Liberty High School Invitational 2009

A little less than 2 years ago, Melanie Rice (pictured left by Tom Hoerner) ran her first ever 3200m race at the Judy Thomas Invitational as a freshman at Marion High School, finishing with a time of 14:20.27. It’s hard to believe that the same girl ran the #1 3200m time in the state of Virginia this past weekend at Liberty University’s Indoor Invitational, smiling the entire 11:01.58. In fact, if you had told Rice after that first 3200m run that she would be the #1 two-miler in the state her junior year, she wouldn't have believed you herself.

The Stevens twins of Blacksburg have been on a tear at the start of the indoor track season and leading performers on the track for Coach James DeMarco's loaded distance crew. Last weekend at Liberty, Joanna Stevens broke the school record in the 1600 meter run in a personal best time of 5:02 with sister Kathleen Stevens not far behind in third place at 5:05.30. The twins switched their finish order in 1000 meter run on the following day with Kathleen finishing ahead of her sister for the first time in some time with a US #4 and state best time of 2:58.38, while Joanna also broke 3 minutes for the first time ever as well in runner-up at 2:59.04. Each will be featured in the invitational mile race this Saturday at the Virginia Tech Invitational with hopes of pushing towards the sub 5 barrier. One half of the twins in Kathleen is featured in an athlete spotlight interview article to discus their recent stellar performances and the unique sibling relationship of having an equally fast twin teammate.

Natalie Woodford (pictured left by John Herzog) is a rare breed. She runs cross country in the fall. She goes to Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke. The pale skinned blonde does not fit the description of the nation's fastest runner in the 500 meter dash currently, but that is exactly the honor earned by the senior after her 1:15.49 performance at the Liberty High School Invitational. Her gutsy effort resulted in a personal best performance to better her former PR of 1:16.84 by a full second. Immediately as she crossed the line, Woodford crashed to the track and Johnston followed soon after in second place.  "It was a little dramatic, but I guess it's just a tough distance and really takes it all out of you." Read more...

It will no question be a long two days at the Tolsma Track Center as there will be no way around it with a total of 74 schools and 1,700+ athletes expected to compete at this weekend's Liberty High School Invitational. Many teams have taken advantage of the loose or lack thereof entry limitations to bring armies of high school track athletes into Lynchburg. As a result, deep fields should produce deep results and should make this the featured meet of the weekend in Virginia. MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage. Read meet preview by Brandon Miles Pictured left by John Herzog: 2-time AAA state meter hurdles champion Damien Thigpen will see how fast he can fly out any hurdle obstacles in the 300 meter dash on Friday. Thigpen, the state leader in the 55 meter dash at 6.35, will also be a favorite in the 500 on Saturday.