Today Nike opened registration and announced details for the Nike Track Nationals competition, the first ever national championship competition to name the best high school track and field program in the United States. 

With the goal of crowing a true national track and field champion, Nike Track Nationals consists of a four-month virtual competition that will select the top 12 boys and top 12 girls programs to compete at legendary Hayward Field for the Nike Track National Title the night before the Prefontaine Classic. 

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

After last year’s initial success with a grand total of 1,207 entered athletes and 70 teams entered, the MileStat.com Elite Track Classic looks to continue to grow this spring in its second year of existence in becoming the largest outdoor track & field invitational. As we continue to grow and improve the quality of the meet, we also are searching for sponsors to help us put on a first rate event for coaches, athletes, and parents.

In partnering with this event, a potential sponsor would gain great exposure to a large audience between the great number of competitors and spectators expected for this event as well as additional exposure on a larger audience found on meet host MileStat.com’s website, which consistently averages well over one million pages per month. Read more for sponsorship packages for this year's meet.

Please take the time to visit and check out the 2010 outdoor track season meet calendar on MileStat.com and inform us of any corrections or missing meets. Meet directors please send in meet information you would like posted online to be easily accessible to coaches, athletes, and parents. Email us at milestat@gmail.com.

Also over 50 meets have already signed or been setup already utilizing the MileSplit online registration system for the upcoming outdoor season in Virginia. It is a user friendly system for coaches and meet directors, which is very flexible in serving different needs for different meets such as smaller week-day meets, large weekend invitationals, or verified performances only championship meets.

State meet qualifying standards are now posted online on MileStat.com for all three VHSL state outdoor track & field championships this June. The qualifying standards are posted on each state meet's individual meet page.

VHSL Group AAA

VHSL Group AA

VHSL Group A

Nike Indoor National entries as of March 4th, 2010.  The deadline is set for March 7th, 2010 at 3PM EST.

Photo by John Herzog

Amber Church, a senior at Pulaski County in Dublin, Virginia, has hurdled a lot in her high school career. Literally. Church is arguably one of the best all-around athletes to come out of recent  AA State track meet history.  Just last week she single-handedly led her team to a fourth place title in the Group AA State meet, competing in a total of six events. Church competed in the 55 meter dash, 55 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and 300 meter dash, earning three individual titles. 

The 2008 Nike Outdoor Nationals emerging elite 100 meter hurdles champion will return to competition next weekend in Boston for the Nike Indoor Nationals. The defending Group AA 100 meter hurdles champion Church aims to sweep the hurdle races (100 and 300 meters) which alluded her last year as a close runner-up in the 300 hurdles at this June’s outdoor state meet in Harrisonburg. MileStat.com intern Elisabeth Greenwood recently interviewed Church, who is, according to her coach Jamie McCarty, “one of the greatest athletes in  Pulaski County High School history.” Read more for interview with Church...

We are still in the process of capturing, editing, and uploading a great abundance of photo and video from this past weekend's VHSL State Indoor Championships in Hampton and Lynchburg. Check back throughout the week as photos and videos continued to be added from various contributors.

AAA State Meet Video - A total of 106 videos are now uploaded from the meet! All interviews (20 total), running events (41 total),  & field events (15 total) videos have been added from Brandon Miles (76 grand total). All Saturday race videos (30 total) from Andy Paisley are now posted . More footage coming from Ron Bayton.

AA State Meet Video - 27 race videos (all running events!) added by Tayloe Skelton.

AAA State Meet Photo Galleries

Ryan Kelly Gallery - 2,923 photos total. All photos from both Friday and Saturday events!

Nicoll Knudsen Gallery -  956 photos total. All photos from Saturday events..

Brandon Miles Gallery - Many more photos still to be added.

AA State Meet Photo Galleries

Frank Locascio Gallery - 301 photos currently posted. More to be added soon.

David Bradshaw Gallery -  377 total photos posted.

Global athletic leader New Balance is proud to announce an official multi-year partnership with the National Scholastic Sports Foundation (NSSF) in the Outdoor Nationals event, renamed the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. The event brings together the best outdoor track and field high school athletes from across the country for a weekend of intense competition. 

Photo by Frank Locascio

The Christiansburg boys claimed the 2010 Group AA state indoor title by a one point margin over their River Ridge District rival Blacksburg with a team score of 54 points. Blacksburg needed a second place finish in the 4x400 to move ahead into first for the final team standings, but Harrisonburg nipped them for second in the event to give Christiansburg the title.

Travis Hudson led Christiansburg in winning the high jump (6'9"), while also scoring points in the hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Teammates Chris Robbins was a state runner-up in the 55 meter hurdles and Andy Eddleton also garnered a second place finish in the 1600 meter run, while completing a solid double with a third place showing in the 3200.

The Blacksburg girls won as expected with a team score of 81 points as the next closest team was Western Albemarle with 59 points. Joanna Stevens broke Catherine White's two state meet records in the 1600 and 3200 with her times of 4:50.07 and 10:29.70. Twin sister Kathleen was a close runner-up in the 1600 (4:50.11), while coming back to take the state title in the 1000 (2:57.47).

Amber Church was the lone athlete to win more than 2 individual state titles on Saturday at Liberty University as the Pulaski County star in her three victories clocked a time of 8.42 in the 55 meter hurdles, cleared 5'4" in the high jump, and leaped to a mark of 17'11" in the long jump. She also was a state runner-up in the 55 meter dash (7.40) and placed 7th in the triple jump. Pulaski County placed fourth in the final team standings thanks to the individual efforts of Church.

Double champions included Ashontae Jackson of Orange County in the 55 (7.30) and 300 (41.12), Terrance Morse of Amherst County in the boys 500 (1:06.57) and (35.68), Colin Mearns of Jamestown in the 1600 (4:18.33) and 3200 (9:29.36).

VHSL Group AA State Championships Coverage - Complete results posted, Photos, videos, summaries, and interviews to come throughout this week!

Boys Top 3 Team Scores

1. Western Branch - 41 pts

2. Landstown - 38 pts

3. Ocean Lakes - 34 pts

Girls Top 3 Team Scores

1. Western Branch - 78 pts

2. Great Bridge - 41 pts

3. Midlothian - 35 pts

MileStat.com Boys MVP - Darrell Wesh (Landstown)

Photo by Ryan Kelly

The Landstown senior without a doubt, left her older sister's shadows with this overall showing at the 2010 indoor state meet. Wesh blew out the 55 dash finals field in a US #1 6.30 clocking and showed his range beyond 200 meters with a state leading 34.33 300 and second individual state title in the meet. His most incredible race of the day though had to be his 4x400 meter anchor leg with a state team title on the line. Landstown's third leg crashed to the track with the lead before the exchange zone and was able to get back up to hand off to Wesh, but now in third/fourth place with ground to be gained. Wesh nearly pulled it out despite the odds and time lost in a three way photo finish with Booker T. Washington (1st, 3:26.21) and Bethel (2nd, 3:26.28). Wesh anchored Landstown to near 4x400 win and state title with a final time of 3:26.31 for third place.

MileStat.com Girls MVP - Shakeela Saunders (Great Bridge)

Photo by Ryan Kelly

The multi-event star Saunders scored 41 points by herself to give Great Bridge second place as a "team". Saunders won state titles in the 300 (39.83) and long jump (19'0.50"), along with runner-up finishes in the 55 meter dash (7.04) and triple jump (39'7.50". Her 300 meter dash win was most impressive on tired legs and bouncing back from an earlier defeat and fourth place finish (1:15.22) in the 500 from a US #1 1:13.30 performance by Green Run's Monica Williams. Saunders was able to make it a draw between her friendly rival with a sub 40 second performance.

2010 VHSL Group AAA State Championships Complete Results

Isaiah Simmons VA #4 all-time 63'3" Shot!

With three throws over 63 feet in the boys' shot put competition, Woodbridge junior Isaiah Simmons rocked the house at Boo Williams as he successfully defended his indoor state title with VA #4 all-time in the event. The performance also currently ranks Simmons #6 in the United States.
 

The Western Branch girls have started off the 2010 VHSL Group AAA State Championships with two individual champions in the field events as top seeds Keilah Tyson in the high jump and Sydni Cobb in the shot put had to withstand upset bids by McLean's Dominique Graham and Freedom's Tiera Williams and come out at the end with titles. Tyson won the high jump in 5'8" after battling with Graham (2nd, 5'7") at the three heights by themselves, while Cobb took their fifth attempt to assume the lead over pre-finals leader Williams (38'0") with a top throw of 38'8".

The biggest upset of the meet without a doubt was Patrick Henry junior Tony Green going from third in his regional meet with a PR of under 44 feet in the triple jump to winning the triple jump state title against a field of 49 and 48 footers with a 47'2" final jump as the seventh seed in the finals. The Central Region had more than one surprise champion including Montasia Golden of Lee-Davis in the girls triple jump and Eric Zwarycz of Mills Godwin in the boys pole vault.

More to come from Boo Williams throughout the meet!

Gallery of Champions - View all individual champions so far.

"Live Results" - Includes all of Friday's field events except for girls pole vault which has yet to start.

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.

Coach Eddie Williams at Bethel has had some great pairs and depth of stars at once in the sprint events during his coaching career, but never has he had a pair of hurdlers or quite possibly any high school coach in Virginia as fast as Samantha Scarlett and Courtni Pannell (pictured above by John Herzog). Both are ranked on the state's all-time top 25 list in the 55 meter hurdles with Scarlett as the current state leader and US #7 performer at 8.09, while Pannell is working herself back into her 8.08 Boo Williams facility record form from a year ago after suffering an emergency appendicitis surgery just before the season.

Pannell grew up in the Hampton track scene through summer track and middle school feeding into Bethel, while Scarlett came from out of the country (Jamaica) at the start of her junior year when her stepfather took a job as the hurdles coach at Hampton University. There is a strong shot of a 1-2 finish at the state indoor championships from the Bethel pair in the 55 meter hurdles and a chance to establish themselves as the outright best short hurdles duo in Virginia high school history. Read more for interviews with Scarlett & Pannell..
 

Prior to this indoor season, Matt Hazelgren's claim to fame on MileStat.com was being the belly flop champion at the 2007 Blue Ridge Running Camp. Thankfully, Hazelgren (pictured above by John Herzog) has developed a few more skills and talents since then including become one of the state's pole vaulters this year. Hazelgren (pictured right by Nicoll Knudsen)  is coming off a personal best and state leading clearance of 15'3" at the Northwest Regional Championships and will be favored at the AAA State Meet against another 15 plus foot vaulter in Matt Hoogland of Lake Braddock, who Hazelgren has defeated twice in head-to-head competition this season. Read more for interview with Matt Hazelgreen...

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.

Directions to Boo Williams Sportsplex and information on facility, seating, team areas, spikes, packet pick-up, coach passes, weigh-ins, etc.

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.

Photo by Don Rich

The most feared and respected middle distance runner in the state of Virginia, Anthony Kostelac of Albemarle, will be competing this weekend in the 1600 and 1000 at the VHSL Group AAA State Championships. If Kostelac were to win both events, he would be the first male athlete to win both since Alex Tatu of Thomas Dale in 2003 and join a small list of half dozen able to achieve the double in the meet's history. After running on the national record breaking 4x800 meter relays, the attention and focus on Kostelac this year is competing in individual events. The Millrose Mile runner-up Kostelac has stated goals of 4:05 in the 1600 and 1:48 in the 800 which if reached would cement him as arguably the second best high school middle-distance runner in state history behind only mile national record holder Alan Webb. Read more for interview with Anthony Kostelac...

With a defending state champion in the 500 meter dash in Genamarie McCant of James Robinson and returning state runner-up in the 300 meter dash in Shakeela Saunders of Great Bridge both back after sensational freshmen seasons, it appeared at the onset of this season that  there would be little room for anyone else to step up into the mix as a state title contender in those two events. Green Run junior Monica Williams (pictured right by Ryan Kelly) changed that mindset in early December when she became the first athlete in the country at that point of the season to break 40 seconds on a flat track in the 300. Considered as more of a 500 meter runner last year, Williams has made great strides this year in the shorter event of the 300 to have knocked off 2-3 seconds from where she was consistently at last year. Williams will be attempting the difficult 500 and 300 meter double on Saturday against defending champ McCant and 300 runner-up Saunders, but is certainly riding high after an undefeated season which included a recent Eastern Region 300 title and US #8 39.32 win over Saunders. Read more for interview with Monica Williams...

The top two seeds in the boys 3200 meter run at this weekend's Group AAA State Championships are very familar with each other in Centreville's Yazid Zouaimia (pictured above by Ted Plunkett) and Chantilly's Chris Foley. Both Concorde District distance runners had aspirations of state championship glory or a Foot Locker Nationals berth in this past fall's cross country sesaon. Neither was able to claim victory at Great Meadow and both ended up shutting down their seasons before Foot Locker South. Zouaimia like Foley will be seeking a nice consolation prize and justification for not attempting to race at Foot Locker South by winning the AAA indoor 3200 state title. Zouaimia ran a personal best of 9:16 earlier in the season in a solo effort at Liberty University, but the Virginia Tech recruit will have plenty of company in the state meet showdown with Foley and his future UVA teammate Drew Paisley. Read more for interview with Yazid Zouaimia...

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 St. Christopher's School boys 4x200 meter relay team of Hiter Harris, Kurt Fleming, Hunter Johnson, and Keaton Hillman ran a state leading time of 1:31.30 in the prelims of the Eastern States Championships held Tuesday night at the New York Armory. Their relay won their heat and their time was 8th fastest overall to make them the final and last qualifier, which they ended up finishing last with a time of 1:32.06. More coverage at ArmoryTrack.com

Performance list for the 2010 VHSL Group AA State Indoor T&F Championships to be held Saturday, February 27th at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.