NEW YORK, NY -- While the number of Virginians making the trip to compete in the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the New York Armory was much smaller in comparison to those who went to the Nike Indoor Classic in Maryland, that didn\'t affect the performances put out by Virginians there.
Highlighting the performances by Virginians was the Deep Creek boys smashing the national indoor record for the 4x200 meter relay. After just missing the record in the preliminaries with a time of 1:27.68, they finally got the record in the finals with a smoking time of 1:27.09. The old record was 1:27.34 by John Muir of Pasadena, California in 1997.
Also, the Deep Creek squad celebrated one of their members winning a national title as Gary Freeman won the shot put in a throw of 55-7.75. While the mark wouldn\'t have Freeman place at the Nike meet, a national title is a national title.
The Deep Creek boys also picked up All-American honors in other relays as well as individual events. The 4x400 (4th, 3:20.22) and sprint medley relay (5th, 3:23.53). Deandre Hyman also brought home a medal for Deep Creek with a fourth place finish in the 200 meter dash with a quick time of 21.95.
Southeastern District rivals of Deep Creek, the Lakeland boys, were also represented in New York. The boys\' 4x200 meter relay took third place with a time of 1:28.96. Deandre White nearly won a national title as he finished runner-up in the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.02. Lakeland\'s Everett Richardson also picked up All-American honors as he finished second in the high jump with a mark of 6-6.
The last of three Virginian national champions is Oakton\'s Phil Gaeta and he didn\'t even win his event. Two Canadians placed ahead of Gaeta in the boys\' mile run, but Gaeta was given the national title being the first American to cross the line after his sensational race. Gaeta was clocked at a time of 4:14.95, which is the second fastest time in the nation.
Along with Gaeta, the Northern Region was well represented with members from both Lake Braddock and Oakton. Gaeta\'s teammate, Bonnie Meekins of Oakton, did not reach her season best of 5-10 in the high jump, but still earned All-American honors with a mark of 5-7 for sixth place and also competed and placed in the pentathlon (3rd, 3447 pts). Also competing in the pentathlon was Lake Braddock\'s Alexandra Van Heuven, who became an All-American in both the pentathlon (5th, 3172 pts) and the triple jump (4th, 38-6.25). Along with White, Lake Braddock\'s Craig Gallimore also placed in the 60 meter hurdles with fourth place finishing time of 8.07.
Both the boys and girls of West Springfield performed admirably well in the distance relays. The boys took sixth in the 4xmile relay(18:20.82) and the girls finished fourth in that event (21:42.59)
as well in 4x800 meter relay (9:32.85).
Rockbridge\'s John Crews competed in the first ever 5000 meter race at NSIC and did exceptionally well as he set a new personal best in his time of 15:03.54 and took home a fourth place finish.
NEW YORK, NY -- While the number of Virginians making the trip to compete in the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the New York Armory was much smaller in comparison to those who went to the Nike Indoor Classic in Maryland, that didn\'t affect the performances put out by Virginians there.
Highlighting the performances by Virginians was the Deep Creek boys smashing the national indoor record for the 4x200 meter relay. After just missing the record in the preliminaries with a time of 1:27.68, they finally got the record in the finals with a smoking time of 1:27.09. The old record was 1:27.34 by John Muir of Pasadena, California in 1997.
Also, the Deep Creek squad celebrated one of their members winning a national title as Gary Freeman won the shot put in a throw of 55-7.75. While the mark wouldn\'t have Freeman place at the Nike meet, a national title is a national title.
The Deep Creek boys also picked up All-American honors in other relays as well as individual events. The 4x400 (4th, 3:20.22) and sprint medley relay (5th, 3:23.53). Deandre Hyman also brought home a medal for Deep Creek with a fourth place finish in the 200 meter dash with a quick time of 21.95.