Heading into the season, the Jefferson Forest squad was worried how effective a team relying soley on their distance squad would hold up at the state meet. However, wins at their district and regional meet helped reassure them that victory was possible. Those victories were also over district and regional rival Amherst County, who then went onto to take states away from the girls at Jefferson Forest. While the distance squad did come through for Jefferson Forest, Amherst County had too much in the field and sprinting events for the defending champions to hold off.
Imani Moorman led the way for Amherst in the jumping events as she brought in 24 points herself. Moorman showed her great leaping ability as she took third in the long jump (17-4.25), second in the high jump (5-2), and first in the triple jump (38-0.25). Two other individuals scored in the long jump as well for Amherst with Courtney Hughes (17-1.25) and Sheemeca Berkley (17-1). Hughes and Berkley didn\'t stop there in scoring points for their squad. Hughes finished seventh in the 55 meter hurdles (9.21) and Berkley was fourth in the 300 meter dash (42.37) and third in the 55 meter dash (7.50). Although it was Moorman who was bringing in the points for her squad in the field events, senior Jenea Brown was the one racking up the points in the running events as she won the 55 meter dash in a very quick time of (7.30) and took runner-up honors in the 300 meter dash (39.53). Amherst loaded down their 4x200 meter relay with this group of talented sprinters as they ran away with the win in a time of 1:44.52.
While the cards were obviously stacked against them, the Jefferson Forest girls fought back valiantly. Senior Shannon Saunders gave her squad 20 points as she posted impressive times in winning the 1600 (5:07.69) and 3200 meter run (11:03.44). Backing Shannon up was sister Kristin as she took runner-up to Shannon in both events with times of 5:15.01 and 11:16.66 respectively. Cate Jackson and Carly Sitterly also contributed points out of the distance events for the Lady Cavaliers as Jackson finished third in the 1600 (5:23.85) and fourth in the 1000 (3:07), while Sitterly finished fourth in the 3200 (11:45.95). Along with their 4x400 scoring with a third place finish (4:18.5), Jefferson Forest finished with a solid second place.
Like the Amherst County girls, the Heritage boys squad used their superior depth in the sprints to win the team title. It was their relay squads that stole the show for their squad. Both the 4x200 (1:31.37) and 4x400 (3:26.99) ran away with victories. Along with the two relay wins, Heritage got solid point contributions from members of their squad. Junior Nelson Dawson finished second in the 55 meter hurdles (7.88). Teammate Jarrell Horsley also placed in the 55 meter hurdles as well (7th, 8.14). In the 55 meter dash, Heritage picked up major points with senior Norman Jones (2nd, 6.64) and junior Andre Hamlet (5th, 6.69). Later in the day, Jones also finished seventh in the 300 meter dash (37.02). The Moore brothers, Mario and Marques, both were placewinners in the 500 meter dash as they took fifth (1:08.22) and seventh (1:08.85) respectively. Heritage also had someone place in nearly every field event. Senior Marcus Payne leaped to marks of 21-8 in the long jump and 45-4.50 in the triple jump to finish third in both events. Payne\'s younger brother, Kevin, also placed in the triple jump with a mark of 44-01.50 for eighth place. Also scoring for Heritage were juniors John Hall in the shot put (5th, 46-4.25) and Justin Proffitt in the pole vault (3rd, 13-0).
Finishing a surprising second were the Rams of Lafayette. A mixture of a breakthrough day by a jumper and strong performances out of their middle distance program led to the squad taking runner-up honors. Heading into the state meet, senior Sintell Crew had never jumped over 20 feet in the long jump. After the meet was over, not only did Crew crush the 20 feet mark, but was a state champion. Crew leaped to a new personal best mark of 22-4 to win the boys\' long jump. He also improved by over two feet in the triple jump to have a strong fourth place finish (44-10.50). Not only did he have a breakthrough in the long jump and triple jump, but as well in the hurdles. Crew improved his previous best by .25 of a second in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.04, which was good enough for third place. With Crew already contributing 22 points for the Rams, it was time now for their talented middle distance runners to go to work and they did just that. Their 4x800 relay squad consisting of Preston Wall, Donte Lewis, Jimmy Kohlman, and Scott Tiernan, won with ease as they finished with a time of 8:05.59. In the 1000 meter run, Tiernan and Kohlman finished a strong 2-3 with times of 2:37.05 and 2:37.42 respectively. In the 500 meter dash, Lewis picked up points with a sixth place finish (1:08.66), as well as did Ryan Colesar in the 300 meter dash (36.39).
Caroline junior LaTonya Anderson most definitely had to be the athlete of the meet on the girls\' side as she took home three first place finishes. She won the long jump (18-4.50), 55 meter hurdles (8.53), and 300 meter dash (39.53). She was also a member of the Caroline 4x200 squad, which finished second (1:47.78).
Broadway senior Megan Mlinarchik spent most of the meet in the air as she won the high jump and pole vault at excellent heights of 5-4 and 11-0.
After losing to Turner Ashby\'s Amanda Renalds at her regional meet, William Fleming\'s Tiera Hubbard got revenge at states as she won the shot put with a throw of 40-4.25.
The Blacksburg girls pulled away from pre-race favorite Western Albemarle to win the 4x800 meter relay in a time of 9:57.42.
Out of any performance on the girls\' side, Jamestown senior Ashley Gore\'s 500 meter run had to be the most impressive. Gore ran away with the title with a swift time of 1:15.53. The time ranks her fourth in the entire nation currently.
After helping her 4x800 win a state title, Blacksburg sophomore Amanda Reinholtz got one of her own as she upset pre-race favorite Shelly Slemp of Marion to win in a time of 3:01.32.
While the Heritage girls did not finish as high as their male counterparts did in the team scoring, they did pick up an impressive win in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:09.42.
William Fleming junior Ryan McCoy has to be loving his team\'s move down to AA, as he won the state title in the triple jump with a leap of 45-10.
Christiansburg\'s Justin Vaught won the high jump at 6-2 in an exciting jump off between Vaught and Harrisonburg\'s Jeremy Pouncey.
Staunton River senior Bryan Garrett was uncontested in the shot put, as he was the only competitor to break 50 feet with his throw of 52-9.
Jimmy Stevens of Monticello did just enough to win the pole vault as he reached a height of 13-6.
University of Virginia bound and Jamestown senior Devin Canady came into the meet as the top seed in the 55 meter hurdles and lived up to his seeding as he took the win in a time of 7.67.
While defending 55 meter dash champion D.D. Boxley of King George did not compete, teammate Joseph Coleman took over for Boxley as he won the event in a time of 6.62.
While he is still currently training for his 8K race in Europe this month for the World Cross Country Championships, John Handley senior Bobby Lockhart showed that he doesn\'t need much speedwork to run his usual fast times. Lockhart won the 1600 meter run and 3200 meter run in dominating fashion. Lockhart clocked a stellar time of 4:16.67 in the 1600, but really turned it on in the 3200 meter run as he clocked a personal best time for an indoor track with his time of 9:02.62 as he just missed a sub 9 performance.
Not to be overlooked from Lockhart\'s times, were the finishers behind him. Fellow Foot Locker All-American Fleet Hower finally put together the track races many had expected from him after his senstational cross country season. Hower held off Louisa County junior Daniel Kane (4:20.73) to take runner-up honors in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:20.18, and did likewise to Rockbridge junior John Crews (9:23.73) to finish second to Mr. Lockhart in the 3200 meter run as well with a 9:23.73 clocking.
Kane\'s teammate, Steve Carlson successfully defended his state title in the 500 meter dash with a smoking time of 1:05.30.
Tabb High School, competing in their first season of indoor track, found a huge brightspot senior Nick Luina as he took second to Carlson in the 500 (1:07.31) and became the school\'s first ever state champion for indoors in the 300 meter dash (36.08).
Before his battle with Hower in the 3200 later on, Crews defended his state title in the 1000 meter run unpressed with a time of 2:33.78.