Northwest Region Meet Preview

Charlottesville, VA -- With a forecasted high of 80 degrees and a light west breeze of about 8 mph, it should be a great day for the Northwest Region meet at UVA's Lannigan Field this Friday providing the meet can be concluded before any afternoon thunderstorms come rumbling through. Let's certainly hope so, given the bad luck the Northwest Region experienced with weather during the indoor season which forced cancellation of the Region meet. On the basis of the recent Southern Track Classic, some of the Commonwealth of Virginia's best athletes will be vying for the opportunity to move on to state competition. To be sure, 9 of the Region's relay teams and 58 athletes in 83 events have already qualified for State competition in Newport News on June 4. Given that kind of talent, Friday's Region meet is bound to be a highly competitive affair, and looking in depth at the team competition it will be, as there are no clear cut favorites on either the boys or girls side.

For the girls two behemoths, the Cardinal District champion Woodbridge Vikings and the Commonwealth District champion Brooke Point Black Hawks, will square off as the favorites take top Region honors. Both of these teams easily dominated their districts. In fact, after the first 8 events in District competition, Brooke Point had accumulated more points than all the other district teams combined. The Black Hawks benefited from the transfer of Khara Brown to give them a potential champion in the 100 and 200 meter dashes to couple with senior jumper/hurdler Chadnee Green. Add to that strength in field events and relays. The difference in the end could be the contribution of their middle distance runners such as 1600/800 meter run district champion Brittany Copeland. Woodbridge will count heavily on top performances from senior Tiffany Funny and junior Brittany Hazel. If the meet was scored based on the performance list, Brooke Point would edge Woodbridge by one point, 115-114. Let's hope it is that close on Friday. Led by junior jumper/ sprinter LaShawn Rose, the Western Valley E.C. Glass Hilltoppers appear to have 3rd place wrapped up.

For the boys, it looks to be a shootout between Western Valley champ E.C. Glass and their Commonwealth District rival Brooke Point. The Hilltoppers will be counting heavily on strong middle distance performances from junior Carleton Phipps and Patterson Wilhelm coupled with their strength in field events, while the fate of Brooke Point will be on VMI bound Taili Evans and their hurdler duo of senior Shawn Woods and junior Mike Garel. 3rd place looks to be a toss up between Commonwealth runner-up Colonial Forge, Cardinal District Champion Gar-Field and Cedar Run District champ Potomac.