Holloway leads Grassfield with huge meet

State Meet Highlights

 
Virginia's VHSL Championships include six classifications and take place in three locations on the same day. The Class 2A/1A meet is at Radford University in the western part of the state. The 3A/4A meet is at Harrisonburg High School in the north central part of Virginia. And the 5A/6A championships are in Newport News on the coast. Between Andrew Hunter, the Lyles brothers and Grant Holloway and the Western Branch hurdles crew, Virginia was bursting with track stars.

Top Performances:

 
- Grant Holloway of Grassfield had one of the best state meet performances anywhere in the country. The junior jumped 25-8.75 on his final attempt in the long jump for a US#1. He won the high jump with 6-8. He won the 110 hurdles in 13.61w. He won the 300 hurdles in US#9 36.73 seconds.

 
- Andrew Hunter of Loudoun Valley won the Class 3A 1,600 meters in a pedestrian 4:23.62 and finished second in the 800 meters in 1:54.86 and he ran on the fourth place 4x800 relay. Hunter filled his roles to help the team win the state title, but better efforts individually came later in his season.

 
- Junior Noah Lyles of T.C. Willliams won the 6A 100 (10.47), and then he beat his brother Josephus 20.76 to 21.02 in the 200 meters. Josephus Lyles dominated the 400 in 47.41.  

 
- Tayvon Burris from Bayside won the Class 6A 800 meters for the second year in a row with US#31 1:51.57.

- Kate Murphy of Lake Braddock and Rachel McArthur of Patriot traded wins in the Class 6A distance races. Murphy won the 1,600 meters in 4:51.67. McArthur edged Murphy in the 3,200 meters, US#13 10:19.91 to US#14 10:19.95.

 
- Senior Milan Parks of Western Branch jumped 19-4 for second in the Class 6A long jump. She ran US#26 13.82 for third place in the 100 hurdles.

- Senior Funlayo Oluwole of Western Branch led an amazing 1-2-3-5-7 result for her team in the Class 6A 100 hurdles with US#4 13.38 seconds wind legal. She was also second in the Class 6A triple jump with 40-7.50 despite going a foot farther than her winning jump from 2014. She won the 300 hurdles in US#57 42.82. She was third in the long jump.  

- Junior Amanda Thomas of Western Branch won the 800 meters in 2:10.31.

- The Western Branch girls won all three Class 6A relays – the 4x100 (47.16), the 4x400 (3:49.37) and the 4x800 (9:06.70).

- Junior Faith Ross ran US#20 13.72 for second place in the 100 hurdles. She also finished third in the 800 meters in 2:11.61.

- Sophomore Lauryn Ghee from Grassfield won the Class 6A 100 meters in 11.62w and the 200 in 24.23. She was also second in the 400 meters (54.62), behind winner Destiny Ward of Oscar F. Smith (53.97).

- Titiana Marsh of Thomas Dale won the Class 6A girls long jump with 19-9 to unseat defending champion Milan Parks of Western Branch, who was second with 19-4. Marsh also won the triple jump with 41-2.

- Quincy Watts from Landstown won the Class 6A triple jump with 47-11 and placed second in the long jump with US#12 24-3.75. He was also second in the 300 hurdles with US#11 36.76.

- Phontavia Sawyer of First Colonial threw 44-4.50 for a state-leading throw in the Class 6A shot put.

- Bria Stith of Maury jumped 18-10.25 to win the Class 5A long jump. She was also second in the triple jump. Her sister Brooke was sixth in the long jump, fifth in the triple and fourth in the 400.

- Matthew Novak from Deep Run ran 9:13.08 to win the Class 5A 3,200 and 4:13.86 to win the 1,600 meters. He also anchored his team to the 4x800 victory in 7:46.71.

- Devin Barnes from Hermitage ran 1:52.99 to win the Class 5A 800 meters title.

- Tori Ray of Hampton won the Class 5A 100 meters in 11.95 seconds, the 200 in 24.31 and the 400 in 55.17. She was also second in the long jump.  

- LaChyna Roe from Henrico broke her own 5A triple jump record with 40-0.75.

- Kadeem Middleton from Nansemond River won the Class 4A long jump with 24-3.25 (3.4w).

- Senior Charles Graham from Phoebus won the 4A 110 hurdles (13.53w) and was second in the 300 hurdles (37.83). He was also on the winning 4x100 relay (42.10).

- Senior Hakeem Horton from I.C. Norcom won the 300 hurdles, high jump and triple jump and finished second in the 110 hurdles.

- Junior Raul Chavez from Fauquier won the Class 4A 800 meters in 1:54.74 and also helped his team win the 4x800 relay in 7:51.09.

- Senior Dartez Thompson from Phoebus won the Class 4A 100 (10.69w) and the 200 (21.39w).

- Zakiya Rashid, a junior from Nansemond River, threw 43-1.50 to win the 4A girls shot put and 144-5 to win the discus.

- Sophomore Libby Davidson from EC Glass won the 4A 3,200 meters in 10:49.17, edging out Weini Kelati of Heritage by five seconds, and also won the 1,600 in 5:06.23. She was also on the winning 4x800 team for the second straight year.

- Brandee' Johnson, a junior from Nansemond River, won the Class 4A 100 meter hurdles with 13.86 (4.3w), the 300 meter hurdles (41.71), the 200 meters in 24.02w. She was third in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump.

- Syaira Richardson, a sophomore from Nansemond River, won the Class 4A 400 meters in 55.82 seconds.

- Sophomore Amira Aduma of Phoebus ran 11.81 (4.5w) to edge teammate and defending champion Carolyn Brown and win the Class 4A 100 meters. She was also second in the 400 with 56.73 and won the long jump (17-11.50). Brown was on the winning 4x100 relay and also won the high jump.

- Senior Marcellus Fletcher from William Byrd won the 3A long jump with 23-3.25 and the triple jump with 48-9.50. He won the 110 hurdles in 14.44 (3.2w).

- Ciara Donohue of Loudoun Valley won the Class 3A 3,200 meters in 10:45.04 and also placed second in the 1,600.

- The Blacksburg girls won the Class 3A title in the 4x800 relay with 9:16.34.

- Makayla McGowan of Brentsville, a junior, threw 43-5.50 to win the Class 3A shot put. She also placed third in the discus.

- Senior Jamik Alexander from Heritage won some very competitive Class 3A sprint finals with 10.56 (4.5w) in the 100 and 21.51 (3.4w). He also won the 400 meters in 50.15.

- Freshman Cole Beck of Blacksburg ran 10.59 for third in the 100 and 21.81 for second in the 200 in wind-aided Class 3A finals.

- Christopher Short from Warhill dealt Andrew Hunter a rare loss in the Class 3A 800 meters, running 1:53.54. He also helped his team win the 4x400 relay.

- DaJuan Seward of Brunswick, a senior, won the 2A triple jump (48-7), long jump (23-6.50), the 110 hurdles with 14.22 and the 300 hurdles with 38.60. He was also fourth in the 200 meters. All exceptional performances and he signed with Ohio State.

- Darkeem Gray of Prince Edward County won the Class 2A 100 meters in 10.60 seconds. He also anchored the winning 4x100 relay. He was second in the 200 (21.94).

- Shanti Hiremath from Maggie Walker won four events in the Class 2A meet. She won the pole vault (10-6), the 100 hurdles (14.85), the 300 hurdles (45.87) and the triple jump (37-2.25). She also helped her 4x400 relay team to second.

- Annesha Harris of Cumberland won Class 1A titles in the long jump (18-5), 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. 

- Cliff Conley from Galax won the Class 1A title in the 1,600 with 4:20.44. That was seven seconds faster than his winning time in 2014 and it won the race by 20 seconds. He also won the 800 in 1:57.69.

- Meredith Willis of George Wythe repeated as the Class 1A winner in the 100 meters (12.16), the 200 (25.19) and the triple jump (36-3.50). She also placed second in the long jump with 18-4. She also anchored the winning 4x100 relay for the second straight year.

Top Teams:

Grassfield won the Class 6A boys title thanks to the Superman efforts of Grant Holloway, finishing with 84 points and nosing out Western Branch (79). There was no denying the Western Branch girls, however, who rolled to another state title with a record 152 points.  

In Class 5A, it was the Atlee girls taking top honors with 68 points and the Lee-Davis boys retaining the title with 60. In Class 4A, the Nansemond Rivers girls racked up 115.50 points and the I.C. Norcom boys scored 95 to win titles. In Class 3A, it was the Lafayette girls (121) and Loudoun Valley boys (56). In Class 2A, Maggie Walker rolled to a sweep of the team titles with 115 points (girls) and 112 points (boys), respectively.

Top Competition:

The Class 4A boys hurdles races saw a sensational dual between seniors Charles Graham of Phoebus and Hakeem Horton from I.C. Norcom. Running with a tailwind (3.3m/s) Graham won the 110 hurdles in 13.53 seconds while Horton was second in 14.11. In the 300 hurdles, Horton leaned in for the win in 37.78 to Graham’s 37.83.