One cannot fault Tyler Stutzman (pictured left by Tim Fulton) for Western Albemarle coming up short in defending their title in the distance medley relay at the Loucks Games held in New York. Stutzman was given the baton as the 1600 meter anchor leg for the Warriors with a 25 yard lead on the second place squad from Westerly High School in Rhode Island. The Group AA indoor state 1600 meter indoor champion proceeded to run the next four laps in a split of 4 minutes and seven seconds, but it was not enough to hold off the Nike Indoor Nationals mile champion Andrew Springer, who posted an incredible split of 4:03.6 to catch Stutzman at the very end. Westerly and Springer claimed the win and US #1 time at 10:01.13, while Western Albemarle and Stutzman were second in a US #2 time of 10:01.87. The performance also ranks the Western Albemarle squad as the 12th fastest all-time in US history.
It is amazing to think that the Charlottesville area has two of the best DMR's all-time in Virginia high school state history at the same time (with the except of Alan Webb and the South Lakes 9:49.78 national record DMR in 2001) as the Albemarle boys ran a state indoor record and just missed a national record in the DMR with their 10:02.13 victory at Nike Indoor Nationals.
More to come from Loucks Games as MileSplit US affiliate, ArmoryTrack.com, is on-site with coverage.