It was not a good day for the Central District with Boone\'s suspension and girls\' long jump favorite and state leader Rachel Lewis of Meadowbrook finishing fourth (17-7) in the event as Norview junior Ashanti Matthews was the surprise winner at 18-5.
Favorites in the boys\' high jump and girls\' shot put did not disappoint as Deep Creek senior Raphael Hall cleared 6-6 to win the high jump, while Lee-Davis junior Kathy Howard won the shot put in 43-11.25.
Two surprise state champions were found in the boys\' discus throw and girls\' pole vault. Lake Braddock senior Jon Cowden (181-0) bested favorite and state leader Michael Zajac of E.C. Glass (174-02) as Zajac was unable to match his personal best throw of 181-8 to win.
Meanwhile, Westfield sophomore Betsy Alter probably won the best and most exciting girls\' pole vault competition ever as she won in the event outright with no misses along the way as four other competitors also cleared 10-6 with Alter. The best part about the event is that all five vaulters will be returning next year as none are seniors with Alter, Mills Godwin junior Anne Marie Gordon, Patrick Henry (Roanoke) sophomore Nacy Baar, Chantilly junior Nicole Kazuba, and Centreville junior Dana Comber.
The 4x800 meter relay races closed out the night with some barn burners. The girls\' race was one of the fastest in recent memory as seven teams went 9:30 or faster in the event. After several lead changes, the Oakton girls came out on top as Danielle Light anchored home a 2:14 split for the Lady Cougars in a final time of 9:17.42. The Northern Region swept the top three places with Oakton, James Robinson (2nd, 9:20.42), and Lake Braddock (3rd, 9:22.85).
In the boys\' 4x800 meter relay race, J.R. Tucker\'s Sudanese duo of Michael Chapa and Thuom Mathaing were shut out from ever winning a relay or team title in their high school career despite a 1:56 opener and 1:53 anchor split from each respectively in the race as the Herndon boys and a strong anchor leg from Abreham Daganchew were able to cross the line in first with a time of 7:49.89. Tucker took second in 7:52.35 and Colonial Forge finished third in 7:53.67 as all three teams recorded season best performances at states.
A special note from the preliminary heats in the sprints and hurdles on Saturday was the qualification of Great Bridge junior Michael Morrison to the finals in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. Morrison took a surprise second place finish in the long jump finals on Friday behind Harvin at 22-9. Morrison will be heavily favored to win the pole vault tomorrow as he is ranked as one of the nation\'s best at a personal best height of 16-9. Morrison also seeded third in the triple jump tomorrow as he has a season best of 46-4. If he can come up with another strong day on Saturday in the field events and hurdles, Great Bridge could definitely be in the running for the state team title.