Roderque Gray

Here are the best performances ever from the Dogwood Track Classic

Here are the boys top 100 all-time performances at Dogwood.

Here are the top 100 boys all-time performances from Dogwood Track Classic.

Indoor team champions Atlee come into the outdoor state championships not as the undisputed favorite in the team competition as the Annnandale boys from the Northern Region and First Colonial from Eastern Region are both positioned well to compete for a state team crown. Isaiah Simmons in throws is one of several athletes or relays capable of challenging one of the state meet records.

A total of 22 schools and over 750 athletes will be competing at North Stafford High School on Saturday for the Wolverine Invitational. The 11th annual event goes deep in its awards with the top 8 finishing individuals and members of top 4 placing relays receive medals. With a good mix of top athletes from Group AAA and Group AA schools in the Fredericksburg area as well as a sprinkle of squads from other parts of Northern Virginia, the Wolverine Invitational should produce some of the top performances of weekend in Virginia.

He is from the Bahamas, but Liberty Christian Academy senior Demitri Knowles has certainly opened some doors for him to be recruited well by U.S. college track coaches with his high school career at the Lynchburg private school. (Photo by John Herzog)   In high school football, basketball and many other high school sports, college coaches and recruiters regularly check out various media publications and media websites which attempt to rank the top prospects in the country or within a state. These recruit rankings give the athletes more exposure and make it easier for college coaches and recruits to find who are some of the top high school athletes to try and attract to their school. Why not attempt something similar for track & field in Virginia? MileStat.com will be releasing their own top 10 rankings lists (possible expansion to larger lists) of the most prized recruits within the state of Virginia for each discipline of the sport (sprints, distance, hurdles, jumps, throws, pole vault). We will attempt to update our lists periodically throughout the year based on season performances and put together a class of 2012 rankings later this year.

A list of the top 8 boys performers in each event this indoor season thru December 23rd. Oscar Smith currently has two boys on the top of the leaderboard with Joel Coleman as a co-leader with Atlee's Trevor Elie in the 55 meter dash at 6.48, while Brandon Ruffin (pictured above by John Herzog) threw for a state best mark of 54'5'50" on a December 9th meet at Boo Williams Sportsplex. Ruffin showed himself to be one of the top throwers returning in the state after finishing third in both the shot and discus at the state outdoor championships last spring.

Preview for the running events at the 2010 VHSL Group AA State Championships. Several races at this year's state meet will be historically some of the best ever in meet's history in terms of depth such as nine girls under 11 minutes in the 3200 meter run, six girls under 12 seconds in the 100 meter dash, and a large pack of boys relays ready to roll under 8 minutes in the 4x800 and 3:20 in the 4x400.  It has been seven years since the state meet was last held at Sports Backers Stadium and the ability for athletes to wear quarter inch spikes will not be the only factor to help potentially produce for many performances to rank among the fastest all-time in state meet history. Several athletes are capable of winning a pair of individual titles on the track including Darrell Wesh (pictured above by Ryan Kelly) in the boys 100 and 200 meter dash.

Brooke Point junior Roderque Gray (pictured right by Ryan Kelly) is one of the state's top returnees in the 100 and 200 meter dash based off his times last summer in age group club meet competition. He showed this past weekend in his outdoor season debut at the Brian Watkins I-95 Invitational that he is ready to validate those summer performances and perform right along the state's best during the actual high school season. At Potomac Senior High School in Dumfries on Saturday, Gray clocked personal best times of 10.97 in the 100 meter dash and 21.61 in the 200 meter dash as the 200 performance added a fourth school record to his credentials. Both times are early season state leader clockings in Virginia.   Limited meets and practice due to the snowstorms of this past winter slowed him  down from his potential in the indoor season as well as missing All-State honors in the 55 (7th) and 300 meter dash (10th). Following some good weather and quality training though since the end of indoor, Roderque Gray appears ready to become one of the top challengers to new sprint king and Nike Indoor Nationals 60 dash champion Darrell Wesh and definitely in position to become a rare sprint champion from the Northwest Region next year as an 11th grader currently. MileStat.com interviewed Gray following his stellar sprint double to start his spring season at the Brian Watkins I-95 Invite.

A final list for the 2009-2010 indoor season of the top 10 best performances for each boys' event in the state of Virginia.

Performance list for the 2010 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor T&F Championships to be held Friday & Saturday, February 26th & 27th at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.