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One individual could have nearly won the meet himself if only there were more events for him to compete in with the rate at which he was going at in winning events left and right throughout the day. That individual was junior Chris Roberson. Roberson put on a "how to come in first place" clinic in multiple events as he took victories in the long jump (21-00.00), high jump (6-00.00), 110 meter hurdles (14.92), 300 meter hurdles (40.69), and 200 meter dash (22.61). He also garnered a runner-up finish in the triple jump (43-03.75) to contribute a combined total of 58 points on his own to the Chiefs' score. It was clear who the top performer of the meet was as Roberson made history by winning the double honors of field athlete and runner of the year in the Dominion District.
Roberson was not the only athlete from Monacan helping out the team's cause. Sophomore Brian Kelly for the Chiefs won the discus with a toss of 145-04.00, which is an area best for the season. Michael James, a Monacan junior, successfully defended his district title in the 100 meter dash with his 11.23 clocking and also was a key member of the winning 4x100 meter relay (44.04). If it was not for teammate Roberson, junior Tyler Hock could have possibly walked away with runner of the year honors with his strong triple on the day. Hock split a 1:59 anchor leg on Monacan's second place finishing 4x800 meter relay team, won the 400 meter dash (50.89), and gave his 4x400 meter relay team (3:25.73) a come from behind win over Midlothian (3:25.98) with his 49 second anchor leg.
Despite being limited in having no true major point scorers in the sprints and field events, the one-dimensional Trojans of Midlothian did the best they could to accrue points in what they do best, distance. Midlothian dominated all the distance events with wins in the 4x800 meter relay (8:36.35), 1600 meter run (jr Billy Berlin, 4:25.11, meet record), 800 meter run (sr Andrew Baker, 1:56.46), and 3200 meter run (sr Brandon Miles, 9:48.12). The wins go without mentioning the fact that Midlothian packed in the first four or five spots in each individual distance with having four of the top five finishers in the 1600 and 800 meter runs and sweeping the first four places in the 3200 meter run.
Huguenot finished fourth in the girls' team scoring with 98 points, but you could almost create a separate scoring total for Falcon hurdler and jumper Tyreshia Gasque. Gasque nearly matched her male counterpart in Roberson from Monacan in individual point scoring and did equal him in individual wins. Gasque was an event winner in the long jump (17-10.00), triple jump (35-10.25), high jump (5-04.00), 100 meter hurdles (14.97), and 300 meter hurdles (45.99). After fending off Manchester sophomore Shaunte Cotton for the win in the 300 meter hurdles, Gasque immediately hit the track, exhausted and taking a much needed and earned rest from her amazing day at districts.
It was performances like that of Cotton and her fellow Lady Lancers that helped wear down the competition to give Manchester the girls' crown for the district team title. Manchester's point total of 155 points had them safely ahead of indoor track district champions James River with 125 points. In particular, two athletes were very instrumental in Manchester's team victory. Those two star performers were sophomore sprinters Carmenta Mitchell and Kelly Keener. Mitchell took victories in both of the short sprint events with wins in the 100 (12.62) and 200 (25.69) meter dashes. Mitchell was also a member of the winning 4x100 meter relay (51.34). Keener's performances were also key for the Lady Lancers' win as she was the district champion in the 400 meter dash (59.31), second to Mitchell in the 200 meter dash (26.66), and brought her 4x400 meter relay team from behind with a sub 60 second anchor leg to win the event with an exceptional time of 4:07.96. Yuko Mitchell was also helpful for the squad in the field events as the winner in the shot put (35-06.50) and the runner-up in the discus throw (108-08.00).
Even without a single event winner in the meet, the James River girls were able to use their depth to their advantage in scoring points here and there and also snagging a few runner-up and third place finishes. Sophomore Terri Tirado contributed plenty of points out of the sprints for the Lady Rapids with a third place finish in the 100 meter dash (13.18), runner-up finish in the 400 meter dash (59.84), and a third place finish in the 200 meter dash (26.69). Also, distance star Lindsay Traudt's runner-up finishes in the 1600 (5:17.69) and 800 (2:23.32) meter runs gave the team a well needed point boost.
In both races, Traudt finished second to a Midlothian runner, which the team overall ended up finishing third with a score of 114 points. The winner of both the 1600 and 3200 meter run had the same individual crossing the line first as sophomore Amanda Patterson completed a strong distance double with times of 5:16.79 and 11:28.57 respectively. Teammate Erin Prillaman, regional champion at 800 meters last spring, defended her district title in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:21.36.