RICHMOND, VA -- Many of the Central Region\'s best teams and athletes gathered to compete at the Green Dragon Relays held at the Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond. The meet serves as a final meet for most teams before winter break. One state best and several other solid performances were posted on the spikeless 145.45 meter track surface.
Caroline senior Jamel Sullivan posted the lone state best performance of the meet as he won the long jump competition with a leap of 22-3.50.
The Midlothian girls showed just why they have one of the best distance programs in the state as they won the 4x800 meter relay race (10:04.45) and put together a solid \"B\" team that finished fifth (10:42.62) in the same event.
Several of their girls were doubling back from earlier individual events. In the 1600 meter run, Midlothian junior M.C. Miller set a hot early pace to break away from the field and never look back as she won in a time of 5:26.07. Meanwhile, teammate Erin Stehle finished third (5:34.75) in the race behind Kellam junior Ashley Kukura (11:30.59). Kukura would later help lead Kellam to a runner-up finish in the 4x800 meter relay (10:21.72).
In the junior varsity girls\' 1000 meter run, there was a 1-2 finish from Midlothian with freshmen Paige Johnston (3:20.47) and Mariah Landry (3:23.16).
In the boys\' 1000 meter race, Atlee freshmen Ben Dejarnette continued what has been early on a very promising track season with a victory in a time of 2:49.13.
Kellam and Midlothian did battle again in the boys\' 1600 meter run with Kellam senior Billy Garland leading for much of the race, but Midlothian sophomore Jason Witt took over in the final two laps to win in a time of 4:41.07 as Garland finished second in 4:44.77. Witt would later anchor the Midlothian 4x800 meter relay (8:53.46) to a close win victory over Mills Godwin (8:53.46).
Dominion District counterpart Huguenot had a very solid meet from their individuals and relays. Wynetta Kirby continues to establish herself as one of the state\'s top hurdlers in the state as she won the 55 meter hurdles with a 8.66 clocking. Kirby also finished second in the high jump (5-2). Huguenot would sweep the hurdle events as MacArthur Henley (7.84) took first place honors in the boys\' race. Matu Bundy won the second individual event of the day for the Huguenot boys in the triple jump (43-6.75).
In relay action, the Huguenot boys (1:40.31) finished second to Manchester (1:39.98) in the 4x200 meter relay, while getting revenge over the Lancers (3:48.68) in the 4x400 meter relay with a 3:42.59 win to close the meet.
Meanwhile, the Atlee girls looked strong as a team as they picked up two first place finishes in the 4x200 (1:54.11) and 4x400 (4:19.33). Atlee junior Manfield Murph also came away with first place hardware from the meet in the long jump (16-6) as she won the tiebreaker over Kellam\'s Jen Healey who also hit 16-6 as her best jump.
The Lee-Davis girls had two athletes claim wins in the field events with Rachel Butler (5-4) in the high jump and defending state champion Kathy Howard (40-1.50) in the shot put. Butler also finished second in the triple jump (36-5.50).
Last year\'s Group AAA state outdoor runner-up in the triple jump, Carolyn Lewis of Heritage, won her specialty event with a mark of 37-1.50. Lewis also garnered a second place finish in the pole vault (9-6) behind Mills Godwin\'s Ann Marie Gordon (10-0).
Atlee\'s Jordan Cole (13-9) bested his teammate Justin Varner (12-6) to win the pole vault competition as Varner had been the team\'s top vaulter up until this meet.
Meadowbrook\'s Brandon Oliver became one of only a few throwers who have gone over 50 feet in the young season as he won the shot put event with a toss of 51-11.