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by Pearl Watts
Menchville's Keith Moffatt set a new state meet record in the
boys high
jump at 7 feet 3 inches and Oakton's Bonnie Meekins was a double
winner in
girls field events to highlight the first day of the Virginia AAA
state meet
held Friday at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond.
Moffatt, the nation's leading jumper indoors at 7-2.25 and Nike
Indoor Classic
Champion, first broke Alexander Coles of Armstrong's 1987
state meet record of 7-1 with his clearance of 7-1.25; upped the
mark to 7-2
and then cleared 7-3 on his second attempt to set a personal best
and move to
number three on the U.S. High school performance list for this outdoor
season.
Meekins, who had a subpar meet at her regional competition the
previous
week when she only finished third in the high jump at 5-3 and failed
to
qualify for the finals of the long jump, far exceeded those performances
today under breezy conditions with temperatures in the mid to upper
80's.
The William and Mary bound senior, who won the state high jump title
at 5-6
two years ago as a sophomore, went 5-8 for the win today and then
pulled a
major upset in the long jump as she went more than six inches past
her
personal best to win the event at 18-7.25.
Those two wins by Meekins propelled the Cougars to the first day
lead on
the girls side with 21 points. Coming into the final day of competition
on
Saturday, Oakton looks to be the co-favorite along with Western
Branch for
the girls team title. Oakton has senior Keira Carlstrom as the top
seed and
favorite in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs for a possible twenty
additional points and could pick up additional scoring from freshman
Danielle
Light in the 1,600 run and from their 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Western Branch performed well in the girls running trials with senior
Lauren Taylor as the top qualifier in both the 100 hurdles (14.55)
and 300
hurdles (44.83) although Menchville junior Jelyn Quick was close
behind in
14.56 and 44.88.
Western Branch also had junior Leslie Treherne as the second fastest
qualifier in the 800 run trials (2:19.42) with Centreville sophomore
Dacia
Barr impressive as the fastest qualifier in a 2:15.82 solo effort
and Western
Branch sophomore Tosin Oluwole was the fastest qualifier in the
100 dash
(12.31) and second quickest in the 200 dash semis at 25.40 behind
Wakefield
junior Fatima Shuler (25.24).
The other girls teams figuring to mount a possible challenge on
Saturday
include Salem, led by long jump runnerup Amy Seward, who is the
defending
champion in the triple jump and part of an impressive sprint corps
and a
young Gar-Field squad.
The boys side in team competition looks wide open. Whereas close
to 50
points may be needed to win the girls title, a score somewhere in
the 30's
could take the boys crown. Indoor champion Deep Creek surprisingly
did not
qualify anyone for the 200 dash but did qualify Donte Jackson in
the 110
hurdles, Jarvis Hyman in the 100 dash and both Derron Flood and
Roy Anderson
in the 400 dash. That along with their always strong 4x100 and 4x400
relay
squads, Darrell Tapp's fifth place finish in the discus and Gary
Freeman's
expected strong showing the shot put still leaves Deep Creek as
the boys team
to beat.
The top performance on the boys side in the running events was
turned in by
South Lakes senior Richard Smith, who recorded splits of 26.0; 55.0
and
1:23.7 enroute to a relatively easy looking qualifying time of 1:52.06
in the
800 run. Smith could provide excitement in possibly three races
on Saturday
since he is scheduled to also anchor the 4x400 relay for the Seahawks
and may
also anchor the 4x800 for South Lakes in what looks to be one of
the most
hotly contested races of the day.
Other top performances on the boys side included Robinson junior
Steve
Huntzinger winning the discus throw at 166-0; defending champion
Rashad
Gardner of Oscar Smith looking very smooth in leading the 300 hurdle
qualifying at 38.26; Esteban Guzman from Nansemond River at 14.56
to just
edge Lake Braddock junior Craig Gallimore (14.57) for the top 110
hurdle time
and Kempsville senior Charles Cox was the fastest qualifier in the
200 dash
against a negative wind (22.19) and tied Michael Johnson of Heritage
as the
fastest into the finals for the 100 dash at 10.88.
Virginia State Meet
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