Clarke County's Daniel Callan is one of several returning champions to this weekend's MileStat.com Elite Track Gala. Callan won the rarely contested 2000 meter steeplechase at last year's Gala in 6:27.66. Last year's field only had five brave souls in the first year event, but this year's event has grown much like all the other events with nearly five times the total number of entrants at 23. There are some outstanding runners among the 23 including Callan, who is coming off a state title in the 800 meter run (1:56) and state runner-up in the 1600 (4:24) at the Group A State Meet. Joining Callan are two-time Group A 1600 meter as well as cross country state champion Nathan Brame and two sub 4:20 milers in Andrew Mearns of Jamestown (4:15) and Scott Crews of Rockbridge (4:19) as some of the leading competitors. Times to shoot for are the USATF Junior Nationals qualifier of 6:25 and the Nike Outdoor Nationals qualifier of 6:15. (Photo by John Herzog) Final performance list for the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala to be held Saturday, June 9th at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. Boys high jump competition begins at 2 pm while the remaining field events begin at 3 PM. Running events start at 5 PM with the girls 100 meter hurdles. Approximate meet finish time of 10:30 PM.
Coverage
2nd annual Saturday, June 9th, 2007 Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA "Virginia's Best Against the Rest in the Nation!" The MileStat.com Elite Track Gala will return for its second running on Saturday, June 9th at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. Last year's Gala was a great start to what looks to be a high caliber post-season high school meet to attract great out-of-state talent to compete against some of the best athletes that Virginia has to offer. Last year's meet featured two national champions in Mike Morrison and Katie Doswell and plenty of state champions. Athletes traveled great distances to be part of the inaugrual event with representatives from a total of 11 states and the District of Columbia. The 2007 version of the Gala will be compacted into one day and will feature only individual events. However, there will be on exception to conclude the meet in an all-star distance medley relay. Along with the all-star relay, the meet will feature two unique high school events in the rarely contested high school 5000 meter run and high school 2000 meter steeplechase. Read on for more information...
Register now online by the end of the month of April for the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala to be held Saturday, June 9th at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Virginia and receive an early bird discount of entry fees from $15 to $10 per individual athlete. Meet management is currently actively recruiting some of the best athletes in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Region to come into Richmond on June 9th to face the best that Virginia has to offer. Send an email ask for the meet registration code to get started with online registration here
Just a reminder that today is the final day that you can register for the Gala and be locked in at the early bird special for $10/athlete (regardless of # of events). It does not mean that I need the entry fee by today. I only need you to register for the meet, which means to email me for the 5 digit code at milestat@gmail.com and then go to http://www.hocorunning.com/meetmanager/login.php and sign up to enter in the meet. You'll be prompted for the code once you have created an account with the entry system and attempt to make entries for the 2007 Gala. If you do not register by tomorrow, it will be $15/athlete until Thursday, May 31st. After May 31st, there is a $10 late fee to make it $25/athlete. I must receive entry fee from the early bird registrants though prior to May 31st or you will have to pay $25/athlete regardless.
Photo by John Nepolitan of DyeStat.com Big news in a recent development for the second annual MileStat.com Elite Track Gala to be held on Saturday, June 9th in Richmond, Virginia at Sports Backers Stadium is the committment of the nationally caliber track program at Eleanor Roosevelt in Maryland bringing in their top girls to go after the 2004 national high school distance medlrey relay record of 11:33.43 set by Bay Shore High School of New York. They will be part of a special final event at the Gala in with an All-Star DMR being contested as the meet's final event. It is going to take an All-Star relay out of the Virginians to run with the Eleanor Roosevelt girls as they are coming off a huge win at the Penn Relays in the 4x800 meter relay in which the girls from Greenbelt, Maryland recorded a US #3 all-time performance of 8:51.19. Meet director Brandon Miles will be actively recruiting top talent for the All-Star DMR as well as the other events for the Gala from now until the meet's date on June 9th. More meet meet information can be found on the meet website and athletes can register for the meet online now. Email the meet director for a 5 digit registration code to enter.
Now that the state meets are over . . . what will NC's top athletes do?
If you are difficulties accessing the online entry sytem for the MileStat.com Elite Track Gala at hocorunning.com, no need to fear in trying to get your entries in on time. Simply email me your entries if the system is down (otherwise if it is up follow the original entry instructions). Also you can pay your entry fees online now for the meet through paypal. Check out the official meet website for more information on the meet (especially to see what events are being contested).
An initial performance list to the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala will be released on Sunday. More entries have been streaming in over the state meet weekend from an already adequate entry numbers (400 entrants in 30 individual events) from the last entry #'s update on Thursday, May 31st. We are expecting to finish with over 500 entrants. Final day to register for the meet is Tuesday, June 5th. More state champion, All-American, and All-State caliber athletes have signed up over the weekend as well as indoors national champion in the 400 and 200 meter dash, Robert E. Lee senior Sean Holston. Holston will be looking to tuneup for nationals in the open 200 meter dash for a fast time in a meet that has wind gauges and allows 1/4 inch spikes as well as run 400 meter leg for the Northern Region's All-Star Distance Medley Relay at the Gala for a fun ending in competive, yet laidback meet atmosphere. Other All-Star DMR opening 1200 meter leg better build a lead for their 400 meter legs because Holston is coming! Online registration will remain open until midnight on Tuesday at http://www.hocorunning.com/meetmanager/login.php Email us for a 5 digit pass code to gain online entry access to the Gala.
Performance list for the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala as of entries received 3:00 PM on Sunday, June 3rd. Final deadline to enter is Tuesday, June 5th.
For those going into the steeplechase virtually blind as to what to expect this weekend at the MileStat.com Gala, here is some helpful information on the steeplechase event such as the placement of the barriers, the barrier heights, race techniques, among other sources of information.
The MileStat.com Elite Track Gala has grown greatly from its first year into becoming one of the top high school post-season meets on the East Coast. The meet will feature some outstanding athletes including National champions, All-Americans, Footlocker finalists, and state champions. The events will definitely be spectator and track enthusiast friendly with the level of competition as well as some unique and exciting events as part of the meet. The featured event of the Gala will be the All-Star distance medley relay as the evening's final running event. The distance medley relay for the girls will have two stacked Virginia All-Star teams (led by Catherine White anchoring one of the relays) looking to push a team of stars from one high school in Eleanor Roosevelt of Maryland as the Blazin' Raiders (club name) are gunning for the high school national record in the event of 11:33.42 set by Bay Shore High School of New York in 2004 at Nike Outdoor Nationals. Meanwhile, the DMR for the boys has stayed true to the original intentions of the event of regional and classification pride with teams from the AAA's Central, Eastern, Northern, and Northwest Region as well as two All-Star relays from Group AA and A. A total of seven milers with times of 4:16 or faster will be on the six relays in a star studded event. Pictured to left by David Fleenor: Blacksburg's Peter Dorrell and Heritage's Nick McLaughlin battled it out to the line for the AA state title last weekend. Now this weekend at the Gala, both will be battling together to bring home the All-Star DMR title for the Group AA boys.
Highlighting the 1st two weekends of June... Easton junior Chanelle Price ran 2:04.24 (first reported as sub-2:04) to win the open 800 at the 2nd Annual Island Games in NY vs. an elite field. It was Springer in a rabbited mile at the 2nd West Chester Henderson Distance Festival on a hot, humid evening. The race was loaded, and boasted a rabbits for the 1/2 and the 3/4. Springer went :60, 2:01 and 3:04 before a 28 first 200 caught up to him, splitting 67 for a 4:11.17. Henderson's Carly Hamond won the girls' mile in just over 5:02, with Boiling Springs' Kara Millhouse within a second. Story by Denny Dyroff of the Daily Local in West Chester, photo gallery and select pix in the complete story. Also this weekend, the journey to the USATF Junior Olympics begins with the regional qualifiers for the Mid-Atlantic region. At the 2nd MileStat Track Gala in Virginia, Cumberland Valley junior Juan Steward (in photo by John Herzog, MileStat.com) finished 6th in the 200, going 21.81, his 3rd best ever. Boiling Springs junior Anna Bixler took 4th in the 400 hurdles and 8th in the 100 hurdles. And PA athletes have made the journey to the Golden West Invitational in California. Winning performances at NCAA Division I Outdoor Champs by Nicole Leach and Justin Ryncavage, plus other top performances by PA high school grads. At Sunday's Golden West Invitational in California, Cardinal O'Hara junior Ed Buck was 8th in 4:20.50 in the seeded mile, while Bishop Shanahan junior Chris Bodary was 13th. Bloomsburg soph Fallon Heddings took 8th in the triple jump. In the discus, Coughlin senior Erik Kemmerer took 10th. Last weekend at the Eastern States Championships @ Iona Prep in New York, Cardinal O'Hara's Jason Johnson leapt 45'+ to win the triple jump. The O'Hara boys were 2nd in the 4x200. For the PA girls, it was Archbishop Prendergast 2nd in the 4x1600. Prendie's Caitlin Chambers captured 4th in the 800.
The second annual MileStat.com Elite Track Gala will be contested tomorrow at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Virginia with an excellent assembly of some of Virginia's best athletes as well as decent number of outstanding out-of-staters making the trip to compete in the post-season event. The meet once again has attracted a high quality field including the likes of national champion sprinter Sean Holston of Robert E. Lee as well as arguably the nation's top girls' high school track program in the United States in the Blazin' Raiders from Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt, Maryland. From the start of the boys' high jump competition at 2 pm and the remaining field events at 3 pm to the conclusion of the meet seven or eight hours later with the All-Star distance medley relays, there is plenty of great competition for spectators to enjoy. Pictured right by Mark Keenen for NCRunners.com: Dylan Ferris, a junior from East Forsyth High School in North Carolina leads a very deep 800 meter field assembled for the Gala with 11 entrants under 1:57. Ferris is a current US #8 performer in the event a 1:51.48 and last weekend ran a US #2 time in the mile of 4:08.1. Girls preview on the way!
While the boys should see a few US top 5 and US top 10 performances from likes of Sean Holston in the 200 meter dash and Dylan Ferris in the 800 meter run among others, the girls at the Gala have two events in which the US high school national records could be seriously threatened or at least US #1 performances are likely even if the record attempts fall short with the Blazin' Raiders (Eleanor Roosevelt MD) in the night's final event in the distance medley relay and Northside senior Catherine White (pictured left by David Fleenor) in one of the first races of the evening in the 2000 meter steeplechase.
Highlights: 1:49.27 US #1 800 by Dylan Ferris of East Forsyth NC, Eleanor Roosevelt MD girls US #2 11:43.93 DMR and defeat the VA All-Stars (11:53.24), 4:34.76 US #9 1500 by Alison Smith of Mac Los Track Club MD, 3:56.13 US #8 1500 by Peter Dorrell of Blacksburg VA, 6:57.53 US #4 2K steeplechase by Catherine White of Northside VA, US #6 1:01.53 400H by Tameka Jameson of Eleanor Roosevelt MD,Group AA All-Stars (10:17.46) anchored by Peter Dorrell hold off a Mike Spooner anchored Northern Region squad (10:18.71) Gala Complete Results Gala Photo Gallery by John Herzog More to come from the Gala and thanks to all who participated, worked, attended, and made the Gala possible as well as successful in its second annual event! It was exciting to see the stars come together for the All-Star DMR. I hope the athletes and spectators enjoyed the race as much as I did as a track enthusiast! Wow what a loaded race! All-Star DMR Top 2 Teams: Group AA & Northern Region Photos by John Herzog. Select gallery of highlights from the Gala are now posted online with a large gallery of photos as well as meet video to come!
Video of the US #1 1:49.27 800 by Dylan Ferris at the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala.
Race video and splits of each leg for the Eleanor Roosevelt girls, Virginia "A" Stars, and Virginia "AA" Stars from the MileStat.com Elite Track Gala's All-Star Girls DMR.
Unofficial splits taken from video of the All-Star boys DMR at the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala. Video of the race as well as from other events from Gala will be posted soon. Splits for the DMR champions from Group A (pictured above by John Herzog): Andrew Mearns 3:12.2 1200m, Ronquis Posey 49.3 400m, Nick McLaughlin 1:56.6 800m, and Peter Dorrell 4:18.3 1600m.
Video of the running events from the 2007 MileStat.com Elite Track Gala.