Deep Creek's John Hyman took the win in the boys' 500 meter run and looks to be setting himself up for a great battle at the Eastern Region Meet and AAA State Meet this season with Woodrow Wilson star Lashawn Merritt, after exceeding Merritt's previous state leading best (1:07.71) with a final time of 1:06.37 at UNC.
An unexpected star for the Hornets whose improvement certainly helps their chances at defending their state title is senior Joseph Cezard, who threw for over 50 feet in the shot put for the first time in a big way with his winning toss of 54-10.50. The mark now ranks him first currently in the state.
Deep Creek also received solid individual point contributions from Travis Stallings in the 300 meter dash (36.03) and Steven Brickhouse in the pole vault (13-7) as both finished third overall in their respective events.
The strength of every great Deep Creek squad has been there sprint relays and this year looks to be no different as the Hornets clocked the state's fastest time of the season in the 4x400 meter relay as they won the relay event in a 3:26.39 clocking. The team consisted of Travis Stallings, Quentin Moore, Jaris Riley, and Hyman.
Thomas Dale's Dennis Boone had a banner day at the Eastern Challenge. Boone got revenge on a defeat at the hands of Woodrow Wilson's Jamel Deans at the Fork Union Invitational, where Deans posted the nation's leading time in the 55 meter dash (7.38), while Boone finished third in the event. At UNC, Boone narrowly edged out Deans (6.44) with a 6.43 clocking. Boone's win in the 55 meter dash though was actually his second best performance on the day because in the long jump, Boone won with the state's best and nation's third best mark in the event with an amazing leap of 23-03.50.
The top individual performance of the meet though belonged to Colonial Forge senior Jerome Miller. After several near misses of clearing seven feet this season in the high jump, Miller finally reached the elusive height and became the sole national leader in the event as he cleared a height of 7-1. Miller broke the meet record held by one of nation's top high jumpers last year in Jesse Williams of North Carolina. Brother Jason Miller finished third in the event with a 6-8 clearance.
Great Bridge's Daniel Magness continues to perform at a consistently high level throughout this indoor season as he won the pole vault at a height of 14-7. Magness is the current state leader at 15 feet.
The boys' distance events saw strong representation from Virginia athletes. In the boys' 1600 meter race, Woodside junior Derrick Robbins, already possessing state's fastest time in the distance event, lowered his season best at UNC with his 4:20.04 win.
Drew Midland of Ocean Lakes was the race winner in the boys' 3200 meter run with a time of 9:54.18, while Hickory's Chris Ward (2:37.75) took runner-up honors in the 1000 meter run.
Much like the Deep Creek boys, the Bethel girls seem to be loaded with the right personnel to make a state title run this season. The Bethel girls easily won the team title at UNC with a 46 point team total. From the 55 meter dash to the 1000 meter run, the Lady Bruins had at least one athlete in the top three places.
Shakirra Pinnock, Bethel's sole individual winner on the day, broke the meet record and posted the state's fastest time in the 500 meter run with a 1:16.37 clocking. Fellow Virginians, Shylan Bumbrey of James Monroe (3rd, 1:16.62) and Alexandra McCoy of Salem (4th, 1:17.72) also posted swift times in the event.
Also scoring considerable points for the Lady Bruins were Britni Spruill (3rd, 41.05) in the 300 meter dash (3rd, 41.05) and long jump (4th, 17-5.50) and Charrise Bullock in the 1000 meter run (2nd, 3:08.84).
In the girls' 55 meter dash, Bethel freshmen Francena McCorory finished second in a close and Virginia athlete dominated race with a 7.30 clocking as four hundredths of a second separated the top four finishers, all Virginians. Winning the short sprint event was Potomac Senior's Kharya Brown at 7.27, while Chante Sessoms of Deep Creek (3rd, 7.30) and Shamika Kentish of Salem (4th, 7.31) finished just behind runner-up McCorory.
In the girls' 4x400 meter relay, the Bethel girls closed out their team title by winning the event in a meet record performance and as well lowered their state leading time with a 3:58.20 clocking.
Heritage's Octavia James posted the state's second fastest time in the 300 meter dash with her second place finishing time of 40.93 and also ran a personal best time of 8.77 to finish fourth in the 55 meter hurdles.
The girls of Salem High School in Virginia Beach, tied for second overall in the team scoring with 31 points as the team's 4x800 meter relay victory (10:07.37) was very helpful to the team's point total.
Heather Murdoch of Ocean Lakes ran away with the win in the girls' 1600 meter run with a time of 5:16.62.
William Fleming senior Tiera Hubbard cracked 40 feet for the first time this season and became the state's leader in the shot put with a throw of 41-8.25 at UNC, which was good enough for second place honors.