7 VA #1's at CNU Winter Frolic
Indian River's Andrea Wright powers away from Cosby's Alexandria Moseley for 40.88 victory in 300
Negative split last mile for Thomas Edison junior Louis Colson in 9:29 3200 win, joined by Lafayette's Menzies and Atlee's Hall (9:31) with state auto's.
Saturday Highlights:
- After going through the first mile close to 4:50 and slower than state automatic qualifying pace, Thomas Edison's Louis Colson along with Atlee's Nathaniel Hall and Lafayette's Jason Menzies picked up the pace significantly in the last mile while racing one another. Colson had the fleetest feet in the final laps to win in a state best time of 9:29.17. Menzies took second in a near 20 second PR for him with his 9:31.31 performance, while Hall got his second state auto of the young indoor season in third place at 9:31.59.
- Kellam's Billy Boros and Deep Run's Matthew Novak were the top 2 finishers in both the 1600 and 1000 meter races with each picking up a win. Boros overtook Novak in the final 400 meters to take the 1600 meter run in a state best time of 4:22.31. 1600 race runner-up Novak (4:24.10) came back to run away from the field in the fast section of the 1000 meter run with a US #4 performance of 2:34.84 for the Deep Run sophomore.
- Noah Johnson of King's Fork was able to get to the break line first and not relinquish his lead in the 300 meter dash to hold off Friday's 500 meter dash winner Michael Kokal (36.48) of Cosby for a season best time of 36.45. Johnson and the King's Fork boys were unable to beat their indoor state leading time from last week in the 4x200, but were able to beat the rest of the 4x200's at CNU with a meet best time of 1:33.91.
- Grassfield's 4x400 meter relay on Saturday featured two of the star individuals from Friday in sprinter/jumper Isaiah Harper and hurdler Grant Holloway. With two studs on their squad, their relay produced the first sub 3:30 4x400 of the season in Virginia in a state leading time of 3:28.34.
- Grassfield boys could be on a short list of teams with serious state team championship aspirations this winter as Andrew Hines won the shot put at CNU for them with a strong mark of 53'6". Hines was fourth in the AAA State Outdoor Meet in shot put with a PR performance of 54'3.75".
- Indian River senior Andrea Wright was a double winner in the sprints as she followed up her 7.27 clocking in the 55 meter dash finals on day one with a state leading time in the 300 meter dash on day two. Wright posted a time of 40.88 to defeat Friday's 500 meter dash winner Alexandria Moseley (41.39) of Cosby.
- Moseley and the Cosby girls swept the sprint relays including a state indoor leading and US #2 1:45.38 in the 4x200, while winning the 4x400 without Moseley in a time of 4:09.13.
- Defending Group AAA state indoor high jump champ Brianna Hayes of Matoaca matched her state leaderboard height of 5'6" as she cleared the bar at that height at CNU, but will looking to clear closer to her personal best of 5'9" in the coming meets.
- Rachel Galton of Maggie Walker had a roaring 35 second last lap to run down Thomas Edison's Jennifer Flack in the 3200 meter run in the final strides for a 11:10.35 victory (Flack 11:10.95) and state auto performances for both runners.
- Olivia Bethune is still working herself back into top shape from a year ago when she ran 5:00 for 1600 meters and 3:00 for 1000 meters. The Ocean Lakes junior looked pretty close to her best fitness to close strong on the bell lap to pass Grafton's Nicole Goff (2nd, 3:05 PR) in a winning time of 3:04.68.
Seniority rules over freshmen phenom with Travis Phillips of Patrick Henry taking 55 hurdles over Grassfield frosh Holloway
Central Region girls hurdles preview battle between De'Nisha Smith & Jessica Shelton
Grassfield's Harper is a double winner on Friday in 55 dash and long jump
Lake Braddock's Katie Roche leads out strong, but Cosby's Alexandria Moseley closes stronger in 1:17 500 victory
All photos by Ryan Kelly
Friday Highlights:
- Grassfield's Isaiah Harper had a big Friday night in Newport News. Harper first clocked a PR of 6.52 in the 55 meter dash to withstand a challenge from Kempsville's Devontay Doyle (2nd, 6.55) in the 55 meter dash. In the long jump, Harper just missed a second personal best with a leap of 22'3", which is impressive for an athlete who did not compete in the event at either the indoor or outdoor state championships last year.
- There were two excellent showdowns in the hurdles at CNU between experience and youth in Patrick Henry senior Travis Phillips and Grassfield freshmen Grant Holloway, while the Central Region Championship was previewed between De'Nisha Smith of Cosby and Jessica Shelton of Patrick Henry. Holloway came in with the state's fastest 55 meter hurdles at 7.57, while Phillips was a fraction slower in his season best of 7.58. Phillips ran the cleaner race than Holloway who clipped the second to last hurdle for Phillips to take the win and state leaderboard over from Holloway (2nd, 7.61) in a 7.54 victory. Smith was beaten by Shelton for the Central Region 55 hurdles title last year by only a hundredth of a second, but started off her first match-up this season ahead of her rival with a significant PR drop (8.58 previously) in her 8.38 first-place clocking at CNU.
- Cosby girls had a second individual event winner on day one with Alexandria Moseley able to shift into top gear off the final turn to catch Lake Braddock's Katie Roche (2nd, 1:18.15) for an indoor state best performance of 1:17.98 for the Cosby junior.
- With all the exciting action on the track at CNU, Shania Williams of Patrick Henry's big throw in the shot put could have been lost in the mix, but her first 40 plus foot throw is definitely worth recognizing at 41'11.50". The fifth place All-State finisher in last year's state indoor meet, moved ontop of the state leaderboard with her breakthrough throw and also ranks #6 in the United States.
- Lafayette boys rolled to a state best time of 8:12 in the 4x800 with a sub 2 minute anchor leg from Kurtis Steck. Steck and Derek Holdsworth are two returning legs from their Group AA state runner-up 7:59 squad from last spring.
- Andrea Wright showed off her range after winning the 500 meter dash last weekend at Boo Williams to come back the next week and claim first in the 55 meter dash at CNU with a 7.27 PR clocking in the finals.
CNU Winter Frolic - Day 1 Results
Day 1 Photo Gallery by Ryan Kelly
Day 2 Photo Gallery by Robert Blake
Race Videos by Brandon Miles - More videos being added
7 VA #1's at CNU Winter Frolic
Indian River's Andrea Wright powers away from Cosby's Alexandria Moseley for 40.88 victory in 300