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Burruss shines at Group AA meet

Javanique Burruss’ win in the long jump was impressive. Her third place in the triple jump was expected. But the finish that announced the Louisa freshman’s arrival to the outdoor track and field championship while proving the depth of her talent was a second place finish in the 100-meter hurdle finals.

Because it was just the sixth time she’d competed in the event. Sixth.

“There was one girl I was trying to beat and I beat her,” Burruss said. “It’s my first year doing hurdles and I was real impressed that I came in second.”

The phenom’s day at the Group AA championships was cut short by a foot injury on her second long jump, but she managed to scored 24 points for Louisa before pulling out of her last two events. That boosted Louisa to a fifth place finish overall, off the incredible pace set by champion Blacksburg’s army of talented distance runners, but an impressive performance by the Lions, who are slated to return much of their lineup next year, including Burruss.

In the 4×100, Louisa County finished fourth. Freshman Monica Mallory, Natese Ragland and seniors Jasmyne Johnson and Kia Christmas combined in the effort. The Lions also nabbed a sixth place in the 4×400.

Louisa’s Raven Robinson also managed a seventh place finish in the discus to score points for the Lions.

Burruss leapt 18 feet, five inches — short of her 18 feet, 11.5 inch mark that seeded her in the top spot coming into the meet — to win the long jump, but she injured her right foot on her second attempt. Fluvanna’s Precious Banks checked in at seventh in the long jump.

Louisa finished a point ahead of Western Albemarle, the Region II and Jefferson District champions. The Warriors put together a strong outing, particularly in the pole vault, where a trio of Warriors dominated the podium with second, fourth and fifth place finishes. Senior Nicole Harding checked in at second place while Christine Wesner and Kelsey Grupp took fourth and fifth. They combined for 17 of the Warriors’ 36 total team points, providing a solid boost to the team’s score.

“Usually we’re pretty helpful,” Grupp said.

Louisa’s Imani Callen finished sixth in the pole vault.

Western also picked up several points on the strength of Mattie Webb’s solid two-day performance. The junior finished fifth in the 1600 meter and grabbed an eighth in the 800, but she really shined in the 3200-meter race Friday, finishing third behind Blacksburg’s twin distance powerhouses, Kathleeen and Joanna Stevens.

The Warriors’ 4×800 team showed well too Friday, outpaced only by Blacksburg by seven seconds as a host of underclassmen (freshman Peri Bowser, sophomore Katie Farina, juniors Killian O’Connell and Claire Johnson) pieced together a solid race for the runnerup spot in the event.

Charlottesville’s  Jessica Jordan finished third in the 400-meter while Monticello senior Sherrie Timberlake, bound next year for Virginia Commonwealth, reached the podium with a seventh place showing. Timberlake also finished sixth in the 200-meters.

Amanda Jordan raced alongside Burruss in the 100-meter hurdles and clocked in at seventh place.

Boys Group AA

Often at the state championships, athletes are just trying to meet expectations they’ve set coming in, but Charlottesvile’s Reginald Sterling felt like he had his best performance left in him.

“I was counted out because I was seeded 10th,” Sterling said. “I just had to do what I do.”

Sterling managed to roll to a fourth place finish in the long jump, significantly out-performing his seeding in a highly-competitive field that included Fluvanna’s Kedarius Bruce, who was hoping he and Sterling could put together a one-two finish. Bruce struggled, but still managed a fifth place finish.

“The pit just kind of looked weird — you’d think you got a good jump but you didn’t get a good jump,” Bruce said. “It just looked weird.”

In the 110-meter hurdles, defending state champion Dante Davis of Louisa went to toe-to-toe with Christiansburg’s Chris Dobbins, who clocked a state record time in the event during the prelims on Friday. Dobbins got a great start and edged Davis by just under two tenths of a second, with Davis posting a 14.62 seconds.

Davis placed fourth in the 300 hurdles too, a solid day for the senior star.

Two other local jumpers did well, with Fluvanna’s Damien Harris placing third in the high jump while Charlottesville’s David Johnson, a sophomore, grabbed second place in the boys triple jump on Friday. CHS’s Steve Allen gave the Black Knights a fourth place finish in the shotput, finishing just a foot short of the winning throw. Charlottesville’s Raheim Turner posted a throw good enough for seventh.

Orange County’s 400-meter relay squad finished eighth in another loaded, competitive field. In the 4×400 race, Louisa finished fourth on the strength of sophomore Cory Osborne, junior Jacob Scott, senior Brandon Payne and junior Gregory Dixon’s effort.

In the 3200-meter relay, Western Albemarle took second, with seniors Jimmy Taylor and Andrew Jennings, sophomore Colin Williams and junior Henry Giles clocking in behind champion Blacksburg by about 13 seconds.

In the boys pole vault, Western’s Zach Lawson was the state runnerup while Fluvanna’s Chance Parmly and Jonathon White finished third and fourth.Western’s Tim Nguyen finished eighth to give Central Virginia a dominant presence on the podium.

Monticello’s Taylor Ecenrode finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 146-08 in the finals.

Group A

In the Group A track meet at Radford University, Madison County’s Claire Moretz, just a junior, successfully defended her 1600-meter title from her sophomore year by nearly two seconds. Then, for good measure, Moretz won the 800-meter race by an even larger margin, winning by more than three seconds.

Moretz’s performance single-handedly placed Madison eighth in team rankings.

On the boys side, Madison’s Lynn Welch finished eighth in boys 3200 meter run. Nelson’s Rod Vest finished sixth in the high jump. Buckingham sophomore Antonn Briley, posted an eighth place finish in the long jump, while Kendal Randolph, a Buckingham junior, took fifth in triple jump.

Group AAA

In Richmond at the Group AAA track and field meet, Albemarle’s Summer Shepherd finished ninth in the pole vault while the Patriots’ 4×800 team finished 10th in the event.

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