Grafton senior David Gunnerson leads an impressive group of distance runners at the Group AA school in Yorktown, Virginia which has improved itself to have one of the best relay quartets in Virginia this past indoor season. Grafton boys 4x800 meter relay won the Group AA state title three weeks ago and last weekend turned in two swift times at Nike Indoor Nationals. Grafton posted one of the fastest DMR times all-time indoor in state history with their 10:09 7th place finish, while they broke 8 minutes for the first time in the 4x800 meter relay. Gunnerson individually won his first individual state title this season in the 1000 meter run, which is an event that he is ranked among the VA top 25 all-time list in. After bettering his all-time best in the Nike Indoor Nationals open 800 with a 1:55.21 performance in his third race of the meet, Gunnerson now eyes another title in the outdoor 800 as well as posting some more great times with his Grafton teammates including Group AA state cross country champion Kyle King. Read more for interview with David Gunnerson...
Coverage
Photo by David Bradshaw Travis Hudson of Christiansburg High School is one of Virginia's most versatie athletes as while he excels most in the high jump as a Group AA state indoor and outdoor champion with a 6'9" all-time best, Hudson is very competitive in the long and triple jump along with the hurdles to make him a big point scorer for the Blue Demons. His all-around performances at last week's Group AA State Indoor Championships played a huge factor in leading to Christiansburg defeating their district and regional rival Blacksburg for the team state title. Hudson will test his versatility in competition this week at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City as an entrant in the pentathlon. Hudson took the time to speak with MileStat.com intern Elisabeth Greenwood last week in an exclusive interview. Read more...
Blacksburg might be losing two great runners and twins to graduation after this spring in Kathleen and Joanna Stevens, but Coach James DeMarco has another star coming up and running faster than the twins did as a sophomore in Hannah Brown. Brown (pictured right by John Herzog) has ran personal bests under 5 minutes for 1600 meters and under 3 minutes for 1000 meters this indoor season and last week won her second consecutive Group AA state indoor 500 meter dash title. Brown will be running as a key leg on Blacksburg's 4xmile relay this weekend at the Nike Indoor Nationals, which the team will be attempting to break 20 minutes and break the national record held by Saratoga Springs. MileStat.com intern Elisabeth Greenwood interviewed the Blacksburg sophomore Brown last week as she prepares for Boston with her teammates. Read more...
Photo by John Herzog Amber Church, a senior at Pulaski County in Dublin, Virginia, has hurdled a lot in her high school career. Literally. Church is arguably one of the best all-around athletes to come out of recent AA State track meet history. Just last week she single-handedly led her team to a fourth place title in the Group AA State meet, competing in a total of six events. Church competed in the 55 meter dash, 55 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and 300 meter dash, earning three individual titles. The 2008 Nike Outdoor Nationals emerging elite 100 meter hurdles champion will return to competition next weekend in Boston for the Nike Indoor Nationals. The defending Group AA 100 meter hurdles champion Church aims to sweep the hurdle races (100 and 300 meters) which alluded her last year as a close runner-up in the 300 hurdles at this June’s outdoor state meet in Harrisonburg. MileStat.com intern Elisabeth Greenwood recently interviewed Church, who is, according to her coach Jamie McCarty, “one of the greatest athletes in Pulaski County High School history.” Read more for interview with Church...
We are still in the process of capturing, editing, and uploading a great abundance of photo and video from this past weekend's VHSL State Indoor Championships in Hampton and Lynchburg. Check back throughout the week as photos and videos continued to be added from various contributors. AAA State Meet Video - A total of 106 videos are now uploaded from the meet! All interviews (20 total), running events (41 total), & field events (15 total) videos have been added from Brandon Miles (76 grand total). All Saturday race videos (30 total) from Andy Paisley are now posted . More footage coming from Ron Bayton. AA State Meet Video - 27 race videos (all running events!) added by Tayloe Skelton. AAA State Meet Photo Galleries Ryan Kelly Gallery - 2,923 photos total. All photos from both Friday and Saturday events! Nicoll Knudsen Gallery - 956 photos total. All photos from Saturday events.. Brandon Miles Gallery - Many more photos still to be added. AA State Meet Photo Galleries Frank Locascio Gallery - 301 photos currently posted. More to be added soon. David Bradshaw Gallery - 377 total photos posted.
Kathleen Stevens (Blacksburg) 2:57.47
Performance list for the 2010 VHSL Group AA State Indoor T&F Championships to be held Saturday, February 27th at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.
Photo by Frank Locascio The Christiansburg boys claimed the 2010 Group AA state indoor title by a one point margin over their River Ridge District rival Blacksburg with a team score of 54 points. Blacksburg needed a second place finish in the 4x400 to move ahead into first for the final team standings, but Harrisonburg nipped them for second in the event to give Christiansburg the title. Travis Hudson led Christiansburg in winning the high jump (6'9"), while also scoring points in the hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Teammates Chris Robbins was a state runner-up in the 55 meter hurdles and Andy Eddleton also garnered a second place finish in the 1600 meter run, while completing a solid double with a third place showing in the 3200. The Blacksburg girls won as expected with a team score of 81 points as the next closest team was Western Albemarle with 59 points. Joanna Stevens broke Catherine White's two state meet records in the 1600 and 3200 with her times of 4:50.07 and 10:29.70. Twin sister Kathleen was a close runner-up in the 1600 (4:50.11), while coming back to take the state title in the 1000 (2:57.47). Amber Church was the lone athlete to win more than 2 individual state titles on Saturday at Liberty University as the Pulaski County star in her three victories clocked a time of 8.42 in the 55 meter hurdles, cleared 5'4" in the high jump, and leaped to a mark of 17'11" in the long jump. She also was a state runner-up in the 55 meter dash (7.40) and placed 7th in the triple jump. Pulaski County placed fourth in the final team standings thanks to the individual efforts of Church. Double champions included Ashontae Jackson of Orange County in the 55 (7.30) and 300 (41.12), Terrance Morse of Amherst County in the boys 500 (1:06.57) and (35.68), Colin Mearns of Jamestown in the 1600 (4:18.33) and 3200 (9:29.36). VHSL Group AA State Championships Coverage - Complete results posted, Photos, videos, summaries, and interviews to come throughout this week!