Coverage
VHSL Group AA State Championships Performance List
Feb 21, 2012
Performance list for the 2012 VHSL Group AA State Indoor Track & Field Championships to be held Saturday, February 25th at Liberty University's Tolsma Track Center in Lynchburg. VHSL Group AA State Indoor Championships Performance List
VHSL State Indoor Championships On-Site Coverage
Feb 24, 2012
Look for videos and photos to be uploaded to website from both championship meets starting late Saturday night and all day Sunday. Group AAA State Championships 2012 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor T&F Girls Team Champions Cosby High School The Cosby girls needed more than arguably one of the best distance triples ever in the VHSL State Indoor Championships history from Megan Moye in order to knock off the heavily favored and defending state champions from Western Branch. However, Moye did her part with a 2:07 anchor leg on the 4x800 meter relay to bring her squad from 7th to 1st place in making a gap of over 80 meters. The 64 second first 400 meter split from her 4x800 leg showed little effect or fatigue for Moye in her races on Saturday as she defeated a 800 meter national champion in Kimberley Ficenec for the 1600 meter title in 4:53 and a Foot Locker Cross Country All-American in Sophie Chase for the 3200 meter title in 10:25. Cosby added 6 points with a third place finish in the 4x200 and Moye got more help from teammates Logan Edwards in the shot put (6th) and Alex Moseley in the 500 meter dash (4th). They needed more points to clinch it for the Titans and they got it from their 4x400 meter relay with Moseley on anchor. Cosby held off a late charge from top seed Bethel and 500 meter state champion Maya Moore to win the event in 3:53.36 and become the first Central Region girls 4x400 indoor state champions since John F. Kennedy High School in 1995. Cosby becomes only the fifth Central Region school to win the indoor state track girls' team title. Final score: Cosby 54, Western Branch 50. (Photo by Ryan Kelly) 2012 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor T&F Boys Team Champions Western Branch High School Western Branch boys set the tone for the rest of the meet in the 55 meter hurdles prelims on Friday when they had heat winners in the first 3 heats of the event with Jamal Burris, Aaron Simpson, and Christopher Crawford. With four of the 12 finalists in Saturday's hurdles finals, the Bruins were bound to rack up some points and they did with a total of 13. Their fast start in hurdles allowed them to have the team title already well in hand before the 4x400 meter relay which their top seeded relay didn't even get a chance to race and add more points after a false start. Runner-ups Chris Crawford in the long jump and Byron Robinson in the 500 as well as third place from Josh Marriner in the 55 dash finals were their top individual performers along with a big 10 points from their state champion 4x200 relay which clocked the state's fastest time of the year at 1:30.16. Every point counts at a state championship and Western Branch received a single point from 8th place finishes in the sprints from Mondryl Glover in the 55 dash, Devante Cherry in the 300, and Corey Jones in the 500. Under head coach Claude Toukene, Western Branch has won four of the last six indoor track boys' team state titles - 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012. (Photo by Ryan Kelly) Meet Page w/ Coverage COMPLETE RESULTS - Team Champions: Cosby girls & Western Branch boys Photo Gallery by Ryan Kelly - Day 1 photos uploaded. Day 2 photos being added Sunday. Photo Gallery by Scott Reid - Day 2 photos only. Race Videos by Ron Bayton - All videos to be uploaded by late Sunday night. Group AA State Championships 2012 Group AA Girls Indoor T&F Team State Champions Blacksburg High School 2012 Group AA Boys Indoor T&F Team State Champions E.C. Glass High School Photos by Andrew Kicinski Meet Page w/ Coverage COMPLETE RESULTS - Team Champions: Blacksburg girls & E.C. Glass boys Photo Gallery by Andrew Kicinski - Over 2,400 total photos posted. Race Videos by Brandon Miles - 39 video clips total for all running events.
Recap of 5 girls meet records set at Group AA
Feb 26, 2012
While the record books remained in tact and unchanged for the Group AA boys, their female counterparts will require the record keepers at the Virginia High School League to make some major revisions. A total of five meet records were set in the girls' portion of the 2012 VHSL Group AA State Indoor Track & Field Championship meet. A quick recap of those record breaking performances below along with photos and/or video. Photos by Andrew Kicinski Louisa County senior Javanique Burruss joins only former Blacksburg distance runners Peter Dorrell (boys 1600 & 1000) and Joanna Stevens (girls 1600 & 3200) as a meet record holder in multiple events. Burruss set a new meet record twice in the 55 meter hurdles. First in the prelims as the leading qualifier at 8.32 to break the record initially and then Burruss lowered her recently gained record by another 7 hundredths of a second in the finals to a personal best clocking of 8.25. In the long jump, the current US #3 performer with a season best of 20 feet 1 inches, Burruss once again etched her name in the VHSL state indoor meet record books with a leap of 19'7.25". Video: Girls 55H Prelims - Girls 55H Finals The meet started fast with all-time best performances between the double from Burruss and big throw from Christiansburg's Rochelle Evans. Evans, who already set the outdoor state meet record last spring at 45'9", is continuing to add more accomplishments to her high school career which will continue on next year the College of William & Mary. Evans bettered the old meet record by over 8 inches with her throw of 43'0" at Liberty University on Saturday. Hard to imagine that the Tabb girls could come back this year with a faster relay last year's crew which featured one of the fastest Group AA sprinters ever in Kiara Porter. Porter has since graduated and running well collegiately at VCU. In the meet history of Group AA State Indoor Championships, no girls 4x400 meter relay had even sniffed at sub 4 minutes with the record standing at 4:04.75 from the 2004 Western Albemarle squad. Despite having no competition to press them after their first leg got them out into the lead, the Tabb girls were able to destroy the meet record and the 4 minute barrier in the process with their 3:59.39 performance. Their relay team included Brittni King, Leigh Soistmann, Taylor Omweg, and Alison Harmatz. Video: Girls 4x400 Sections 3-4 The most impressive meet record performance of the meet may have belonged to John Handley senior Britani Myers in the girls' 500 meter dash. Not only did Myers successfully defend her state title in the event, but she broke a 10 year old meet record previously held by former Jamestown High and UVA runner Ashley Gore of 1:15.53 from the 2002 state meet at the banked track of Virginia Tech. The time by Myers at 1:15.34 would have won the AAA girls' 500 state race held on Saturday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. Myers was not fresh for the race either having run a great anchor leg to break her John Handley 4x800 meter relay up into second place, but their team had been disqualified in the race. Video: Girls 500 Sections 6-7
Group AA State Indoor Championships Race Videos & Photos
Feb 26, 2012
Epic finishes at Group AA State Meet Photos by Andrew Kicinski A total of 39 video clips are now uploaded featuring every race on the track (with the exception of a few slow section 500/300) from the 2012 VHSL Group AA State Indoor Track & Field Championships. Additionally, over 2,400 photos from the meet can be found on MileStat.com in the photo gallery posted by Andrew Kicinski. MileStat.com was happy to provide on-site coverage at the Group AA State Meet and looks forward to providing more coverage in the future for the Group AA schools. Tag yourself and teammates in the race videos and photos from Saturday's state track championship meet in Lynchburg.
Athlete Spotlight: Britani Myers
Mar 01, 2012
Photo by Andrew Kicinski One of the five state meet records from the Group AA State Championships broken last weekend at Liberty University was one of the oldest since the re-start of an indoor state championship for the mid-size schools in Virginia at the start of the century. With a US #6 time of 1:15.34, John Handley senior Britani Myers broke a 10 year old meet record with her second consecutive indoor 500 meter state title. Myers had started out in her freshmen year as an All-State cross country and 1000 meter indoor distance runner. But after giving up distance running and cross country after the fall of her sophomore year, Myers shifted her focus to shorter races on the track and developed her speed as a member of a state record breaking 4x400 meter relay at John Handley in the 2010 outdoor season. She went from being trained by a distance coach as a freshmen to a sprints coach as a sophomore and junior then now finds herself working with a middle-distance coach as a senior. A state runner-up in the 400 meter dash last outdoor season, Myers will still be running a few quarter mile races this spring, but as she prepares for a collegiate career at Virginia Tech, the 800 meter run looks to be her primary race with a goal of running a time near 2:10. MileStat.com interviewed the two-time Group AA state 500 meter champion Myers fresh off her US top 10 performance in Lynchburg last Saturday.
Athlete Spotlight: David Johnson
Mar 02, 2012
Photo by Andrew Kicinski Coming from a family of great jumpers including his father as one of his coaches and his older brother Anthony as high school outdoor nationals champion and older sister Joyce as a past Group AA state champion, David Johnson had to leap in some big footsteps with his accomplished family name at Charlottesville High School. Next weekend at the New Balance Indoor Nationals, Johnson is attempting to match his brother and add another national title ring for the Johnson household. "It's been great to try and mirror his accomplishments," said David speaking of his brother Anthony. Something that he took away from his big bro, "He always wanted to improve. He was one of those guys who didn't mind learning a lesson here and there with a bad meet." The current #2 ranked triple jumper in the United States this indoor season with a season best mark of 49'10.25", Johnson is excited about competing in his third high school national meet. "Looking to do some big things and represent Virginia." Johnson was a surprise finalist last year and finished 8th at the 2011 New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York City after having the best mark from the first flight. MileStat.com interviewed the two-time Group AA state triple jump champion and Virginia state indoor state leader as he preps for the indoor nationals.
