A slew of freshmen on the Kentucky men's and women's track and field teams impressed Saturday at the "Texas Roadhouse" Border Battle "Kentuckiana" meet in Louisville, Ky., as freshmen Keilah Tyson and Terence Boyd each set UK all-time top-10 times/marks.

Recent Western Branch High School graduate Keilah Tyson matched her 11.39 state record performance from the AAA State Championships in June with a runner-up finish (and 1.7 wind legal time) in the finals of the 100 meter dash at the Pan Am Junior Championships last weekend. Tyson made the U.S. team for the Pan Am Junior Games held in Miramar, Florida orginally as an alternate replacement from one of the original team qualifiers at the US Junior Nationals. Another incredible feat for the University of Kentucky signee Tyson in placing second against the best junior age sprinters on two continents (North America & South America).   Watch video interview with Keilah Tyson at Pan Am  

The Western Branch girls under the tutelage of their head coach Claude Toukene, competed in their second straight Nike Track Nationals championship meet at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday. The Lady Bruins, who successfully repeated as indoor and outdoor state champions this past year, finished sixth with a total of 7,439.30 points in the overall team standings against the best 12 track & field programs in the United States. Keilah Tyson, who competed earlier in the weekend in the USATF Junior National Championships at Hayward Field in the 100 meter dash, won the 100 meter dash individually for the second year in a row as she broke her own meet record (11.72) with her 2011 time off 11.67. Next top performer for the Western Branch girls was Florida State signee Desmonae Gray, who picked up a pair of third place finishes in the 100 meter hurdles (14.16) and long jump (18'7.75").

A list of both current and past Virginia high school stars competing this upcoming weekend (June 23-26) at the USATF Junior Nationals to be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Western Branch's Keilah Tyson is actually the lone current high school athlete from Virginia competing in the meet (in conjunction with her competing as well at the Nike Team Nationals with her Western Branch squad). The Virginia high school state record holder in the 100 and 200 meter dash, who will be headed to the Unversity of Kentucky in the fall, will be competing in the 100 meter dash and long jump at Hayward Field. Tyson is seeded fourth in the 100 meter dash with her 11.39 state meet record breaking and importantly wind legal performance, while she should also be in the hunt for the top 2 automatic spots on the US national team for the Pan Am Junior Games in the long jump as well since she went 20'7" earlier in the season.   USATF Meet Page   Former VA high school athletes competing at USATF Jr. Nationals Virginia Tech freshmen Darrell Wesh (from Landstown HS) - Men's 100m Dash (10.51) VMI freshmen Cabell Willis (from Collegiate School) - Men's 1500m Run (3:55.99) & 5000m Run (8:38.68 3K qualifier) Radford freshmen Brian Gorwitz (from Grafton HS) - Men's 5000m Run (15:04.42) UVA freshmen Colin Mearns (from Jamestown HS) - Men's 3000m Steeplechase (9:03.92) Miami freshmen Lindsi Arrington (from Gar-Field HS) - Women's 1500m Run (4:37.29) UVA freshmen Kathleen Stevens (from Blacksburg HS) - Women's 3000m Run (9:49.45) Virginia Tech freshmen Courtney Dobbs (from Deep Run HS) - Women's 5000m Run (16:46.93) Virginia Tech freshmen Taylor Crosson (from James Robinson HS) - Women's 5000m Run (16:58.24) Radford freshmen Amber Church (from Pulaski County HS) - Women's 100m Hurdles (14.04)  

Keilah Tyson in disbelief celebrating her 100 meter dash victory last year at the Nike Track Nationals.   After finishing third in last year's inaugural Nike Track Nationals at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, the Western Branch girls have been selected once again to return to the national high school track team championship meet through being the top ranked team in the Southeast Region this spring based on season best performances. This year's Western Branch girls are certainly in the discussion as one of the greatest track teams in the history of the state featuring incredible depth of talent in the relays, hurdles, sprints, and jumps. Keilah Tyson, who recently set Virginia high school state and AAA state meet records in the 100 and 200 meter dash, is the leading individual for the Lady Bruins and last year helped her squad to a third place showing at Hayward Field by winning the 100 meter dash individually. Their roster headed to Eugene, Oregon will also include outdoor 100 and long jump state champion Desmonae Gray and their top quarter miler Javette Lee (55.91 400 season best) who was a state runner-up in the 300 meter hurdles. The Western Branch girls are currently ranked #7 in the US according to the Nike Track Nationals virtual scoring, which scores events similar to a decathlon except using the best marks of any individual on a team in each event and dropping the lowest scoring event of the ten events offered (100 dash, 110/100 hurdles, 400, 800, mile, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus throw). The date of the meet is Saturday, June 25th.   

A list of Virginia teams and relays competing at this week's Penn Relays. This year's Penn Relays certainly expects to produce some of the fastest times this spring from Virginia's best relays while big names will star in the individual events including Isaiah Simmons, Keilah Tyson, Cameron Overstreet, Cody Snyder, Desmonae Gray, Jeremy Greenwald, Kyle King, Chris Pillow, Krista DeCeault, Anthony Williams, Silas Frantz,  Anaquan Peterson, and Hannah Lowery. Relays to pay particular attention to are the Western Branch girls 4x100 and 4x400, Hidden Valley girls DMR, and potential for several boys relays to stake their mid-season claims as Virginia's best relays in the 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800.

Keilah Tyson - 11.48 - Fastest 100 Dash Ever in VA History! Photo by Ryan Kelly   More to come from this weekend's meets as results have come in. Potential severe storms on Saturday have pressured several meets to make early calls on postponements and cancellations, while a handful of others have pressed on to hopefully skirt around or be temporarily delayed by bad weather.   4/16 Weekend Results:   Gojekian Twilight Classic Gus Lacy Track Classic Lake Braddock Hall of Fame Invitational Lee-Davis Invitational Riverbend Invitational Tallwood Team Challenge The Fork Invitational   Since 1997 when First Colonial's Brian Kollar set the Virginia high school outdoor state record in the discus with a mark of 196 feet and 5 inches, there has never been any serious threats of Kollar's record being in jeopardy as only a handful of throwers have went over 180 feet in the past 14 years and none over 190 feet. Finally someone has come along to make a serious run for the state discus record after Woodbridge senior Isaiah Simmons launched a bomb of 192 feet and 7 inches at the Gojekian Twilight Classic on Friday night. A state record breaker and national runner-up indoors this past winter in the shot put, Simmons has developed nicely over the last two years in the discus as shown with his recent US #4 monster throw.   Other top performances from the Friday invitational at Woodbridge included Colonial Forge's David Klimek posting a state leading time of 1:55.8 in the 800, Forest Park freshmen Musahakim Williams clocking only the 3rd sub 22 second 200 in Virginia this spring at 21.98, and Anthony Williams of Potomac improving upon his #1 time in Virginia in the 110 hurdles by a hundredth of a second at 14.43 while winning a close race with teammate Devin Brewer in the 300 hurdles.   After being snubbed by the Penn Relays this past week from being selected to the compete in the 3000 meter run, Lake Braddock sophomore Sophie Chase (pictured above by Dave Watt) showed them that they made a big mistake in running a big PR and state leading time of 10:33.44 in the 3200 meter run last night at the Lake Braddock Hall of Fame Invitational. Also competing in the Friday portion of the meet, state cross country champion and indoor 1000 state champ Ahmed Bile of Annandale made his season debut with a 1:56.01 victory in the 800 meter run. Winning the girls' race in the 800 was returning AAA state outdoor champ in the event, Myah Hicks of Thomas Edison, with a final time of 2:17.35.    

The Bethel girls ran one of the fastest flat track 4x400 meter relay times in the nation with their 3:51.96 victory at the state meet. The New Balance Nationals this upcoming weekend will be their first opportunity to run faster on a banked track (at the New York Armory), which has the Bethel quartet thinking of breaking their own school record (3:48.91 at 2009 Virginia Tech Invite) and potentially the Virginia high school indoor state record of 3:46.91 by the 2006 Landstown squad at the indoor nationals. (Photo by Ryan Kelly).    A list of all Virginian girls (links to athlete profiles) entered currently in this upcoming weekend's New Balance Indoor Nationals at the New York Armory. MileStat.com will be on-site with coverage from the Armory.

In-depth event by event previews of all the field events for the 2011 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Championships. Several state meet records are in jeopardy including Dan Krueger's 1978 shot put record by Woodbridge senior Isaiah Simmons as well as Western Branch's Keilah Tyson having already exceeded the long jump meet record at Boo Willliams earlier this season. Atlee's Cameron Overstreet already owns the Virginia high school indoor record in the pole vault at 12'10" and now can eclipse Lizzie Powell's year old state indoor meet record this weekend. Running events preview to be posted late Thursday night.

The virtual meet preview for the Southeastern District Meet predicts the Western Branch squads sweeping the team titles by a considerable margin. Desmonae Gray along with teammate Keilah Tyson could win a lot of track meets by themselves with their versatility to win and place high in several events. Gray (pictured above by Ryan Kelly) is nationally ranked in the long jump, triple jump, and 55 meter hurdles which she most recently clocked a season best time of 8.10 in the event at the Atlantic Coast Invitational.

Photos by John Herzog   Top 8 Virginia high school girls performers in each event this indoor season as of February 4th. The Virginia Tech Invitational last weekend had four VA #1 performances for girls including Monica Williams of Green Run in the 300 dash (39.15), Annie Lehardy of Hidden Valley in the 1000 (2:56.79), Megan Moye of Cosby in the 1600 (4:58.57 converted), and Mattie Webb in the 3200 (10:44.58). Western Branch teammates Keilah Tyson and Desmonae Gray had a jump off with each other for national leader board bragging rights on Wednesday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex with Tyson leaping a US #1 40'9" in the triple jump and Gray only an inch behind at US #2 40'8". More impressively, Tyson and Gray's marks rank them #7 and #8 all-time in Virginia high school indoor history. The combined Tyson-Gray performance on Wednesday evening has to rank as one of the greatest duo performances of athletes from the same high school in a single event at the same meet in not only Virginia high school history, but in United States high school history for the indoor season.

Isaiah Simmons of Woodbridge earlier this winter competed in an All-Comers meet at the Prince George County Sports & Learning Complex and recorded a huge VA #2 all-time mark of 66'3.25" in the shot put. However, the performance was not verified with results until last week when results were posted on the Potomac Valley Track club website. Simmons further verified that performance with another big throw and this time in a sanctioned high school meet on Saturday at the St. Christopher's Invitational. The defending Group AAA state indoor and outdoor champion rocked the fieldhouse at St. Christopher's with a US #3 mark of 65'0.50".  His two big marks this indoor season put him in contention to become the greatest shot put thrower ever in Virginia High School history. Video of Simmons' 65'0.50" Shot   

  Do not have to wait until the weekends for national caliber performances at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. At Tuesday evening's Southeastern District Regular Season Meet at the 200 meter indoor track facility, two US #2 performances were recorded by Grassfield senior Amanda Smith (pictured above by Ryan Kelly) in the 500 meter dash and Keilah Tyson in the triple jump. Read more...   Southeastern Regular Season Meet #2 Results

  Western Branch senior Keilah Tyson just missed breaking the Virginia high school state indoor 55 meter dash record held by Francena McCorory on Friday night at Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. Facing off in the finals of the Southeastern Invitational against her top rival in defending Nike Indoor Nationals 60 dash champion Christal Peterson of Phoebus, Tyson won convincingly with a VA #2 all-time performance of 6.87, which easily ranks her as the fastest in the country currently.   The Western Branch girls might have the greatest depth of hurdlers in state history as shown with their 1-2-3 sweep in the finals of 55 meter hurdles on Friday with all three athletes in Desmonae Gray (8.26), Shamia Lassiter (8.29), and Taranisha Taylor (8.30) impressively posting the top three times this season from the state of Virginia. Gray was not done with edging out a win over her teammates in the hurdles, a national leader in the triple jump for much of last year's indoor season, the returning All-American is back ontop of the national leaderboard after a US #1 leap of 39'9.75" at Boo Williams on Friday evening. Western Branch swept the triple jump with Marcus Dean winning the boys' event with a US #3 mark of 47'4.50".   Southeastern Invitational - Day 1 Results   More to come from the Southeastern Invitational including race videos from both days of events.

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.

  A list of the top 8 girls performers in each event this indoor season thru December 23rd. Western Branch senior Keilah Tyson (pictured above by John Herzog) is the leader in more events than any other athlete in the state of Virginia. She has clocked the fastest times in the 55 (7.01) and 300 meter dash (39.77), while also is the state's top performer in the high jump (5'6") and long jump (19'0.75"). Not to mention, she ran on the state leading 4x400 for Western Branch and second fastest 4x200 in Virginia.

Highlights from this past weekend's Peninsula District Ice Breaker at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. MileStat.com was on-site with photo coverage from John Herzog.     Western Branch senior Keilah Tyson clocked a 300 meter personal best to become the first girl in the US under 40 seconds in the 300 meter dash with her 39.72 clocking. A past state champion in the 55 meter dash, 100 meter dash, and high jump, Tyson also won the high jump with a successful clearance of 5'6".     Tehquin Warrick of Phoebus, a 48.50 quarter miler last spring, opened his indoor season as a double winner in the 500 (1:07.69) and 300 (36.48) meter dash.     A very early clash of some of the expected top girls' 4x400 meter relays between Bethel, Phoebus, and Western Branch with the Bethel girls impressively breaking 4 minutes in their first race of the indoor season in a 3:59.47 victory ahead of Phoebus (4:00) and Western Branch (4:02).     Heritage High School out of Newport News had three star individuals winning events this weekend including hurdler Daniel McFadden returning to his top form prior to a hamstring injury late in the 2009-2010 indoor season with a 7.48 first place to start this season.     Heritage's Jenira Shufford leaped out to a mark of 17'10" for the best performance in the long jump and ahead of triple jump winner Thireyona Legg of Booker T. Washington. Shufford finished third in the 55 meter dash finals with freshmen teammate Asonya Anderson's 7.09 high school opener allowing her to beat defending state and national indoor champion Christal Peterson of Phoebus. Anderson and Shufford teamed up as members of the victorious 4x200 meter relay as well.   Complete Results MileSplit US National Elite Performances (99 Total) Photo Gallery by John Herzog - Over 2,000 photos.

Led by a 100 meter dash victory of 11.72 and runner-up showing in the high jump by Keilah Tyson (pictured right by Margot Kelly), the Western Branch girls finished third overall at the inaugural Nike Track Nationals held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon in a gathering of the nation's best high school track & field teams. The meet was scored in a decathlon scoring system using each team's top nine events as the Group AAA state indoor and outdoor champions amassed a total team score of 7427.85 points, while Chandler (AZ) girls won the team title with 7721.65 points. Also fairing well individually to score major points for Coach Claude Toukene's squad was hurdler Desmonae Gray with her third place 14.36 clocking in the 100 meter hurdles. Sydni Cobb was a solid top five finisher in both throwing events. Western Branch athletes received an all-expenses paid trip to Oregon, plenty of free gear from Nike, and enjoyed watching the world's top pros compete at the Prefontaine Classic this weekend.   More coverage at MileSplit US

Historic Hayward Field, Home of the 2010 Nike Track Nationals.  (Photos by Margot Kelly)

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.

Preview for the running events at the 2010 VHSL Group AA State Championships. Several races at this year's state meet will be historically some of the best ever in meet's history in terms of depth such as nine girls under 11 minutes in the 3200 meter run, six girls under 12 seconds in the 100 meter dash, and a large pack of boys relays ready to roll under 8 minutes in the 4x800 and 3:20 in the 4x400.  It has been seven years since the state meet was last held at Sports Backers Stadium and the ability for athletes to wear quarter inch spikes will not be the only factor to help potentially produce for many performances to rank among the fastest all-time in state meet history. Several athletes are capable of winning a pair of individual titles on the track including Darrell Wesh (pictured above by Ryan Kelly) in the boys 100 and 200 meter dash.

Event by event preview of the field events for the 2010 VHSL Group AAA State Outdoor Track & Field Championships. There are several state meet records in the field events which could be broken with a talented assembly of today's stars including Isaiah Simmons (pictured left by John Herzog) of Woodbridge in the throws, Lizzie Powell of Patrick Henry in the pole vault, and Justin Hunter of Ocean Lakes in the jumps. Read more...

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.

Updates: Midlothian 9th grader Sean Willard (pictured right by Matt Shaukus of nj.milesplit.us) ran a 10 second PR to win the freshmen mile title in a thrilling and narrow 6 hundredth of a second win over Rob Napolitano of New Jersey with his first place time of 4:31.29. His times converts to under 4:30 for 1600 meters, which Willard had a previous season best of 4:40. (Watch Video Interview w/ Sean Willard). Both Western Branch and Grafton rolled out fast times in the distance medley relay under 10:10 to conclude day one events, but only one team earned a spot on the podium among the top six All-Americans. Less than two seconds separated the top seven teams with Western Branch in fourth and Grafton in 7th at 10:09 each. With a 4:59 anchor split from Paige Kvartunas, the West Springfield girls were able to split into the top 6 to earn All-American honors in the DMR with a school record time of 12:08.18.   Preview for Friday's events at Nike Indoor Nationals, which has expanded the first day of events to include more than just the 5000 meter run and weight throw contested in 2009. The DMR has several Virginia squads with All-American aspirations including the Grafton boys (featuring AA 1000 meter state champ David Gunnerson-pictured above by Ryan Kelly), Western Branch boys, and West Springfield girls. Keilah Tyson of Western Branch aims to set the bar heigher than 5'8" and achieve an all-time best height in the girls' high jump. Meanwhile, Midlothian freshmen Sean Willard is ready for a big PR drop in the freshmen mile at the Reggie Lewis Center on Friday.   Friday Meet Preview, Schedule, & Updates   Meet Page w/ Results & Interviews   Photo Gallery by Matt Shaukus of nj.milesplit.us

Meet preview for Friday's running events (including prelim events which finals carry over to Saturday). The Lake Braddock and Midlothian girls will pick up from where they left off at Great Meadow in the 4x800 meter relay. The sprint relays are no longer the strength for Western Branch boys, but the 4x800 instead with the addition of a quarter miler to a solid trio of distance runners from the fall.   State leader Daniel McFadden's hamstring injury has opened the door for others to take the title in the boys hurdles, while the Bethel duo of Samantha Scarlett and Courtni Pannell attempts to go 1-2 and become one of the great hurdle pair of all-time in state history. Western Branch's fourth fastest girl in the 55 is faster than all of the regional champions from the other 3 regions led by Keilah Tyson (pictured left by Brandon Miles) shooting for Monique Everett's 23 year old state meet record. Four under 6.40 in the boys 55 dash, but Wesh's consistency keeps him as a heavy favorite.   Preview for Saturday's running events to be posted late Thursday/Friday morning.

An in-depth preview for all field events at the 2010 VHSL Group AAA State Indoor T&F Championships. Preview for the running events to be posted later on Thursday. Meet records are in jeopardy in the girls pole vault and boys high jump. Justin Hunter (pictured left by Ryan Kelly) of Ocean Lakes is capable of winning all three jumping events which he nearly achieved at last May's outdoor state meet. Meanwhile, defending 55 meter dash state champ Keilah Tyson of Western Branch is in position to win three titles individually with her development in the high and long jump.

The first edition of the Virginia high school indoor track team power rankings. These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We took the individual rankings and relay rankings and scored them as a normal meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. The power rankings favor teams with a few top tier individual stars who can score a bulk of the points than the depth rankings.

Top performances from Des Moines, Iowa at the 2009 AAU Junior Olympic Championships include national titles in the 1500 meter run by Lizzie Cornell (pictured left by Ted Plunkett) of Princess Anne and William Brown from Hampton as well as a national runner-up performance by Champagne Bell of Booker T. Washington in long jump. Looking strong in preliminary rounds with fast performances and ready for high finishes in the finals include Keilah Tyson of Western Branch in the 100 meter dash and Joel Coleman of King's Fork in the 400 meter dash. Final day of competition is on Sunday. Meet Page - Live Results - Watch Live (On-Demand)

A group of Tidewater area athletes (high school, collegiate, and post-collegiate) running for the Norfolk Real Deal track club, competed at the USATF National Club Championships held in New York City this past weekend.   One of the club's top performers was rising junior Keilah Tyson (pictured right by Ted Plunkett), who is transferring to Western Branch this upcoming year. Tyson was at Oscar Smith this past year in which she was a surprise state champion indoors over Marlena Wesh in the 55 meter dash with a personal best 7.01 clocking. At the USATF National Club Championships, Tyson clocked a new personal best and the state's second fastest time of 2009 in the 100 meter dash with a 11.75 clocking to finish second in the event. Tyson's transfer will certainly give Western Branch a star athlete in the running events which had been lacking this past year despite their great depth and Eastern Region titles.   Also running a PR late into the summer was Granby rising junior Cassandra Jones as she posted an all-time best time of 55.55 in the 400 meter dash with a third place finish. Jones will be one of the top returning quarter milers next year with that time as will Champagne Bell of Booker T. Washington with a 55.47 personal best. Bell also competed at Icahn Stadium for Norfolk Real Deal in the 400 meter dash, but faired better in the long jump with a fourth place finish in a leap of 18'6".   USATF Club Championships Results

The USATF National Junior Olympics wrapped up on Sunday with only several high school athletes from Virginia making the trip to Nebraska. Meanwhile, a much larger delegation of Virginians will be in Detroit, Michigan this week for the AAU National Junior Olympics with many Eastern Region athletes competing. Live Results at aauathletics.org AAU National JO Results by Day: Day One - Day Two - Day Three - Day Four - Day Five - Day Six - Day Seven Day 8 (Saturday, August 2nd) Highlights: Dejor Simmons closed out a remarkable week in Michigan at the AAU Nationals by winning national titles in both the 100 and 200 meter dash on Saturday in the intermediate boys division. Simmons first won the 100 meter dash in convincing fashion with a 10.54 clocking with second place in the finals at 10.85, while the Green Run rising junior was a big winner again in the 200 meter dash at 21.55. Bethel's Ja-Vell Bullard added a third individual national title to his collection for the year as put on a thrilling finish to overtake Bernard Goodwyn from Delware in the final stretch for a 47.32 victory in the finals of the young men's 400 meter dash. Taylor Sykes of Great Bridge and Darryl Brickhouse of Nansemond River also competed in the same finals race as they placed seventh and eighth respectively. Keith Ricks did not win a national title like Simmons in the 200 meter dash, but rolled out an even faster time and the state's fastest performance of the year with his 21.19 clocking to earn All-American honors in a third place finish in the young men division finals. An All-Star team of athletes competing for the Norfolk Real Deal Track Club put up a stellar time to win the AAU 4x400 national title in the young men's division as the quartert of stars Darryl Brickhouse, Sherrard Marrow, Keith Ricks, and Ja-Vell Bullard clocked in at 3:10.57 to close out the meet with a first place finish in relay action. Day 7 (Friday, August 1st) Highlights: With 16 runners breaking 49 seconds, it was very competitive for the eight spots of athletes advancing onto the finals in the 400 meter dash for the young men division. Three Virginians in Ja-Vell Bullard, Taylor Sykes, and Darryl Brickhouse al made the cut with Nike Outdoor Nationals champion Bullard as the third fastest qualifier at 47.41. Great Bridge rising junior Taylor Sykes was just off of Bullard's time winning his heat in a new personal best time of 47.55 (previous best of 47.87). It was only the second time that Sykes has ever broken 48 seconds. Nansemond River's Darryl Brickhouse also needed a personal best performance to advance onto the finals as he nearly broke 48 seconds for the first time as the sixth fastest qualifier at 48.06. Two other Virginians also had solid performances, but failed to make the finals in Bethel teammates Sherrard Marrow (48.38) and Austin Cuffee (48.81). Marrow earned All-American honors earlier in the week in the 400 meter hurdles. Cosby's Andre Redd was the last qualifier to the 400 meter dash finals in the intermediate boys prelims with a 49.78 performance. Redd just completed his sophomore year and first season of track at Cosby with a 48.17 personal best at 400 meters, but has competed in AAU summer track since a young age. Churchland's Tiffany Harris had an outstanding race in the prelims of the young women 400 meter dash as she ran a personal best time of 55.86. Harris had a previous all-time best in the event of 56.69 from the AAU Regional Meet and had not broken 57 seconds during the school year at Churchland.  

Several high school athletes competed at the USATF National Club Championships held in Olathe, Kansas this past weekend for the Norfolk Real Deal Track Club. Norfolk Real was the only USATF club from Virginia in the event as the women's team finished 3rd among 14 teams, while the men's team placed 9th among 21 teams. The Norfolk Real Deal's club team was made up of high school, college, and post-collegiate athletes. AAA state outdoor long jump champion Tiffany Harris (pictured left by Ted Plunkett) leaped to a new personal best mark of 19-5.75 to win the long jump at the USATF Club Nationals as well as place in the 200 meter dash (25.18 prelims, 25.25 finals). Read more... USATF National Club Championships Results