Pearl Watts' report
The Westfield boys won their first ever team title with senior Lashawn
Merritt of Woodrow Wilson easily providing the outstanding individual boys
performance while the Bethel girls, led by sophomore Francena McCorory, captured
the girls team crown for the fifth time in the past seven years to highlight the
2004 AAA Outdoor Track and Field championships held this past Friday and
Saturday at Todd Stadium in Newport News.
On the boys side, Westfield racked up 78 points, the most points by a
winning squad since 1991. Deep Creek, in pursuit of their fourth straight outdoor
team championship, was a strong second with 65.5 points while Great Bridge
grabbed the third place trophy with their 46.5 point total.
The Bethel girls, even with a disqualification in the 800 run and a
collision in the girls 4x400 relay in which they came in with the fastest time and
subsequently did not score in the event, easily outdistanced the opposition with
their team total of 54 points as they won their seventh outdoor title in the
past 14 years.
Kellam, on the strength of senior Natalie Sherbak's showing, finished
second with 38 points followed closely by Lake Braddock and Tallwood in a tie for
third with 34 points while Potomac placed fifth with 33 points, followed by
Deep Creek in sixth with 30 points.
Because of a steady downpour which engulfed the Tidewater region with
upwards of two inches of rain on Friday, the state meet was a one day affair, save
for the 4x800 meter relays which were held Friday evening.
The girls 4x8 was run in two sections beginning at 7:10 p.m. on Friday with
both sections having to endure a steady rain and winds in the 20 mile per
hour range. Kellam, always a strong contender the past few years in the event,
captured their first ever outdoor 4x8 title as senior Natalie Sherbak easily
moved from third to first on her anchor leg and split 2:15 as the squad which
also included Audrey Hand, Tara Connor and Jessica Smith won in 9:30.92.
The boys 4x8 was also run in two sections, only to see the first section
halted on the first leg due to lightning. After a 30 minute postponement, the
second seeded (fastest) section lined up in a light rain with windy conditions
and the Westfield quartet of Chris Courson, Chris Black, James Scheiner and
David Groff got the Bulldogs off on the right foot as they held off a challenge
from J.R. Tucker to win in 7:58.39.
Saturday's schedule brought about a challenge for some multi-eventers as
all the field events were to be a same day affair, but it did not seem to exact
too much of a toll on most sprinters and hurdlers as the only qualifying heats
were one round to the finals in the girls and boys 100 meter dash, the girls
100 hurdles and the boys 110 high hurdles with the 200 and 400 meter dashes
along with the 300 hurdles becoming finals based on time.
Wilson's Lashawn Merritt, attempting to become only the third sprinter in
VHSL 1-A (1946-70), AAA (1971-present) history to win the boys 100 meter, 200
meter and 400 dashes at the state championships, looked primed early as he
earned oohs and aahs from the crowd with the fastest time in the morning's 100
meter qualifying rounds in an eased up 10.66 with a -0.9 wind reading.
In the afternoon session, Merritt came back to win the 100 dash finals in
10.47 seconds with a legal wind of 1.2 meters per second to break the 1989 meet
record of 10.51 set by Rodney Bridges of T.C. Williams. The East Carolina
bound sprinter followed that up with a win in the 400 dash as he took a slight
lead over the field in the first 200 meters, maintained the lead through the
curve and then roared through the homestretch to win by about 15 meters in a
comfortable 47.69.
Merritt capped off the day by blistering the field in the 200 dash to the
tune of 21.13 to set his second meet record as he just got under the old meet
record of 20.9 hand timed set by Curtis Riddick of First Colonial in 1980
(F.A.T. conversion of 21.14). Merritt now joins Billy Schroding of Newport News
High in 1965 and Ronnie Harris of Albemarle High in 1975 as the only athletes to
capture the sprint triple.
Afterwards, Merritt was obviously pleased with his three victories but felt
he could have performed a little bit better saying, "I let the rest of the
field dictate the race at the beginning of the 400 meters, I usually go out a
lot harder than that in the first part of the race and then in the 200 it was
hard to get a good push off the track because it had softened up from the rains
of the day before."
Merritt's next competition will be the adidas Outdoor National
Championships in Raleigh, NC on June 18-19 where he said he is planning on running in both
the 200 dash and 400 dash events.
The rescheduling due to the weather also caused Louis Corum of Westfield to
try and aid the Bulldogs in a triple of his own in the field events and the
senior was able to respond. Corum, a stellar linebacker on Westfield's state
championship football team and also a starter on their basketball team, provided
24 points in the field events for Westfield.
Corum improved on his personal best in the discus by almost nine feet as
he won with a throw at 158-3 and finished second in the shot put at 56-1 with
sophomore Joseph Jones of Great Bridge winning on the final throw of the
competition at 56-8. Corum showed his all around talents are not limited to the
throwing events as he achieved a personal best in the high jump with his third
place finish at 6-6 with Deep Creek junior Raphael Hall edging senior Jerome
Miller of Colonial Forge for the title with both Hall and Miller clearing 6-10.
Westfield notched an additional eight points in the field events (scoring
through eight places on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis) with senior David Lewis
finishing second in the pole vault at 15-6. Just as he had at the indoor state
meet, Lewis was once again locked in a duel with Daniel Magness of Great Bridge
with Magness once again having the edge as he won on a jumpoff at 15-6 after
Magness and Lewis were tied at the end of the regular competition.
After each vaulter had cleared 15-6 and then missed on their three attempts
at 16-0, they then had an additional try at 16-0 and were again unsuccessful.
The bar was then lowered to 15-9 with each missing on the one attempt at that
height before the bar was then lowered to 15-6 with Magness able to clear the
height and gain the victory. Great Bridge continued their overall domination
of the boys vault as they went 1-3-4 and tied for sixth to score 23.5 pointsin
the event.
Westfield put up their additional points in the running events with James
Scheiner finishing fourth in the 1,600 run (4:20.95) and David Groff also
fourth in the 800 run (1:57.41) and placing second in the 1,600 relay with Philippe
Tondereau, Alvin Tondereau, Chris Black and Chris Courson in 3:22.83.
However, Westfield seemed to get their biggest boost in the 300 hurdles from twin
seniors Philippe Tondereau (39.13) and Alvin Tondereau (39.33) as they broke away
from a tight field which included four other hurdlers who had visions of
winning, with a late rush over the final two hurdles to go 1-2 in the event.
Boys runnerup Deep Creek did not go down easily in their quest for a fourth
straight outdoor title. In addition to Hall's victory in the high jump, the
Hornets also won the 4x100 relay with the team of Gerald Griffin, John Hyman,
Keshaun Jones and Antwain Carey (42.03) and the 4x400 relay with Keonta
Coleman, Quentin Moore, Brandon Custis and Travis Stallings on board (3:21.52).
Deep Creek also received a 2-3 finish in the 400 dash with senior Stallings
(49.46) and sophomore Moore (49.77) and a second place in the long jump from
senior Carlos Morales (23-1) as the Hornets actually exceeded their point
total this year over their winning totals of the past three years.
The other multiple winner on the boys side was senior Christo Landry of
Thomas Jefferson Science and Tech. Although the distance standout has had a
standout career, Landry came into his final state championship lacking an invidual
title either indoors or outdoors or in cross country.
Landry was not to be denied on Saturday as he broke away from the field on
the final lap of the 1,600 run with a 62 second split to win the event by
over five seconds in breezy conditions at 4:13.39.
Landry, bound for William and Mary, then came back in the 3,200 run and
after the field was bunched together through the first 1,600 meters at 4:45;
Landry and co-race favorite Hari Mix of Albemarle stepped up the pace.
Mix and Landry started to stretch the field with their next 800 meters in
2:19. Landry then clocked 2:09 on his final 800 as he finally overtook Mix at
the beginning of the final straightaway to win in 9:13.74 with Mix the
runnerup in 9:15.18 and E.C. Glass sophomore Patterson Wilhelm closing well for third
place at 9:17.72.
Other winners on the boys side included sophomore Chris Bell of Granby, who
won the 110 hurdles for the second straight year, this time in 14.31 and next
year could become the first ever in VHSL history to win the high hurdles
state title three times.
Hayfield junior Brian Fussell broke away from a tight pack in the 800 with
the strongest finish among a group of five runners to win in 1:55.97 with J.R.
Tucker junior Thuom Mathiang the runnerup in 1:56.10 and Centreville senior
James Heiner third (1:56.94).
In the long jump, Landstown sophomore William Harvin continued his solid
season with a winning leap of 23-5.25 and in the triple jump junior Dionne
McClain of Granby immediately followed up Jerome Miller of Colonia Forge's effort
of 48-2.25 with his winning jump of 49-1 with senior Delonte Wilson of
G.W.-Danville in third place with a personal best of 47-11.
On the girls side, Bethel continued their recent domination at the top of
the girls team scoreboard. The Bruins were once again led by sophomore
Francena McCorory as she used her swift feet to have a hand in 30 of Bethel's winning
team total of 54 points.
In the 100 meter dash, McCorory won the event for the second straight year,
this time just a bit over the legal wind limit at 2.7mps in 11.83 as she
bested the Potomac duo of juniors Kharya Brown (2nd; 11.95) and Fallon Hutcherson
(3rd; 12.12). McCorory, along with former Bethel stars Kandis Harris and Ara
Towns, makes the Bruins the winners of the 100 dash title six of the last seven
years.
McCorory also captured the 200 dash for the second consecutive year as she
easily pulled away in the final 50 meters to win in a swift 24.20, just one
tenth over the legal allowable wind limit for records of 2.0 mps and becomes the
number five performer all time for state meet finals.
In between the two individual dash events, McCorory anchored the squad
which also included Crystal Carrington, Britni Spruill and Christina Ford to a
victory in the 4x100 relay in 48.45 as Bethel won that event for the sixth time
in the last seven years also.
Bethel also added important second place finishes from seniors Christina
Ford in the long jump (18-4.5) and Britni Spruill in the 400 dash (57.39) with
Spruill also adding a fourth place in the long jump (18-0).
Team runnerup Kellam had senior Natalie Sherbak play a part in 30 of her
squad's 38 points. Besides anchoring the 4x8 to victory on Friday evening,
Sherbak also came up with two individual titles on Saturday afternoon. Sherbak
first won the 1,600 run in 4:57.16 as she was the early pacesetter through 400
meters, held the lead through 800 meters at 2:28, maintained the lead at 1,200
meters in 3:43 and then pulled away from the field on the final lap to win by
over five seconds.
In the 800 run Sherbak was involved in one of the most exciting races of
the day as stayed among the leaders through the first 600 meters and then pulled
even with Bethel's Shakirra Pinnock for the lead. Pinnock and Sherbak
battled stride for stride around the final curve and down the homestretch with
Pinnock finally pulling ahead by a step and maintaining her lead for the final
30 meters.
However, Pinnock was eventually disqualified for interfering with another
runner early in the race's first lap with Sherbak becoming the winner at
2:15.64. Kellam's other points came on a pair of fifth place finishes by sophomore
Tara O'Connor in the 3,200 run (11:08.95) and senior Audrey Hand in the 1,600
run (5:06.26).
Tallwood's tie for third place was aided largely by senior Faraign Giles as
she was involved in 28 of her team's 34 points. Giles won the 400 dash with
her typical closing rush in the final 100 meters in 55.61 to complement her 400
victory at the state meet two years ago.
Giles was also second in the 200 dash (24.84) and anchored the Tallwood
team which included Brendette Walker, Shannon Walker and third place high jump
finisher Jasmine Gates (5-6) to victory in the 4x400 relay at 3:54.66.
In the girls 4x4, Giles received the baton in third place in a hotly
contested race which saw five teams from the Eastern Region: Bethel, Kecoughtan,
Tallwood, Salem and Hampton, battling each other for the entire race and each
having the lead at some point in the race.
On the anchor leg, Giles was closing well on leaders Bethel and Kecoughtan
when both the Bethel and Kecoughtan anchor runners got their legs entangled
and went down near the end of the final curve. Giles was able to sidestep the
two runners in time and regather her momentum to propel Tallwood to their second
consecutive win in the state 4x4 relay.
Northern Region champion Lake Braddock also scored 34 points to tie
Tallwood for third place with juniors Ashley Haislip and Kelsey Snowden leading the
way. Haislip had a pair of second place finishes as she went 5-6 in the high
jump with Deep Creek freshman Ashley Gatling the winner at 5-8.
Haislip continues her development in the pole vault with her runnerup
finish at 10-0 with Patrick Henry-Roanoke freshman Nancy Baar also going 10-0 for
the win and Mills Godwin freshman Anne Marie Gordon also notching a height of
10-0 for third. Snowden was also part of a pair of second places as she was
individually the runnerup in the 800 run (2:16.82) and anchored the Bruins to
second in the 4x800 relay (9:34.53).
Hermitage sophomore Queen Harrison had a day full of ups and downs which
fortunately ended on the upside. Harrison began her day with a victory in the
long jump at 18-11.75 and followed that up with a second place finish in the
triple jump (39-10.25) with Salem senior Shayla Jemmott the winner at 40-0.
Harrison, one of the favorites in the 300 hurdles along with Hampton
freshman Tierra Brown, went out extremely fast in the 300 hurdles and was the clear
leader after five of the eight hurdles. Between the fifth and sixth hurdles
Brown reached for another gear, found it, and caught Harrison between the sixth
and seventh hurdles.
Harrison then crashed the seventh barrier very hard and went down in a heap
as Brown went on to win the race in a very good time of 43.03 and the other
six hurdlers also went by Harrison, who was still laying on the ground.
Harrison, with the trainer nearby and other members of meet management
close at hand in case she needed medical assistance, was given her chance to
recover and the Hermitage sophomore gamely rose to her feet and finished the race,
actually clearing the final hurdle cleanly amidst a fine round of applause
from the appreciative crowd.
With no outside interference and no disqualification for not completing
the 300 hurdles, Harrison then came back less than an hour later to gamely place
fourth in the 200 dash (25.37).
Other field event winners included a pair of Central Region sophomores as
Kathy Howard of Lee-Davis, seeded third coming into the shot put, won with a
toss of 40-1 while Manchester's Jennifer Marinacci came into the discus throw as
the number five seed but responded with a personal best of 118-4 to claim the
victory in the disc.
Other winners on the track included Lakeland senior Andrea Wheeler in the
100 hurdles at 14.49 and Hayfield junior Melissa Dewey in the 3,200 run. After
a somewhat upsetting sixth place finish in the 1,600 run at 5:07.60, Dewey
matched up with Midlothian junior Amanda Patterson in the 3,200 run (2nd;
10:54.09) and finally started to pull away in the final 600 meters, closing very well
to the tune of 10:42.70 to become the number five performer in state meet
history.
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