Quick highlights and summaries of day two performances (primarily top 10 finishes) from Virginians at the 2012 New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York City.
Relays Highlights
Girls Shuttle Hurdles Relay - The Western Branch girls won their program's third national title in the shuttle hurdles in the past four years as the Lady Bruins bettered their own facility record time of 32.73 from one year ago in a winning performance of 32.31. With two of the faster performers in state history in the 55 meter hurdles between Group AAA state champ Taranisha Taylor and state runner-up Tiffany Ellick as well as depth beyond them, it was really on question if they could run a clean race in order to score another national title ring in the event. Averaging their time for four legs equates to roughly a 8.07 split each.
Girls 4x200m Relay Trials - The Western Branch girls appear to want to lower their own state indoor record which they established one year ago at this meet in the 4x200 meter relay. The Lady Bruins posted a swift 1:39.05 clocking in the prelims, which was fourth fastest among qualifiers and is the second fastest time in Virginia high school behind only their 1:38.74 performance at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. They will have their work cut out for them to get the win though as the fourth seed and the fastest qualifier in Sprint Athletics from Georgia already setting a new meet record in the prelims at 1:36.79. Running school and regional record times and moving themselves up on the VA all-time list in the process were the Northwest Region's Osbourn Park girls in 10th place at a 1:41.61 (VA #13 all-time) and the Central Region's Cosby girls in 12th place at 1:42.35 (VA #21 all-time).
Boys 4x200m Relay Trials - Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the Western Branch boys are in even better position to go for a national title in the finals as their preliminary time of 1:29.42 sits them third fastest among the 6 qualifying relays, but only .06 of a second off the leading qualifiers from Penn Wood High School in Pennsyvlania. Ahead of them in the finals is the potential to win a national title and also break their own school record of 1:29.27 from their 2009 relay. Their qualifying performance ranks them as the 8th fastest 4x200 meter relay team in Virginia state high school indoor history.
Girls 4xMile Relay - The Blacksburg girls may not posses the lineup like they did in 2010 when they set the state indoor record in the 4xmile with a 20:24.07 performance at the indoor nationals, but another sub 21 minute performance was impressive and deserving of a fifth place All-American finish. Their time of 20:58.18 breaks down to a 5:14 mile average per leg, which is not surprising considering their team included sub 5 miler Hannah Brown and another All-State caliber runner in Kate Buss.
Boys 4xMile Relay - Oakton boys have ran some impressive times this indoor season, but can't seem to buy a title or honor. In the 4x800 meter relay at the state meet, Oakton ended up running a top 10 in meet history but had to settle for second. Their top runner Michael McNamee had one of the best distance triples in the meet outside of Cosby's Megan Moye, but had no individual title to show for his efforts. On day one of the New Balance Nationals, Oakton ran a sizzling DMR time under 10:20 but outside of the top 6.They were on the outside looking in again in the 4xmile relay on Saturday with only three seconds separating them from third place with their overall time of 17:50.67. Oakton traded finish orders from the night previous in the DMR with Colonial Forge (10th, 18:00.70) as both teams were averaging mile legs right at or under 4:30.
Boys SMR - Three squads from Virginia were among the top 10 overall, but outside of the top 6 for All-American between Bethel (7th, 3:32.08), Western Albemarle (8th, 3:32.32), and Fork Union (10th, 3:33.25). Cut-off for the sixth spot had a 3-4 second cushion though at 3:29.40 for Staples High School in Connecticut. A fast year for the event with four teams under the old meet record as Western Branch won the SMR in 2010 with a 3:30.71 performance and the times from Bethel, Western Albemarle, and FUMA should rank them within or near the top 10 all-time in state indoor history.
Girls 4x800m Relay - Megan Moye had to go to the well again to bring her team from behind, but taking the baton in last place against the nation's best 4x800 relays including the unbeatable powerhouse known as the Fayetteville-Manlius girls of New York, the Cosby girls will gladly take the final All-American spot of sixth place and slight improvement from their school record time of a year ago in 9:14.92. The performance elevates this year's Cosby relay to #7 fastest all-time in Virginia high school indoor history. Running well and placing high overall from the slower section were Northern Region squads West Springfield (10th, 9:19.89) and Oakton (11th, 9:20.97) as they improved upon their season best times from the state meet to move into #18 and #20 respectively on the all-time indoor list.
Boys 4x800m Relay - In the final race of the evening, Virginia was well represented by a Westfield squad who was right in the thick of things going into the last leg in second place. It showed how fast the anchor legs were from the other teams for a sub 1:54 open 800 meter runner in Tyrone Walker to drop his team from second and fifth place on the anchor leg, but Walker and Westfield in the end were pulled along to the second fastest 4x800 meter relay time in Virginia high school indoor history behind only the national record holders from Albemarle (7:36.99). Westfield's final time of 7:45.51 puts them at a 1:56.37 average per 800 meter leg and sets them up well this spring to go after the state outdoor meet record which Albemarle never got the chance to break and the 2003 Midlothian team owns at 7:42.
Field Event Highlights
Girls Long Jump - Louisa County junior Javanique Burruss had the lead in the indoor nationals long jump competition heading into the finals after her second jump of 19'8.25", but it was tough to hold off the late challenge from a daughter of a former Olympic champion in Mike Conley's daughter, Sydney. Sydney Conley took first away from Burruss and Arizona's Jasmine Todd on her final jump with a mark of 20'1.50". Burruss had to settle for a solid third place All-American showing at 19'8.75". Meanwhile, Nansemond River senior Shakeela Saunders also saved her best jump for last like Conley with a leap of 19'8.25" to move her into fourth place behind Burruss.
Boys Shot Put - Ranked sixth in the nation coming into this weekend, Kempsville's Taylor Frenia did three places better in the shot put finals with another mark for him over 60 feet at 60'3.25" to secure a third place All-American medal. The 2012 Group AAA state indoor shot put champion was in fourth place going into his sixth and final throw, but was able to muster his best mark of the day at that point to move into third place.
Boys Long Jump - A pair of state champions in the jumps from the recent Group AAA state meet also became All-Americans in the long jump competition at the Armory. Long jump state champion Jamarian Bates (4th, ) of Matoaca and triple jump state champion Anaquan Peterson (6th, ) of Lakeland both were able to produce marks good enough to insert them into the final top 6 standings. Peterson's mark of 23 feet was just shy of his season best (23'2.25"), while Bates had two foul attempts to limit him to only four legal marks and a top mark of the day several inches under his season best (23'11.25") at 23'4". A relief for Bates to earn his first All-American honor after finishing painfully close to top 6 at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals last June in 7th place.
Girls Shot Put - No appearance from the co-state indoor record holder Kiara Howell of Grassfield, but James Robinson's Chioma Onyekwere and Christiansburg's Rochelle Evans held down the fort with one of Virginia's best showings in recent memory in the girls' shot put. Group AAA state indoor runner-up Onyekwere secured her spot in the top 6 as an All-American with her second throw mark of 42'5.50"". The Group AA state champion Evans started out with a mark at 42 feet in her initial toss and was able to slightly better her mark of the day in her final attempt to nail down the sixth and final All-American position at 42'0.75".
Boys High Jump - It was not his best day, but it was good enough for J.R. Tucker senior Nick Simmons to become a two-time New Balance Indoor Nationals All-American in the high jump to follow up his top 6 finish from a year ago. Simmons was three inches under his winning clearance height at the AAA State Championships of 6'10", but a 6'7" clearance was good for fifth in this year's meet. Rashaan Jones of South Lakes can only wish that he could have been able to duplicate his 7 foot clearance from mid January at Liberty University as it would have easily won this competition with only a 6'9" winner. Instead, Jones only cleared 6'5" and finished 8th overall in the event.
Qualifying Trials Highlights
Boys 400m Dash Trials - Michael Cherry of Oscar Smith established himself as one of the state's premier sprinters with a fantastic 500 and 300 meter double state titles two weeks ago and now the junior is looking to make a name for himself nationally. Running against the clock and the nation's best spread out among 8 heats trying to be among the 8 fastest qualifiers in the 400 meter trials, Cherry was the fastest of them all as threw down the challenge to the field in the opening heat with a US #4 clocking of 47.66. Only 2007 national champion Sean Holston of Robert E. Lee has covered 400 meters faster in the NSSF's indoor national meet history. Cherry's prelim puts him ahead of some all-time greats and former Virginia national champions too in Lashawn Merritt and Ricky Harris.
Girls 60m Dash Trials - Phoebus freshmen Carolyn Brown was the lone Virginian survivor after round one of the girls 60 meter dash at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. The recently crowned Group AAA state champion at 55 meters, Brown qualified 10th out of 24 semi-finals qualifiers with a 7.62 clocking. Brown split 7.08 at 55 meters. She certainly has another gear left to use in the semi-finals to qualify for the finals after running a 6.96 in the 55 meter dash at the state meet.
Boys 60m Dash Trials - Group AAA 55 meter dash state champion Mustaqeem Williams of Forest Park opted not to compete at the indoor nationals, but the state of Virginia was represented in the 60 meter dash with its Group AA state 55 meter dash state champion in Harrison Scharf of E.C. Glass. Scharf was the only Virginian to move onto tomorrow's semi-finals as the 21st fastest qualifier with a 7.07 clocking in the prelims (6.58 split at 55 meters). His Group AA rival Desmond Smallwood of Lafayette (26th, 7.10) and Western Branch sophomore Mondryl Glover (25th, 7.09) just missed cracking into the second round of qualifiers for the 60 meter dash.
Girls 60m Hurdles Trials - Top hurdlers missing from Virginia at the indoor nationals included the Western Branch sub 8 second 55 meter hurdling duo of Taranisha Taylor and Tiffany Ellick, who instead ran on the victorious shuttle hurdles relay for Western Branch on Saturday at the Armory. Also no Leah Lott of Landstown present, so that left Chantel Ray of Hampton as the only one of the four US top 10 ranked hurdlers in Virginia competing individually this weekend. Lott struggled in her prelims race and failed to make the semi-finals along with past Group AAA 300 meter hurdles state champion Vamonie Boddie of Phoebus. However, Boddie's teammate Jazmine Vaughan was able to squeak into tomorrow's next round as the 23rd fastest of 24 qualifiers in 8.91.
Boys 60m Hurdles Trials - No issues for Grassfield senior Trey Holloway in his first round of the 60 meter hurdles. Holloway, the state leader and Group AAA state champion in the 55 meter hurdles, has been ranked among the nation's best all season long with times hovering in the 7.2s for the 55 meter hurdles. In his first 60 meter hurdles race of the year, Holloway posted the leading time among all semi-finalists with a US #3 clocking of 7.80. His prelim performance was better than the current US leader Donovan Robertson of Ohio as well as the other US top 3 performers in Jordan Moore of Georgia and Dondre Echols of Maryland. Including Christopher Williams of Pennsylvania, Holloway and the current US top 3 performers in the 60 meter hurdlers were the only sub 8 second times in the prelim rounds and appear to be the contenders in the field moving forward.
Boys 200m Dash Trials - Starting to get too short of a distance for his range as primarily a long sprinter/mid-distance runner, Michael Cherry of Oscar Smith was still able to put up a solid time on the boards in the 200 meter dash with a 22.00 clocking. His time was 16th fastest and the cut-off for the 8th finalist spot ended up being 21.81. Group AAA state 300 meter champion Cherry was the fastest performer from Virginia in the 200 trials followed by Group AA 300 meter champ Desmond Smallwood of Lafayette at 22.27 (27th fastest).
Freshmen Race Highlights
Freshmen Girls 60m Dash - Group AA state 55 meter dash champion Latrice Morris of Heritage has a lot of promise. She just won her first state title as a mere ninth grader and then showed herself well against some of the nation's best in her grade by placing third in the freshmen 60 meter dash finals with a 7.87 clocking (7.30 split at 55 meters). This year may have been a first in state history with freshmen state champions at the Group AAA and Group AA level in the same event for the 55 meter dash from Morris in Group AA and Carolyn Brown in Group AAA.
Freshmen Boys 400m Dash - Westfield's 4x400 and 4x800 relays may have another option this spring with freshmen Brenden Wallace emerging. Wallace in the freshmen 400 at NBIN placed third with a time of 52.39. Clover Hill 9th grader Brian Thomas ran just outside of the top 10 and nearly won his heat with a time of 53.09.