Brief summaries of day one action from the district championships within the Northern Region. No results received yet from the Patriot District.
Photo by Marleen VAn den Neste
Concorde District Championships - Chantilly swept the 3200 meter titles with sophomore Sean McGorty (9:43.10) and rising talent Kendall Cowne (11:26). The sophomore Cowne has really improved and made an immediate impact during the course of her first indoor season for Chantilly as also helped the Chargers to a victory in the 4x800 meter relay as well at 9:54 in a close four-way race between Chantilly, Herndon (9:55), Herndon (9:56), and Oakton (9:57). Herndon's Carina Peter breezed through the 55 meter dash finals in a convincing title with her 7.24 clocking in the finals, while James Robinson sophomore Ayo Raymond (6.60) upset slight favorite Matthew Henton (6.62) of Oakton in the boys' 55 dash finals. The versatile Oakton sophomore Meghan Jean-Baptiste won the 55 meter hurdles (9.02), placed second in the long jump (16-6.50), and cleared a personal best height of 5'4" for first place in the high jump. Herndon's Peter won her second event of the day in the long jump over Jean-Baptiste with a mark of 17'1". The James Robinson girls dominated the shot put competition and loaded up on points with five of the top six finishers in the event including winner Chioma Onyekwere (36'4.75").
Photo by Andrew Kicinski
Liberty District Championships - Thomas Jefferson's Lisa Junta appears to close to making her full comeback to top form after dealing with some injury plagued seasons after winning the district 1600 meter title in a time of 5:19.90. The TJ girls also posted a strong time in the 4x800 with a 9:48.17 performance, which ranks 10th fastest in the state of Virginia this season. A spirited and close 4x800 meter relay for the boys between McLean and South Lakes with a surprise four hundredths of a second win for the McLean boys at 8:21.33 over the Liberty District cross country champion South Lakes squad (8:21.37). South Lakes made up for the 4x800 loss with individual wins from Sean Price in the 55 dash (6.60) and Will Sickenberger in the 1600 meter run (4:34) to put them in good position to go for a district team title in day two events on Friday.
Photo by Andrew Kicinski
National District Championships - Hayfield had some of the top performances after day one of the National District Meet at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Alexandria. Hayfield' senior Renee Reives went over 40 feet for the first in the shot put and inserted herself into the discussion as a possible Group AAA state title contender with her top mark of 40'0.75". The Hayfield boys set a new National District meet record in the 4x800 meter relay with their 8:18.03 performance breaking the previous record of 8:20 set by Thomas Edison in 2008. Hayfield's Elbert Maxwell won the long jump as expected with two teammates taking the next two places in the event, but unfortunately no heighted in the high jump despite his 6'7" season best which opened the door for his teammate Cody Whitlow to win the event instead at a 6'0" clearance. The Edison girls cleaned up the jumps with the top four finishers in the long jump and top three performers in the triple jump as well for a considerable point swing in their favor. Leading the team scoring after Tuesday's events are Thomas Edison girls with 75 points and Hayfield boys with 70 points.