Boys Team Contenders
The Atlee boys are seeking to add an outdoor state title to their program's first state championship in indoors three months ago. The Raiders, coached by Jim Triemplar, have two versatile twin brothers in the Atkinson, Marques and Michael, who are competitive at the state level in three events which are run back-to-back-to-back in the 400 meter dash, 300 meter hurdles, and 800 meter run. As a result of the close proximity of those events, the Atkinson will only be competing in one individual running event each while also being featured on their 4x800 and 4x400 meter relays, which both won indoor state titles in February. Central Region 400 meter dash and AAA state indoor 500 champion Marques Atkinson will run the open 400, while Central Region 300 meter hurdles champion Michael Atkinson will run the open 800 with his 1:55 personal best having only raced the event twice.
The most certain points for Atlee will come in the pole vault with Rice University recruit Chris Pillow as the top entrant and odds-on favorite to follow his indoor state title in the event. Pillow ranks among the best all-time in state history for the pole vault with his season best clearance of 16'3". The pole vault crew for Atlee picked up considerable points at the indoor state meet with Pillow winning and teammates Matt Thompson and Scott Ellwood also placing among the top 6.
Atlee comes into the outdoor state championships not as the undisputed favorite in the team competition as the Annnandale boys from the Northern Region and First Colonial from Eastern Region are both positioned well to compete for a state team crown. Annandale has two individual stars who could carry them to a title between distance runner Ahmed Bile and hurdler John Jenkins. In cross country, Bile was the Group AAA state cross country champion and a Foot Locker Nationals All-American. He followed his fall campaign with a state title in the 1000 meters and All-American finish in the 800 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Despite reports of being under the weather, Bile had one of his best distance doubles yet at the Northern Region Championships in winning the 1600 meter run with an impressive 2:10/2:02 negative split race for a 4:12 PR and came back later to win the open 800 in 1:54. Bile will be the top seed and favorite in both races.
At the indoor state championships, Bile opted not to do the 1600 and 1000 meter double while John Jenkins only had one hurdle race to compete in to score points. With both the 110 and 300 meter hurdles offered, Annandale can know get more points of Jenkins who has proven himself to be one of the state's premier hurdlers in both races with several sub 14 second clockings in the 110 hurdles along with a sub 38 second performance in the 300 hurdles. Jenkins was an All-American indoors in the 60 meter hurdles and will be racing in one of the state's most competitive meets in recent history for the hurdles four indoor national finalists in himself, Heritage's Daniel McFadden, Potomac's Anthony Willliams, and Lakeland's Jaquan Demiel. Both Bile and Jenkins run on Annandale's 4x400 meter relay, which has posted a fast enough time this spring to insert them in the fast section and be able to score monumental points at meet's end.
First Colonial boys possess the reigning 400 meter state champion and one of the state's best sprinters in Justin Burke, who individually might have the best range from the short (100 meter dash) to long sprints (400 meter dash) than any athlete in the state. Burke attempted the sprint triple indoors with the 55 meter dash, 500 meter dash, and 300 meter dash but was unsuccessful in that attempt at a state title trifecta and ultimately had a poor performance in his best event of the 300 meter dash. The First Colonial junior is determined to reverse the outcome of his indoor state meet showing this weekend and prove himself capable of handling the trials and finals of the 100, 400, and 200 with strong finishes and hopefully individual state titles on Saturday. Burke is the top seed and only entrant under 48 seconds in the 400 meter dash, while one of the top seeds and contenders in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes.
First Colonial will need more than Burke though in order to take down Atlee or Annandale for the team title. Burke's support will come from his team's jumpers led by indoor state triple jump champion Allen Bordley. The junior Bordley is coming off a season best 47'9" win at the Eastern Region champions and will be seeded second at the state meet. First Colonial has two in the high jump who can place in Dsean Brown at 6'8" and Avion Jones at 6'6" for their season bests. Brown also could score in the long jump with a personal best over 23 feet.
The Northwest Region team champions Colonial Forge are more weighted to their distance runners needing to pick up points for them to contend for a top three team trophy, but also the individual performances high jumper and hurdler Jeremy Granderson and sprinter Lonnie Reed will play a role in determining their ultimate team finish at the state meet. Granderson went 6'10.25" in an indoor meet, but has struggled to duplicate that performance with a lone 6'8" season best clearance this spring among a string of 6'4" meets including another clearance at the frequent height for the Northern Region title last week. Another clearance near his personal best would be timely at the state meet and certainly boost Colonial Forge's chances of a top three finish.
The 4x800 meter relay for Colonial Forge is one of the state's best as were state runners-up indoors and broke 7:50 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals and set a school record two weeks ago with a state leading 7:45.42 at their district meet. Despite having the top seed time, Colonial Forge could easily slip to third in the event after losing to Mountain View (7:46.89) at their regional meet as well as Atlee at the MileStat.com Elite Track Classic and the indoor state meet. Colonial Forge anchor leg and junior David Pennesi will be coming back on Saturday in the 1600 and 3200 meter run as a top 5 entrant in both races.
Lakeland boys were the pleasant surprise at the state indoor championships to grab runner-up honors behind Atlee. On their team are two past state champions in indoor long jump champion Anaquan Peterson and returning 300 meter hurdles state champion Jaquan Demiel. Both Peterson and Demiel are individual contenders in two events with the long jump and triple jump for Peterson then 110 and 300 meter hurdles for Demiel. Peterson recently won the Eastern Region title just under his personal best at 23'5.50", while Demiel ran a season best time in the prelims of the 110 meter hurdles and won the regional title in the 300 meter hurdles. Peterson and Demiel were both featured on their 4x100 meter relay, which ran the state's third fastest time at 42.44 and put them in hunt for a state title in the relay event as well.
Boys Pole Vault
The boys' vaulters in Group AAA have improved since indoor, but not enough to be in close range to challenge top seed and 16'3" performer Chris Pillow of Atlee. Pillow is currently a full two feet higher than the second seed Nicholas Judy of Riverbend at 14'3". It would require likely a no height from Pillow for someone other than him to win the outdoor state title, which Pillow has yet to no height in any meet during his senior year. Pillow is the top returnee from the 2010 outdoor state meet, which he placed third in at 15 feet. Pillow has cleared over 16 feet three times this spring including a 16'0" clearance at Sports Backers Stadium for the Southern Track Classic and most recently at 16'3" personal best height at the Capital District Meet.
Riverbend senior Nicholas Judy finished 11th at the indoor state championships, but has improved greatly over the outdoor season to enter as the second seed and Northwest Region champion. Judy won earlier this season at Sports Backers Stadium in the MileStat.com Elite Track Classic.
Kellam's Brad Johnson joined the 14 foot club recently in his victory at the Eastern Region Championships, while the Northern Region has become very competitive recently in the event including Michael Lohr and Sean Daugherty matching personal best heights of 13'9" at their regional meet last weekend.
Boys High Jump
Indoor state champion Joey Muzzio of James Robinson and his clearance of 6'10.25" at the Northern Region Championships make him the slight favorite in the event against a group of four others at 6'8" this season. Muzzio is also the top returnee from the 2010 outdoor state meet, which he placed fifth last year at Sports Backers Stadium. Next highest finishing returnee is J.R. Tucker sophomore Nick Simmons, who earned All-American honors indoors in the high jump and recently cleared 6'8" for the Central Region title.
Two of the state's best high jumpers are in close proximity to one another with Anthony Johnson of Mountain View and Jeremy Granderson of Colonial Forge both in state title contention with season best clearances of 6'8". Granderson cleared a Virginia top 10 all-time height of 6'10.25" during the indoor season.
Boys Long Jump
Nearly half of a dozen competitors who have leaped over 23 feet this spring led by state leader and Central Region champion Jamarian Bates of Matoaca at 23'8". Indoor All-American and state champion Anaquan Peterson of Lakeland was only half of an inch off his personal best in the long jump with a 23'5.50" mark to take first last weekend at the Eastern Region Championships. Bates appears to be having a strong close to his outdoor season similar to last spring when he went over 23 feet in two consecutive meets at the state meet and New Balance Outdoor Nationals.
Bates and Peterson are two of five returning All-State performers from the 2010 state meet including Domico Phillips of Meadowbrook, Elbert Maxwell of Hayfield, and Sean Price of South Lakes. Western Branch has two athletes over 23 feet and among the top seeds in the long jump between sophomore Josh Marriner (23'1.50") and junior Christopher Crawford (23'0.50").
Boys Triple Jump
Eastern Region has the top three seeds including Anaquan Peterson of Lakeland and Allen Bordley of First Colonial who have developed a great rivalry in the triple jump. Both earned All-American honors in indoor with Bordley edging out Peterson for the Group AAA state indoor title. Bordley and Peterson have matching season bests of 47'9", but have yet to pop the big marks from their indoor season of 49'5.50" for First Colonial senior Bordley and 48'7.50" for Lakeland junior Peterson.
Finishing in between Peterson and Bordley at the Eastern Region Championships was Western Branch senior Marcus Dean, who has been a 47 plus foot performer in the triple jump since his sophomore year. Dean is seeking his first mark over 48 feet, which would put him in contention for the state individual title.
More than a handful of athletes in the 46 foot range including several past All-State finishers will be in contention to leapfrog and challenge the top seeds for the individual state crown. Northern Region champion Sean Price of South Lakes is one of those returning All-State athletes and went a season best 46'9" last weekend.
Boys Shot Put
Woodbridge senior Isaiah Simmons will be looking to wrap one of the greatest high school track and field careers by a Virginia thrower with another state meet record. Rodney Johnson of T.C. Williams set the current state record in 1997 with a mark of 65'0.75". Simmons threw beyond Johnson's record mark last week at the Northwest Region Championships with a season best toss of 65'5.50". The University of Miami recruit Simmons threw even farther indoors as he shattered the state indoor record with a monster mark of 68 feet at the state indoor championships in late February.
The next best throwers seem to predominate from the Southeastern District with Great Bridge's Brian Waterfield (58'3" season best), Oscar Smith's Brandon Ruffin (57'3"), and Grassfield's Austin Johnson (55'1"). The College of William & Mary bound Waterfield has held the advantage over Ruffin for much of this year including an Eastern Region title last week, but Ruffin is only returning outdoor state top 8 finisher other than Simmons.
Central Region champion Wes Tuck has thrown well at Sports Backers Stadium this season including two marks over 56 feet at the MileStat.com Elite Track Classic and Southern Track Classic. Tuck is seeded fourth in the event behind Simmons, Waterfield, and Ruffin.
Boys Discus
Isaiah Simmons of Woodbridge is capable of sweeping the throwing events for the second straight outdoor state championships and culminate his high school career with a potential total of seven individual titles. Last week, Simmons broke the Virginia high school state record in the discus with a US #8 mark of 196'8" at the Northwest Regional Championships. The previous record had been 196'5" by Brian Kollar of First Colonial. This weekend, Simmons could take down one of the oldest state meet records from the 1978 Group AAA State Outdoor Championships with a mark of 190'2" by Steve Mehr of Gar-Field.
The top three finishers from the 2010 meet are back in Simmons, Meadowbrook's DuShaun Thompson, and Oscar Smith's Brandon Ruffin. The Central Region champion Thompson gave Simmons an honest challenge in their last encounter at the Southern Track Classic with a runner-up mark of 175'0".
Boys 4x800 Meter Relay
Two-time 4x800 indoor state champions Atlee and an incredible three Commonwealth District schools in Colonial Forge (7:45), Mountain View (7:46), and Riverbend (7:47) have all ran under 7:50 this season and setting the stage for a thriller on Friday evening at Sports Backers. With four squads at 7:47 or faster, the potential is present for a team to challenge the 2003 state meet record of 7:42.93 by Midlothian.
Boys 3200 Meter Run
Central Region stars Silas Frantz of Douglas Freeman and Darren Barlow of Midlothian lead the way in the boys 3200 meter run. The regional 3200 meter champion Barlow won the Southern Track Classic running 9:10 for full times, while the Foot Locker finalist Frantz ran a 3K time at the Penn Relays in late April which converts to a 9:07 for 3200 meters. David Pennesi of Colonial is seeded 10 seconds slower than both, but has two head-to-head wins against Barlow this spring including his 9:17 victory at the MileStat.com Elite Track Classic held at Sports Backers Stadium. Northwest Regional champion Adam Visokay of Albemarle, also seeded high with a converted Penn Relays time, will be looking to duplicate his breakthrough indoor performance when he finished runner-up to Frantz at the state meet.
Boys 110 Meter Hurdles
The 110 meter hurdles is arguably one of the toughest events in this year's meet with several athletes competing on a national level and posting some of the fastest times in state history. Indoor All-Americans John Jenkins of Annandale and Anthony Williams of Potomac Senior have clocked matching state leading times at 13.87 this season. Both Jenkins and Williams are searching for their first state titles, while William Fleming's Vincent Wyatt returns to defend his state title with a 14.09 season best and indoor 55 meter hurdles state champ Daniel McFadden is looking to reclaim his top spot in the state.
Boys 100 Meter Dash
Incredibly fast times came out of the Northwest Region Championships in Lynchburg last Friday to change the seeding for the state meet led by Forest Park freshmen Mustaqeem Williams who won his first regional title with likely one of the fastest times ever in state history by a freshmen at 10.61. Trailing Williams in the Northwest Region's finals were Lonnie Reed (10.65) of Colonial Forge, DeVaughn Benion Jr (10.71) of George Washington, and Roderque Gray (10.72) of Brooke Point. Gray and Eastern Region champion Justin Burke of First Colonial are the top two returnees from the 2010 outdoor state competition with Burke having several sub 11 clockings this season and a season best performance of 10.67.
Boys 1600 Meter Run
Annandale's Ahmed Bile skipped out on attempting a distance double indoors, but appears to be fit and confident enough to go for two state individuals in the outdoor meet. Bile impressed at the Northern Region Championships in negative 800 meter splits of 2:10 and 2:02 respectively for a Group AAA best 1600 meter time of 4:12.56 and coming back later to win the open 800 title as well. Bile's top challengers will be Grassfield senior Jeremy Greenwald, who is seeking his first state title after two close runner-up finishes at the indoor state championships and 2011 Group AAA state indoor 1600 meter state champion Cody Snyder of Lee-Davis. Both Greenwald and Snyder have season best times of 4:13. Snyder has won several big mile races this season which ended up being strategic including the Southern Track Classic mile, while Greenwald has dropped his 800 time to 1:52 recently.
Boys 4x100 Meter Relay
Brooke Point is the only team under 42 seconds this season after their swift 41.84 performance at the Northwest Region Championships, which features sub 11 second 100 meter sprinter Roderque Gray, to make them a slight favorite. Several teams in the team hunt also have fast seed times in Annandale at 42.25, Lakeland at 42.44, and FIrst Colonial at 42.82. The Lakeland boys were state champions and All-American honors indoors in the 4x200 meter relay. Forest Park had the state's fastest time for several weeks before Brooke Point's regional performance as they have one of the state's most exciting young stars in freshmen Mustaqeem Williams. Western Branch always performs well in state championship settings and linger as a darkhorse pick with their 42.59 best time from the Penn Relays.
Boys 400 Meter Dash
During the indoor season, Marques Atkinson of Atlee was the state champion at 500 meters and Justin Burke of First Colonial was the fastest at 300 meters, so the 400 meter dash at the outdoor state championships will be an excellent middle ground event for Virginia's top quarter milers. Burke leads the state with his 47.93 run at the Peninsula Relays in late April still standing as the only sub 48 second time this spring in Virginia. Atkinson, who debated in whether to run the 300 meter hurdles or 800 meter run instead at the state meet, convincingly won the Central Regional 400 title last Saturday at Sports Backers Stadium in a personal best time of 48.07 to earn the second seed this weekend.
Woodrow Wilson's Kenneth Williams has extraordinary range from 100 to 800 meters, but the 400 meter dash appears to be his best event as the third seed with a season best time of 48.17 for the junior. Michael Cherry is the top leg for Oscar Smith's 3:18 4x400 meter relay and also only a sophomore who just won the Eastern Region title with a 48 second clocking. Chantilly's Mohamed Labor-Koroma will attempt to pull off another shocker as he did indoors in claiming the 300 meter dash state title. Labor-Koroma ran well in his last 400 meter race at Sports Backers Stadium with a runner-up time of 48.65 at the Southern Track Classic.
Boys 300 Meter Hurdles
Either Anthony Williams of Potomac Senior and John Jenkins of Annandale may be in position for the 300 meter hurdles finals on Saturday to sweep the hurdles titles this weekend if one can come out ontop as the top two seeds in the 110 meter hurdlers earlier as well. Williams with his 37.54 win at the Southern Track Classic and Jenkins, dropping down to 37.83 last week in earning the Northern Region title, are the only two competitors with times under 38 seconds. Next in line is actually the defending state champion in JaQuan Demiel of Lakeland, who is knocking on the door of sub 38 seconds and ready to compete for a repeat following his 38.07 victory at the Eastern Region Championships.
Boys 800 Meter Run
Foot Locker All-American and New Balance Indoor All-American Ahmed Bile of Annandale will be going for potentially his fourth state title of his junior year if successful in winning the 1600 meter run earlier. Bile ran his 1:52.53 state best time earlier this season nearly missing the race and without a real warm-up. Doubling back with Bile from the 1600 will be indoor 1000 meter state runner-up Jeremy Greenwald of Grassfield. Greenwald ran a personal best time of 1:52.99 in a stellar double at the Eastern Region Championships, but ended up taking second behind Tallwood senior Zack Fanelty (1:52.93) in a thrilling race. Fanelty has bloomed late into one of the state's top middle distance runners this spring and may have a great shot at winning a state title with Bile and Greenwald doubling.
Boys 200 Meter Dash
Justin Burke hopes when the 200 meter dash finals roll around on Saturday that the First Colonial junior will be in position to pull off the historic sprint triple feat after victories in the 100 meter dash and 400 meter dash. The 200 meter dash finals would be Burke's sixth race of the meet following trials and finals of all three running events which he is slated to compete as a top contender in all. Burke's season best time of 21.62 ranks him only behind Brooke Point's Roderque Gray, who really stepped up at the Northwest Regional to drop down to 21.35.
Boys 4x400 Meter Relay
The Southeastern District saw a intense race between Oscar Smith and King's Fork at their district championship in the 4x400 meter relay to produce the state's leading sub 3:20 times at 3:18.36 for Oscar Smith and 3:18.91 for King's Fork. Now the rest of the state has opportunity to see these two great relays wage war on each other again. The final event of the meet certainly has team championship implications with schools such as Annandale and Atlee needing significant points in the event to secure a state title trophy. Annandale will be in the fast section, while Atlee will have to score from the slower section as Western Branch at 3:22.82 is the cut-off for top 8 in Group AAA.