Boys’ Track Outlook

Posted: April 2, 2015

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Despite having only two participants at the Group 4A state indoor track meet in Lynchburg, the Handley boys’ track and field team placed fourth as a team.

With some reinforcements for the spring, don’t be surprised if the Judges achieve a similar result at the outdoor state track meet.

Handley might not necessarily stand out in mid-week dual meets, or any meets in which there are only single-digit schools competing, like the six-team Conference 23 meet. But the more teams there are, the more dangerous Handley figures to be.

The Judges took eighth in the Group 4A state meet last year, and they return a strong corps of sprinters and jumpers.

“I think we’ll be a better big meet team than dual meet team,” Handley coach Mike McKiernan said. “I think we can finish in the top five at the state meet with the people we have.”

In senior Dontae Mauck, the Judges have one of the area’s — and state’s — best athletes.

Mauck — who will play football and run track on a full scholarship next year at the Virginia Military Institute — scored 30 of Handley’s 35 points at the state indoor meet as a result of winning the 55-meter dash, the long jump, and the triple jump.

The school record-holder in the long jump (47-01/2) and triple jump (23-7), Mauck will look to build off what he did last year, when he took second in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump at the state meet. Mauck was also third in the 100 and 10th in the 200 at the state meet.

With fellow senior Justin Washington healthy, Mauck definitely has someone nearby to push him to great feats.

Washington — who will play football next year at the University of Delaware on a full scholarship — missed almost his entire junior season because of a torn ACL, and had his 2014-15 indoor track season ended prematurely because of a hamstring pull. As a sophomore, Washington’s best 400 time was 49.77 seconds, a time that would have been good enough for third at last year’s Group 4A state meet. In addition to the 400, Washington was also the area’s fastest 200 runner as a sophomore.

Mauck and Washington should also form the core of what should be a pretty formidable 4x100 team.

Among the other athletes Handley can turn to are senior Jarett Cestaro (tied for seventh in Group 4A in the high jump last year and second in the 800 and 400 at the Conference 23 meet), senior Marquaye Jackson, who placed fourth in the shot put at the Group 4A indoor state meet, and junior Aaron Arslan, who ranked third in the area in the 3,200 last year.

The Judges are hardly the only area team with athletes that can pile up the points though.

Nowhere is that more true than at Millbrook, which features one of the state’s best one-two distance punches in junior Tyler Cox-Philyaw and sophomore Alec Schrank.

Cox-Philyaw is The Winchester Star’s reigning Boys’ Track Athlete of the Year and Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year. As a sophomore in track, Cox-Philyaw won the 1,600 at the Group 4A state meet and was sixth in the 800, and he recorded the area’s best times in the 800 (1:54.36), 1,600 (4:16.02) and 3,200 (9:42.48) last year. In the indoor season, Cox-Philyaw placed second in the 1,600 (4:19.09) at the state meet.

Schrank placed seventh in Group 4A in the 3,200 last spring, and 13th in the 1,600. At the indoor state meet, he placed second in 9:24.72 in the 3,200, 20 seconds faster than his top time in the outdoor season last year.

“Alec and Tyler are in shape to run personal bests right now,” Millbrook coach Kevin Shirk said. “We feel that Tyler is in shape to run 4:15 or faster in a quick race. Recently, his races have been tactical. With the Raleigh Relays (where Cox-Philyaw ran a 4:18.64 1,600), he got through the halfway point in only about 2:13, and closing in he was 2:04 or 2:05 for the last half-mile. Given a nice, fast race from the get-go, he should produce some very fast times.

“Both Alec and Tyler have the versatility to help us in every event from the 400 to 3,200 and both [the 4x400 and 4x800], so they are tremendous assets to the team.”

Sherando features a strong distance crew headlined by Trevor Whiteside, who took eighth in the 800 at last year’s Group 4A state meet and had a top time of 1.58.86 last year. During the indoor season, Whiteside teamed with Jahlil Northover, Thomas Shea and Justin Hammer to place seventh in the Group 4A state meet in the 4x800.

The rest of Sherando’s team also includes Trent McCarty, who ranked third in the area in the discus last year (142-4).

At James Wood, senior Landon Rutherford is coming off an indoor track season that saw him take second at the Group 4A state meet in the shot put, and he ranked third in the area last year with a top mark of 46-3 in that event.

Colonels senior Andrew Shade is one of the area’s best distance runners, taking fourth in Conference 21 in the 1,600 last year.

With a roster of 46 boys compared to 26 last year, Clarke County hopes to field a more competitive team this year. Jack-of-all-trades senior Justin Dulaney, who Clarke County coach Andre Kidrick says can do “seven or eight events” will lead this year’s Eagles’ team. Dulaney placed eighth at the Group 2A state meet in the long jump last year (and had the area’s second best mark with a 20-6), and he ranked third in the area in the 100 and high jump last year.

This year’s Eagles team also adds two of the area’s most productive athletes this year in star sophomore running back Hunter Rogers (sprints) and freshman state champion wrestler Bryan Wallace, who will throw the discus.

The following is a glance at each area team:

Handley

Coach: Mike McKiernan, 4th year.

Last year: 2nd in Conference 23 meet; 6th in 4A North Region; 8th in Group 4A.

Key losses: Jordan Dowrey, Malachi Strother.

Top returning athletes: Dontae Mauck, Sr., sprints/jumps; Jarett Cestaro, Sr., jumps/middle distance; Aaron Arslan, Jr., distance; Marquaye Jackson, Sr., throws; Justin Washington, Sr., sprints/jumps; Michael Felder, Sr., sprints/jumps; Dominique Glover, Sr., sprints/jumps; Zach Foote, Sr., hurdles; D.J. Frisby, Sr., sprints/jumps.

Key newcomers: Landrum Beard, Jr., sprints/jumps; Marcus Tactikos, Jr., sprints/jumps.

McKiernan’s outlook: “We don’t know what our 4x100 team is going to be yet, but right now we have Mike Felder and Dominique Glover running with Dontae and Washington, so we should have a really solid team. Justin Washington’s healthy, but we’re taking it easy with him right now. I think we should have a pretty good 4x400 team, but we’ll need some people to step up to have a good 4x800 team.”

Next meet: Handley Invitational on April 11, 7 a.m.

Sherando

Coach: Tom Grim, 16th year.

Last year: 2nd in Conference 21 meet; 7th in 4A North Region.

Key losses: Ryan Hindle, Josh Ojo, Andrew Mathew, Donovan Walton, Brandon Litten, Daniel Snapp, Isaiah Williams.

Top returning athletes: Trevor Whiteside, Jr., distance; Trent McCarty, Sr., throws; Thomas Shea, Jr., distance; Thomas Powars, Jr., distance; Justin Hammer, Sr., distance; Jonah Pearson, So., distance; Jahlil Northover, Sr., distance; Alex Martinez, Jr., throws; Juan Chavez, Sr., throws; Jacquari Hayes, So., sprints/jumps; David Restrepo, So., middle distance; Tim Coleman, Sr., sprints.

Key newcomers: Matt Sayen, Sr., throws; Zach Brown, Jr., middle distance.

Grim’s outlook: “Distance should be strong for us, and we’ve got some depth in the throws. I think Jacquari Hayes is someone who can really help us, particularly in the jumps. (Hayes placed second in the triple jump with a 38-101/4 and third in the long jump with a 20-3 at Sherando’s Arrowhead Invitational). We’ll just have to see how things go and try and get better as the seasons goes on.”

Next meet: Handley Invitational on April 11, 7 a.m.

Millbrook

Coach: Kevin Shirk, 4th year.

Last year: 3rd in Conference 21 meet; 8th in 4A North Region; 10th in Group 4A.

Key losses: Connor Faint, Israel Lockhart.

Top returning athletes: Tyler Cox-Philyaw, Jr.; distance; Alec Schrank, So., distance; Garrett Bloodworth, Sr., distance; Josh Davis, So. sprints; Austin Devart, Jr., hurdles; Tyler Russell, Jr., throws; A.J. Brandon, Jr., throws; Zac Somers, Jr., sprints.

Key newcomer: Tom Carty, Jr., distance.

Shirk’s outlook: “Our strengths are in the distance events. In addition to our strong distance boys, we have Tyler Russell and A.J. Brandon who look to be competitive in the shot put, Austin Devart in the hurdles, and a couple of young 400 runners. Our boys finished third in the conference last year and would like to come back and finish at least that well this year. Our goal is always to score some big points with our top-tier kids, but also to surprise people by scoring small points with our sprinters and jumpers who step up as the season goes on. Those small points add up to good team finishes.”

Next meet: Handley Invitational on April 11, 7 a.m.

James Wood

Coach: Matt Stegmaier, 10th year.

Last year: 4th in Conference 21 meet, 16th in 4A North Region.

Key losses: Owen Bales, Mark Bohler, Sawyer Michelitch, Logan Shiffler, Matt Vitagliano.

Top returning athletes: Max Lindquist, So., distance; Landon Rutherford, Sr., throws; Andrew Shade, Sr., distance; Chris Vitagliano, So., field events.

Key newcomer: Tyler Ostinato, Fr., middle distance.

Stegmaier’s outlook: “We’re really young and inexperienced on the guys’ side. But Landon Rutherford did an outstanding job in the winter, and we look for him to continue what he’s been doing. I think Chris Vitagliano will have a good year. He’s come back bigger, stronger and faster than last year, and we can put him in a number of spots, like the jumps, shot put, the 4x100, the 4x400. I think he’ll get some PRs early in the season.”

Next meet: Wednesday vs. Skyline, 5 p.m.

Clarke County

Coach: Andre Kidrick, 9th year.

Last year: 4th in Conference 35 meet; 13th in 2A East Region.

Key losses: Matt Dietz, Nick Almond.

Top returning athletes: Justin Dulaney, Sr., all-around; Jarrett Wagner, Jr., middle distance; Vincent Nappi, Sr., throws; Evan Whirley, Jr., throws.

Key newcomers: Michael Dietz, Jr., middle distance; Billy Holsinger, Fr., sprints/jumps; Hunter Rogers, So., sprints; Bryan Wallace, Fr., throws.

Kidrick’s outlook: “It’s going to help a lot having a much bigger team. We’d like to have more depth with our distance team, and we haven’t had a sprinter who consistently scores points since [2008 graduate] Charles Bailey. We’re just looking for a strong overall team effort. As far as newcomers, I think Bryan Wallace can score a lot of points for us in the discus this year if he works at it.”

Next meet: Handley Invitational on April 11, 7 a.m.

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