Since 1997 when First Colonial's Brian Kollar set the Virginia high school outdoor state record in the discus with a mark of 196 feet and 5 inches, there has never been any serious threats of Kollar's record being in jeopardy as only a handful of throwers have went over 180 feet in the past 14 years and none over 190 feet. Finally someone has come along to make a serious run for the state discus record after Woodbridge senior Isaiah Simmons launched a bomb of 192 feet and 7 inches at the Gojekian Twilight Classic on Friday night. A state record breaker and national runner-up indoors this past winter in the shot put, Simmons has developed nicely over the last two years in the discus as shown with his recent US #4 monster throw.
Colonial Forge senior David Klimek posted a state leading time prior to Saturday's meets of 1:55.8 in the 800. Klimek is edging closer to breaking the school record in the event, which is held by his current coach Sean Leyh at 1:54.56 from 2003. Teammate Jordanis Lozier ran a PR of 4:28.43 to claim first place honors in the 1600 meter run.
Photo by Anthony Banks
Forest Park freshmen Musahakim Williams clocked only the 3rd sub 22 second 200 in Virginia this spring at 21.98 and also won the 100 meter dash with a swift 11.09 clocking. Williams has the potential to become a dominant force on the state level after running so fast already as only a ninth grader. The Forest Park's 4x100 featuring Williams ran a state leading time in the event at 42.54.
Anthony Williams of Potomac improved upon his #1 time in Virginia in the 110 hurdles by a hundredth of a second at 14.43 while winning a close race with teammate Devin Brewer in the 300 hurdles. Williams and Brewer ran on Potomac's 4x400 meter relay which dipped just under 3:30 for the win.
Osbourn Park's Breanna Walker and Patrick Henry's Shyra Molton had a split decision against one another in the sprints on Friday in a matchup with one of the Northwest Region's best in Walker and one of the Central Region's fastest in Molton. Both races were close between the two in the 100 and 200 meter dash with Molton as the winner in the 100 by four hundredths of a second at 12.53, while Walker pulled away in the 200 meter dash with a 25.23 clocking.
The Battlefield girls went 1-2 in the 400 meter dash with sub 60 second performances from Virginia Hill (58.65) and Ellison Grove (59.17). Hill and Grove will be a force in their region for another year with Hill being a junior and Grove having three more years of high school as a freshmen. The Battlefield girls dominated the relays winning four of the five relay races in the 4x100 (49.96), 4x400 (3:59.58), 4x800 (10:40.11), and the sprint medley relay (4:14.19). Hill and Grove both ran on their 4x400 meter relay, which broke 4 minutes for the first time ever in school history.
Battlefield's Nicole Carter nearly pulled off two wins in the distance races as she was denied in the 1600 from a first place showing by Forest Park's Allyson Bodmer (5:17.76), but Carter had won the 3200 earlier in the meet (meet schedule was in a reverse untraditional order) in a time of 11:30.24.
The big discus mark from Simmons was not the only impressive performance out of the field events, Woodbridge's Caitlin Brezina successfully cleared a height of 10'9" which is a nine inch improvement for the indoor All-State performer in the pole vault. Brezina was the Northwest Region runner-up in the event, but should seriously compete for a title this spring after her breakthrough clearance on Friday.
Oluoma Chukwu of Potomac Senior had her second mark over 18 feet ever in the long jump at the Gojekian meet and first mark over 18 in 2011 to join six others this spring over the mark at 18'2". In the boys' long jump, Byron Sintim of Battlefield nearly uncorked another 23 plus foot performance with his winning mark of 22'10.50" at Woodbridge.
Gojekian Twilight Classic Complete Results