Shakia Williams

Top VA Boys Performances: * Isaiah Simmons followed up his indoor nationals runner-up finish in the shot with another second place showing at nationals, but in the discus this time at 190 feet even. * Annandale junior Ahmed Bile drops 800 time by two seconds with fourth place effort of 1:50.77 * After winning their slower sections, Broad Run's Jonathan Russell (4th, 52.38) and Atlee's Marques Atkinson (6th, 53.08) earn All-American honors * Woodrow Wilson junior Kenneth Williams runs state leading 400 time of 47.39 for sixth place * Western Branch boys hurdlers garner a 3rd place finish in the shuttle hurdles * Thomas Edison's Louis Colson takes runner-up in freshmen mile (4:22) and wins EE 2 mile (9:22).   Top VA Girls Performances: * Kimberley Ficenec - National Champion at 800 Meters (2:09.84)! * Sophie Chase's 10:25.97 2 mile & Megan Moye's 4:48 mile puts them just outside of top 6 * Western Branch girls load up 4x200 (1:38.06) & shuttle hurdles (59.96) for national runner-up finishes * Cosby runs 9:08 in 4x800 & win EE 4x400 in 3:53 * Erin Edmond clears 5'6.50" for 5th in high jump * Stephanie Oleson earns All-American honors 2nd year in row in pole vault * Louisa sophomore Javanique Burruss leaps 18'11.25" to take 3rd in long jump * Siobhan Ford-Holland is an All-American in triple jump at 39'5.25" * Good early start helps Tiffany Ellick hold onto top 6 spot in heptathlon * Matoaca freshmen Brianna Hayes clears 5'7" to win EE high jump   New Balance Outdoor Nationals Results: All - Complete Results - Results - Day 1 - Results - Day 2   Krista DeCeault 16:53 5K! Sherando senior Krista DeCeault ran one of the fastest Virginia high school times ever at 5000 meters with her 16:53.47 third place finish at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals on Thursday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. A short list of Virginia girls have ever broken 17 minutes for 5K in cross country led by Aurora Scott at 16:26 from the 2006 Foot Locker South Regional, but DeCeault's time beats Scott for the fastest all-time on the track in Virginia high school history (Scott ran 16:53.55 at the 2008 Nike Indoor Nationals) and ahead of Katherine Walker's 16:57 victory last  year at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.   Other day 1 highlights from Greensboro: Kendall Wiles of Blacksburg followed up her indoor title in the freshmen 400 with an outdoor title as well against some of the top freshmen quarter milers in the country with a 56.97 clocking. Western Branch had a very successful first day at the New Balance Nationals in winning both boys and girls 800 SMR's as well as seeing Tiffany Ellick and Alston Cobb perform well in day one of the multi-events competition.   Multis, freshmen 400/100, and 5K's will be held today in Greensboro, while the bulk of events and Virginians competing will be found on Friday and Saturday at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. MileSplit US national team will be providing of the national meet for MileStat.com.   Complete Entry List Schedule of Events MileSplit Coverage NBN Facebook Page and Live Stream Meet Homepage

He is from the Bahamas, but Liberty Christian Academy senior Demitri Knowles has certainly opened some doors for him to be recruited well by U.S. college track coaches with his high school career at the Lynchburg private school. (Photo by John Herzog)   In high school football, basketball and many other high school sports, college coaches and recruiters regularly check out various media publications and media websites which attempt to rank the top prospects in the country or within a state. These recruit rankings give the athletes more exposure and make it easier for college coaches and recruits to find who are some of the top high school athletes to try and attract to their school. Why not attempt something similar for track & field in Virginia? MileStat.com will be releasing their own top 10 rankings lists (possible expansion to larger lists) of the most prized recruits within the state of Virginia for each discipline of the sport (sprints, distance, hurdles, jumps, throws, pole vault). We will attempt to update our lists periodically throughout the year based on season performances and put together a class of 2012 rankings later this year.

All photos by John Herzog   It took several years for a Virginia school to qualify to compete for the Nike Cross Nationals in the fall, but it did not take long for the state to send a team to Oregon for the first ever Nike Track Nationals to be held on July 2nd at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.The Western Branch girls will be the lone representative for the Southeast region girls as their composite team scoring based on performances during the 2010 outdoor season ascened them to the top of the region rankings to be selected.With the likes of state champion caliber athletes Keilah Tyson, Desmonae Gray, and Sydni Cobb along with formidable relays, the Group AAA state indoor and outdoor champions will represent the state of Virginia in two weeks at the University of Oregon's facility.

A complete list of Virginian's national champions and All-Americans this past weekend at the Nike Indoor Nationals and National Scholastic Indoor Championships. The state had a dozen national champions between the two national meets and had a total of 85 All-American honors earned (including relay legs).   Look for many featured stories over the next week of those Virginians who represented the state so well at the highest level in Boston and New York City.

Joanna Stevens of Blacksburg and Chris Foley of Chantilly wrapped up Saturday's events for Virginians at Nike Indoor Nationals posting some sizzling and historically impressive two mile times at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston with their All-American performances. Stevens finished fourth in the girls field with a time of 10:12.21 and right behind three of the nation's best runners in Foot Locker Nationals champion Megan Goethals (1st, 10:10), Emily Sisson (2nd, 10:10), and Aisling Cuffe (3rd, 10:11.65) in a breakaway group of top four finishers. Her race at Nike Indoor Nationals is the third fastest indoor performance all-time at the 2 miles or 3200 meter distance in Virginia high school history behind only a 9:57 and 10:07 races from all-time great Erin Keogh.   Meanwhile, the UVA recruit Foley held his own against as well as beating many national caliber distance runners and Foot Locker/NXN finalists from this past fall in his race tonight with a significant personal best run of 9:09.75 for a fourth place All-American honor. Foley's time converts to a 3200 time just over 9:06 and now ranks him just outside of the top 10 all-time in Virginia high school indoor history.   Click for more updates: The Western Branch girls (pictured left by Matt Shaukus) claimed the national title in the 4x200 meter relay and despite not getting the sub 1:40 performance they were looking for on a banked track for the first time, a national championship is a national championship with their time of 1:41.27. Western Branch jumped out to the lead on their opening leg with Shakia Williams and stayed out in first for good with a strong second leg from Keilah Tyson. With no seniors on their relay, Western Branch will be back and stronger in 2011 with an opportunity to become the greatest girls 4x200 all-time in state history and break the state record. (Watch Video Interview w/ Western Branch girls 4x200)   Virginia's other strong favorite to win a national title in a girls' relay on Saturday in the Blacksburg 4xmile had serious aspirations entering this weekend of breaking the national record and a sub 20 goal time with 3 sub 1600 meter runners including two sub 4:50 legs in Kathleen Stevens and Joanna Stevens. However, Blacksburg was not on their "A" game without their "A" team as Kathleen Stevens was unable to run due to sickness today. Not at full strength, they finished with a time well off their goal at 20:24.07 and were defeated by the school who had the national record they were chasing in Saratoga Springs with the Toga girls as champions at 20:15.06. Still a solid national runner-up performance for the young ladies from Blacksburg without Kathleen Stevens.     With all the talk about the Blacksburg girls trying to break the national record which they ended up taking second to Saratoga Springs, many forgot to talk about the Blacksburg boys, who became the Nike Indoor  Nationals champions in the 4xmile relay a time of 17:45.63. Their total time averages out to just over 4:26 per mile leg and sub 4:25 for 1600 meters. The relay team (pictured above by Matt Shautkus) consisted of George Carter, Matt Howard, Quinn Hull, and Zack Link. Despite the event being a 32 lap race, the top two teams had little separation for the final finish with Blacksburg winning by a thrilling 12 hundredths of a second over Shenendehowa (17:45.65) of New York. (Watch Video Interview w/ Blacksburg Boys 4xMile)     Western Branch boys are keeping up with their female counterparts in the All-American and now national titles count as the boys 1600 SMR relay of Jeff Lewis (200), Tevis Snellings (200), Cameron Cipcic (400), and Blake Theroux (800) won at Nike Indoor Nationals in a time of 3:30.71. The state of Virginia was well represented in the event with four of the top 8 teams including three All-American squads in Western Branch, Fork Union (3rd, 3:32.65), and Bethel (4th, 3:32.74). In vain with too much ground to make up, Anthony Kostelac of Albemarle split a 1:51.7 800 meter anchor leg to give his team an 8th place overall finish! (Watch Video Interview w/ Western Branch boys SMR)   More to come from Saturday's action at the Reggie Lewis Center for the 2010 Nike Indoor Nationals.

Boys Top 3 Team Scores 1. Western Branch - 41 pts 2. Landstown - 38 pts 3. Ocean Lakes - 34 pts   Girls Top 3 Team Scores 1. Western Branch - 78 pts 2. Great Bridge - 41 pts 3. Midlothian - 35 pts   MileStat.com Boys MVP - Darrell Wesh (Landstown) Photo by Ryan Kelly   The Landstown senior without a doubt, left her older sister's shadows with this overall showing at the 2010 indoor state meet. Wesh blew out the 55 dash finals field in a US #1 6.30 clocking and showed his range beyond 200 meters with a state leading 34.33 300 and second individual state title in the meet. His most incredible race of the day though had to be his 4x400 meter anchor leg with a state team title on the line. Landstown's third leg crashed to the track with the lead before the exchange zone and was able to get back up to hand off to Wesh, but now in third/fourth place with ground to be gained. Wesh nearly pulled it out despite the odds and time lost in a three way photo finish with Booker T. Washington (1st, 3:26.21) and Bethel (2nd, 3:26.28). Wesh anchored Landstown to near 4x400 win and state title with a final time of 3:26.31 for third place.   MileStat.com Girls MVP - Shakeela Saunders (Great Bridge) Photo by Ryan Kelly   The multi-event star Saunders scored 41 points by herself to give Great Bridge second place as a "team". Saunders won state titles in the 300 (39.83) and long jump (19'0.50"), along with runner-up finishes in the 55 meter dash (7.04) and triple jump (39'7.50". Her 300 meter dash win was most impressive on tired legs and bouncing back from an earlier defeat and fourth place finish (1:15.22) in the 500 from a US #1 1:13.30 performance by Green Run's Monica Williams. Saunders was able to make it a draw between her friendly rival with a sub 40 second performance.   2010 VHSL Group AAA State Championships Complete Results        

Photo by Ryan Kelly   Western Branch in past years has not always shown their full hand of cards at the regional championships and instead held out many of their key athletes or not tried to enter them in multiple events in preparation for the state meet. Possibly the snow storms and small number of major meets in the last half of the season has changed the usual routine for Coach Claude Toukene's squad as the Bruins came to compete at the Eastern Region Championships this weekend at full force and the result was demoralizing for the rest of the region's top teams. Western Branch swept both team titles and by a wide margin with a dominant and balanced team performance.   A total of six state leading times were produced at Virginia's most talented and competitive regional championship meet:   Boys 55 - Darreh Wesh (Landstown) US #1 6.35 Girls Triple Jump - Desmonae Gray (Western Branch) US #1 40'10" Boys Triple Jump - Kendrick Smith (Western Branch) US #2 49'5" Boys 4x200 - Woodside 1:31.60 Boys 4x800 - Western Branch 7:58.02 Girls Shot Put - Sydni Cobb (Western Branch) 40'4.50"   Photo by Ryan Kelly     More to come from the Eastern Region Indoor T&F Championships including full meet summary and photo gallery.   Complete Results   Photo Gallery by Ryan Kelly - Photos to be added Sunday & Monday. Meet Videos by Andy Paisley - 2o total added.