Photo by Frank Locascio
The Christiansburg boys claimed the 2010 Group AA state indoor title by a one point margin over their River Ridge District rival Blacksburg with a team score of 54 points. Blacksburg needed a second place finish in the 4x400 to move ahead into first for the final team standings, but Harrisonburg nipped them for second in the event to give Christiansburg the title.
Travis Hudson led Christiansburg in winning the high jump (6'9"), while also scoring points in the hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Teammates Chris Robbins was a state runner-up in the 55 meter hurdles and Andy Eddleton also garnered a second place finish in the 1600 meter run, while completing a solid double with a third place showing in the 3200.
The Blacksburg girls won as expected with a team score of 81 points as the next closest team was Western Albemarle with 59 points. Joanna Stevens broke Catherine White's two state meet records in the 1600 and 3200 with her times of 4:50.07 and 10:29.70. Twin sister Kathleen was a close runner-up in the 1600 (4:50.11), while coming back to take the state title in the 1000 (2:57.47).
Amber Church was the lone athlete to win more than 2 individual state titles on Saturday at Liberty University as the Pulaski County star in her three victories clocked a time of 8.42 in the 55 meter hurdles, cleared 5'4" in the high jump, and leaped to a mark of 17'11" in the long jump. She also was a state runner-up in the 55 meter dash (7.40) and placed 7th in the triple jump. Pulaski County placed fourth in the final team standings thanks to the individual efforts of Church.
Double champions included Ashontae Jackson of Orange County in the 55 (7.30) and 300 (41.12), Terrance Morse of Amherst County in the boys 500 (1:06.57) and (35.68), Colin Mearns of Jamestown in the 1600 (4:18.33) and 3200 (9:29.36).
VHSL Group AA State Championships Coverage - Complete results posted, Photos, videos, summaries, and interviews to come throughout this week!