Gar-Field and North Stafford girls to duke it out

On the girl's side of the Northwest Region Meet, the top teams are North Stafford from the Commonwealth District and Gar-field from the Cardinal District, both District champions this past week.

In the long jump, Halifax senior Ashley Epperson is the favorite, jumping two feet further than Ashley Reyer of Cave Spring, for the #1 and #2 seeds.

In the shot put, Gar-field standout Tiffany Evans looms above the rest of the field, with an outstanding toss of 44-11.50, second best in the State.

The girls pole vault displays Jennifer Wade of Cave Spring (9-06.00), just three inches short of the state qualifying height, along with Katherine Sigler (North Stafford), Meghan Davies (E.C. Glass) and Amanda Webber (Gar-field). These three have all vaulted 8-06, and are hungry for the gold.

Tishika Ferguson of Woodbridge seems to have the triple jump title in the bag, but the next three jumpers, Nikeita Lea (G.W.), Tonnetta Harris (Gar-field), and Brandice Flournoy (Osbourn Park) are all 35-foot-plus jumpers as well.

In the high jump, Osbourn sophomore Stephanie Meyers, Patrick Henry senior Claire Willis, and Kelly Morris, a Stonewall Jackson freshman all jumped 5-02, so the title will be a fight.

In the 4x800m, the Colonial Forge girls head the race with a 10:03:84, but three teams should make for an interesting race for second. Potomac leads the charge ten seconds later, with E.C. Glass and Osbourn Park hot on the trail.

In the 55m hurdles, Ashley Reyer of Cave Spring hand Tiffany Jones of North Stafford are the #1 and #2 seeds, only .02 seconds apart.

The 55m dash should earn some points for the Gar-field squad, hailing the #2 and #3 seeds Kharya Brown (7.34) and Latesha Coulter (7.40), who will be trying to run down Colonial Forge sophomore Lonice Reed (7.27).

Gar-field also sits atop a 7-second buffer in the 4x200 with a 1:42.91. The meet record of 1:45.64 (William Flemming, 1987) looks to be shattered. This time also ranks the girls first in the State and tenth in the Nation.

In the 300m, Stonewall Jackson's Elizabeth Carey, Potomac's Brittany Ransom, and Gar-field freshman Kharya Brown will make for an exciting lap-and-a-half around the VMI field house.

Carey, already #1 seed in the 300, joins 500 #3 seeded teammate Jackie Bush in a showdown with Gar-field's #2 and #4 seeds Tonnetta Harris and Raina Brown, all clocking sub-1:21 times for the 500m.

For the girl's 1000m, Potomac junior Corvette Johnson brings the fifth best time in the State, 3:03.64, while Woodbridge's Beth Fowler (3:07.94) and C.D. Hylton's Jemissa Hess (3:09.74) lead the fast chase after Johnson.

North Stafford looks to earn some points in the girls 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs from senior standout Kristyn Shiring. Shiring could get into some trouble in the 1600m, as Stonewall Jackson sophomore Kristen Milot is only four seconds behind her. Another sophomore, Jennifer Beury from Cave Spring, follows even closer to Milot.

The 3200m will be a different matter entirely. If she runs smart, it will probably turn into "The Kristyn Shiring Show." Shiring (11:15.14) toes the line with a time 30-seconds faster than #2 seed Bridget Tainer (11:47.64) of Cave Spring and #3 seed Beth Fahey (11:48.01), a sophomore from Forest Park. After these two, there is another big 30-second gap. It should make an entertaining race for second place.

Unlike the boy's team title race, the 4x400 meter relay will most likely have no effect on the duel between North Stafford and Gar-field. Cave Spring comes in with the #1 seed, 7-seconds ahead of #2, Gar-field. Woodbridge will make the top three more interesting, following closely behind Gar-field. North Stafford, seeded tenth of thirteen, won't have any chance at the trophy if Shiring doesn't win it for them in the 3200.