The Clarke County distance boys (49 pts) were unable to put enough distance on the Nelson County boys (55 pts) going into the final event as Nelson County won the Group A State Meet held at Radford University with a 3:26.88 win in the 4x400 meter relay. A 1-2 finish by Anthony Haliburton and Waddell Howard Jr. in the high jump with both at a 6-4 clearance and state title victory from Peter Serkes in the 800 meter run (1:58.87) helped boost Nelson Countys team score greatly. In the 1600 and 3200 meter races alone, Clarke County put up 39 points as sophomore Simon Biddle-Snead led the Eagles with a second place finish in the 1600 meter run (4:27.16) and state title in the 3200 meter run (9:57.53). James Monroe finished a solid second as Tim Young simply reversed finishes with Biddle-Snead in the two races (44) with a win in the 1600 meter run (4:26.63) and state runner-up honors in the 3200 meter run (10:14.89). Fellow Region A squad Middlesex finished two points shy in fourth with 42 points thanks mainly in part to the sprint tandem of junior Jerry Jones and sophomore James Harris. Jones won both the 100 (10.71) and 200 (21.92) with swift times, while Harris was not too far behind in second in the 100 (10.86) and third in the 200 (22.28) meter dash. The Buffalo Gap girls (82 pts) were able to defend their state title and hold off a very strong challenge from James Monroe (79 pts). The winner was decided in the final event as the James Monroe girls (2nd, 4:08.13) were able to finish ahead of the Buffalo Gap girls\' relay (3rd, 4:10.30), but there was not enough points separation to put the challengers over the defending champs. Buffalo Gap was once again led by junior Angela Jenkins who scored 38 points individually with a state title in the long jump (19-0.50), two state runners-up in the triple jump (37-2) and high jump (5-4), and two third place finishes in the 100 (12.38) and 200 (25.72) meter dashes. The duo of Marie Fields and Shylan Bumbrey did all they could to dethrone Buffalo Gap. Fields won two state titles in the 100 (12.35) and 200 (25.18) meter dashes. Bumbrey won two a piece as well in a tough double in the 400 (58.17) and 800 (2:12.76) meter races. Strasburg was a distance third with 59 points as they were led by a surprise triple jump winner in Marlana Frye (37-2) over Jenkins and hurdler Laurie Hines who won the 300 meter hurdles in 45.86 while taking runner-up honors in the 100 meter hurdles (15.34).
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On paper, it appears that the Group A boys\' team title will pit familar foes against one another in Region B teams Clarke County and Nelson County. Clarke County looking to carry over their success from their state title in cross country this past fall, recently won the Region B crown with 84 points over Nelson County with 78. The state meet might be decided by even a closer margin than six points as pre-meet scoring based off the performance list has Clarke County with 60 points and Nelson County with 58. The Clarke County boys will rely heavily on the performance of the distance guys to take the state crown on Saturday as they could garner well over 40 points in the 1600 and 3200 meter races. Nelson County will be looking for point production out of the field events, relays, sprints, and middle distance races. Throw-in the unpredictability of meet day and most likely plenty of surprises from other teams in various regions, the Group A State Meet at Radford University on Saturday should be an exciting day of track and field action.
The VHSL Group A State Meet, which will be held this Saturday at Radford University, should be a good one with plenty of great teams and individuals vying for state titles. The team title on the girls\' side could be determined by the performances of some of their star athletes. It appears to be a two way team battle between last year\'s state champs and state runners-up in Buffalo Gap and James Monroe. Defending Group A champions Buffalo Gap returns with star jumper Angela Jenkins who nearly won four state titles last year. The James Monroe girls finished in a distant second at last year\'s meet to Buffalo Gap by over 50 points. The gap should be a lot closer this year thanks to an improved squad with the addition of Courtland transfer Marie Fields.