Ermesha Fair

Here are the all-time best field event performances by VA athletes at Penn Relays.

Move over Eleanor Roosevelt...its Landstown and Wesh's turn to shine (in pink)! (Photo by John Herzog) It was a solid first day for the Virginians at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Two great anchor legs by Marlena Wesh on the Landstown girls 4x200 meter relay and Tyler Stutzman on the Western Albemarle boys DMR gave both their schools a national championship each. Landstown girls overcame a big deficit put on by the Eleanor Roosevelt girls front loading with their best on their first two legs with Landstown coming back into the race with their third leg Cierra McGee and then Wesh running down the Roosevelt anchor in a thrilling win at 1:40.08. The entire relay event was a complete VA dominance with four All-American top six finishing relays and section winners in all five sections with Grassfield (3rd, 1:42.34), Osbourn Park (5th, 1:43.60), and Booker T. Washington (6th, 1:30.85) all sharing the podium with the national champions from Landstown. Kyle Satterwhite and Nick Ward built Western Albemarle a lead in the DMR on the 1200 and 400 meter legs, but Tyler Stutzman received the baton roughly four seconds down against an All-American 5K runner in Neal Darmody of Quince Orchard. Stutzman did not panic and instead ran one of the most comfortable looking 4:17 splits to roll past Darmody and bring home a national title for the boys from Crozet in 10:25.73. Western Albemarle was not the only Charlottesville area school earning All-American honors as Albemarle (10:42.31) snuck into sixth place despite not having a sub 4:30 1600 meter anchor leg. Thomas Edison also finished in the top six in third place at 10:34.23. David Wilson of George Washington was the lone individual champion from the state on Saturday in Landover. With a personal best leap of 49'9" on his second attempt, Wilson put the pressure on favorite and top seed Omar Craddock of Texas, who failed to make the finals. Rex Parker of Battlefield was more of surprise than Wilson's win to pull in a top six finish and ahead of several other Virginians to crack into the top six with a mark of 47'11.25". As expected, Brayden Burleigh dominated the freshmen mile run from start to finish as the Midlothian's young distance star led from wire to wire in a 4:31.21 victory. Javell Bullard of Bethel and Marlena Wesh of Landstown both have leading times out of preliminary action going into Sunday's sprint finals. Bullard ran the fastest prelim time in the boys' 400 meter dash at 49.43, while his close runner-up from the 500 at the state meet in Taylor Sykes of Great Beach will be the top seed in the slower section of two (with four finalists in each race) at 49.98. Marlena Wesh kept the momentum from her great anchor in the 4x200 in her heat of the 200 meter dash with the fastest clocking at 24.56. Read more of Saturday highlights...   More to come from NIN including highlights, photos, and videos. Saturday Results: Boys Field - Boys Track - Girls Field - Girls Track Nike National Champions in Saturday's events from Virginia: David Wilson (George Washington) - Boys Triple Jump - 49-9 Brayden Burleigh (Midlothian) - Freshmen Boys Mile - 4:31.21 Landstown - Girls 4x200 - 1:40.08 Western Albemarle - Boys DMR - 10:25.73 Nike All-Americans in Saturday's events from Virginia: Blacksburg - Girls 4xMile - 2nd, 21:03.22 Manchester - Girls Shuttle Hurdle- 2nd, 34.71 Ermesha Fair (Western Branch) - Girls Triple Jump - 3rd, 39-0.25 Kathleen Lautzenheiser (Midlothian) - Girls 5K - 3rd, 17:48.77 Grassfield - Girls 4x200 - 3rd, 1:42.34 Midlothian - Girls 4xMile - 3rd, 21:05.73 Nansemond River - Boys 4x200 - 3rd, 1:30.03 Thomas Edison - Boys DMR - 3rd, 10:34.23 Western Branch - Girls Shuttle Hurdle- 3rd, 34.74 Lia DiValentin (Chantilly) - Girls 5K - 4th, 17:57.31 George Carter (Blacksburg) - Freshmen Boys Mile - 4th, 4:37.61 Nefertiti Smith (Norfolk Collegiate) - Girls Triple Jump - 4th, 38-8.25 Johns Ross (The Potomac School) - Boys 5K - 4th, 15:23.85 Brian Zitterkopf (Fork Union) - Boys Pentathlon - 4th, 3318 pts Natalie Baird (Park View) - Girls Weight Throw - 5th, 51-2.75 Green Run - Boys 4x200 - 5th, 1:30.54 Midlothian - Girls 4xMile - 5th, 12:25.68 Mountain View - Boys 4xMile - 5th, 18:11.42 Osbourn Park - Girls 4x200 - 5th, 1:43.60 Osbourn Park - Girls SMR - 5th, 4:10.81 Western Branch - Boys Shuttle Hurdle Relay - 5th, 31.64 Rex Parker (Battlefield) - Boys Triple Jump - 6th, 47-11.25 Jasia Richardson (J.R. Tucker) - Girls Triple Jump - 6th, 38-0.25 Tim Smith (Cave Spring) - Boys 5K - 6th, 15:29.71 Albemarle - Boys DMR - 6th, 10:42.31 Booker T. Washington - Girls 4x200 - 6th, 1:43.93 Western Branch - Boys 4x200 - 6th, 1:30.85

Western Branch rising senior Ermeshia Fair (pictured right by John Herzog) became the fourth Virginian girl to leap over 40 feet this year in the triple jump at this weekend's Russell Blunt East Coast Invitational in North Carolina. Fair, competing in the young women's division, improved by six and a half inches from previous best at the MileStat.com Gala of 39'4" with a new best of 40'0.50". Of the four girls who went over 40 feet this past year in Matoaca's Mia Aghaji (40'11.75"), Lee-Davis' Rachel Butler (40'10.50"), and Brooke Point's April Sinkler (40'3.50"), Fair will be the only one returning in 2008 as all others have now graduated. The final day of competition wraps up on Sunday with two days completed on Friday and Saturday.