Dominion District Meet Coverage

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Huguenot Boys

Manchester Boys

Midlothian Girls

RICHMOND, VA -- The first of four district meets to be held at the Arthur Ashe Center\'s indoor track facility in Richmond this week from the Central Region was the Dominion District Meet on Wednesday evening as some of the region\'s top athletes and teams were showcased in one day event. The Huguenot boys (140.50 pts) and Manchester boys (136 pts) battled it out from start to finish in every event it seemed until the dust settled after the 4x400 meter relay when a district champion was finally decided. Meanwhile, the Midlothian girls ran away from the competition by a 52 point margin with their amazing depth in the distance races.

Surprisingly, a state best came out of the meet albeit not on the track thanks to a 145.45 meter spikeless surface found at the Ashe Center, but in the shot put with Clover Hill\'s Blake DeChristopher throwing a state best toss of 56\'6\". DeChristopher should definitely be a major contender for the AAA state title in March as this year the top thrower in the state has yet to be established.

In the field events, Huguenot picked up a victory in the long jump with McArthur Henley hitting a mark of 22\'2.50\" to best Manchester\'s Anthony Chesson 21\'9\". McHenley would also later win the 55 meter hurdles with a 7.75 clocking. Henley was on his way to pick up more points right after his hurdle race in the 55 meter dash, but pulled up lame midway through the race. However, good news for Huguenot is he should be back in action for regionals and states.

Manchester was right with them throughout though as Chesson took the district title in the 55 meter dash with a 6.54 clocking in an exciting win over James River\'s Kyle Jones (6.57). Chesson made it two individual wins on the day in the 300 meter dash as he posted a time of 36.91 on the slow Ashe track surface. For his performances, Chesson was honored as the district runner of the year.

Despite not having McHenley for any of the relays, Coach Evans\' Huguenot squad took both the 4x200 (1:37.98) and 4x400 (3:41.01) meter relays over Manchester in two spirited races.

Huguenot seniors Brian Lee (1:11.66) and Jerod Bailey (1:12.94) swept the top two places in the 500 meter dash, while the Falcons had two runner-up performances from Matu Bundy in the 1000 meter run (2:44.82) and Donnie Seward in the 300 meter dash (37.33).

Manchester won the 4x800 meter relay in a time of 8:50.15 and relay member Andrew Duty came back later in the meet to win the 1000 meter run in close finish over Huguenot\'s Bundy.

Midlothian finished in a surprising third place without any point contributions from the sprints or field events as sophomore Jason Witt led the way as he cruised to victories in the 1600 (4:37.27) and 3200 (10:32.94) meter races. Fellow sophomore Mark Merritt also picked up considerable points with a second place finish in the 1600 and third place finish in the 1000. Witt led a Midlothian group that took the first four places in the 3200 meter run with Tommy Reese, Thomas Cole, and Michael Waite.

The Midlothian girls (152 pts) once again relied heavily on their distance crew as they swept all of the distance events. The Lady Trojans put together a \"B\" squad 4x800 meter relay that was good enough to win in a time of 10:29.40.

In the 1600 meter run, a loaded field was found among some of the state\'s better distance runners. At the Central Region Cross Country Meet this past November, Midlothian junior M.C. Miller attempted to run with eventual regional champion Kristen Wolfe of James River and faltered back. In a second attempt to run with the James River sophomore, Miller prevailed with a quick Ashe time of 5:15.73 as Wolfe was a close second in 5:17.29 as the runners hit the 800 meter mark in 2:36. The next three finishers would be more Midlothian runners in Sammy Dow (3rd,5:22.19), Christine Selander (5:23.97), and Paige Johnston (5th, 5:29.62).

Before the next distance race with the girls\' 1000 meter run, Wolfe had the \"recovery\" of racing in the 500 meter dash as she competed in three running events in roughly a 45 minute span as she took the event with a time of 1:22.73. However, the effects of her two earlier races ontop of one another as well as being under the weather showed its effects in the 1000 meter run as she still finished a gutsy fourth place in a time of 3:23.09.

With the defending state 1000 meter champion Wolfe out of the picture, the 1000 meter race turned into a two way duel between the present and future of Midlothian running in junior M.C. Miller and freshmen Paige Johnston. Miller was able to hold off the younger Johnston to pick up her second district title of the day with a time of 3:11.19 as Johnston settled for second in 3:11.82.

Another first place finish was found in the 3200 meter run for the Midlothian girls as sophomore Erin Stehle seized the lead early on and pull away with a 21 second victory in her winning time of 11:58.64. Clover Hill freshmen Jenna Moye (12:20.33) broke up a 1-2-3 sweep for Coach Morgan\'s girls as Midlothian sophomore Sammy Dow (12:31.71) and Mariah Landry (12:35.33) took third and fourth respectively.

However, the distance races were not the only events the Midlothian girls were racking up points. The Lady Trojans swept all three relays with first place finishes in both the 4x200 (1:54.32) and 4x400 (4:28.37) meter relays. The district state title in the 55 meter dash happened to belong to on this rare occassion, a Midlothian runner, as Kyra Richardson nearly posted a personal best of 7.58 in the event as she was just a hundredth off tying the mark.

The Manchester girls and Huguenot girls tied for district runner-up honors with 100 points a piece.

A great deal of the points for the Huguenot girls came from one individual in junior Wanetta Kirby as she won a total of four events with district titles in the long jump (16\'10.50\"), high jump (5\'4\"), 55 meter hurdles (8.48), and 300 meter dash (44.31). However, Kirby got 60 points of help from her teammates. Both sprint relays took second place finishes in the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays, while teammate Keevon Williams contributed 28 points individually as she had solid finishes in the 55 meter dash (2nd, 7.72), triple jump (33\'1.75\"), 300 meter dash (3rd, 46.54), long jump (5th, 15\'1.75\"), and shot put (25\'5.25\").

No surprise with a district champion in the throws from Manchester with senior Jennifer Marinacci taking first with a best throw of 38\'9.50\". Marinacci would be the lone event winner for the Lady Lancers, but sophomore Kacen Delphin contributed the most points individually with 13 points from top six finishes in the 55 meter hurdles, 500 meter dash, and 300 meter dash. Coach Bowen also got points from the distance events with a runner-up 4x800 meter relay squad (10:34.10) and top eight finishes in the individual events from the likes of Chelsea Derr (12:46.01 3200), Danielle Hass (5:38.76 1600, 12:51.41 3200), Amanda Rush (5:39.85 1600, 12:49.05 3200), and Katherine Salmons (3:25.11 1000).