Marques Atkinson

A final list for the 2009-2010 indoor season of the top 10 best performances for each boys' event in the state of Virginia.

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.

Click for more updates:  Marques Atkinson used an impressive last lap kick in the final event of the boys pentathlon in the 1000 meter run to go from barely inside of the top 10 entering the event to coming out as a national runner-up in the final scoring for the multi-event. The Atlee junior amassed a total of 3,556 points and finished just 34 points behind the champion from Pennsyvalnia. Atkinson earned 893 points to his cumalative score in his 2:38.34 closing performance in the 1000. Christiansburg junior Travis Hudson had built up enough cushion of points entering the final event of the 1000 which would be his most difficult event for the high jump/hurdles specialist to maintain a top six final standing and earn his second All-American honor of the meet (high jump All-American on Friday) with a total score of 3469 points for sixth place.   For the second straight year, Lizzie Powell of Patrick Henry is an All-American in the pole vault at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. She finished just under her height from a year ago at the Armory with her sixth place clearance of 12'5.50" (3rd in 2009 at 12'6") in a more competitive field from a year ago.  The performance is her third best ever indoors behind only her 2009 NSIC performance and her state meet record 12'7" clearance two weeks ago.   Group AAA state 55 meter hurdles state champion DreQuan Hoskey of Henrico can feel a national title in reach after his semifinal performance in the 60 meter hurdles where he clocked the second fastest time among all finals qualifiers at 7.98. The Henrico senior was only one hundredth of a second slower than the fastest qualifier for the finals.Joining Hoskey in the finals and creating the possiblity of two All-Americans from Virginia in the event was Christiansburg's Chris Dobbins who posted the fiourth fastest time in the semifinals round at 8.05.     Live Webcast

Photo by Don Rich   Friday Meet Preview, Schedule, & Updates - Nikki Nunn on her final jump in the finals, uncorked a 19'9.75" to move herself into second place and finish as a national runner-up in the girls long jump. Her performances ranks her #6 all-time in VA high school indoor history.   Another athlete representing Virginia very well on the national stage was Justin Hunter (pictured right by Ryan Kelly) of Ocean Lakes notched the state's first national title of the weekened by clearing a US #1 height of 7'0.25" in the high jump, which ranks him also #4 all-time in state indoor history. Add another national title for Justin Hunter as his second place showing in the long jump makes him the national champion in that event as well since first place was an high school athlete from Canada. His mark of 24'7" ranks him #8 all-time in state history, while ranks him #2 in the US this season. Not a bad start in his indoor nationals debut with a triple jump competition to go on Sunday.   The Lake Braddock relay of Casey Lardner, Kelly Ball, Kelly Hagan, and Sophie Chase finished as national runners-up in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:06.46, which is a remarkable accomplishment considering Braddock lost their top leg Liana Epstein to a stress fracture injury prior to the regional meet. AAA 3200 state champion and freshmen Sophie Chase anchored their DMR with a sub 5 split and will be coming back this weekend to attempt to win the freshmen mile title at NSIC. Makes one wonder how much faster they could have gone and potentially won a title with Epstein healthy and competing.   MileStat.com will be providing updates on performances by Virginians on Friday at National Scholastic Indoor Championships. A quick preview below of who are the top competitors from Virginia in Friday's events at NSIC including Justin Hunter of Ocean Lakes. Hunter (pictured right by Nicoll Knudsen) is competing in his very first national championship meet, but his incredible athletic ability and talent should override any lack of national meet experience as his best marks rank him as one of the favorites in both the high jump and long jump on Friday.   Link to Live Webcast (starting Friday at 11 am to meet's conclusion)

Quite a few big names from Virginia high school track & field will competing for national titles and All-American honors at the 2010 National Scholastic Indoor Championships. Below are just a few of the top athletes from the state who will be at the New York Armory this weekend. More to come including meet preview and final meet performance list. More coverage including a live webcast of the meet will be found later this week on the meet page.   Lizzie Powell (Patrick Henry) - Girls Pole Vault Justin Hunter (Ocean Lakes) - Boys Long Jump & Boys Triple Jump Nikki Nunn (Manchester) - Girls Long Jump Travis Hudson (Christiansburg) - Boys Pentathlon Colin Mearns (Jamestown) - Boys Mile Run Marques Atkinson (Atlee) - Boys Pentathlon Eric Zwarcyz (Mills Godwin) - Boys Pole Vault Stephanie Frenchik (Landstown) - Girls Mile Run Cydney Robinson (Churchland) - Girls 800 Meter Run Dominique Graham (McLean) - Girls High Jump Tania Minkins (Menchville) - Girls 200 Meter Dash

Event previews to be added throughout Friday. Currently posted are previews for the 4x200 and 1600.  500, 1000, 300, 3200, and 4x400 previews to be added soon.

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.

  Atlee junior Marques Atkinson leads the Central Region team champions into this weekend's Group AAA Indoor State Championships as one of most versatile athletes in the meet. Atkinson this season has competed in the hurdles, high jump, long jump, sprints, mid-distance, and relays. He will likely be the book end on both of Atlee's state qualified relays in the 4x800 and 4x400 along with competing in the high jump and long jump. The Central Region 500 champion will be featured in the fast section of his specialty event alongside twin brother Michael as they will attempt to score big points in the 500 against favorite and US leader Taylor Sykes for an Atlee squad looking to break into the top three and build towards an even stronger squad in 2011 with several key returnees. Read more for interview with Marques Atkinson...

The current top 10 best boys performances in the 2009-2010 indoor season prior to this weekend's VHSL State Championships in Hampton (Group AAA) and Lynchburg (Group AA).

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.   Boys Top 3 1. Western Branch 58 pts 2. Ocean Lakes 41.50 pts 3. Atlee 30.83 pts   Girls Top 3 1. Western Branch 99.50 pts 2. Great Bridge 42 pts 3. Midlothian 38 pts

Group AAA depth team rankings through the regional meet results. These rankings were calculated by scoring the top 20 rankings as a meet. We scored 20 deep for individuals and 20 deep for relays. For example, for individuals 1st place received 20 points for their team, on down to 1 point for 20th place.

The 2010 Atlee boys track & field squad is a team which is not every year within the Central Region. Matter of fact, Coach Jim Triemplar's team this year is one of the best that the region has seen in decades as their regional championship team score of 104 points this weekend at the Arthur Ashe Center is the first time a team has crested over the 100 point total in the meet's history since 1984. Marques Atkinson (pictured right by John Herzog) was the top individual performer for the Raiders in anchoring two victorious relays in the 4x800 and 4x400, while also leading two other teammates to take three of the top four spots in a 500 regional individual title and achieving a runner-up mark in the long jump.   The Capital District swept the team titles in the Central Region with the Lee-Davis girls nearly breaking the century mark as well in the points department with their final score of 94 points. Montasia Golden contributed 42 points on her own individually, which would have placed her second as a team behind only runners-up Patrick Henry with 57 points. The junior added 2 more regional titles to her growing list in the triple jump and 55 meter hurdles, while finishing runner-up in the long and high jump as well as a fourth place finish in the 300. She completed her busy weekend anchoring Lee-Davis to a come from behind win in the 4x400 meter relay.   The field events had some stellar performances including a 12'3" state leading and meet record clearance by Lizzie Powell of Patrick Henry in the pole vault, Quintin Fulgham of Thomas Dale leaping over 23 feet for the second straight meet in the long jump at the Ashe Center, and Quentin Moore of Highland Springs achieivng a new personal best height of 6'7" in the high jump.   More to come from the Central Region Indoor T&F Championships including full meet summary, photo gallery by John Herzog, and race videos from Brandon Miles.    

Central Region Indoor T&F Team Rankings based on the best times/marks from the district meets at the Arthur Ashe Center and scored them as a meet. The Capital District champion Atlee boys will be strong favorites to win the regional crown.

The Atlee boys and Lee-Davis girls were the top teams in the Capital District Championships and both will certainly considered strong favorites to win Central Region titles next weekend when they return back to the Arthur Ashe Center next weekend. Lee-Davis junior Montasia Golden had a dominant meet in winning five individual events and also running on the first place 4x200. Marcus Atkinson led the Atlee Raiders with victories in the long jump, 500 meter dash, and runner-up finish in the high jump. More to come from the Capital District Championships including full meet summary, photos and videos (day 1 only).

MileStat.com's Athletes of the Week from a very light schedule of meets from this past weekend.

  With many schools shut out from finding a nearby indoor invitational to compete in this weekend, teams went outside this weekend in polar bears across the state including at Douglas Freeman High School in Richmond with 13 area high schools competing. With a sunny day and temperatures staying into the 40s for the majority of the day, conditions were decent enough for some quality times to be run on the 400 meter outdoor track. Many district and regional qualifiers occurred at the meet as well as several state automatic qualifying and national caliber performances including 1:05 500 meter performances from Atlee's Atkinson twins (both pictured above by Brandon Miles).

The nation's top two fastest 1000 meter times were produced in both boys and girls races on Saturday at the CNU High School Showcase in Newport News including a great race to finish between Cody Snyder of Lee-Davis (2:31.77) and Blake Theroux of Western Branch (2:32.13). More to come from CNU including race videos, photo galleries, and a full meet summary. Complete results are posted. (Photo by Ryan Kelly)

There was a total of 13 US top 10 performances on the first day of events at the CNU High School held Friday at the Freeman Center's Vince Brown Track in Newport News. The Midlothian girls 4x800 meter relay had the leading performance of the evening with their US #2 and state best time of 9:36.64. Despite nearly missing the race with a late arrival and no time for a warm-up, Midlothian senior Kathleen Lautzenheiser motored a 2:17 split on anchor leg for the Lady Trojans.

MileStat.com was on-site for a portion of the 2010 East Coast Invitational held Saturday, January 2nd at the Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond. Some of the top performers included Varina's Anthony Finney (300 winner) and Midlothian's Marie Johnston (3200 winner). Complete results posted with race videos and photo gallery uploaded.

MileStat.com was on-site for the first meet of the 2009-2010 indoor season this past weekend at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. It was a very strong opener for the Atlee boys and Western Branch girls as both teams had more than their share of event winners. Western Branch girls did not show its full cards on the opening weekend of the indoor season, but certainly showed a glimpse of what to expect from them this season as they swept the relays and had five individual winners. Coach Jim Triemplar appears to have one of his better squads in recent years at Atlee. At least based off their team showing at the Peninsula District Icebreaker, which saw the Raiders collect of seven wins. The Atkinson brothers had a large role in many of those wins.  More coverage from Peninsula District Icebreaker (photo gallery to be posted Monday)