The Clarke County boys will rely heavily on the performance of the distance guys to take the state crown on Saturday as they could garner well over 40 points in the 1600 and 3200 meter races. The Eagles are led by sophomore Simon Biddle-Snead. Biddle-Snead won the 3200 meter state title last spring as a freshmen and added another state title this past fall in cross country. In this year\'s state meet, Biddle-Snead finds himself as the second seed in the 1600 meter run (4:28.47) to teammate Ware Smalley as the senior has the top time just ahead of his teammate at 4:28.00. Also finding themselves among the top six seeds in the event to give Clarke County possibly four All-State finishers are senior Ned Twigg (4th seed, 4:32.93) and sophomore Daniel Callan (6th seed, 4:35.35). In the 3200 meter run, Biddle-Snead looks prime to repeat as state champion as he comes in with the fastest time at 9:43.70. Teammates Michael Leonard (3rd seed, 10:05.18), Smalley (6th seed, 10:11.19), and Callan (7th seed, 10:11.51) should also pick up points in the eight-lap event for Clarke County.
The Eagles can also pick up points in events other than distances races as Clayton Brown in the triple jump (4th seed, 42-04.50) and Evan Paige in the shot put (4th seed, 50-04.50) are capable of scoring team points on Saturday. Clarke County also has the sixth fastest 4x100 meter relay team coming into the meet at 45.26.
A team that has the best chance at beating Clarke County out for the state title is a squad with a little better point distribution among the events in Nelson County. Nelson County will be looking for point production out of the field events, relays, sprints, and middle distance races. In the field events, Nelson County will count on for a strong performances from junior Anthony Haliburton and senior Waddell Howard Jr. Haliburton is tied as the top seed in the high jump with Chatham sophomore Matt Moser at 604 and is the second seed in the long jump with a season best of 22-01. Meanwhile, Howard is the third seed in the high jump with a clearance of 6-02 and also is the eighth seed in the 200 meter dash (22.93). Robert Cabbell Jr. can also score points for the squad as the sixth seed in the discus throw (142-0).
The team success of Nelson County may rely on how well star middle distance runner Peter Serkes can double from the 400 meter dash in the 800 meter run. Serkes is the second fastest seed at 50.44 and is the top seed in the 800 meter run at 1:58.38, but the James Madison University bound senior will have limited rest in between the two events and it may affect his performance in his second event. If Serkes can regain enough energy with only three events in between the 400 and 800 to put up a solid effort and possibly a win, the momentum may shift in Nelson County\'s favor to knock off Clarke County. It is worth mentioning that at last week\'s Region B Meet, Serkes was able to run a 50.44 to finish second in the 400 meter dash and came back shorty after to win the 800 meter run in 1:59.57.
If Clarke County is unable to put ten or more points on Nelson County after the 3200 meter run, it will be Nelson County\'s state title to win as they are the favorite in the final event of the day, the 4x400 meter relay, with a season best time of 3:29. Nelson County also hopes to pick up relay points earlier in the day in the 4x100 meter relay (7th seed, 45.33).
Region A\'s Middlesex and James Monroe have some star individuals who could help their team efforts significantly at the state meet. Middlesex is led by sprinter Jerry Jones as the junior is the top seed in both the 100 (10.95) and 200 (22.01) meter dashes. Sophomore teammate James Harris (22.10) is seeded second behind Jones in the 200 meter dash and fifth (11.11) in the 100 meter dash. Jones and Harris are both members as well on the top seeded Middlesex 4x100 meter relay (43.62).
James Monroe has the top seed in the shot put with senior Chris Hall (51-01) and distance runners Will Jacobs and Tim Young should score plenty of points in the distanc events. Jacobs (3rd seed, 4:29.70) and Young (5th seed, 4:33.10) will both be in the mix of things in the 1600 meter run, while Jacobs will be doubling back in the 800 meter run (5th seed, 2:01.71) and Young in the 3200 meter run (2nd seed, 9:51.00). Nelson County will be hoping that Jacobs in the 1600 meter run and Young in the 3200 meter run can take down the Clarke County stars to diminish the Eagles\' team score total.
However, Nelson County big point scorer Serkes will have plenty of competition to keep him shut out from victories in the 400 meter dash with George Mason freshmen Joshua Jenkins (50.17) and in the 800 meter run with Page County senior Nathaniel Nelson (1:59.72). Jenkins (50.17) defeated Serkes (50.44) at the Region B Meet, while Nelson (1:59.72) took a close second to Serkes (1:59.57).
Jenkins is not the only George Mason athlete who is in contention for a state title. George Mason junior Travis Greene is heavily favored in the long jump as he has a top mark of 22-10.75 in the event as he has a nine foot gap on second seed Haliburton.
Powell Valley senior JOnathan Kegan has an even larger gap on the next best competitor in the triple jump as his season best mark of 43-08.50 puts him well ahead of Altavista senior Chris Gilbert (2nd, 42-06).
Chatham senior Cam Moore can possibly walk away with two state titles on Saturday in the throwing events as he is the top seed in the discus throw with a season best throw of 152 feet and finds himself second in the shot put at 50-09.
Region B looks to sweep the hurdle events as Manassas Park junior Raphael Rigaud (14.98) is the top seed in the 110 meter hurdles. His great threat lies in Strasburg senior Bryan Strejcek (15.12), who finished second to Rigaud at the regional championships. Riverheads senior Ben Brooks will be favored in the 300 meter hurdles at 40.39, but will be given a strong challenge from Region A\'s James Jones of Sussex Central (40.50) and Akeen White of Arcadia (40.94).