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-The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Western Albemarle bringing home a national championship in the boys distance medley relay.

The DMR is a very popular event in the collegiate ranks, but is rarely contested at the high school level. Consisting of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter legs, it brings together the sprinters and distance runners in a unique format.

Kyle Satterwhite got the action started with a stellar 3:10 leadoff leg, handing off to Nick Ward in first place. Ward’s 51.9 carry kept Western in the lead, but James Howard-Smith’s 2:04 split put the Warriors in second after the 800 meter runner from Gaithersburg, MD ran a blistering leg.

Anchorman Tyler Stutzman received the baton a few seconds behind the leader, but steadily reeled him in and continued on to victory in one of the smoothest and easiest looking 4:17’s I’ve ever seen.

Western ended up with a final time of 10:25.73, over five seconds ahead of second place.

-Albemarle’s quartet of Anthony Kostelac, Zach Vrhovac, Garrett Bradley and Luke Noble took home double All-Americann honors by placing sixth in both the DMR and the 4x800 meter relay.

Their time of 8:02.33 in the 4x800 was especially impressive, as it is one of the fastest times ever run by an area school during the indoor track season. The only mark faster in recent memory is the Axel Mostrag-anchored Fork Union squad from last year.

Look for big things from this foursome outdoors, as multi-sport star Vrhovac is foregoing baseball this spring to concentrate solely on track. Thank you, Zach.

-Western junior Tyler Stutzman followed up his national championship anchor leg with a fourth-place finish in the mile run on Sunday. His time of 4:20.19 for the full mile converts to a 4:18 1600 meter, and was good enough to earn him another All-American certificate.

-Orange County senior Logan Collins just narrowly missed All-American honors in the 800 meter run with his eighth-place finish of 1:57.76. Although I’m sure Collins was hoping for a faster time and a higher finish, it was still a very impressive accomplishment considering he has been running very fast times since early December.

Hopefully he will take a very well deserved break and recharge his batteries for a fast outdoor season.

-Fork Union senior Brian Zitterkopf showed off his range of talents by bringing home fourth place in the pentathlon with his score of 3318. The event featured the 60 meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and a 1000 meter run.

All five events were contested on the same day, making for a very exhausting outing. Zitterkopf’s All-American performance was highlighted by his indoor PR of 6-05.50 in the high jump.

Performance of the Week: A national championship in the DMR was a very fitting end to what has been perhaps the greatest indoor season in Western Albemarle’s history.

A trio of team titles at the district, regional, and state levels preceded this weekend and the foursome of Kyle Satterwhite, Nick Ward, James Howard-Smith, and Tyler Stutzman capped it all of with an exciting and dominating victory.

Kudos to the four horsemen from Western, I hope you enjoy your national championship rings.

Up Next: After a long indoor season, the area’s athletes will take a deep breath and recharge for the spring.

A smattering of meets take place in late March and early April, but the outdoor season unofficially begins when Fork Union hosts the Gus Lacy Track Classic on April 12th.

With several of the area’s athletes throwing down national level marks, expect barriers to be broken and school records to fall. It should be a great spring…

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Posted by Alec Lorenzoni on March 21, 2008 7:41 PM | Permalink

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