It is regional week in Virginia with 8 indoor regional championships being contested for the Group AAA and Group AA classifications. All of the regionas from the largest classificiation (Group AAA) are being held this weekend on Friday and Saturday. On Wednesday evening at the Region II Championships, Western Albemarle senior Tyler Stutzman (pictured left by David Fleenor) posted an impressive performance on a short 10 laps to a mile indoor track at Fork Union Military Academy's Estes Center. Stutzman won the 1600 meter run in a time of 4:14.33, which easily breaks the facility record of 4:17 held by 2007 Nike Indoor Nationals 800 meter champion Axel Mostrag. Mostrag had broken a record previous held by former prep great Seneca Lassiter at 4:19 to put Stutzman's performance further in a historical perspective. Stutzman is currently the national leader at 3200 meters in 9:05.58. VA 2A Region II Championship Results The Region IV Championships were the earliest held regional meet in Virginia this past Saturday at Virginia Tech and the top performances came from the Blacksburg High School distance runners with their boys 4x800 meter relay team breaking 8 minutes to join roughly a dozen other squads in the country to have dipped under the barrier in 7:58.98. Meanwhile, Blacksburg junior Joanna Stevens broke 5 minutes in the 1600 meter run in 4:58.94 with twin sister Kathleen trailing close behind at 5 flat. VA 2A Region IV Championship Results
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Tyler Stutzman may have not had the performance that he wanted on a short banked track for the Millrose Games high school mile, despite making a valiant effort to push the pace and lead after a slow first half of the race. However, the Western Albemarle senior's performance on Wednesday at the Region II Indoor Track & Field Championships on another short track at the unbanked 160 meter track at Fork Union's Estes Athletic Center showed his true potential by shattering the facility record for the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:14.33 on the 10 laps to a mile track. The previous best times at the Estes Center were 4:17 by Axel Mostrag and 4:19 by Seneca Lassiter to put Stutzman's performance in historical perspective. The Stanford University signee nearly ran a personal best time on the short track as his all-time best of 4:14.20 was recorded last outdoor season at the Dogwood Track Classic. Stutzman was able to find the energy to come back and compete in the 1000 meter run as he added another regional title with a 2:37.47 win. Read More... Region II Indoor T&F Championships Complete Results
Orange County sophomore Ashontae Jackson (pictured above by Ashontae Jackson) is quite a talent and capable of dominating the Region II Championships as a favorite to win three individual titles. Jackson is a top seed in the long jump (17'4.25"), 55 meter dash (7.37), and 300 meter dash (40.92). She will be a heavy favorite in all her events as the 300 meter dash has no other athlete other than Jackson under 43 seconds this season. The Louisa County boys and girls are in great position to make a sweep of the Region II team titles on Wednesday at Fork Union's Estes Athletic Center. The Louisa girls should have a much closer competition with Jefferson District rival Western Albemarle and defending Region II champions Brentsville, while the Louisa boys should be runaway winners in a meet which should be dominated by the Jefferson District schools in the team standings. Read more...
Performance list for the 2009 Region II Indoor Championships to be held February 18th at Fork Union's Estes Athletic Center.