Central Region - Girls

The Raiders' coach can thank a veteran star, Caroline Harvey, a new

event, the pole vault, and plenty of help from some converted basketball players for being able to outpoint defending champ Douglas Freeman, 68.5 to 68, last night at Hermitage.

"It can't get any closer than that," said Triemplar, after watching Freeman fail to get a necessary sixth place, or higher, in the final event -- the 1,600-meter relay.

Had Freeman gotten sixth, or higher, instead of seventh, the Rebels would have overtaken Triemplar's Raiders for regional top honors.

"At least we kept it in the Freeman family," said Rebels coach Mark Harvey. "Jim and I were classmates at Freeman, and we've been friends for 30 years."

Atlee had won three previous indoor titles, but never an outdoor crown until last night.

"We had our chances, outdoors, in the past, but we had a couple of injuries in there that got in the way," said the Atlee coach.

Harvey, the brilliant junior, took second in the long jump, third in the 100, eighth in the triple jump, and anchored the Raiders' first-place 400-meter relay team.

"It's an individual sport, but it means more when your team wins, too," said Harvey.

Harvey could have left after her final event to watch her older brother, Keith, play for Atlee in the Region baseball semifinals in Colonial Heights. Instead, she stayed to root for her teammates.

"If we were going to get the trophy, I wanted to be here," she said.

Atlee got 15 points in the pole vault, a new event, as Vika Osipenko took first, at 9-6, and Kristin Barcus finished fourth. Freeman also benefited, scoring nine points in the vault.

Other converted basketballers scoring for Atlee were discus thrower Rasheeda Miller, shot-putter/

jumper Lauren Anderson, hurdler Alice Cross and vaulter Barcus.

While Atlee took team honors, the individual star was undeniably Lashawn Gee of Dinwiddie High.

The North Carolina-bound athlete won the 100, 100 hurdles, 300 intermediate hurdles and long jump to help the Generals score 58 points and finish in a tie for third with L.C. Bird and Thomas Jefferson.

"I think I'm going to cry," said Gee. "I'm going to miss my teammates, and my coaches, and this whole program so much . . . I surprised myself today, and I couldn't be happier."

Gee now has a total of 14 regional individual titles -- eight outdoors and six indoors. The record for most regional outdoor titles is nine, held by former Highland Springs standout Kim Townes.

Atlee led Freeman, 68.5 to 51,

heading into the 14th event, the 1,600-meter run. The Rebels made a hard charge with Elizabeth Bugg taking first, in a spirited homestretch duel with Kerin Lanyi of Thomas Jefferson/Governor's School, and Amy Street finished fourth.

The top eight finishers in each individual event and the top three relay teams advance to next week's state Group AAA meet at Norfolk State University.

Team scores and key -- 1. Atlee (A) 68.5, 2. Douglas Freeman (DSF) 68, 3. (tie) L.C. Bird (LCB), Dinwiddie (Din), Thomas Jefferson/Governor's School (TJ/GS) 58, 6. Petersburg (Pete) 44, 7. Manchester (Man) 37, 8. Varina (V) 36, 9. James River (JR) 32, 10. Hopewell (Hope) 31, 11. John Marshall (JM) 22, 12. Monacan (Mon) 20, 13. Hermitage (Herm) 19, 14. Mills Godwin (MG) 18, 15. J.R. Tucker (JRT) 16, 16. Huguenot (Hug) 15, 17. Clover Hill (CH) 13, 18. Henrico (Hen) 10, 19. (tie) Midlothian (Mid), Lee-Davis (LD) 9, 22. J.F. Kennedy (JFK) 6, 23. Thomas Dale (TD) 3.5, 24. Highland Springs (HS) 3, 25. Colonial Heights (CH) 2.

Shot put -- 1. Latoya Porter (Man) 38-3; 2. Rashida Doyle (MG) 37-5 1/2; 3. Danielle Hoggard (LCB) 36-9 1/2; 4. Johnetta Pressley (TJ/GS) 36-3; 5. Ayanna Jones (TJ/GS) 36-3; 6. Lauren Anderson (A) 35-6; 7. Emily Bates (CH) 35-0; 8. Erica Avie (Man) 34-8 1/2.

Pole vault -- 1. Vika Osipenko (A) 9-6; 2. (tie) Jowanna Holmes (Din), Shannon Hughes (Din) 8-0; 4. Kristin Barcus (A) 8-0; 5. Katherine Foege (DSF) 8-0; 6. Melissa Tremblay (DSF) 7-6; 7. (tie) Kim Gunst (DSF), Courtney (DSF), Courtney Walsh (DSF), Karen Bush (JRT) 7-0.

Triple jump -- 1. Char Lewis (JM) 37-6 1/4; 2. Lauren Anderson (A) 36-11 1/4; 3. Shontrease Fields (LCB) 36-3; 4. Stephanie Fields (TJ/GS) 36-2 1/4; 5. LaShawn Gee (Din) 36-2; 6. Genevieve Keen (CH) 35-9 3/4; 7. Kellie Wells (JR) 35-5 3/4; 8. Caroline Harvey (A) 35-0 1/2.

100 -- 1. LaShawn Gee (Din) 12.34; 2. Natasha Peterson (Hope) 12.37 3. Caroline Harvey (A) 12.41; 4. Ebonie Jones (LCB) 12.47; 5. Natasha Peyton (LCB) 12.57; 6. Cassandra Walker (Herm) 12.61; 7. Nicole Sample (Hope) 12.84; 8. Dione Guy (TD) 12.94.

100 hurdles -- 1. LaShawn Gee (Din) 14.52; 2. Kellie Wells (JR) 14.82; 3. Syrita Major (JRT) 15.02; 4. Shontrease Smith (LCB) 15.36; 5. Ralisha Alexander (Hen) 15.49; 6. Stephanie Fields (TJ/GS) 15.92; 7. Vika Osipenko (A) 16.12; 8. Caroline Oqunware (LCB) 16.16.

400 -- 1. Stephanie Walker (V) 57.15; 2. Nicole Cook

(Pete) 57.39; 3. Rachelle Silas (Pete) 59.35; 4. Pam Scott (Herm) 60.12; 5. Namtasha Joyner (JFK) 60.49; 6. Tierra Williams (LCB) 61.59; 7. Vernell Silas (Pete) 62.16.

1,600 -- 1. Elizabeth Bugg (DSF) 5:09.43; 2. Laura Wood (Man) 5:23.27; 3. Jeannie Addison (TJ/GS) 5:23.87; 4. Jessica Ellis (LCB) 5:27.04; 5. Rhonda Shelton (LD) 5:27.11; 6. Priscilla Wallace (HS) 5:27.95; 7. Jessica Hammack (Man) 5:28.81; 8. Lindsay Vandyke (JR) 5:40.26.

400 relay -- 1. Atlee (Harvey, Osipenko, Conway, Anderson) 48.37; 2. L.C. Bird 48.84; 3. Hopewell 49.78; 4. John Marshall 50.91; 5. James River 51.26; 6. Varina 51.40; 7. Manchester 51.68; 8. J.R. Tucker 51.78.

1,600 relay -- 1. Petersburg (Silas, Silas, Cook, Toran) 4:00; 2. Varina 4:04.21; 3. Huguenot 4:07.01; 4. Hermitage 4:7.31; 5. Thomas Jefferson/Governor's School 4:09.11; 6. Midlothian 4:09.21; 7. Douglas Freeman 4:10.25; 8. John Marshall 4:14.16.

3,200 relay -- 1. Thomas Jefferson/Governor's School (Dickerson, Fuller, Morris, Lanyi) 9:51.06; 2. Manchester 9:59.63; 3. Douglas Freeman 10:05.30; 4. Lee-Davis 10:10.28; 5. Mills Godwin 10:16.82; 6. Clover Hill 10:24.49; 7. Hermitage 10:35.30; 8. Thomas Dale 10:37.43.

300-meter intermediate hurdles -- 1. Lashawn Gee, (Din), 45.10; 2. Kellie Wells, (JRT), 46.27; 3. Ralisha Alexander, (Hen), 47.04; 4. Vika Osipenko, (A), 47.34; 5. Alice Cross, Atl, 47.70; 6. Stephanie Casey, (Mid), 47.74; 7. Katherine Lewis, (DSF), 48.51; 8. Shaunte Barber, (Mead), no time.

800 meters -- 1. Nicole Cook, Pete, 2:17.25; 2. Rachelle Silas, Pete, 2:19.45; 3. Blair Myers, (DSF), 2:21.55; 4. Jessica Ellis, Bird, 2:26.93; 5. Lauren Hofmann, DF, 2:26.99; 6. Hilary Hawthorne, Tuck, 2:27.53; 7. Dominique Nelson, Hug, 2:30.20; 8. Emma Fuller, (TJ/GS), 2:37.57.

200 meters -- 1. Ebonie Jones, Bird, 25.06; 2. Stephanie Walker, (Var), 25.66; 3. Natasha Peterson, Hope, 25.97; 4. Nicole Sample, Hope, 26.00; 5. Stephanie Fields, TJ./GS, 26.02; 6. Cicely Pitts, PG, 26.03; 7. Namtasha Joyner, JFK, 26.1'7; 8. Caroline Harvey, Atl, 26.20.

3,200 meters -- 1. Elizabeth Bugg, DF, 11:13.89; 2. Kerin Lanyi, TJ/GS, 11:14.43; 3. Rachel Babb, Godw, 11:35.98; 4. Amy Street, DF, 11:37.05; 5. Ashley Seaton, TJ/GS, 11:37.15; 6. Melissa Maxim, Var, 11:47.36; 7. Caroline Morris, TJ/GS, 11:58.37; 8. Jeannie Addison, TJ/GS, 11:58.74.

All-Academic -- Long jump, 100: Caroline Harvey (A); High jump: Anne Larmore (Mon); Triple jump: Char Lewis (JM); Shot put: Johnetta Pressley (TJ/GS); Discus: Mary Rose Campbell (DSF); Pole vault, 300 hurdles: Vika Osipenko (A); 100 hurdles: Shontrease Smith (LCB); 1600, 3200: Elizabeth Bugg (DSF); 400, 200: Stephanie Walker (V); 800: Blair Myers (DSF).

Field events performer of the year -- LaShawn Gee, Dinwiddie.

Runner of the year -- LaShawn Gee, Dinwiddie.

Coach of the year -- Jim Triemplar, Atlee.