Girls 100 Meter Dash
The top five finishers in last year's state meet finals are all back including defending champion Ronnie Powell of Southampton. The Region I champion Powell has the top time in Group AA this spring with her 12.04 clocking from the Suffolk Invitational. Her top challengers will come from two sophomores in Region IV champion Alyn Carr (12.20 season best) of Blacksburg and Region II champion Jasmain Ford (12.26 season best) of Warren County. Carr had a very successful indoor season which concluded with a state meet record time of 7.06 in the 55 meter dash.
Girls 200 Meter Dash
Southampton senior Ronnie Powell will attempt to pull off double victories as she did last June at Harrisonburg High School in the 200 meter dash, but it will be no easy task with deep field in this year's state championships. Powell is actually seeded third in the event at 25.01 behind Tabb's Kiara Porter (24.72) and Briar Woods junior Shaquera Leach (24.76), who both dipped under 25 seconds at their regional meet. Porter was a state champion indoors in the 300 meter dash, while Leach has improved greatly from her sophomore year to become one of the best athletes out of Region II. Porter got the better of Powell at the Region I Meet in a tightly contested 200 meter dash finals by two hundredths of a second.
Girls 400 Meter Dash
The 2010 Group AA state 400 meter dash champion Destiny Simmons of Robert E. Lee enters this year's state meet appearing as a longshot to repeat based on her seed time of 57.77 ranking her fifth in the field despite coming off a victory at the Region III championships. Simmons came into last year's state race with a season best time of 57.34 before dropping a near full second to win against Tabb's Kiara Porter with a PR of 56.36. Porter is back and running much faster this spring with a statement making performance of 55.46 at the Region I Championships. Outside of returning champ Simmons and top seed Porter, the next two fastest are talented underclassmen from the River Ridge district in Region IV champion Sydney Anderson (56.79 season best) and Southern Track Classic champion Kendell Wiles (56.74 season best). Anderson defeated Wiles for the regional 400 title in just one of many great battles expected between the two over the few years.
Girls 800 Meter Run
Blacksburg's Hannah Brown as a sophomore last year handed her former All-American caliber teammates in the Stevens twins one of their few losses against in-state competition in winning the Group AA state title in 2:13.99. Brown returns to race for her second straight 800 state title with an impressive 2:09 season best in the event. Brown will be doubling back from the 1600 earlier on Saturday, but so will her top competition in the Hidden Valley duo of Annie LeHardy (2:17.27) and Haley Cutright (2:16.45). Cutright recently defeated Brown in a 800 meter race for the Region IV title last Saturday. Hidden Valley actually has three of the top five seeds in the event including sophomore Carolyn Bethel, who earned All-State honors last year with a fourth place finish. Darkhorse pick in this race might be Michelle Church of Bassett, who despite having a season best time of 5:05 in the 1600 meter run, has opted to skip the event to rest for the 800 which she is seeded 6th with a time of 2:18.76.
Girls 1600 Meter Run
A deep field, especially for Group AA with three girls under 5 minutes and a total of five under 5:05. Besides Sherando star runner Krista DeCeault (4th seed, 5:03.62), the fast section's top contenders will be a gathering of the River Ridge district's best. Hannah Brown of Blacksburg has the leading time in the field at 4:54.32, while state cross country champion Annie LeHardy of Hidden Valley appears to be race favorite after back to back 4:55 performances in district and regional victories against Brown and others. Finishing second to LeHardy at the Region IV meet and breaking five minutes for the first time was exciting young freshmen Katie Fortner of Cave Spring at 4:57.02. For Region II champion DeCeault, the state meet will be her first 1600 meter race this spring with competition and might find her challenging for the win and big PR under 5 minutes. LeHardy is looking to win her second outdoor title in the 1600 meter run after winning three years ago as a freshmen.
Girls 3200 Meter Run
A highly anticipated race with arguably the state's best his season regardless of classification heading into state meet weekend against a pair of teammates who excelled in the fall to qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals. Sherando senior Krista DeCeault has bloomed late as a senior to become of Virginia's best distance runners. Her fourth place finish in a loaded Penn Relays 3K race converts to a 10:26 3200 meter time, while she dominated the Southern Track Classic two mile with a 10:36 victory. She'll have three sub 11 two milers in the state meet race with her including 2010 state cross country champion Annie LeHardy (10:53) of Hidden Valley and LeHardy's state runner-up teammate Haley Cutright (10:56). Neither LeHardy or Cutright have ran many 3200 meter races, but expect them to run much closer to DeCeault than the gap which currently exists in seed times. Bassett's Michelle Church, a returning All-State finisher in the 3200, popped a 10:50 3200 earlier at the Raleigh Relays, but has not raced many 3200's since and worked on her speed with shorter events as the VMI recruit is seeded second ahead of the Hidden Valley pair.
Girls 100 Meter Hurdles
The Dogwood Track Classic in April was an early preview of the state meet in the 100 meter hurdles with the top three Group AA seeds in Javanique Burruss (14.75) of Louisa County, Erika Jackson (14.88) of E.C. Glass), and Greer Brown (15.26) of Fluvanna County all competing and posting their season best times in that race at Monticello High School. Burruss, last year's state runner-up in the 100 meter hurdles, is looking the sharpest in recent weeks after posting another sub 15 second clocking in her Region II win. Meanwhile, Jackson was a runner-up at the Region III Championships behind Robert E. Lee senior Karissa Jenkins (15.44). Jenkins had been the favorite during the indoor season to win the 55 meter hurdles state title and ran the fastest qualifying time in the prelims, but clipped the hurdles to finish a disappointing 7th in the finals.
Girls 300 Meter Hurdles
The same faces are in the picture contending for the state title in 2011 as in 2010 for the 300 meter hurdles with the exception of graduated champion Amber Church of Pulaski County. Region II champion and top seed Lisa Meneau (45.88) of John Handley was third in last year's state championships, while Region III champion Erika Jackson of E.C. Glass was a close state runner-up in 2010. Jamestown senior Marci Demyon has closed the gap on the top two returnees after her personal best 46 seconds flat performance at the Region I Championships. Handley's Meneau is only a sophomore, so a win on Saturday could set herself up to become a potential three-time champion in the event.
Girls 4x100 Meter Relay
E.C. Glass and Tabb dueled it out indoors for the state title in the 4x200 meter relay with E.C. Glass and Erika Jackson getting the better of Tabb without their best leg Kiara Porter. Porter will likely not run on their 4x100 and instead on their top seeded 4x400, so E.C. Glass will be odds-on favorites with clean hand-offs with their season best time of 48.50 from the Region III Meet. Tabb can still put a formidable lineup with their depth, while Eastern View and John Handley both at 49.76 will also be in the mix.
Girls 4x400 Meter Relay
Tabb High School at 3:56.53 has a 3 second cushion on the second seed Blacksburg squad at 3:59.87. Depending on which relay in the 4x800 or 4x400 that Blacksburg puts Hannah Brown on could determine whether or not Tabb will get a strong challenge from them and push both teams to go after the year old state meet record of 3:55.51 set by John Handley. John Handley enters with a season best time of 4:02, but has two legs back from last year as well as the addition of 300 meter hurdles top seed Lisa Meneau to compete for another state title. The Tabb girls won the 4x400 state title indoors and just missed the meet record by a few tenths of a second with their time of 4:05.03. Their squad will feature one of the fastest quarter milers in the state regardless of classification in Kiara Porter.
Girls 4x800 Meter Relay
Second seed Hidden Valley (9:34) will definitely not be loading up their 4x800 meter relay with top legs Annie LeHardy and Haley Cutright slated to compete in the distance triple of the 3200 on Friday and 1600 and 800 meter on Saturday. With Hidden Valley not at full strength, Blacksburg will be an even more favored top seed with their season best time of 9:27 followed next by Bay Rivers District schools Jamestown (9:44.55) and Grafton (9:44.59). Blacksburg may hold out their top leg Hannah Brown and save her for the 4x400 meter relay at meet's end, which would make it a much more wide open race.
Girls High Jump
Brookville's Talisha Watts will not be settling for second place again at the state outdoor championships. Watts, the 2009 Group AA state high jump runner-up, had an incredible competition last week at the Region III Championships in clearing a state best height of 5'7.50". Watts, a basketball star who will playing on scholarship at George Mason University, currently stands above a group of high jumpers hovering around 5'4" best clearances including 2011 indoor state champion Caroline Crowe of John Handley. Pulaski County sophomore Sydney Anderson is one of the most versatile athletes in the meet and might be the one among the athletes at 5'4" to step up to challenge Watts. King George senior Brittany Kersey has been a state runner-up in the last two state track meets (2011 indoor, 2010 outdoor) and her experience should carry her to another high finish.
Girls Pole Vault
Western Branch senior Kelsey Grupp is the top returnee from last year's state meet and indoor state champion this year in the pole vault, but a freshmen in her district has risen to great heights this spring to reach heights that no other freshmen has ever cleared in state history in the event. Fluvanna County freshmen Hannah Meador enters as the top seed at 11'9" with her district rival Grupp also above 11 feet at 11'0". Grupp's experience played to her advantage last week at the Region II Championships with both vaulters clearing 11 feet but earlier misses by Meador breaking the tiebreaker to declare Grupp as the winner. Louisa County senior Imani Callen could potentially make it a Jefferson District top 3 sweep as she recently cleared 10 feet, while the multi-eventer Erika Jackson of E.C. Glass won the Region III title clearing the bar 10 feet as well.
Girls Long Jump
The last two state champions will be facing off between 2010 outdoor winner Javanique Burruss of Louisa County and 2011 indoor winner Karissa Jenkins of Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee has two of the top five seeds in Jenkins (18'4") and Destiny Simmons (17'7"). Burruss is only a sophomore but is approaching the 19 foot mark with her 18'10" season best and puts her in striking distance of the 1989 meet record of 19'2.50" set by Millicent Shabazz of Radford.
Girls Triple Jump
The order flip-flops between Jenkins and Burruss from the long jump and triple jump with the Robert E. Lee senior Karissa Jenkins as the returning outdoor state champion and top seed in the triple jump at a season best mark of 37'8". Jenkins went 38'1" to win the Group AA state title last June in Harrisonburg. Burruss is seeded fourth in the event this year behind not only Jenkins but Rustburg's Jamiecka Baker and Amirah Al-Bayinnah from new school Tuscarora. Both Baker and Al-Bayinnah have to be considered as equal contenders to Jenkins and Burruss after beating both for regional titles last week.
Girls Shot Put & Discus
The state's top two ranked throwers in both events face off between Robert E. Lee senior Daquaa Scott and Christiansburg junior Rochelle Evans. Scott swept the throws at last year's outdoor state championships against Evans, but Evans owns the latest state title from indoors in the shot put against Scott. Evans also defeated Scott in their last encounter this outdoor season in both the shot put and discus at the Southern Track Classic. However, Scott holds the top mark in both events after a shot put personal best mark of 43'10.50" at her district meet and another PR in the discus of 136'0" at the Region IV Meet.