Many people don't know the origin of the VA Showcase name. It was named back in 2016 (first edition contested in 2017) after VA had some of the best athletes in the entire country such as Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, Drew Hunter, Kate Murphy, Rachel McArthur, Weini Kelati, Libby Davidson, Brandee' Johnson, and so many more. It got meet management thinking... why don't we have a meet in VA to showcase all the talent we have instead of traveling to NYC or Boston to show them who we were.
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Since then the meet has grown to be the biggest and best meet in the country. Each year though the meet becomes better and better making it even harder to win. Despite that, this year Team VA has quite a few opportunities to get some victories.
Below are some of the athletes who we think can take home or rather keep the "W" home this weekend.
This list has to begin with our five defending champions.
Boys 1K
In the Boys 1K we have Cole Boone (Pulaski) who is the two-time defending champion and national record holder in this event. He has run 2:20 at this distance but still does not have the meet record. He will have tough competition in his race as he goes for three in a row. One of his competitors with a serious shot at the title is another VA star in Henry Birge of Patriot who has already won some big races this year.
Girls 500
In the Girls 500 we have another two-time defending champion in Sophie Rambo (Grassfield). Just like in the 1K though, she will have to have her best race to take home the win and potentially a new state, meet, and national record. After all, this is what the VA Showcase is all about!
Girls High Jump
Deep Creek's Destini Gatling enters the meet with a 5-8 best in the high jump and is tied for the lead with entries still coming in. She has a good shot at defending her home turf if she is able to jump a PR this weekend.
Girls Mile
South Lake's Caroline Elliott returns with her 4:42 best looking to become the first back-to-back champion ever in this event. She is an absolute killer when it comes to big races and it doesn't get much bigger than this.
Boys Shot Put
Our final defending champion is Kobi Bonds of Auburn HS. He is the only athlete from Class 1 to ever win at the VA Showcase and he is looking to double it up this year. In this competition though four of the top five athletes are from VA and have all thrown over 60ft before. Those other athletes include Lamont Mayo (Varina), Barrett Pullen (C.G. Woodson), and Jackson Jeffery (Turner Ashby)
Field Events
Following that we have six athletes who are at the top or near the top of their event. In the pole vault we have Counaj McCarty (Heritage - L) on the boys side and Abigail Alexander (Riverbend) on the girls. In the triple jump with have the duo of Michailyn Rose (Nansemond River) and Kara Harris (Clover Hill) both seeded over 40'. Then in the long jump we have Chaundra Cooper (Maury) and Ricky Adkins (North Stafford) both near the top of their respective events.
Girls 55m Dash
In this race we have three Virginians who could do big things. Those include Lauryn Robertson (Colgan), Laura Fiegel (The St. James Academy), and Imani Moore (Varina). All have run very fast already and could come close to our state record with a perfect race. It might take just that for the win too.
Boys 2 Mile
If there is one event that VA has done the best in historically it is the Boys 2 Mile where VA athletes have won six of the previous nine years. This year the current top seed is Trent Daniels but he certainly has company with nearly a dozen boys seeded around 9:10 or faster. Trent clocks some fast times at Liberty this past weekend so we know he is fit and ready for a big race.
Boys 55/60mH
Finally we come to the Boys 55/60mH featuring Joshua-Kai Smith of Gar Field. He was close last year but came up in third. Not only is he chasing the win but he is also chasing Grant Holloway's state record of 7.00. If he can put together a complete race we wouldn't be shocked if Trey Cunningham's 6.88 national record is also in danger.