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Chance at a sweep?

The stage is set. Now it’s up to Louisa County’s boys track and field team to capitalize.

A year removed from an eighth place finish in the Region II outdoor meet, Louisa dominated the region meet with a runaway, 67-point victory over second place Broad Run. The victory sets the stage for this weekend’s Group AA meet that stretches over Friday and Saturday in Harrisonburg, where the Lions will be among the contenders on a busy weekend for track and field.

The Lions have proven that winning team championships is made a lot easier when you have sprinters. When you have sprinters you usually have jumpers, and the Lions have a powerhouse tandem in Corrin Harris and Tony Green, who already led the Lions to an indoor state title earlier this year. The two seniors put on monster performances again at the outdoor Region II meet in late May.

Green won the 110-meter hurdles and finished second in the 300-hurdles. He took second in the high jump, tying Monticello’s Isaac Robinson and topping teammate Jake Scott. Green took fourth in the long jump and third in the triple jump. That’s an incredible points boost, but when Harris gets in on the act, Louisa becomes a real force.

Harris ripped off a Region II record setting jump in the long jump (earning him the top seed in the event this weekend), then placed second in the triple. Throw in a third in the 200-meters for Harris too, and it’s clear he’s an indispensable part of the puzzle for Louisa.

The Lions’ supporting cast keeps getting better and better too, with freshman Marcus Burley emerging as a big contributor. Burley posted a fourth place in the 300-hurdles and ran a leg, along with Lorenzo Henson (who had a fifth place in 300-hurdles), Harris and Green, for the 4×100 meter relay title winning squad. Andre Mealy posted a third place in the shotput. The Lions’ 4×400 team also grabbed third place, and Lucas Roumillat and Robert Davis took third and fourth in the pole vault.

Sure, it’s much tougher to scoop up depth points in the state meet’s expansive field with the number of big-time specialists in each invest increasing four-fold over the Region II meet field. There’ll also be three other region champions vying for the title, including Christiansburg, who won the Region IV in a fashion similar to Louisa’s dominance at the Region II clash. There’s also a slew of Region I teams with solid credentials.

But at the indoor state championships earlier this year, Louisa got big-time, clutch performances when they needed it, with lower seeded runners gaining critical places in their events.

They’ll need something similar when Green, Harris and company hit the track this weekend.

Charlottesville’s Johnson leads the way for the Black Knights

Charlottesville High takes a few rock solid athletes into the state meet as well, with junior David Johnson back for another shot at glory in the jumps just a week after setting a new Region II record in the triple jump. Johnson took second in the event in 2010, and now is seeded second right behind Louisa’s Green.

He’s also seeded fourth in the boys long jump.

He ran a leg of the CHS 4×100 team that finished second at the Region II event, along with teammate Akil Robinson, who took second in the 100-meter dash for Charlottesville with time of 11.06.

Other Group AA boys

At the Region II meet, Taylor Ecenrode won the boys discus for Monticello with a throw of 137-00, he’s seeded fifth for Group AA. His teammate Isaac Robinson is seeded fifth in the high jump.

Nate Hermsmeier, bound for UVa next fall to run for the Cavaliers, took fourth in the 1600-meter run at Region II and is seeded 10th in that event for Group AA. Didn’t run the 3200-meter at Region II, an event he’s seeded fourth in, and Western sophomore David Taylor took third in that event at the region.

Sophomore Chance Parmly won the Region II title with a vault of 14-00, which makes him the top seeded vaulter at the state meet.

Group AA girls

While Louisa guns for a title in the boys event, the girls squad is set up for a strong performance as well. Sophomore Javanique Burruss, who made her mark on the state event last year, is seeded in the top spot in the 100 hurdles and long jump, fourth in the triple jump and 12th in the 300 hurdles. It should be a busy day for the Lions’ sophomore.

Fluvanna star Greer Brown, who won Jefferson District athlete of the meet honors a few weeks ago, is seeded third in the 100 hurdles and third in the long jump, so she should be a contender in both events.

Western Albemarle’s squad that’s been depleted by injuries managed a second place at the Region II meet, with Kelsey Grupp winning a region title in the pole vault and Maggie Kooken picking up wins in shotput and discus.

Grupp will be seeded behind Fluvanna’s Hannah Meador, the freshman sensation who has an earlier season mark of 11-09 that’s earned her the top spot in the Group AA meet. Meador checked in at second at Region II based on attempts.

Kooken faces a loaded field at the state meet.

Group AAA

Albemarle take a quality contingent to the Group AAA state meet, led by Summer Shepherd, who finished third in the Northwest Region in pole vault.

Albemarle’s Adam Visokay rolled to a win in the 3200-meters at the Northwest championships by more than five seconds, and he’ll look to build on that performance this weekend in Richmond.

Group A

Claire Moretz set a Region B record in the 3200-meter run last week, topping a record set back in 2008 by more than six total seconds. Moretz, the defending Group A champion in the 800-meters and 1600-meters focused on the 3200 and 400 in the Region B meet and the 3200 record adds to her coffers as the Region B record holder in the 1600, set during her magical 2010 season.

She also nabbed a seventh in the 400-meter dash, showing an incredible amount of range for a young runner.

She’s seeded second in the 1600 and first in the 3200 going into the Group A meet at Radford this weekend.

Buckingham’s Antonn Briley won the long jump at the Region B meet with a leap of 22-02.25, less than a foot off the region record. Briley took seventh in the 110-hurdles with a time of 16.45. Manassas Park’s Tyree Durr won the event with a new Region B mark.

Briley is seeded fourth in the state in the long jump.

Nelson’s Rodrell Smith, a standout running back for the Governors, clocked in at 11.13 in the 100-dash to take second place behind Dan River’s Trey Edmunds in the Region B clash. Edmunds outpaced Smith again in the 200-meter dash by just three tenths of a second. Nelson’s Miguel Zarate took fifth in he 1600-meters and fourth in the 3200-meters for Nelson. Quincy Murphy grabbed a second place for Nelson in the 300-meter hurdles. Their efforts helped boost the Governors to a third place team finish in the region meet. .

Smith is seeded ninth in the Group A field in the 100th and sixth in the 200.

Nelson’s Ashley Wells of volleyball fame checked in with a second place in the high jump at Region B, leaping 5-01, she’s seeded fourth going into this weekend.

Her Nelson counterpart in the boys event, Thomas Napper, took third in the high jump with 6-02 at Region B, and also holds the fourth seed going into this weekend.

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