MileSplit VA Articles and Top Headlines

Virginia Track & Field and Cross Country News

VHSL Group AAA State Championships - Online Entries MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

Coaches can begin submitting their entries (of automatic qualifiers AND qualifiers by place from regional meet) for the VHSL Group AAA State Championships by region. Coaches need to contact their regional representatives or MileStat.com at milestat@gmail.com to obtain their passwords in order to do entries. The online entry deadline will be Sunday, May 24th at 4:59 PM.

 

05/24 Central Region State Meet Entries
VHSL Group AAA Central Region Rep
, VA
05/24 Eastern Region State Meet Entries
VHSL Group AAA Eastern Region Rep
, VA
05/24 Northern Region State Meet Entries
VHSL Group AAA Northern Region Rep
, VA

Maymont Festival - Virtual Meet Previews MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

Virtual meet scoring previews for this weekend's McDonald's X-Country Festival at Maymont using times from this season so far as well as last year. These virtual meets should not be viewed as any form of accurate predictions, but as a starting point to seeing who might be some of the top individuals and teams this weekend at Maymont.

One can infer that the Midlothian girls and Jamestown boys appear to be the top teams in Virginia heading into the meet and that both will not only be challenged by in-state rivals, but outstanding out-of-state teams with the SE #1 Collins Hill girls of Georgia as one of several nationally ranked squads in the field, while Medina of Ohio is back to defend their title from a year ago and North Carolina squads Green Hope and Broughton are hoping a Maymont win will give them the same boost towards the dream of qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals as it worked for the Chapel Hill boys at the 2006 Maymont Festival.

A more in-depth preview article for Maymont will be posted soon.

Pre-Season Rankings to be released Wednesday, August 27th MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

MileStat.com's pre-season cross country rankings will be released by Wednesday, August 27th. This will be the first year that the cross country rankings will also include regional rankings with the top 5 teams and top 10 individuals ranked for each region in Group AAA and Group AA. We are selecting a panel of coaches to be in charge of rankings in their respective regions and classifications.


Photo by Ted Plunkett

Who will be ranked preseason #1 in Virginia? Do the Midlothian girls start the season in the same spot as they have finished the past three years on top as Group AAA champions? Thomas Porter has qualified twice for Foot Locker Nationals, but is it enough to keep away others including a large group of talented runners in Group AA from the #1 ranking? With traditional powers Midlothian, Brentsville, and Thomas Jefferson expected to undergo "down years", who will emerge as the new powers in 2008?

Who are the best VA high school XC teams of ALL-TIME? Dec 31, 1969

So which school has the best high school cross country teams of all-time? If you took the best runners from any year at each school, which high schools would find themselves ranked near the top? Well MileStat.com's database really only can track through this past decade, but still fun to look at based off times alone which schools seem to have had the most success since 2000. Take a look for yourself as this is some pretty neat stuff to glance at!

VA High School Boys All-Time XC Team Rankings

VA High School Girls All-Time XC Team Rankings

Team Virginia FOOTLOCKER JERSEYS are back!!!!! Dec 31, 1969

Four years ago we had over 160 runners from VA wear Footlocker South Regional “TEAM VIRGINIA” racing jerseys. Virginia Cross Country is very strong and on par with many of the top states in the nation..... let’s show our pride!

The Team Virginia jerseys promote Virginia XC and help foster state pride. Runners who wear them are easily identifiable during their Footlocker South Regional race.... making it easy for us to cheer for them. Each year, we will create a new design and offer a different racing top.

This year, we will go with a Black Mizuno racing top with white lettering. Tops cost $20 (includes shipping). If you are interested please detach and mail the order form.

*** The first 100 runners to respond will receive a free Team Virgina Mizuno spike bag courtesy of Mizuno Running & The Running Store, Gainesville. ***

Private School results over the weekend MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

Barbara Strehler took advantage of racing on one of the fastest 5K courses in the state to scorch a 17:39 performance at the Norfolk Academy Meet held on Thursday, October 23rd. The time posted by the Trinity senior is the fastest time ran this season in Virginia and ironically the top two times are by private school girls in Strehler and Potomac School's Anneka Wilson (17:45). VIS state title contender Brendan Leavitt of Norfolk Collegiate was en route to posting a fast time as well as he rolled through the mile in 4:45 and 2 mile in 9:47 en route, but ran off course with 1000 meters to be disqualified for cutting the course. Norfolk Collegiate boys still won the meet despite their top runner being disqualified, while the Norfolk Academy girls won their final home meet of the season.

Norfolk Academy Meet #3 Results

Anneka Wilson returned back to Georgetown Prep for the ISL Championships after winning last weekend on the same course at the Georgetown Prep Classic. The Potomac School junior posted a nearly identical time in less ideal conditions with rain and wind as she won by nearly 2 minutes in 17:44. Her time last week at Georgetown Prep was 17:45.

Episcopal's Reid Nickle and Potomac School's Campbell figure to battle it out not only this year, but years to come for the private school state championships with both running at a high level as only sophomores. However, this weekend the two underclassmen stars raced on the same course, but in different races as Nickle finished runner-up in the IAC Championships race in 16:18, while Ross was just a second faster as a race runner-up also in the MAC Championships.

IAC/MAC/ISL Championships Results

Megan Fitzpatrick and the Bishop O'Connell girls repeated as WCAC champions on Saturday at Lake Fairfax without very little challenge. Fitzpatrick, the reigning VIS state champion, bounced back from a disappointing DNF at Glory Days, to come through for her team in a 20:10 victory as the O'Connell girls put nearly 7 runners among the top 10 finishers with #7 Katie Stuver in 11th place at 21:39. Catholic Schools state runner-up Lizzie Greene ran well to place third and break up a swarm of Bishop O'Connell runners up front, while her team Paul VI was a distant runner-up with 80 points.

The boys' meet was dominated by the Maryland and DC private schools which make up the WCAC as Paul VI was the top finishing Virginia school in fourth place with 95 points as they were led by top 10 runs from Ian McGinn (4th, 17:33) and Charles Horne (7th, 17:48).

WCAC Championships Results

Striving for the 'Perfect Running Body' Jennifer Malcolm Dec 31, 1969

https://www.milesplit.com/files/usa/cc08/runners1.jpg

The female athlete triad is perhaps the most important combination of information for any young female athlete to understand, as well as parents and coaches. In the story that follows Emily Giannotti and Jennifer Malcolm, friends of MileSplit, talk about the female athlete triad through personal experience and what can be done to better understand it. For all female MileSplit readers, coaches and parents, please take the time to read this article, and we encourage you strongly to become involved with this study.

Peninsula Ice Breaker Performance List Dec 31, 1969

Performance list for the Peninsula Ice Breaker, which will kick off many meets to be held this indoor season at the Boo Williams in Sportsplex on Friday and Saturday. Some of the top athletes in the meet include Manchester's 19+ ft long jumper Nikki Nunn and Bethel's great hurdling duo of Courtni Pannell and Samantha Scarlett. MileStat.com will have on-site coverage.

Northwest Region Championships Preview Reid Taylor Dec 31, 1969

Action will heat up this Thursday, October 30th, as the best of the Northwest region lace up their spikes for a race on the famed Panorama Farms course, just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. The course, which was used last year for the ACC college championships, looks to offer a challenging test to the runners this week, as they will have to battle it out strategically on the numerous hills, especially the one that is found at the two mile mark. Already this year there has been many impressive times turned in on the Panorama farms course by names such as Tyler Stutzman on the boys side (15:28) and Stacey Nobles (18:46) on the girls side. It appears that this year will have favorable weather, as early reports have the temperatures in low 60s with the sun out. With great weather, this year's Northwest Region Meet looks to produce some of the states best times this year.

Eastern Region (Day 1): Western Branch jumps (x3) into day 2 MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

Both Western Branch boys and girls squads made huge leaps into the second day of competition of the 2010 Eastern Region Indoor Track & Field Championships with the triple jump performances by their athletes on Friday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. Desmonae Gray (pictured left by Ryan Kelly) uncorked a monster jump in the triple jump with her new US #1 and VA #7 all-time mark of 40'10". A significant improvement for the Western Branch junior who had a previous best of 39'0.50" from last June's Nike Outdoor Nationals.

 

The Western Branch boys picked up a great deal of points in the triple jump with their top 3 sweep led by a US #2 and state leading mark of 49'5" from Kendrick Smith. Also performing well in the event for the Bruins was Marcus Dean at 47'9.50" and Keenan Smith at 45'11". Without a dominant individual in the sprints or hurdles, Western Branch may have to rely on their triple jumpers and their distance crew for another state title run. Their 4x800 meter relay certainly look to do their part at the state meet as shown with their state best time of 7:58.02 on Friday night as Western Branch became the first team to break 8 minutes this season in Virginia.

 

 

Eastern Region Championships - Day 1 Results

 

More to come from the Eastern Region Championships including photo gallery by Ryan Kelly, race videos by Andy Paisley, and full meet summary.

Group A Regional Roundup: Marsico runs 17:11 at Sugar Hollow Dec 31, 1969

Region A Championships


Photo by Richard Browder

The Northern Neck District champs knocked off the Tidewater District champs as both the Northumberland boys and Lancaster girls defeated the slightly favored Mathews boys and Middlesex girls for the Region A titles on Wednesday at Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg.

Northumberland's top runner Jared Scripture had been beaten quite convincingly earlier in the season on the same course by Zach Garcia of Mathews, but Scripture proved himself to be a championship season performer and rose to the occassion to win by four seconds over district rival Zack Suddeth of Washington & Lee in 16:54. Northumberland had five runners finish among the top 11 for a team score of 33 points to edge out Mathews with 36 points.

Middlesex freshmen Melissa Hall was the only favorite not to be defeated as she won the individual regional title by 15 seconds in 19:48, but her team fell to the defending champions of Lancaster. The Lancaster girls had many personal best runs in their lineup including three of the top five finishers to compile a team score of 33 points with Middlesex 10 points back as regional runners-up.

Region A Championships Results: Boys - Girls

Region B Championships


Photo by Scott Rigler

The Clarke County boys and Ben Veilleux won big as expected. The Eagles look ready to win their fourth state in the last five years after taking five of the first six places at the Region B Championships, held at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville.

The Clarke County girls have an active streak of state titles, which the boys' team does not after Radford stopped them from winning a fourth straight last November, but the girls' string of state championships is now in serious jeopardy after their third consecutive loss this season to George Mason. Strasburg freshmen Katlyn Ayers (pictured above) may have just won her first of many regional championships to come as she defeated many of Group A's best in Clarke County's Sophia Holmes and George Mason's Natalie Young in order to pick up the victory.

Region B Championships Results: Boys - Girls

Region B Championships Photo Gallery by Scott Rigler - More girls photos to be added.

Region C Championships

Mother Nature is apparently the only thing that can slow Glenvar junior Megan Marsico down, but Marsico made Mother Nature work hard in Wednesday's Region C Championships at the historic Sugar Hollow Park 3 mile course. Despite facing strong winds, Marsico was still able to motor her way to the second fastest performance all-time on the course at 17:11 as her time puts ahead of quite a few Foot Locker finalists and state champions. The only runner to have ever ran a faster time on the course was Maria Large of Virginia High (16:58), who ended up finishing 6th at the Foot Locker Nationals that season.

Radford made it a sweep for the Region C team titles as the boys had five runners earn All-Region honors including a 1-2 finish from Charles Mogen and Jared Miller. The Radford girls had four athletes in the top 15 with Amber Thompson and Cecilia Scott finishing among the top 15 for the Lady Bobcats.

Results needed from Region C Championships

Region D Championships

No results or news reported yet.

MileStat.com All-Decade Team Selection - Ayla Smith MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

 

The girls' hurdles is an event which few from Group AA or Group A's best could be competitive in at the Group AAA level especially with speed found out of the Eastern Region, but Ayla Smith posted times in the 300 meter hurdles which certainly could have held up against the best from AAA. The 2006 graduate of John Handley High School in Winchester, Smith as a senior won Group AAA state titles in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles including a Group AA State Meet record breaking performanceof 43.43 in the 300 meter hurdles. Her only defeat as a high school senior in the event came against Queen Harrison, a 2008 Olympian.

 

She has excelled past many of the great hurdlers from Group AAA during her high school days now in college at the University of Virginia as she has set school records in the 60 meter hurdles indoors and 100 meter hurdles outdoors for the Wahoos. Read more for interview with Ayla Smith...

River Ridge District Championships Virtual Meet Preview MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

While most will be looking forward to seeing the outcome of the Blacksburg-Hidden Valley girls, the River Ridge District boys should also be an intriguing race to watch with the Blacksburg boys looking to redeem themselves after a poor showing at Great American earlier this month. Arguably the district's most talented two boys individuals in George Carter and Andy Eddleton battled earlier this season on the district course at Green Hill Park with Eddleton coming out on top. Eddleton has had the better and much more consistent season than Carter, but is coming off a race in which he finished behind a Blacksburg runner who has not ran in their top 7 this season. The slate is wiped clean for both Carter and and Eddleton today with championship season beginning for the River Ridge District athletes.

USATF Region III Champs: Vincent Brown runs fastest 110H in MileStat.com Era MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

In the finals of the young men's 110 meter hurdles at the USATF Region III Championships in Maryland last weekend, Vincent Brown (pictured left by John Herzog) clocked the fastest 110 meter hurdles by a Virginian prep since MileStat.com began with its track coverage in 2001. It is the fastest time since Rickey Harris of Centreville set the current state record at 13.50 back in 2000.

 

The recent graduate of South Lakes High School, Brown ran a wind-legal time of 13.91 which bests his previous state leading time of 13.98 from the MileStat.com Elite Track Gala. Brown will be headed to Southern University in Baton Rouge this fall.

 

There were also more than a handful of other Virginians performing well in the regional meet and look to shine at the national level at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina in less than 2 weeks.

 

Bethel's Courtni Pannell, one of the top returning hurdlers for next year, won the 100 meter hurdles in a 14.74. Shakia Williams of Western Branch (12.08) and Siobhan Ford-Holland of Thomas Dale (12.09) lowered their previous 100 meter bests significantly at the USATF regional meet.

 

Jasia Richardson, a recent grad of J.R. Tucker and two-time AAA indoor state champion in the triple jump, finished as a runner-up to Nike Indoor Champion Brittany Porter from Georgia in the triple jump with a mark of 38'11.75".

 

Jamestown's Russell Hornsby, who will be transferring to Georgetown Prep in DC this fall, easily won the 800 meter run with his third straight meet producing a time of 1:55 with an identical time of 1:55.49 from Nike Outdoor Nationals.

 

Returning AAA state indoor shot put champion Isaiah Simmons of Woodbridge placed second in the event to Maryland state champion Marcus Brown of Quince Orchard with both throwers having a great competition as Simmons as was a runner-up by two inches at 58'8.75".

 

James Robinson's Joey Muzzio was a 7th place finisher at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships just missing All-American honors in the high jump. He will get another opportunity to become an All-American at the USATF National Junior Olympics after winning the Region III title with a clearance of 6'4.75".

 

USATF Region III Championships Results

Marsico keeps pace Dec 31, 1969

So much for the curse.

Heading into Saturday's Knights Crossing Invitational cross country meet, Glenvar's Megan Marsico (pictured right by Scott Rigler) was hoping to put memories of recent disappointing performances on the Green Hill Park course behind her.

She did it in a big way.

Marsico crushed the 226-runner field in the girls' varsity race, winning by more than a minute. The reigning Group A champion, Marsico also broke the meet record set by former Northside star Catherine White.

"I look up to Catherine White," said Marsico, whose time of 18 minutes, 1.56 seconds was nearly eight seconds faster than White's 2006 time. "She's an awesome runner, and I want to be as good as her."

Read full story on Marsico & Knights Crossing Invite by Mark Taylor of The Roanoke Times

Southern MD Mega Meet Performance List Dec 31, 1969

Performance list for the Southern Maryland Mega Meet to be held Saturday, January 3rd at the Prince George County's Sports & Learning Center in Landover, MD.

Breakdown of the database rankings Dec 31, 1969

With a few more teams getting in their first 5K races of the season this past weekend, the database is becoming more accurate with showing the top teams and individuals in the state, but will be much better represented after this upcoming weekend with two major invitationals in the Oatlands Invitational in Leesburg and William & Mary Invitational in Williamsburg. Kellam's Bobby Peavey at 15:32 and Glenvar's Megan Marsico at 18:01 own the fastest 5K times in the state currently for this cross country season.

VA Boys Individual Database Rankings

Group AAA Boys: Central Region - Eastern Region - Northern Region - Northwest Region

Group AA Boys: Region I - Region II - Region III - Region IV

Group A Boys: Region A - Region B - Region C - Region D

Private School Boys

 

VA Girls Individual XC Database Rankings

Group AAA Girls: Central Region - Eastern Region - Northern Region - Northwest Region

Group AA Girls: Region I - Region II - Region III - Region IV

Group A Girls: Region A - Region B - Region C - Region D

Private School Girls

 

VA Boys Team XC Database Rankings

Group AAA Boys: Central Region - Eastern Region - Northern Region - Northwest Region

Group AA Boys: Region I - Region II - Region III - Region IV

Group A Boys: Region A - Region B - Region C - Region D

Private School Boys

 

VA Girls Team XC Database Rankings

Group AAA Girls: Central Region - Eastern Region - Northern Region - Northwest Region

Group AA Girls: Region I - Region II - Region III - Region IV

Group A Girls: Region A - Region B - Region C - Region D

Private School Girls

Nike Cross Nationals (VA) Coverage MileSplit Staff Dec 31, 1969

Nike Team National Results

Boys Championship Race Results

VA Team Results
19. Jamestown - 381 pts

The Jamestown boys had a great season, but unfortunately did not have a great finish on Saturday at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon. Nationally ranked for much of the season and the NXN Southeast regional champions, the Eagles finished a disappointing 19th place out of 22 teams as the Southeast region boys continue to struggle at the team nationals. The Eagles had to deal with illness of one of their top five runners in Graham Schlickenmeyer this weekend while in Oregon and had subpar races from most of their top seven runners with the exception of junior Colin Mearns. Mearns was a bright spot for the AA state champions with a 28th place finishing time of 15:50. AA state individual champion Andrew Colley struggled for his second straight post-season race as he placed 46th in the field with a time of 16:01. The two Virginian individual qualifiers Ben Veilleux of Clarke County and Josh Hardin of Potomac Falls held their own against the national caliber field. Veilleux was the top finisher from the Southeast region with a 25th place effort of 15:46, while Hardin also ran under 16 minutes in 38th place at 15:58.

The lone two Virginia girls competing at NXN also did not fair as well on one of the best course conditions and weather days that the national meet has seen its 5 year meet history. Kathleen Lautzenheiser, ran faster than she did as a freshmen at Portland Meadows for Midlothian, but did not place as well as she wanted to in 52nd place for a time of 18:44. Blacksburg senior Allison Homer, a surprise qualifier out of the Southeast region, finished 96th in her first national cross country championship experience with a time of 19:11.

Post-Race Interviews: Ben Veilleux (Clarke County) - Josh Hardin (Potomac Falls) - Colin Mearns (Jamestown) - Allison Homer & Kathleen Lautzenheiser

Race Videos: Championship Boys - Championship Girls - Open Boys - Open Girls

Jamestown jr Colin Mearns led the Eagles with a top 30 finish

Clarke County's Ben Veilleux is the Southeast region's top finisher in 25th place

VA Individual Results
25. Ben Veilleux (Clarke County) 15:46.4
29. Colin Mearns (Jamestown) 15:50.9
38. Josh Hardin (Potomac Falls) 15:58.3
46. Andrew Colley (Jamestown) 16:01.6

Girls Championship Race

VA Individual Results
52. Kathleen Lautzenheiser (Midlothian) 18:44
96. Allison Homer (Blacksburg) 19:11

Homer competes in first national championship

Lautzenheiser competes for 2nd time at Portland Meadows

Boys Open Results

Girls Open Results