Atlee pole vaulters Chris Pillow and Cameron Overstreet both achieved personal best clearances on Wednesday night at the Fork Union Mini Invite. Atlee senior Pillow, a third place finisher in both the Group AAA indoor and outdoor state meet last year, cleared a US #1 height of 15'3" at the Estes Athletic Center late into the evening. Earlier in the meet, Overstreet set off her own crowd roars and ovation after clearing 12'7" on her very first attempt to also maintain and improve her position on the national leaderboard.
Tony Green was the indoor triple jump state champion at Patrick Henry last year, but a family move now has Green at Louisa County competing in the Group AA classification. Green could become Group AA's most dominant all-around track athlete this year as complimenting his specialty of triple jump is a new personal best mark of 22'7" in the long jump at FUMA and winning a competitive 55 meter hurdles race with Atlee's Marques Atkinson (7.88) with a 7.84 clocking. Atkinson posted a solid 500 meter dash time later on the 160 meter unbanked track with a 1:07.85 performance, which was faster than his 1:07.90 win on CNU's 200 meter track this past Saturday.
The Atlee boys are one of the early front runners for the Group AAA state team titles with a nucleus of individual stars including pole vaulter Pillow, multi-eventer Atkinson, and short sprinter Trevor Ellie. Ellie has won three straight 55 meter dash races to open his season with his latest at Fork Union in a season best clocking of 6.48. The time of 6.48 ties Ellie with Oscar Smith's Joel Coleman as a state leader in the event.
Louisa County sophomore Javanique Burruss is one of the state's top returning long jumpers after nearly eclipsing 19 feet as a freshmen last year with a best leap of 18'11.50". She underperformed in the long jump at Fork Union with an 8th place finish, but did show her best performance ever in the hurdles with a 9.09 personal best victory in the 55 meter hurdles. King George senior Brittany Kersey was a state runner-up in the Group AA State Outdoor Championships last June after clearing 5'3" and has maintained her form at the start of the indoor season with another 5'3" clearance to pick up first place at Fork Union.
More to come from Fork Union including race videos and photos.
Fork Union Mini Invite #2 Complete Results
Race Videos by Brandon Miles (22 total)