PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The 112th annual Penn Relays gets underway this week with many of Virginia\'s best individual athletes and relays in attendance. Several individuals are in contention for individual glory and wins such as Great Bridge senior Mike Morrison going after the Penn Relays meet record in the pole vault. The Bethel girls, Deep Creek boys, Menchville girls, and Huguenot boys among other Virginia relays will be looking to advance into the Championships of America finals in the sprint relays.
Great Bride senior Mike Morrison is favored to win the pole vault as he was a national champion indoors in the event. Morrison cleared 17 feet earlier in the month at the Taco Bell Classic. The meet record of 16\'1.50\" set in 1991 could be in serious jeopardy. The record is held by former Fork Union great Braxton Davenport.
Northside junior Catherine White has an excellent shot at winning the 3K with her credentials. White was a national runner-up in the two mile at Nike Indoor Nationals with a time of 10:32.27. New Jersey\'s Ashley Higginson is top returnee from last year and ran a 10:36.63 in the 3200 at her indoor state meet. W.T. Woodson junior Sarah Hadiji is also competing in the distance event. The AAA state champion in cross country and 3200 meter indoors, Hadiji ran a personal best of 10:53 for 3200 meters in a win at last Saturday\'s Allen Johnson Invitational. 11:06 2 miler Erin Klein of Lake Braddock is also entered.
The Peninsula District will be hoping to qualify a few 4x400 meter relay teams for the Championship of America finals. Holmwood Tech of Jamaica is the heavy favorite in the event with a 3:33 best. The Bethel girls finished fourth in last year\'s race and return three members from that team including U.S. national record holder for 300 and 400 meters in Francena McCorory. All watches will be sychronized and splitting McCorory when she takes the baton.
The Menchville girls also have a team that could qualify for the finals as they ran 3:51 indoors and feature Nicole Saunders on their team, who recently posted one of the fastest 300 meter hurdles times in Virginia history with a 41.38 clocking at the Peninsula Relays on April 15th. Saunders will be competing in the 400 meter hurdles on Friday and she will face off with 56.94 400 meter hurdler Krystal Cantey of New Jersey and Sherene Pinnock of Jamaica (57.03 PR).
The boys 3000 meter run at Penn is a loaded field with the likes of Steve Duplinsky of Maryland and Craig Forys of New Jersey. Virginia\'s top entry is West Springfield junior Mike Spooner. Spooner, the AAA 3200 meter indoor state champion, competed in last year\'s Penn Relays and posted a time of 8:43.56 to finish 13th in last year\'s race. Also joining Spooner in the event are fellow Virginians Jason Witt of Midlothian, Zac Edwards of Northside, and Matt Kroetch of Oakton. All personal best times under 9:30 in the 3200 meter run.
The lone entrant from Virginia in the boys\' mile is Ermin Mujezinovic of Herndon. Mujezinovic dipped under 4:20 indoors at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships and recently ran a 4:21 1600 at last weekend\'s Allen Johnson Invitational at Lake Braddock High School.
Nike Indoor Nationals champion Marlon Woods of Booker T. Washington is set to compete in the high jump competition on Friday as his 6\'9\" personal best places him as one of the favorites in the meet.
Virginia has All-American Toriano Moody in the long jump as the Indian River senior has a personal best of 23\'4\" in the event. Moody finished fifth at Nike Indoor Nationals in the long jump and should place well in the event at Franklin Field this week.
Katie Doswell of St. Catherine\'s and Kristy Tobin of Great Bridge are both entered in the mile run as the field is filled with fellow sub five runners. Doswell won the national title in the 800 meter run at the Nike Indoor Nationals, while Tobin finished just off All-American honors in the mile with a seventh place finish. The top returnee in the race is New Jersey\'s Danielle Tauro, who finished second last year.
AAA state indoor meet record holder Ashley Gatling with her 5\'9\" best has as good as shot as anyone to win the high jump on Thursday at Penn Relays. Gatling tied for national runner-up honors in the event at this past March\'s Nike Indoor Nationals and the individual she shared second place is also competing on Thursday in Erin Shannon of Pennsylvania. Fellow Pennsylvanian Rachel Gehret is the defending Penn Relays champion and is back.
Park View sophomore Natalie Baird has the state\'s best mark in the discus at 136\'3\" this season, but will certainly face some of her stiffest competition this weekend with two 140 plus feet throwers in Jamaican Latoya Nation (144\'11\") and last year\'s second place finisher, Natalie Clickett (140\'6\") of Pennsylvania.
If Mike Zajac is throwing at his best, the E.C. Glass senior could be very competitive in the discus throw with his 182\'7\" best. New Yorker Emory Parsons has a best of 182\'8\" and Jamaica\'s Sharif Small is top returnee after finishing fourth with a throw of 175\'6\" in last year\'s Penn Relays.
The Dominion District will have two All-American jumpers in the triple jump at Penn with Manchester sophomore Antonio Miller (47\'4.25\" PR) and Huguenot senior Matu Bundy (46\'11\" PR). Jamaica\'s Robert Peddlar is the top seed as he nearly hit 50 feet at the Jamaican Championships.
Two Virginia throwers with best marks over 56 feet are entered in the shot put with Trevor Bray of Greenbrier Christian (56\'1\") and Ryan Gordon of Woodside (56\'9\"). Top seed and Pennsylvania state champion Nathan Stewart has thrown over 57 feet this spring.
The Deep Creek boys are Virginia\'s hope and one of the U.S. teams that can crack into the Championship of America finals as they have history on their side as they won the even in 2003. The Creek boys were national champions indoors in the 4x200 meter relay at the Nike Indoor Nationals. The boys from Chesapeake posted a swift 41.63 at the Peninsula Relays.
James Robinson has been the lone Virginia relay squad to dip under eight minutes in 2006 in the 4x800 meter relay and should be pulled further under eight with the many teams entered who have legit sub eight minute relays.
The Midlothian girls have opted to skip out on the 4x800 meter relay at Penn Relays, an event which they qualified for the Championship of America finals. Instead, the Lady Trojans will be running fresh in the distance medley relay along with Westfield. Both teams were All-Americans in the event at Nike Indoor Nationals. Midlothian will have an outstanding anchor in M.C. Miller, who posted a 5:02 1600 at last weekend\'s Allen Johnson Invite. Westfield also has two proven sub 5:10 milers to choose from to put on anchor between Tasia Potasinski and Kerry Hartman.
A time close to 9:20 usually is what it takes to advance to the finals of the 4x800 meter relay, which several Virginia teams entered are capable of a performance. Kecoughtan posted a state best of 9:22 at the Peninsula Relays and Northern Region relays Lake Braddock and Oakton were well under 9:30 in the indoor season.
Could Penn Relays be the opportunity for a Virginia boys 4x400 meter relay team to run under 3:20? Virginia\'s best certainly are competing at Penn with Huguenot and Westfield both running 3:21 indoors and Deep Creek lingering in there as well. Huguenot posted another 3:21 last weekend at the Tidewater Invitational in less than ideal conditions.
The weather looks to stay dry for the three days of competition, which is a relief for many Virginians headed to Philadelphia after the past few weekends of washed out meets.