Tyrone Walker

  While generating XC team projection rankings for this fall based on 1600 and 3200 meter times of their returning runners, we decided to go further and have some fun generationg similar XC meet style scoring for non-distance track events to showcase which schools had the best depth through 5 or 7 athletes in certain events from this past outdoor season. Find out which teams in the state produce the most quality quarter milers, hurdlers, and 100 dash sprinters. No surprise that Westfield boys were one of the state's top teams in the middle distance events at 800 and 400 meters this past spring with their Championships of America 4x800 champ quartet. Check it out!

  Photo by Don Rich   From MileSplit US summary: Westfield (VA) went into the COA 4x800 as the favorite, but nothing is certain on Saturday.  Kingston College, St. Jago and Holmwood dominated the first two legs of the relay while being stalked by Cherokee (NJ).  During the end of the second leg the pack bunched up with Cherokee taking the lead for the first time.  Westfield had moved into 5th at this point but there was still a gap to overcome.  Entering the third leg Kingston led with Cherokee closely behind.  St. Jago, Chariho (RI) and Holmwood were strung out with Westfield sitting in 6th place.  During the first lap of leg 3 Westfield caught back up with the pack, led by Cherokee.  Westfield's Nathan Kiley went from 5th to a big first as he closed out his leg before handing off to Tyrone Walker.  Kingston College captured the lead again with 500 to go and Walker settled in.  With 270 meters to go Walker launched into his kick and took the lead.  Kingston College anchor Sanj Powell gave it one final effort with 100 to go but the teams crossed the line with Westfield winning in 7:39.73 with Kingston College clocked at 7:40.52.    Splits for Westfield went as followed in the Championships of America finals at the Penn Relays: Max Chambers (1:57.6), Jeff Edmondson (1:56.4), Nathan Kiley (1:51.3), Tyrone Walker (1:54.4). Westfield's performance ranks them #3 all-time in Virginia high school history behind only the national record holders from the 2009 Albemarle squad, who also won at the Penn Relays in 7:30.67 as well as the 2001 South Lakes squad featuring high school mile national record holder Alan Webb at 7:35.33.   Video Interview with w/ Westfield Boys 4x800     The state of Virginia also had a winner in the boys' triple jump on Saturday. A 50 foot winner that is. Lakeland senior Anaquan Peterson, an already accomplished triple jumper as a state champion and All-American, finally got that elusive mark which he had been reaching for and he achieved on one of the biggest stages. Peterson propelled himself to 50 foot mark exactly on a wind-aided attempt to win the Penn Relays high school triple jump competition by over a foot.   Video Interview w/ Anaquan Peterson   In the large school 4x100 finals, Western Branch boys clocked a time of 42.80 for 4th place, while Annandale posted a time of 42.40 but were disqualified in the event.. They were the only two Virginia boys' relay team to advance onto any finals in the sprint relays (4x100 or 4x400) at the 2012 Penn Relays as Western Branch and Annandale were also the fastest VA squad in the 4x400 trials at 3:22.22 for Western Branch (28th overall) and 3:23.30 for Annandale (36th).

The Leslie Sherman Memorial Invitational was held on Thursday at West Springfield before many athletes in the Northern Region are off on their spring break vacations.   Mount Vernon's Michael Thomas-Brown winning a total of 3 events including two state best performances with his clocking of 10.72 in the 100 meter dash and leap of 23'5" in the long jump. The Mount Vernon junior Thomas-Brown has shown himself to be much improved from last spring when he qualified for state competition in the 100 meter dash and had a sophomore year best of 11.10. He also won the 200 meter dash at West Springfield High School with a time of 22.49.   The Westfield boys were impressive throughout the meet with numerous event winners to win the team title over host school West Springfield. In the 800 meter run, Westfield swept the first four places with Tyrone Walker as the winner at 1:57.89 followed by teammates Max Chambers, Steven Mitchell, and Troy Sevachko. Other members of their state champion relays indoors in the 4x800 and 4x400, Nathan Kiley and Jeffrey Edmonson were individual winners in other races with Kiley taking the 400 meter dash in 49.01 and Edmonson crossing the line first in the 3200 at 9:43.02. Not only did Westfield dominate on the track, but Justin Little shined for the Bulldogs in the field events. Little, an 8th place finisher at the AAA State Indoor Meet, extended his best mark from the winter in the triple jump by over 2 feet with a VA #2 performance of 47'5.25"   VCU recruit Carina Peter outdid Mount Vernon's Thomas-Brown in terms of event wins on Thursday at West Springfield. The Herndon senior Peter was the fastest in the 100 meter dash (12.77) and 200 meter dash (25.73) and jumped the farther in the long jump (16'5.50") and triple jump (37'7.75"). Her mark in the triple jump was only an inch off the current state leading performance.   No debate on who has the top girls 800 meter time in Virginia after an impressive runaway victory by West Potomac's Sarah Jane Underwood at the Leslie Sherman Invite. Underwood, who recently signed with Penn State, posted a swift time of 2:13.88, which is only a second off her all-time best in the event. Underwood is one of more than a handful of girls returning this spring in Virginia who have already run or capable of breaking 2:10 at 800 meters.   James Robinson's Chioma Onyekwere, the 2012 Group AAA indoor state runner-up in the shot put, recorded a solid early season mark over 40 feet with her winning toss of 40'2". Onyekwere, who signed with the University of Maryland, was an All-American indoors with a fifth place finish at the New Balance Indoor Nationals last month.    Leslie Sherman Memorial Invitational Complete Results