Bethel girls are All-Americans in 4 relays including state record 3:43.03 4x800
Tynita Butts inch away from two national titles as 5'10.50" HJ winner and 19'11.50" LJ runner-up
Blacksburg girls just barely dip under old DMR state record in 11:57.18 run
James Taylor 3rd in 200, inch away from win in LJ
Stutzman and WA boys fall just short in valiant challenge for DMR victory
No national champions from the first two days of competition at the 2009 Nike Outdoor Nationals. Will an individual or relay quartet step up an deliver a national title today or will the state of Virginia experience a rare shut out of any national titles? James Taylor and the Western Albemarle DMR came close in pulling off victories for the Virginia boys, but it ended up being Tynita Butts in the high jump as the lone champion from Virginia. Two state records were produced in the meet though by the Bethel girls in the 4x400 and Blacksburg girls in the DMR.
Nike Outdoor Nationals - Saturday Results
Photos and more coverage from NON coming
Girls High Jump - Tynita Butts of T.C. Williams became the first Virginian to win a national title at the 2009 Nike Outdoor Nationals by clearing 5'10.50" on her final attempt to take first over Brian Rice from Missouri who was also the lone competitor left with Butts at the height. Butts had cleared on her first attempt at the previous two heights and will be competing in the long jump this evening as well with her sights on another title or at least All-American honors. Pearl Bickersteth, a state runner-up to Butts in indoors and outdoors in the high jump, earned All-American honors with a sixth place clearance of 5'6.50".
Girls Long Jump - The bad memories of fouling out of state competition two years in a row and USATF Junior Nationals last summer have seem to have been replaced by Tynita Butts with an outstanding weekend in Greensboro as the recent T.C. Williams grad and ECU recruit followed up her national title in the high jump earlier by almost claiming a second title in the long jump as her hfirst mark of 19'11.50" perut only an inch behind the eventual winner Andrea Geubelle (20'11.50").
Girls 4x400 - The Bethel girls followed the Blacksburg girls state record breaking performance with a state record relay run themselves in the 4x400 meter relay as the Lady Bruins were able to eclipse a 1998 state record of 3:43.46 by Menchville High School with a third place finish of 3:43.04 in Greensboro. Bethel averaged 56.5 for their first two legs then dropped down with 55.76 and 54.20 splits on their final two legs. It was a remarkable meet for the Bethel girls as they ended up earning All-American honors in four different relay events (800 SMR, 4x200, 4x100, and 4x400).
Boys DMR - Western Albemarle and Tyler Stutzman gave a valiant run going after a national title in the DMR with Stutzman picking up off several places to move into the lead with 600 meters to go, but fell short in the final lap and faltered to sixth place. Nonetheless, Western Albemarle's time is second fastest in state history behind South Lakes (2001) at 9:49 as they just missed a sub 10 minute performance at 10:00.17. Stutzman ran a 4:10.52 split on anchor leg following 3:04 1200 leg by Kyle Satterwhite, 50.28 400 leg by Adrian Sitler, and 1:54.49 800 by James Howard-Smith.
Girls DMR - Blacksburg girls were able to hold onto the last and final All-American position of sixth place in the DMR. Their time of 11:57.18 is more significant as it breaks the old state record in the DMR previously held by a 1994 relay from Centreville High School at 11:57.24. The relay team consisted of Kathleen Stevens (3:37.86 1200), Hannah Brown (59.68 400), Trinity Foreman (2:22 800), and Joanna Stevens (4:56.78 1600) with strong splits from all four legs. The Lake Braddock girls had set the indoor state record in the DMR this past March with a 12:01 performance at NSIC.
Boys 200 Meter Dash - James Taylor finished third in the finals with a 21.25 clocking, which was just off his personal best best time from the prelims of 21.15.
Boys 400 Meter Dash - David Verburg of E.C. Glass and Taylor Sykes of Great Bridge ran identical times of 47.28 from different sections as both performances were good enough for both to earn All-American honors with Verburg in fifth with a time faster by the hundredth of a second and Sykes in sixth place.
Girls 4x100 Meter Relay - Both Western Branch girls dropped their season best times under 47 seconds for the first time this spring to earn All-American honors with top 6 finishes in the finals of the 4x100 meter relay. The Western Branch girls finished ahead of the AAA 4x100 state champions from Bethel with a fifth place time of 46.99, while the Bethel girls earned their third All-American finish in the relays this weekend in sixth place at 47.66
Boys Long Jump - Nansemond River's James Taylor almost delivered Virginia's first national title in the meet as only an inch separated him from the long jump champion Damar Forbes (24'4.50") from Atlanta, Georgia. Taylor's best mark of 24'3.50" came on his second attempt. Taylor competes later in the 200 meter dash finals. Also earning All-American honors and exceeding expectations in the long jump was Appomattox's Kendrick Scott as he proved All-Americans can come from the small Group A schools as well with his fourth place mark of 23'6.75".
Freshmen Boys Mile Run - Scott Newton of Collegiate was able to place in the top six from the slower section with a time of 4:33.81. The two second improvement from his previous all-time best was able to place him sixth overall in the event.
Emerging Elite Girls 200 Finals - Tania Minkins of Menchville was a close runner-up to Maryland's Adenike Pedro (24.56) with a 24.58, which is just off her 24.56 personal best from the AAA State Meet where she placed third in the 200 finals.
Boys 200 Prelims - James Taylor of Nansemond River looked to be in fine form in his preliminary heat of the 200 meter dash as he rolled out a personal best and state leading time of 21.15. Taylor had previous season best of 21.40. His time is third fastest among the 8 finalists with Dentarious Locke from Florida as the leading qualifier at 21.04.
Boys Emerging Elite 800 - Competing in three different sections, David Gunnerson (Grafton), Russell Hornsby (Jamestown), and Brian Hencke (Blacksburg) almost all ran identical times in the emerging elite division of the 800. All finished just outside of the top 6 medal places with Gunnerson (8th, 1:55.48) and Hornsby (9th, 1:55.49) taking second place finishes in their sections, while Hencke (10th, 1:55.55) was fourth in the top section.
Girls Emerging Elite 800 - Christina Lee of Potomac Falls followed up her top 6 finish in the emerging elite mile run on Friday with another high finish in the 800 on Saturday with a third place effort of 2:15.11 from the 2009 AA state 800 meter champion.
Girls 800 SMR - The Bethel girls notched their second All-American honor in the relays so far in the meet with a third place finish in the 800 SMR. Their relay had an overall time of 1:44.01 and was anchored by a 55.04 400 split from Emmy Fraenk. The Western Branch girls won the slowest section of three and nearly snuck into the top 6 as their time of 1:45.20 placed them seventh overall among 23 teams.