VHSL Group AAA State Meet 2007

Plenty of photos will be uploaded to MileStat.com from both the VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Track & Field Championships at George Mason University as well as the VHSL Group AA State Indoor Track & Field Championships at Liberty University. If you have not subscribed to MileStat.com, you are encouraged to do so now as you will be able to view a large abundance of great photos from this weekend's state meets from John Herzog, David Fleenor, and Ted Plunkett.  VHSL Group AAA State Meet Photo Gallery by John Herzog - Photos still being added.  VHSL Group AAA State Meet Photo Gallery by Ted Plunkett - Photos still being added.   VHSL Group AA State Meet Photo Gallery by David Fleenor - Photos still being added. 

Congrats 2007 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Track Team Champions Western Branch Boys & Midlothian girls!   The Western Branch boys simply had too much manpower for Manchester or any other challengers to compete with as they tallied 65 points to win comfortably by 20 points over state runner-up Manchester with 45 points. A talented crew of sophomores led them to a state title with 500 meter state champion Javanti Sparrow (1:04.61), triple jump state runner-up Kelvin Griffin (47-4), and 300 meter dash third place finisher Daniel Nix (34.71) all playing key roles in Saturday's events. A state championship dynasty may have just begun this weekend for the young Western Branch squad.   What?! Distance teams are not suppose to indoor track state team titles! Without any athletes in the field events or sprints, the Midlothian distance girls racked up a total of 42 points over the two meet including a US #11 all-time 9:07.27 4x800, 1-2 finish in the 1000 meter run from Paige Johnston (2:55.05) and Sammy Dow (2:59.77), and 2-3 finish in th 1600 meter run from M.C. Miller (4:59.75) and Kathleen Lautzenheiser (5:01.11) to stop Bethel's hopes of becoming the first team to win four consecutive AAA indoor team state championships. (Photo by John Herzog)    

Two meet records were broken on the first day of events at the VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Championships including one event in the girls' high jump in which three athletes tied the meet record of 5'9" with surprise winner in sophomore Brianna Hudson of Deep Run, Brooke Point's April Sinkler, and defending champion Ashley Gatling of Deep Creek. It was the first time ever that three girls have cleared 5'9" in the same state meet. All three moved into US #3 rankings with their state meet clearances.

As this weekend's VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Championships approaches where state champions will be decided to earn their bragging rights as the best in the state this year in their respective events, lets take a look at past state champions and all-time lists of the VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Track & Field Championships to see where today's top athletes might historically compare.

Performance list for the 2007 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Track & Field Championships to be held Friday and Saturday, March 2nd and 3rd at the George Mason University Fieldhouse in Fairfax, Virginia. MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage from Brandon Miles and John Herzog.

Last year's chase for the boys team title resulted in E.C. Glass winning a relatively low scoring affair among the top teams with 33 points. This year, it appears that it may take at least 40 points to win it all, with Western Branch and Manchester probably having the best chances to top that number. However, stranger things have happened, come state meet time; and with the unpredictability of relay events and the ability of some teams to pile up enough points with just a couple of high scoring individuals, this year's boys meet also appears wide open.

Bethel is the defending state indoor champion and continued on their winning ways with a victory last week at the Eastern Region championships. This year's meet features Bethel as one of the favorites again, but there are a host of other schools with a shot at the team title; including Western Branch, Osbourn Park, Midlothian, Centreville, and possibly Deep Run, Landstown and Deep Creek.