This was truly a historic weekend. We saw some of the greatest performances ever in the sprints, distance and even on the field. After this historic weekend we reached out to a couple of these individuals to see what they had to say about their performances and this historic weekend.
Andrew Hunter (Loudoun Valley)
7:59.33 National 3K Record
"We were happily surprised by Drew's "rust buster" race result. We just weren't sure what to expect from this first indoor race, though we knew he was fit. After seeing Weini's race, we thought, well, her first race of the indoor season went well, same training conditions Drew has been dealing with...this could be good!"
"After seeing the great VA track results in so many events this weekend, we just feel proud to be part of the Va HS track and field community. And it appears that VA may be the center of the U.S. HS indoor track universe right now!" - Coaches & Parents Marc & Joan Hunter
Kate Murphy (Lake Braddock Secondary)
4:43.87 Mile & 1600m State Record
"It was a good learning experience and an honor to be in the same race as the other competitors. I know I can run significantly faster but I'm going to be patient for when it counts" - Kate Murphy
"We knew going in that the pace was going to be strong from the gun. The pacer was asked to go 212 through the half. Kate did the job early in not going too hard. It was a chance to learn how to race from a different spot. I think long term, this opportunity was a great thing and want to thank the meet director for including Kate.
Kate breaking the state record is pretty amazing. When Sophie Chase broke 450, I thought as a coach, wow, can you believe it. Kate is quickly causing me to look for new superlatives to describe what she does.
Also - congrats to Andrew, just amazing! Weini too- her first 1600 was blazing and she hung tough. That's a great performance in its own right." - Coach Mangan
Weini Kelati (Heritage - Leesburg)
9:19.99 US #3 All-Time 3K
"Weini was satisfied with her performance as our training has been more than a bit disjointed recently with the snow. In her fearless ways, she went through the 160 at 4:49 (13 seconds faster than she ran in the open 16 last year.) and seemed unphased by the fact that she was running with the pros. She is very excited for the rest of the season after this race!" - Coach Gilbert
Brandon McGorty (Chantilly)
1:51.98 US #1 800m Run
Photo by: Ed Lull
"All in all, we were very pleased with the race. After our district meet being put on hold the last two weeks, Brandon was anxious to get out and test himself against a tough field. Having the Patriot Games locally, and allowing unattached runners gave us a last minute opportunity to take advantage of the competition.With post-season goals which extend through the postseason and on to nationals, the time was solid indication of his fitness, and also gave us some things to look at between now and March. Overall, though, I think we are both happy where things are though, and realize that this is a process on to ever larger long term goals. Nice to drop a fast one in January, though." - Coach Gilchrist
