The Patriot District Championships will be hosted by T.C. Williams. Wednesday's action begins at 4:30 p.m. with approximately half the field event finals while trials in the running events start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday's schedule will have the remainder of the field events slated for a 4:30 p.m. start with finals in the running events beginning at 5:00 p.m.
The Lake Braddock girls will be the favorites once again and are led in the field events by high jumper Ashley Haislip, pole vaulter Cristina Zuniga and by Catherine Muehleib and Jessica Sawers in the shot put and discus throws. The Bruins should also show plenty of versatility on the track in the entire range of sprint, hurdles and distance events.
Other top performers include Hayfield senior Ashley Crocker in the shot and discus along with Hawks freshman Nakeisha Wineglass in the sprints; West Potomac's Sade Kirby in the hurdles and Jakia Wells in the 400 dash; Robinson's middle distance group led by Joanna Rodgers, Sam Ference and Meredith Brooks and West Springfield's Huma Husain in the 800 meter and 1,600 meter runs.
The Lake Braddock boys loom as slight favorites although they may come back to the pack due to a hamstring injury to senior leader Craig Gallimore's left leg. That will cause Gallimore to miss at least this week's district meet and possibly the regional meet although Gallimore does already have state automatic qualifying times in both the 110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles.
Top competitors include West Springfield's Jeff Day, John Cook and Steve Tobin along with Lake Braddock's Steve Hoogland and Gilbert Elston and Hayfield's Brian Fussell in distance events; Nulie McCarthy and Kennedy Kyei-Mensah of T.C. Williams in the 4x800 and 4x400 relays; Annandale's Mike Flint in the 800 run; Hayfield's Adam Bush and Marcus Tyus in the sprints; West Potomac's Jeremy Beal in the long and triple jumps and Robinson's Steve Huntzinger in the weight throwing events where he will be heavily favored and could possibly win the shot put by more than 10 feet and the discus throw by over 30 feet.
The Concorde District meet will be held at Jefferson this Wednesday and Thursday. Field events begin on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. with running trials starting at 6:00 p.m. Thursday's field event finals also begin at 4:30 p.m. with the running finals starting at 6:15 p.m.
The Westfield boys will be solid favorites to defend their district crown. The Bulldogs will be strong in the hurdles with the trio of Alvin Tondereau, Philippe Tondereau and Brad Oakley; the field events with pole vaulter David Lewis, high jumper Louis Corum and with Brandon Dobbs in the long jump and triple jump. Westfield should also score well in the short sprints with John Schenck, the long sprints and middle distances with Chris Black, Chris Courson, David Groff and James Scheiner and in the 3,200 run with senior Bryan Buckland.
The Concorde boys can match or exceed any district in the state in the distance races with Jefferson's Christo Landry, Keith Bechtol and Chris Mocko along with Herndon's Shane Young and Rasheed Thompson; Oakton's Kris Cruz and Ben Beiter and Chantilly freshman Brad Siragusa ready to line up against each other once again.
Others to watch on the boys side include Centreville sprinter Daniel Bailey; John Gross of South Lakes in the hurdles, horizontal jumps and pole vault and Herndon's Steve Gillard in the 400 dash.
The girls side appears wide open for the team title. The long and triple jumps could be the highest quality events with Adrienne Mayo and Alisha Bryant of South Lakes; Oakton's Kathleen Woody and Jefferson's Aparna Hirve entered. The short sprints feature Kathleen Woody of Oakton and Westfield's Carmen Meade while South Lakes junior Tara Markey will be one of the favorites in the 400 dash and Oakton's Sarah Woody in the high jump and 100 hurdles.
The 800 run could be one of the feature events with Herndon's Heather Fisher, Kat Schleckser of Jefferson and Oakton's Danielle Light among the expected entrants while Jefferson's Shauneen Garrahan will be favored in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs and Kathryn Pettine of Westfield in the pole vault.
The Liberty District Championships will be held at Langley with both Wednesday and Thursday's schedule showing a 4:00 p.m. start for the field events and 5:30 p.m. to begin the running events.
Top competitors on the boys side include Langley's Nick Crumpton in the long and triple jumps; Madison's Andrew Waring, Lee's Dawit Legesse and Michael Hagos in the distance events, McLean's Chris Kuruppu in the 400 dash along with Madison's Justin Loda in the pole vault and W.T. Woodson's Mason Jennings in the sprints.
Some of the top girls include Rachel Winters and Amanda Russell of Fairfax in the hurdles; Woodson's Julia Rothlisberger in the middle distances, Lee's Jenn Dietz in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs and Tianna Boykin of Fairfax in the 100 hurdles and high jump.
Washington-Lee will host the National District this Wednesday and Thursday. All field events except for the girls and boys high jump will be held on Wednesday starting at 5:00 p.m. with running trials to begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday's high jumps begin at 4:30 p.m. with running finals commencing at 5:00 p.m.
On the boys side, Mount Vernon senior Ernest Asante should place well up in the standings in the long jump, triple jump and high jump as well as being the solid favorite in both the 110 high and 300 meter intermediate hurdles. The Majors should also be strong in the shot put and discus throw with Justin Bell and Mike Carlock.
Washington-Lee should make noise in the horizontal jumps and sprint running events with Sean Somlar, Juron Williams and Frank Millien. The sprints are especially strong this year with Edison's Roy Coles and Tony Hayduk of Falls Church also among the area's best.
Wakefield's Peter Quinzio is favored in the 800 and 1,600 runs with Edison's Matt Gambale and Brian Kirby also expected to place high in the distance events.
Distance events should be the Yorktown girls top scoring events with Katie Read and Becca Shinners capable of going one-two in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs. The sprint scene saw a return to action for the first time in five months for Wakefield senior Fatima Shuler as she gets ready to make a late season charge. Others to watch include Mount Vernon's Shea Spann in the long and triple jump as well as her Majors teammate Deanna Pruitt in the shot put and discus throw.
The Cedar Run District meet will also be this Wednesday and Thursday at Osbourn Park. The girls 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles will feature Stephanie Myers of Osbourn along with the Osbourn Park duo of Devon Alston and Elizabeth Yates with Jill Porto of Potomac among the favorites in the distance runs.
The Cardinal District meet is scheduled for Wednesday at Forest Park beginning at 3:30 p.m. Top competitors include Gar-Field's Tiffany Evans in the shot put and discus throw along with her teammate Afua Amponsah in the 100 dash and both hurdle events; C.D. Hylton's Jemissa Hess in the 800 and 1,600 runs and Beth Fahey of Forest Park in the 3,200 run.
The boys side has Hylton's Tyjuann Carroll in the sprints, jumper and sprinter Darren Garrigan of Gar-Field and Forest Park's Reynold Smith in the long and triple jumps.