The Centreville High boys were the second top team finisher from the Northern Region and finished tied for 12th place overall at last Saturday’s Virginia State AAA Track and Field Championships, held at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.
Tenth place Lake Braddock was the only team from the Northern Region to finish better than Centreville (13 points), which finished in a four-way tie with Deep Run (Central Region), Grassfield (Chesapeake) and Stafford (Fredericksburg).
Centreville senior Yazid Zouaimia became a state champion in the boys’ 3200 race, winning with a time of 9 minutes, 15.67 seconds. He finished ahead of Chantilly cross-town rival Christopher Foley, who timed at 9:22.99. It was a terrific one-two state finish for the two outstanding local athletes.
Another Northern Region runner, Oakton’s Andrew McCullen, took fourth place in the 3200, giving the region three of the top four runners in that event.
A week earlier at regionals, Zouaimia took first place in the 1000 event while Foley was third.
But at states, Zouaimia did not compete in the 1000, but reserved his strength instead for both the 3200 and his anchor position on the 4x800 relay event. And it paid off big time with his first place run in the 3200.
In the 4x800, the Centreville boys finished in sixth place. The Wildcats’ foursome was made up of Robert Kelly, Joey Hannah, Mattson Heiner and Zouaimia. The Chantilly boys’ 4x800 team, the region champions, finished in 12th place at states. The Chargers’ team was made up of Matt Cumpian, Sean McGorty, Eric Rolfe and Sam Tucker. Mohamed Labor-Koroma, who had run the final leg in Chantilly’s first place 4x800 at regionals, did not run in the event at states. But Labor-Koroma did race in the boys’ 500 event, and excelled with a solid fifth place finish.
Centreville’s Paul Barbour finished a strong 10th in the boys’ long jump event.
Langley High’s Efosa Guobadia finished third place in the boys’ high jump event. Saxon teammate Peter Sanson, meanwhile, was ninth in the long jump.
In the boys’ triple jump, Sean Price of South Lakes finished eighth overall. Also for the Seahawks, Adrian Vaughn finished eighth in the 300 dash. South Lakes’ 4x400 relay team of Muhammad Yasin, Armando Drain, Vaughn and Alvin Moore finished ninth.
Herndon’s Jack Jasper finished eighth place in the boys’ 1600 race.
<b>ON THE GIRLS’ SIDE</b> at states, Lake Braddock (11th), Robinson (12th) and West Springfield (13th) were the highest finishing teams from the Northern Region. Other Northern Region teams to finish in the top half of the 50 team field included West Potomac (18th) and McLean (tied for 22nd).
McLean’s Dominique Graham captured second place in the girls’ high jump with a mark of five feet, seven inches. Herndon’s Danielle Theberge tied for sixth in the same event.
Centreville’s Katie Bannon and Chantilly’s Nina Ullom tied for ninth place in the pole vault.
In the shot put, Westfield’s Kaylin Newman took sixth place.
In girls’ triple jump, Oakton’s Alex Straton earned a sixth place finish and was also 10th in the 300.
Herndon’s 4x800 relay team, made up of Belle Burgess, Mehnaz Haq, Nina Bagley and Carolyn Hennessey, finished ninth. Hennessey took ninth place in the 1600 race.
At the Northern Region Championships on Feb. 20 at George Mason University, the South Lakes boys’ team captured the team title with 72 points, ahead of second place Langley (54).
Adrian Vaughn of South Lakes won the 300 race and was second in the 500. His teammate, Muhammad Yasin, was fourth in the 500. Sean Price won both the long jump and triple jumps for the Seahawks.
South Lakes won the 4x400 relay. The Seahawks’ foursome was made up of Yasin, Armando Drain, Moore and Vaughn. South Lakes’ 4x800 relay team of Jacob Grundahl, Daniel O’Malley, Sam Boone and Will Sickenberger was fourth.
For the Saxons, Alex Maybury was third in both the 300 and the 55 hurdles. The Langley 4x200 relay team of Maybury, Robert Bennett, Peter Sanson and Thomas Robinson was second overall. Robinson was fifth in the 55 race.
Other local place finishers were Herndon’s Jack Jasper (2nd in 1600), Herndon’s Jimmy Luehrs (4th in 1600), Oakton’s Andrew McCullen (2nd in 3200), and Oakton’s Patrick Fulghum (6th in 3200).
Madison’s 4x400 relay team of Young Jeon, David Secor, Shane Nelson and Stephen Swartz finished fourth.
<b>THE OAKTON GIRLS</b> finished fourth at regionals, while Herndon was sixth and McLean seventh.
Herndon’s Carina Peter took first in the 55 dash. South Lakes’ Val Moyer was fifth place in the 1000 race. Also for the Seahawks, Kyannah Calhoun was fifth in the 300, one place ahead of McLean’s Ayom Izegbu.
Oakton’s Alex Straton was second in both the 300 and long jump events, and third in the 55. Lanie Smith was eighth in the 3200. Also for the Cougars, Meghan Jean-Baptiste captured first in the triple jump, while getting fifth in the 55-hurdles and sixth in high jump. Oakton’s Jennifer Markin was third in pole vault.
In the 4x200 relay, Oakton’s foursome of Shelby Windmuller, Danielle Fitzgerald, Emily Corridon and Straton finished second, while the Herndon foursome of Mehnaz Haq, Enuma Ezewa, Danielle Theberge and Carina Peter were third. The Hornets’ 4x800 relay team of Nina Bagley, Haq, Belle Burgess and Carolyn Hennessey took third place.
In girls’ high jump, McLean’s Dominique Graham was the region champion. She was also fifth in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump. Marshall’s Brittany Johnson was third in both the long jump and triple jump events. Herndon’s Theberge finished third in the high jump.
Langley’s Mary Fouse finished third in the 3200, and Saxon teammate Courteney West was sixth in the same event.