Girl's ABI

By Jeremy Stafford - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WINCHESTER -- Krista DeCeault, her face unchanged from the moment she began the 3,200-meter run, had time to trot off the track, gather her wits, put on a jacket, collect her shoes and sit down to put them on.

Then the race's second-place finisher, Millbrook's Karly Knechtel, came off the track and gathered her wits.

Not too long after, with runners still pouring off the track and gathering their wits, DeCeault's time cackled over a portable radio on the field of Jerry Kelican Stadium at James Wood High School.

DeCeault, a Sherando senior, had unofficially finished the race in 10:38. A tiny voice replied on the radio: "Oh, wow."

With a more precise time of 10:38.04, DeCeault broke the Apple Blossom Invitational record by more than 11 seconds.

"To hold a record in something, I appreciate it so much," DeCeault said. "I know how much it's worth, and it's a great feeling to hold a record."

DeCeault said she's broken a few meet records this season, and that she's so enthralled by setting records she keeps a log of the records she has broken.

That log is growing and growing.

A year ago, when she also played soccer in the spring, DeCeault could only long and hope and dream of breaking so many records.

Yet she's done little else this season.

At the Turner Ashby Invitational earlier this year, she set a record in the 1,600 (5:10.18), then set another record in the 3,200 (10:46.07).

On Saturday, DeCeault, also won, and set a personal record, in the 1,600 (5:03.62) -- a run she said she can break the 5:00 mark in.

For her efforts, she was named the Apple Blossom Invitational's Most Outstanding Athlete.

What's better: Her two wins helped Sherando win the meet with 97 points.

It wasn't all DeCeault, of course. Sherando senior Lauren Wilkins, the Warriors' sprinter, jumper, leaper and workhorse, won the long jump (16-04.75), took second in the triple jump (35-02.50), third in the high jump (4-08.00), and ran in the Warriors' third-place 400-meter relay team (52.47).

"Lauren scored in every event, she's a major player because she can score in anything she's in," Sherando distance coach Tim Ritter said. "We had contributions from every aspect of our field events, every sprint -- we had contributions from the whole team."

Sherando middle-distance runner Shelby Spangler won the 800 (2:22.79), ran on the Warriors' second-place 1,600-meter relay team (4:14.05), and on Sherando's meet-winning 3,200-meter relay team (9:57.76). Erin Dougherty placed third in the 1,600.

Handley, too, is familiar with setting meet records: Last season, the Judges' 1,600-meter relay team set Region II and Group AA records. And now, with the graduation of Kara Dixon, the addition of Lisa Meneau, and the cancellation of several weather-worn meets, Handley's relay team (Meneau, Verna Hilaire-Lee, Britani Myers and Caroline Crowe) has just recently overcome a minor adjustment period: The team only Saturday qualified for the state meet.

"It's really frustrating for us, because this time last year we were breaking meet records, region records, district records," Hilaire-Lee said. "We were actually a little angry going into the race today because we needed to qualify."

If they were angry Saturday, they're likely perfectly content today: Handley won the 4x400 relay in 4:02.95, well ahead of second-place Sherando.

Handley also won the 400-meter relay (50.36), beating out Warren County (52.04) and Sherando.

Hilaire-Lee, in her first time running the 200 this season, won the event (25.99) and qualified for the Group AA meet.

Because Hilaire-Lee can only compete in three events in the state meet, she will run in the 200 rather than the 100. She will also run in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays.

Hilaire-Lee placed second in the long jump 16-03.75; Myers won the 400 (57.86); Crowe won the high jump (5-00); and Meneau won the 300 hurdles (47.21) and tied with Wilkins and Clarke County's Nadine Voelker in the high jump (4-08).

Handley placed second in the 3,200-meter relay (10:30.43). As a team, the Judges placed second (87.25).

Clarke County placed fourth (57.25), well behind Bull Run District rival Manassas Park (83), and has a prominent athlete of its own hitting her peak at the right time.

Senior Andrea Gaither won the 100 (12.54), a welcome relief for the sprinter considering she missed the first three weeks of the season with a knee injury, and coming into Saturday's meet, had yet to qualify for the Group A meet.

"When I'm told I can't do stuff, it makes me want to work harder," Gaither said.

She qualified for states on Saturday. Gaither also placed third in the 400 (1:03.41).
Clarke County saw top finishes from these athletes: Miles Crosby (32-10.75) and Amelia Eyles (32-08) took third and fourth in the triple jump, respectively. Voelker won the shot put (33-11), beating out Warren County's Octavia Shanks (31-10.50), who took third. Caitlin Lake won the 100 hurdles (17.14).

Millbrook placed fifth in the meet with 47 points, James Wood placed sixth with 36.5 points, Warren County placed seventh with 31 points and Skyline placed ninth with 12 points.

Oshene Kelly won the triple jump (35-03) for Skyline; Randi Jones placed third in the shot put (95-10) for Millbrook; and Morgan Craig placed second in the 100 hurdles (17.15) for James Wood.

Warren County sprinter Jasmain Ford placed second in the 100 (12.63), anchored the Wildcats' second-place 400-meter relay team and placed second in the 200 (27.05).

Millbrook saw a solid performance from Crystal Nelson, who placed second in both the 1,600 (5:15.10) and the 800 (2:23.63). Shelby Feliciano placed second in the 300 hurdles (49.01) for the Pioneers.

James Wood's Amber Hawkins placed third in the 800 (2:28.67), and Samantha Ratcliffe placed third in the 3,200 (12:30.13). The Colonels also took third in the 1,600-meter relay (4:21.85).