Sarah Bowman has always been in a class of her own for much of her time competing in high school track and field in the state of Virginia, but the University of Tennessee bound senior has taken her running to whole new level this spring. Bowman currently holds the nation\'s fastest time in both the 3200 (10:16.03) and 800 meter run (2:05.41), while currently just off the national leaderboard in the 1600 meter run with a US#2 time of 4:41.17. With the 3200 meter race being run on the first day of events on Friday, Bowman will have the opportunity to compete in all three events at the state meet. Being the top seed in all three races, Bowman is expected to bring home 30 points on her own. Bowman also is entered in the high jump competition where she finished runner-up a year ago. Teammate Renee Lott could also win a state title of her own as she comes in with the fastest time in the 400 meter competition with a 57.45 clocking. Lott could also pick up points in the 200 meter dash where she is the sixth seed at 25.82. A Bowman-less 4x800 meter relay team could have their work cut out for them to score points as having a 2:05 anchor leg in Bowman made their work easier when they ran a 9:46 earlier in the season, but their other relays can do just fine without Bowman. The Fauquier sprinters make for a formidable 4x100 meter relay team as they have the third fastest time coming in with a 47.45 clocking, while the team has several 60 second quarter horses to keep themselves in running in the 4x400 meter relay without Bowman. With Bowman, Fauquier has ran a 3:52.37 this season and the second fastest Group AA relay is Louisa at 4:04.79. With the talent they have, the Fauquier squad could very well simply run with the state title and score well over 60 points.
The Courtland girls will rely heavily on the individual efforts of Sha\'tia Hart to carry them to a strong team finish. Hart is entered in three field events and two individual running events. She will most likely be on Courtland\'s top seeded 4x100 meter relay team which comes in with a best time of 49.37. In the field events, Hart has the best chance to win in the long jump where she is the second seed with a mark of 18-00.25 as Staunton River senior Candace Nelms has the leading mark at 18-03.50. A big boost for Courtland\'s team score will be if Hart can pick up more unexpected points in her two other field events with the high jump and triple jump jump. Hart is the eighth seed at 35-09 in the triple jump, while she has just a good shot as anyone else in the high jump competition with 17 athletes having recorded heights of 5-2 or better.
The Courtland junior is sure to pick up points in the 100 and 200 meter dashes where she is the second seed in both with season best times of 12.21 and 24.94. She will have to contest with Brunswick senior Patrice Potts who is have an outstanding spring as she nearly beat the once thought unbeatable Francena McCorory of Bethel in the 100 meters at the Southern Track Classic earlier this month. Potts enter this weekend\'s state meet with top times in both the 100 (11.85) and 200 (24.19) meter dashes as Hart stands as her toughest threat.
It will be an off day for Western Albemarle junior Ashley Early if she does not break her own state meet record in the pole vault by a foot as she has vastly improved from her 11-1 performance a year ago. Early, the state record holder at 12-3, could come away with the performance of the meet if she can come close to, match, or even break her own personal best clearance in the event. Early will be helping the Western Albemarle girls\' team score as two other vaulters in sophomore Ashley Atwood (9-6) and junior Erin Kerr (9-0) could also pick up points for the Lady Warriors in the event. The Western Albemarle girls finished second to Fauquier at the Region II Meet by 19 points, yet ironically find themselves as possibly the team having the best shot to take down the Lady Falcons on paper. To go along with the pole vaulters, Western Albemarle also can count on points from their distance crew as they have three solid athletes in Tasmin Fanning and the Stafford sisters, Kelsey and Samantha. Kelsey and Samantha Stafford should both place high in Friday night\'s 3200 meter run as they are the third and fourth seeds with Kelsey and Samantha both having ran times of 11:12 this season. Meanwhile, Fanning has been forced to sit out much of the season, but has made her return recently and has shown great strength to instantly perform close to the level she was at a year ago when she took state runner-up honors to Bowman in the 800 meter run. Fanning enters this year\'s 800 meter race seeded fifth at 2:19.87 with several other middle distance runners emerging as Group AA stars this year including Blacksburg\'s Ariel Burbey (2:15.07), William Fleming\'s Melissa Ifie (2:16.36), and Northside\'s Catherine White (2:17.26). The Western Albemarle girls also have a 4x800 meter relay team entered as the third seed at 9:48.20 on Friday night, but it will be interesting to see how loaded down that team is with the Stafford girls running the 3200 meter race not too later after the 4x800 on Friday night. The Stafford girls are also entered in the 1600 meter run on Saturday in which both can come away with All-State top six finishes with Samantha at 5:14.02 (5th seed) and Kelsey at 5:16.19 (7th seed). Kelsey, a senior, is going to Virginia Military Institute in the fall.
Unfortunate for Catherine White with Bowman\'s decision to run in all three of the individual distance races, she probably will not be able to win a state title this weekend despite having simply an amazing spring in racing. White has had a remarkable sophomore year including state titles in cross country and indoor track (1600 and 3200 meter races) and continued that success into the spring as she has posted some smoking times of 2:17.26 in the 800 meter run, 4:58.73 in the 1600 meter run, and 10:51.93 in the 3200 meter run. White will be doing the same triple as Bowman as she is entered in all three events and do not be surprised to see White take state runner-up honors as she has shown she has the strength to do it at the Region III Meet where she won the regional crow in the 800 (2:17.26), 1600 (5:01.66), and 3200 (10:56.63) meter races. It is probably a fair assessment that after Bowman, White is the next best distance runner in the state, regardless of classification. Only a sophomore, the future is very bright for this emerging distance star.
With Bowman not running on the Fauquier 4x800 meter relay team and the Stafford sisters most likely not running on the Western Albemarle relay, the Brentsville girls could run away with the 4x800 meter relay. The Brentsville girls posted their top seed time with a third place 9:36.82 clocking at the Southern Track Classic, which already puts them 10 seconds ahead of their closest competitor.
The girls\' 100 meter hurdles could see a one-two finish from the Gregory twins of Jamestown as Kierra (15.17) and Tierra (15.23) Gregory have the two fastest times coming into the meet. The Gregory sisters are the top returnees from last year\'s state meet as Tierra took third place honors (14.90) and Kierra finished sixth (15.43). Charlottesville\'s Augusta Stratos also returns as a finalist from last year (7th, 15.57), but recently finished second (15.77) at the Region II Meet to Turner Ashby\'s Cori Burholder (15.79).
The girls\' triple jump should see some fierce competition with five competitors having season best marks over 36 feet with Leslie Anderson of Pulaski (36-0), Dominique McCoy of Bruton (36-01.75), Omni Ashford of William Fleming (36-02.50), Candace Nelms of Staunton River (36-06.50), and Kaylor Vaughn of Robert E. Lee (36-09). Nelms and Vaughn both have a opportunity to win two state titles this weekend as both will battle for the crown in the triple jump and be in the hunt in another field event as well. Vaughn shares the top seed in the high jump with defending state champion Blair Brown of Loudoun Valley as both athletes have cleared 5-4 this season. Nelms will be favored in the girls\' long jump with a top mark of 18-03.50 as Courtland\'s Hart should stand as her biggest challenger.
The girls\' throwing events are loaded with deep fields. In the girls\' discus throw, four girls have thrown for over 130 feet this spring with Lord Botetourt junior Rebecca Mikulas (130-06), Spotswood senior Amber Showalter (131-10), Liberty senior Dominique Hull (133-03), and state leading Park View freshmen Natalie Baird (138-02). Friday could be the first of four discus state titles for the freshmen star Baird. A two way battle will be waged in the girls\' shot put between two 40 plus foot throwers in Liberty senior Rachael Clark (42-08) and Robert E. Lee junior Kristen Crawford (41-04.50).
Region II champion Ayla Smith will be favored to win in the girls\' 300 meter hurdles as the John Handley junior comes in with the fastest time at 44.66.