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DyeStat Virginia
AAA Indoor State Meet
- Highlights: Friday -
Saturday
Garfield girls 81 (Bethel 57, T. Jefferson-Alex 43)�
Potomac boys 38 (Lake Braddock 34.33, W. Potomac 34)� - Results - plus photos and video coming
- Donna on the Side - Donna Dye reports from the sidelines, camera in hand
- Performance Lists: BOYS - GIRLS
- Regional Results
- State Rankings 2/1
Saturday Highlights by John Dye
3/4/00 -- It was an awesome day of quality performances as US leading marks and state meet records came in bunches.� Nearly every event had some impact on the DyeStat Elite US rankings and/or the Virginia state meet record book.� The star of stars was Gar-Field sr Sheena Johnson, who accounted for 46 points with four individual wins (a first for Virginia) and a third.� Add Alan Webb's sub-9:00 3200 meters, breaking a 21-year-old Virginia record, and you have a day to remember.
Here is a blow by blow of spontaneous impressions:
GIRLS TRIPLE JUMP: Sheena Johnson continues to collect gold with a 40-4 victory, a foot and a half ahead of second place, and raising her US#2 mark by one inch.
GIRLS 4X800: Seven teams with seed marks under 10 minutes, headed by Thomas Jefferson-Alex at 9:37.02, US#12.� The race ran true to form as eight teams beat 9:55, and TJ was the winner.� TJ improved its season best to 9:28.11, moving up to 7th on the DyeStat Elite national rankings.
BOYS 4X800: Lake Braddock, coming in with a 6 second edge on perennial power T.C. Williams, took command on the anchor lap to win in 7:59.34.
BOYS LONG JUMP: Fairfax sr Brandon Royster shaded Woodside sr Dexter Faulk in a high powered matchup, 23-7.25 to 23-6.25, good for 4th and 5th on the DyeStat Elite national rankings. Faulk has a 24-3.25 outdoor mark to his credit in last week's Virginia AAA eastern regional meet (conducted outdoors even though it qualified athletes for the indoor state meet here).
BOYS HIGH JUMP: Chris Smith, Culpepper jr, 6-9.
BOYS SHOT PUT: James Sapp, Patrick Henry sr, 56-8.5.
BOYS HURDLES: Rickey Harris 7.28 wins as expected, but is slightly off his US#1 mark (7.24) and his own state meet record (7.16)
GIRLS HURDLES: First and second in the nation, first and second in Virginia: Sheena Johnson routs Alyssa Aiken in the fastest time in the nation this year, 7.75, with Aiken coming in at 8.11.
GIRLS 55 DASH: Alyssa Aiken picks up another gold in 7.05.
BOYS 55 DASH: Rico Lloyd top qualifier, but Rickey Harris is in lane 1. But Jerome Mathis of Petersburg steals it from lane 6 in a blanket finish in 6.45.
BOYS TRIPLE JUMP: Stonewall Jackson sr Frank Tolen came out on top of a tight competition with a mark of 47-4.25 (US#10). Four more boys were over 45 feet.
GIRLS 4X200: Bethel broke on top and never looked back for a decisive victory in 1:43.83.
BOYS 4X200: West Potomac's seed time of 1:29.95 was one of the fastest in the nation. They held up the favorite's role but not without a furious charge by Bethel. It took electronic timing and photos to separate the two anchors. Both were timed officially in 1:31.10, and Lynx Systems photo finish timer Drexell George said it was a difference of 6 thousandths of a second.
BOYS POLE VAULT: Jimmy Tran, Great Bridge sr, topped a close bunch in 14-0, with four more boys at 13-9 and two more at 13-6.
GIRLS MILE: Two of the best milers in the country, Hayfield sr Nikeya Green and Lake Braddock sr Erin Swain hooked up in the expected high quality battle, running as a team for five laps. The struggle ended when Swain moved ahead on the backstretch and Green suddenly fell. She writhed holding her leg for more than a minute before limping off the track. Swain meanwhile was all alone the rest of the way and won in 5:07.04.
BOYS 1600 METERS: With US#1 Alan Webb opting out of this race to concentrate on the 3200, this was a wide open race with no qualifiers under 4:20 before today. Robinson jr L.A. Snead set the early pace but couldn't get a significant lead. Potomac sr Jason Lewis and Robinson sr Andrew Dunnum moved up late and Lewis outkicked the field to win in 4:23.10, 2 seconds ahead of Snead.
GIRLS 500 METERS: The top two in the US tangled in this event -- Menchville sr Janine Jones and Hayfield sr Lynsie Battle -- with the formidable Sheena Johnson thrown in for good measure. Jones 1:14.24 and Battle 1:15.25 got their times at Microtel Invitational at Virginia Tech January 8. Today, Sheena Johnson etched her name in the Virginia record books by taking down her fourth gold medal of the meet, first girl ever to do that. Jones led smartly through a lap and a half and seemed on her way to victory. But Johnson edged closer on the backstretch and smoked by Jones on the far turn to win going away in state meet record time of 1:13.19. Jones faded through the to fourth. Battle was never in contention and finished fifth.
BOYS 500 METERS: This was a quality final pitting the US leader Jerry Harris, W. Potomac sr, (1:04.64), US#5 Busayo Ojumu, T. C. Williams sr, (1:05.42) and Oscar Smith sr Cy Williams (who ran 1:05.59 in the VA Eastern region's "outdoor" indoor championship). Today, Williams made his outdoor credential look good as he broke on top in lane 5 and never lost the stagger. Coming down the stretch, Ojumu and Harris made a run, but Williams held them off in 1:04.82, just .09 ahead of Harris, with Ojumu another .13 back.
GIRLS 1000 METERS: US#4 Nikeya Green and US#8 Kelley Otstott figured to lock horns in this race, but they were both upset by Kecoughtan sr Elizabeth Bayne in 2:53.90. That put Bayne 3rd in the US and broke a 13-year-old Virginia state meet record. With Green coming back after her fall in the 1600, Otstott took the lead early and seemed in command of the race until the bell lap. Bayne surged in front for a quick 20-meter lead and sustained it the the finish. Otstott and Green crossed the finish in 2:55.05 and 2:55.93 for top 5 US times in their own right.� Both the crowd and Otstott thought she had the race won. "I don't know where she came from," Otstott said. "She finished like it was a 500 meter race instead of 1000."
BOYS 1000 METERS: McLean jr James Small, 4th in the US before today, showed that his win over Alan Webb early this season was no fluke. Small took the lead for good midway and raced the rest of the way like a sprint, finishing in 2:30.05, three seconds ahead of Woodside jr Curtis Parker.
GIRLS 300 METERS: 1-2 in VA is 1-2 in the US again going in to this race. This time, #2 beats #1 as Alyssa Aiken posted a new VA state meet record and new US#1 time of 38.30. Aiken denied Johnson a 5th gold medal in this meet and got a second gold medal to go with her 55 meter victory. Down the backstretch the two were in a torrid side by side duel, but Aiken got daylight coming off the turn and won convincingly. Bethel sr Marie Giles 39.44 edged Johnson by .10 for second.
BOYS 300 METERS: Running in the "slow" section because of a slow qualifying time Friday night, Rickey Harris 33.85 just missed the state meet record by .06 and stole the event. Frank Tolen won the "fast" section in 34.48 over Potomac sr Rico Lloyd 34.85.
GIRLS 3200 METERS: A Swain family affair - Lake Braddock sr Erin, US#1 indoor and Southeast region Foot Locker cross country champion last November, was a rocking chair winner in 11:00.59 to complete a 1600-3200 double. Then freshman sister Kelly got up for second in 11:10.59, less than 2 seconds ahead of Thomas Jefferson-Rich sr Kerin Lanyi.
BOYS 3200 METERS: Alan Webb's show. His only race of the meet after scratching from the 1600 meters (US#1) to set himself up to run the mile at the Nike Indoor Classic in Bloomington IN next week. The Reston South Lakes junior was all alone from the first strides and had only the clock to run against. But the crowd cheered him along mightily in a quest to beat the clock to 9 minutes. After the first half in 4:31, Webb noticeably picked up the pace and finished as strong as he started a couple of ticks under 9 minutes in 8:59.96.� That brought down a 21-year-old Virginia record (1979, Jim Hill, Oakton, 9:09.2).
Webb's lap splits: 32.5 - 67.4 - 1:41 - 2:16 - 2:49 - 3.23 - 3.56 - 4.31 - 5.03 - 5.37 - 6.11 - 6.45 - 7.20 - 7.55 - 8.29 - 8.59.96
GIRLS 4X400:� The team title was not in doubt (Garfield having put that away early), so Bethel and Menchville carried their Peninsula rivalry to Northern Virginia.� US#6 Menchville was a couple of seconds better than Bethel on their season bests, and the race ran true to form.� The two traded the lead a couple of times, but in the end Menchville 3:55.89 was a couple of seconds better than Bethel 3:58.28.��
BOYS 4X400: Top seed Heritage (US#5 3:21.03) took charge of the race when an early duel with Bethel ended when Bethel dropped the baton when Heritage passed.� Then West Potomac took up the fight and almost caught Heritage at the wire.� After the race, there was a controversy revolving Bethel's baton incident.� Officials ruled that Heritage interfered with Bethel and DQ's Heritage.� Later,� a second review was started after videotape of the incident seemed to show Heritage was passing normally.� It was not immediately known how this review came out.��
Friday Highlights by John Dye
Gar-Field sr Sheena Johnson leaped to the top of the US 2000 indoor list with a 19-8 mark, a new Virginia state record, to take top billing in the Friday evening session. Hayfield sr India Odum set a new state record in shot put with a throw of 45-6.25
Johnson also headed the girls 55 meter hurdle qualifiers. Other top qualifiers for Saturday's sprint and hurdle finals were Alyssa Aiken, Rico Lloyd, and Rickey Harris.
Chantilly sr Alyssa Aiken was the fastest qualifier in the 55 meter dash (7.15) and 300 meters (39.57), and the fourth best qualifier in the 55 hurdles (8.29).
Centreville sr Rickey Harris led the qualifiers in his 55 meter hurdle specialty at 7.24, tying his own US#1 mark for the 2000 indoor season. He was also 5th best qualifier in the 300 meters (35.98), where he ranks 3rd in the nation, and 5th best in the 55 meter dash (6.56).
Rico Lloyd, Potomac sr, was the fastest boys sprint qualifier, with a 6.41 55 meter dash and 35.04 at the 300 meter distance.�
Girls High Jump: high quality event with Krystle Moss, Thomas Jefferson-Alex jr, 5-8, beating Oakton so Bonnie Meekins 5-8 on fewer misses. Takeitha Jordan, Gar-Field sr, was a close third at 5-7.
Girls Pole Vault: Centreville sr Charlotte LaRoche and Gar-Field sr Kira Sims each cleared 11 feet, with LaRoche winning on fewest misses.
