HS Girls 1000m Race - Friday 6:31 PM
(Featuring Kathleen Lautzenheiser & Marie Johnston
HS Boys 1000m Race - Friday 6:59 PM
(Featuring Anthony Kostelac, David Gunnerson, Cody Snyder, Blake Theroux)
HS Boys 300m Dash - Saturday 2:10 PM
(Featuring Taylor Sykes)
At the New York Armory tonight, several of Virginia's best middle distance runners will be racing at the New Balance Games Collegiate Games junior 1000 meter races featuring many of the fastest this season nationally in the event. MileSplit US affiliate ArmoryTrack.com is providing a live webcast of tonight's races at: https://ny.milesplit.com/pages/Webcast2010
Photo by Brandon Miles
The junior girls 1000 meter run is scheduled to start at 6:31 PM. In the race from Virginia is Midlothian teammates Kathleen Lautzenheiser and Marie Johnston, who had ran the nation's fastest times at 1000 meters earlier in January with their 2:57 performances at CNU. Friday's race on the fast New York Armory banked 200 meter track will be their first 1000 meter races since CNU and will have an opportunity to crack into the Virginia high school all-time list (Top 25 cut-off: 2:56.87).
The junior boys 1000 meter run is scheduled to start at 6:59 PM. The race features two runners already on the Virginia high school all-time top 25 list in Millrose mile runner-up Anthony Kostelac of Albemarle and David Gunnerson of Grafton. Gunnerson ran his VA #21 all-time 2:30.15 performance last year at the Armory in the same race.
Photo by Nicoll Knudsen
Kostelac is the leading entrant from Virginia and one of the favorites to win. His personal best of 2:30.51 came on a flat track in last year's AAA state title victory in the 1000 and certainly is capable of running well under 2:30 on the faster banked track at the New York Armory. Kostelac's top challengers will be US 1000 leader Zavon Watkins of New York and fellow sub 1:50 4x800 split runner Tom Mallon of Pennsylvania.
Also in the boys 1000 race from Virginia is Cody Sndyer of Lee-Davis and Blake Theroux of Western Branch, who had a spirited battle with each other in the second weekend of January at CNU to notch personal best times of 2:31 and 2:32 respectively, which at the time put them both at the top of the national rankings.
Photo by John Herzog
Great Bridge sprinter Taylor Sykes will be racing in his first 300 meter dash of the season on Saturday at the New York Armory with a loaded field featuring virtually all of the top 300/400 runners in the nation so far this season including 300 US leader John Thomas of New York and US 400 leader Brady Gehret of Pennsylvania. Sykes has a personal best of 34.38 (VA #12 all-time) and will be looking to join a short list of past Virginians (8 total) who have ran in the 33 second range in this event.
