Chris Dobbins

MileStat.com will be doing a weekly feature to recognize the many great and often underappreciated high school coaches in the state of Virginia. MileStat.com's newest staff member Stacey Nobles is a familar name to most and will be starting this new feature to the website.. Nobles won state titles in cross country and 3200 meters outdoors last year at Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach. She currently runs for James Madison University and will be doing weekly stories on coaches throughout the state of Virginia.   Photo by David Bradshaw Shane Guynn, the track coach at Christiansburg High School, feels that if a coach is doing their job right they have a second full time job on their plate. He started at only 19 years of age and, although he is much more efficient with preparations now, he states one thing hasn’t changed: “the amount of time and energy I put into these kids.” His family would be quick to agree, noting the many sacrifices Shane has had to make because of his devotion to creating a successful program. This, however, does not hinder their endless support both now and throughout Shane’s childhood. He credits much of his competitive, aggressive qualities and passion for the sport to the heavy involvement of his father when he was younger. Read more...

  Ocean Lakes senior Justin Hunter (pictured above by Don Rich) finally showed the rest of nation what we have known all along in Virginia about his talent and jumping ability. Competing in his first high school track nationals, Hunter became a national champion in all three jumping events. Two of the events in the long and triple jump, Hunter actually placed second in the competition but was the first US finisher behind winners from Canada to make Hunter as the national champion in both events. In Sunday's triple jump, Charles Akomolafe from Brampton, Ontario overtook Hunter in the finals with the leading mark of 50'6.25". Hunter became the US champion with his runner-up and US #3 mark of 49'9.25". Checking to see if the feat of winning national titles in all three jumping events has ever been accomplished ever by not only a Virginia high school athlete, but any athlete in meet history.   Jamestown senior Colin Mearns (pictured above by Don Rich) was not considered as a favorite to win the boys' mile at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships with a 1600 PR which converts to around 4:20 for a full mile. The recent VA 2A 1600 and 3200 state champion made a huge drop in time to pull out the upset national title against a field of more proven sub 4:20 milers with a 7 second PR victory at 4:13.08! His time converts not only to a state leading 4:11.66 1600 meter time, but ranks him #12 all-time in Virginia high school indoor history.   Churchland senior Cydney Robinson dominated her section of the girls 800 meter run on the final lap to pull away to win her slower section in a time of 2:11.95. Her time ended up holding up to place her third overall following the fast section and earn her second All-American honors of the weekend after anchoring Churchland to a fifth place SMR finish on Friday with a 2:12 split. Her time at NSIC is the fastest by a Virginia girl indoors at 800 meters since Nike Indoor Nationals champion Katie Doswell back in 2006.   First Colonial's Teiara Denmark became the second All-American in the girls' field events from Virginia at NSIC (Lizzie Powell - Pole Vault) with her fifth place leap of 39'0.25" in the girls triple jump.   The future of Virginia distance running looks bright as Lake Braddock 9th grader Sophie Chase (pictured left by Don Rich) became the state's second freshmen mile champion this past weekend in her dominant six second victory on Sunday at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. Chase, who anchored Lake Braddock's DMR on Friday nearly to a national title with her sub 5 minute 1600 meter leg, clocked a time just above 5 minutes for the full mile in her 5:01.67 victory for the Virginia 3A state 3200 meter champion. Chase's time nearly beat the time of the seeded championship mile race later on Sunday, which had a winning time of 4:59. Landstown's Stephanie Frenchik took charge midway through to break up a slow early pace and then held on for fourth place and All-American honors in 5:04.72.   Henrico's DreQuan Hoskey earned All-American honors in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles with a fifth place finish, while Chris Dobbins of Christiansburg just missed a top 6 finish by thousandths of a second as his time of 8.21 was equal through the hundredth of a second with the sixth place finisher.   In field events action today, Ocean Lakes senior Justin Hunter will be attempting to make a national titles sweep of the jumping events as he is slated to compete in the triple jump after winning national titles on Friday in the long jump and high jump. Hunter is a favorite and one of the top seeds in the triple jump.   Three boys' pole vaulters from Virginia have advanced onto today's finals after vaulting career bests yesterday in the preliminary flights with Lake Braddock's Matt Hoogland at 15'1.75" and Jefferson Forest's Josh Drablos and Mills Godwin's Eric Zwarycz both clearing 14'10". Hoogland is ranked fourth heading into today with his performance yesterday.   Watch Live Webcast   MileSplit Meet Page   Flash Results, Winners Table & Photo Galleries

Click for more updates:  Marques Atkinson used an impressive last lap kick in the final event of the boys pentathlon in the 1000 meter run to go from barely inside of the top 10 entering the event to coming out as a national runner-up in the final scoring for the multi-event. The Atlee junior amassed a total of 3,556 points and finished just 34 points behind the champion from Pennsyvalnia. Atkinson earned 893 points to his cumalative score in his 2:38.34 closing performance in the 1000. Christiansburg junior Travis Hudson had built up enough cushion of points entering the final event of the 1000 which would be his most difficult event for the high jump/hurdles specialist to maintain a top six final standing and earn his second All-American honor of the meet (high jump All-American on Friday) with a total score of 3469 points for sixth place.   For the second straight year, Lizzie Powell of Patrick Henry is an All-American in the pole vault at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. She finished just under her height from a year ago at the Armory with her sixth place clearance of 12'5.50" (3rd in 2009 at 12'6") in a more competitive field from a year ago.  The performance is her third best ever indoors behind only her 2009 NSIC performance and her state meet record 12'7" clearance two weeks ago.   Group AAA state 55 meter hurdles state champion DreQuan Hoskey of Henrico can feel a national title in reach after his semifinal performance in the 60 meter hurdles where he clocked the second fastest time among all finals qualifiers at 7.98. The Henrico senior was only one hundredth of a second slower than the fastest qualifier for the finals.Joining Hoskey in the finals and creating the possiblity of two All-Americans from Virginia in the event was Christiansburg's Chris Dobbins who posted the fiourth fastest time in the semifinals round at 8.05.     Live Webcast

Photo by Don Rich   Friday Meet Preview, Schedule, & Updates - Nikki Nunn on her final jump in the finals, uncorked a 19'9.75" to move herself into second place and finish as a national runner-up in the girls long jump. Her performances ranks her #6 all-time in VA high school indoor history.   Another athlete representing Virginia very well on the national stage was Justin Hunter (pictured right by Ryan Kelly) of Ocean Lakes notched the state's first national title of the weekened by clearing a US #1 height of 7'0.25" in the high jump, which ranks him also #4 all-time in state indoor history. Add another national title for Justin Hunter as his second place showing in the long jump makes him the national champion in that event as well since first place was an high school athlete from Canada. His mark of 24'7" ranks him #8 all-time in state history, while ranks him #2 in the US this season. Not a bad start in his indoor nationals debut with a triple jump competition to go on Sunday.   The Lake Braddock relay of Casey Lardner, Kelly Ball, Kelly Hagan, and Sophie Chase finished as national runners-up in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:06.46, which is a remarkable accomplishment considering Braddock lost their top leg Liana Epstein to a stress fracture injury prior to the regional meet. AAA 3200 state champion and freshmen Sophie Chase anchored their DMR with a sub 5 split and will be coming back this weekend to attempt to win the freshmen mile title at NSIC. Makes one wonder how much faster they could have gone and potentially won a title with Epstein healthy and competing.   MileStat.com will be providing updates on performances by Virginians on Friday at National Scholastic Indoor Championships. A quick preview below of who are the top competitors from Virginia in Friday's events at NSIC including Justin Hunter of Ocean Lakes. Hunter (pictured right by Nicoll Knudsen) is competing in his very first national championship meet, but his incredible athletic ability and talent should override any lack of national meet experience as his best marks rank him as one of the favorites in both the high jump and long jump on Friday.   Link to Live Webcast (starting Friday at 11 am to meet's conclusion)

Photo by Frank Locascio   The Christiansburg boys claimed the 2010 Group AA state indoor title by a one point margin over their River Ridge District rival Blacksburg with a team score of 54 points. Blacksburg needed a second place finish in the 4x400 to move ahead into first for the final team standings, but Harrisonburg nipped them for second in the event to give Christiansburg the title.   Travis Hudson led Christiansburg in winning the high jump (6'9"), while also scoring points in the hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Teammates Chris Robbins was a state runner-up in the 55 meter hurdles and Andy Eddleton also garnered a second place finish in the 1600 meter run, while completing a solid double with a third place showing in the 3200.   The Blacksburg girls won as expected with a team score of 81 points as the next closest team was Western Albemarle with 59 points. Joanna Stevens broke Catherine White's two state meet records in the 1600 and 3200 with her times of 4:50.07 and 10:29.70. Twin sister Kathleen was a close runner-up in the 1600 (4:50.11), while coming back to take the state title in the 1000 (2:57.47).   Amber Church was the lone athlete to win more than 2 individual state titles on Saturday at Liberty University as the Pulaski County star in her three victories clocked a time of 8.42 in the 55 meter hurdles, cleared 5'4" in the high jump, and leaped to a mark of 17'11" in the long jump. She also was a state runner-up in the 55 meter dash (7.40) and placed 7th in the triple jump. Pulaski County placed fourth in the final team standings thanks to the individual efforts of Church.   Double champions included Ashontae Jackson of Orange County in the 55 (7.30) and 300 (41.12), Terrance Morse of Amherst County in the boys 500 (1:06.57) and (35.68), Colin Mearns of Jamestown in the 1600 (4:18.33) and 3200 (9:29.36).   VHSL Group AA State Championships Coverage - Complete results posted, Photos, videos, summaries, and interviews to come throughout this week!

Only two days removed from strong races at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the Stevens twins (pictured above by Frank Locascio) of Blacksburg knocked half dozen seconds off their US #1 and #2 10:26 3200 meter performances earlier in the season at Monday's River Ridge Championships. After being usurped from the top of the national leaderboard in the 3200 meter run two weeks ago by Foot Locker Nationals champion Megan Goethals of Michigan with her 10:25 performance, the Stevens twins got an opportunity to run a fresh 3200. On the banked Virginia Tech indoor track, Kathleen Stevens won in a US #1 time of 10:19.85 and followed in by twin sister Joanna Stevens in a US #2 time of 10:20.64.

The first MileStat.com Athlete of the Week honors for the 2009-2010 indoor track & field season. Monica Williams of Green Run was one of several athletes selected after her sub 40 second clocking this past weekend in the 300 meter dash at the Boo Williams Sportsplex, which ranks her #1 in the US currently in the early stages of the indoor season.. Athletes of the Week were selected for various discipline of events including sprints, distance, hurdles, relays, pole vault, jumps, and throws.