honors in the 1000 meter run as she nearly missed dipping under three minutes with her final time of 3:00.27. Klein, a sophomore, took the final All-State spot in the 3200 meter run with her eighth place finishing time of 11:40.66.
The Salem girls from Virginia Beach finished not too far behind Lake Braddock with 43 points for third place overall in the team scoring. Salem senior Shayla Jemmott was Salem's sole event winner as she was victorious in the triple jump with a leap of 37-8.75.
The relay team of Lindsay Holman, Alexandra McCoy, Shonterria Fulton, and YaTandrea Burke took advantage of Bethel being unable to finish the 4x400 meter relay as they won the final event of the day in a time of 3:58.34. Salem also picked up points in the other two relay events with a fifth place finish in the 4x200 meter relay (1:46.46) and seventh place finish in the 4x800 meter relay (9:41.80).
Two individuals also contributed considerable points to Salem's team effort as sophomore Shamika Kentish was a state runner-up in the 55 meter dash (7.14) and junior Alexandra McCoy took All-State honors with her third place finish (1:15.37) in the 500 meter run.
Kellam, another Virginia Beach school, rounded out the top four with a team total of 29 points. Kellam was led by the toughness and resiliency of one distance runner in senior Natalie Sherbak. After running a strong anchor leg in the 4x800 meter relay the night before to help Kellam to a fourth place finish (9:35.19) and taking state runner-up honors in the 1600 meter run earlier with a personal best time of 4:56.89, it would be easy to assume that Sherbak would not have much left for the 1000 meter run. However, Sherbak showed the heart of a champion, a state champion, as she took the lead from the start and never looked back as she pressed a hard pace. No one followed as Sherbak won her second state title (won cross country states in the fall) with a solid time of 2:56.42.
While Sherbak had the distance triple of the meet, Midlothian junior Amanda Patterson had the best double in the distance events with two simply jaw-dropping performances. In the 1600 meter run, Patterson came into the race as the top seed and sole runner in the field with a sub five 1600 meter time under her belt this season. However, the next fastest seed, Natalie Sherbak of Kellam, was sure to give Patterson a challenge and Sherbak definitely did give Patterson a run. Sherbak set a hard pace early on as the two distanced themselves from the field as they hit 800 meters roughly in 2:29. Sherbak continued to lead Patterson as they headed towards the start of the bell lap, but then Patterson made her move to pass Sherbak with 200 meters to go and Sherbak was unable to respond to Patterson's kick. Patterson closed fast over the final 200 meters to win in a time of 4:54.88, which is currently the nation's second fastest.
After handing the 2003 AAA State Cross Country Champion Sherbak a defeat in the 1600 meter run, Patterson then shifted her sights on taking on 2003 Foot Locker Finalist Beth Fahey of Forest Park. Two of the state's finest in distance running had only one strategy in mind against in the other and that was to run the other in the ground with a blazing early pace. Fahey trying to use to her advantage the fact that Patterson already had put forth a hard effort earlier in the 1600 meter run, set an extremely fast pace for the first mile as they hit the mark in 5:18. However, the fast pace did not phase Patterson as she continued to draft right off Fahey. In the second mile, Fahey fell off the early pace, while Patterson kept plugging away. Patterson ended up running a 5:15 for her final 1600 meters to take the win in a nation's best time of 10:34.78. No athlete received more applause at the meet than Patterson as she took a well deserved victory jog down the homestretch. Patterson will be running the two mile at the Nike Indoor Champions in Landover, Maryland, next weekend in hopes of All-American honors and more.
Fahey would falter to a third place finish, but personal best time of 10:48.56 as Hayfield junior Melissa Dewey overtook the early race leader in the final stretch for second place (10:47.52). Hayfield senior Morgan Phelan rounded out a top four all under 11 minutes with her time of 10:57.64.
Lakeland senior Andrea Wheeler was a class above the rest of the field in the 55 meter hurdles with a state best clocking of 8.29 in the event.
The girls' 4x800 meter relay saw a 1-2-3 sweep from the Northern Region as Oakton (9:29.32), Lake Braddock (9:31.37), and Herndon (9:33.28) all had strong performances. The winning Oakton squad included Kayley Byrne, Deborah Perl, Allegra Smith, and Danielle Light.
E.C. Glass junior Antoinette Smith improved her previous best throw by nearly two feet as she won the shot put with a toss of 42-1.50.