The 2017-8 indoor track season was one that will go down in the record books and had countless stories to remember but our goal here is to sum up the entire season in under 500 words. Ready, set, go!
Entering the season we had almost all of our major stars graduate and many others remain inactive due to injuries. Frankly, the season started very lack-luster minus the big performances from Hannah Waller and Sam Affolder in December. Mainly her 6.94 season opener On 12/16 and his season opening triple. Both were the fire starters that started this record-setting season.
Final Indoor Track Rankings
Thankfully we only had to wait a month until everyone got going in full form though. Almost all of the eventual state champions and many national champions truly opened the season at the VA Showcase, one that actually ran on time. In that meet Virginia notched up wins, all-time best performances, and was a part of a meet that had 17 US #1 performances.
The biggest Virginia performance from that meet had to be Britton Wilson. Trey Causey, Taylor Beard, Skylar Reynolds, Alexis Clark, Gracie Jauch, Grant Northcutt, Ryann Helmers, Michaela Rose, and many others also showed out to truly make it a Showcase of VA's talent.
All-State 1st, 2nd, 3rd Teams
As the season developed so did the storylines in the state. One of the biggest of which became the rivalry between Hannah Waller and Shadajah Ballard. Waller left nothing to doubt though and came away with two huge wins in the 757 as Ballard set a VA #2 all-time hurdler mark. Britton Wilson did the same as she took down Kori Carter at Boo.
Through states and all the meets the other big storyline was how epically great the 1K was this year in VA. Five guys, FIVE GUYS, broke 2:30 just this season.
Over in Roanoke we saw an epic 4x4 to win Patrick Henry the state team title and we also saw MC Heinen's sheer dominance over her 2A foes. Two days later E.C. Glass showed they weren't just a distance powerhouse but overall a complete powerhouse.
Loudoun Valley dominated from start to finish and Grace Boone turned a lot of heads with her range.
The season ended with some huge races at New Balance Indoor Nationals. Virginia had five national champions and 24 All-Americans. Included in those were two national records, one for Loudoun Valley's 4xMile win and the other for Nansemond River's Mixed 4x400 win. The Team War Girls also ran well and set the state 4x2 record while the Branch boys set the 4x4 state record.
2018 VA Indoor T&F Award Winners
When we took a step back and looked at the season and how much the all-time list changed we saw how truly great this season was. No we didn't have the Lyles brothers or Rachel McArthur or Kate Murphy or Grant Holloway but we had a lot of stars. The best part though is almost every one of the major performers from this season are back again next indoor season and of course this outdoor season.