Trikakis, Chantilly Boys find success at XBC Invitaitonal

On Saturday, April 25th, the Chantilly Track team hosted its 4th Annual Cassel’s XBC Track Experience, with 28 schools competing in top level track & field.  The invitational, sponsored by Cassel’s Sports & Awards, is billed as one of the better track meets in the area, combining championship level events with an athlete, coach and spectator-friendly experience.  On a more somber note, it also pays tribute to Charger alum, XB Cox, IV, member of the Class of 2005, who passed away in September, 2006 of leukemia. Boone was a 12 season varsity athlete on the Chantilly cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams, a 4.0 student, and attended UVA for a semester before his diagnosis, and this meet both honors his memory and achievements as a Charger, and also serves to reward a current senior, thanks to a scholarship sponsored by his parents.

This year’s recipient of the XB Cox, IV Memorial Scholarship was senior co-captain Josh Trikakis.  Josh was chosen based on a vote of his teammates, and selection from the coaching staff.  On the meet which honored the scholarship’s namesake, Trikakis had perhaps the best meet of his career, in leading the Charger boys to a strong 2nd place finish overall. their best finish in over 10 years at a varsity invitational. He led four Chargers in the top 5 of the pole vault, equalling his 13′ 0″ personal best in taking the win over fellow seniors Wes  Sun, Curtis Sun and Kyle Cantrell.  He also added a personal best 20′ 4.25″, 3rd place finish in the long jump, and a 4th place in the triple jump.  In the meet’s final event, Josh led off the boys 4x400m relay (with Mustafa Rasheed, Chris Foley and Wilson Bever) in a race which saw their 6th place finish give them a one point advantage over Stone Bridge for the 2nd place trophy. Foley also had a solid day, with a 2nd place finish in a seasonal best 4:30 1600m run. Junior Matt Cumpian earned a 4th place medal with a personal best in the 3200m run, while freshman Arthur McDuffy scored a medal with his 6th place finish in the triple jump. 

The Charger’s 2nd place finish helped to obscure the sorry the team felt, though, in losing one of their best runner’s, to injury.  Indoor regional 500m champ, sophomore Mohamed Labor-Koroma, was enjoying the best meet he has had this season, with a personal best 6′ 0″ jump in the high jump (3rd Place), and a 23.34 PR in the 200m prelims, an event in which he finished 5th.  Going into the 400m dash, his best event, the Chargers were in the team lead.  Coming around the final turn, though, Labor-Koroma suffered a hip injury, giving a serious blow to a team with championship aspirations, and which has already seen it’s share of injuries this season.

On the girls side, several Chargers earned medals en route to a solid 5th place.  Senior Kim Weinberg had the best haul, with a 2nd place in the pole vault, in a personal best height of 9′ 6″, and a 4th place in the 100m hurdles. She also ran on the 3rd place 4x100m relay team with junior Tyeisha Jarret, sophomore Tiffany Mitchell, and freshman Kathryn Ingraham. Sophomore Nina Ullom also had a great day, with 4th place finishes in the pole vault and 400m dash, and a 5th place in the 200m dash.

Full results can be found at: http://www.chargercctrack.com/2009CasselsXBCResults.html.

Photos were taken by Chris Dolan, and are listed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kippercd/sets/72157617262876253/.

Thanks go out to all parents and supporters for their help in making this another successful event.

The Chargers are in action again this week on Wednesday, at Robinson SS, and on Saturday, at South Lakes, in the NIKE Spring Invitational.

Burgoyne’s Boys Highlight Hall of Fame Invitational

In seasons past, pole vaulting has been one of the strengths of the Chantilly High School track program, and this season is shaping up to be one of the strongest in this area in CHS history.  After a successful winter campaign when CHS placed three in the top 6 in the region, the vaulters continue to be the strength of the team, and may ultimately be even stronger. On Friday and Saturday, April 17th & 18th, the Chargers competed in the always competitve Lake Braddock Hall of Fame (formerly Allen Johnson) Invitational, and came away with results which were even better than could have been expected.

The boys placed 8th overall in the team standings, but showed that another strong postseason is in the works by earning five automatic qualifiers.  The boys pole vault was easily the highlight of the day.  The star came from returning team MVP, senior Wes Sun.  As recently as Thursday morning, Sun did not even know if he would be vaulting, as he has been nursing a hamstring injury since the indoor national meet.  Coach Nick Burgoyne told him he had a limited number of vaults in him for Saturday, and he made them count.  In his first four attempts, he had no misses, and on his fourth jump of the season, Wes earned a new CHS school outdoor track record in the pole vault, at 14′ 7″.  Coupled with his indoor track school record, Sun can now lay claim to being one of the best vaulters ever to wear a CHS uniform.

Wes Sun was not the only Sun to shine, though.  Twin brother Curtis re-emerged from his form of a year ago, after taking off the winter season. A state qualifier last year, in his first invitational since the 2008 state meet, Curtis earned a personal best height of  13′ 6″, tied for 2nd highest in the region behind his brother.  Senior Josh Trikakis took fourth in the event, earning a 2nd career trip to the state meet, with a personal best height of 13′ 0″.  Joining the three seniors was junior Chris Menzel, who earned a personal best height of 11′ 0″, which qualified him as the 5th vaulter for next month’s district championships (senior Kyle Cantrell stayed out due to injury this week). For his efforts, Wes Sun was named the meet’s Field Event MVP.

On the track, the Chargers also earned a state qualifier, by junior Chris Foley.  The defending indoor track regional 3200m champion ran 9:33.04 on Friday night, under the lights, to punch his ticket to the state meet. Junior Matt Cumpian also scored a huge personal best with his time of 10:08, moving him closer to the district leaders. Sophomore Mohamed Labor-Koroma earned an 8th place medal in the 400m dash, running 51.46, for a district leading time.

On the girls side, junior Genevieve Manley had the best day for the Chargers. Manley scored a 4th place and regional qualifier in the 100m dash in 12.82, as well as a 9th place in the 200m dash.  Both of her performances were close to personal bests, and keep her amongst the leaders in the Concorde District.  Sophomore Nina Ullom took 6th in the pole vault, in a career best height of 8′ 9″, following 4th place senior Kim Weinberg, who equalled a season best height of 9 ‘3″, which is a regional qualifier.  Weinberg also medalled in the 100m hurdles, while sophomore Olabisi Abisogun medalled in the high jump.

The Chargers will run at Westfield on Tuesday night, at 5 pm, in a makeup meet against Oakton.  Next Saturday, April 25th, they will be hosting their 4th annual Cassel’s XBC Track Experience at Charger Stadium.

Complete results can be found at: http://www.chargercctrack.com/stresults.html.

Photos from Tom Foley can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/CHSrunning/LakeBraddockHallOfFameInvite#

Wednesday Meet @ Westfield Postponed

Due to the adverse weather conditions, the meet scheduled for this evening at Westfield HS has been postponed to next Tuesday, still at 5:00 pm, and still at Westfield HS.

Please note that we did not have another meet scheduled for next Wednesday already.

We will hold practice at normal time today.

Washington Post Honors Chargers

Congratulations to the following Winter Track athletes for being honored by the Washington Post for their indoor success.

HONORABLE MENTION ALL MET

Wesley Sun

FAIRFAX EXTRA INDOOR TRACK TEAM

Wesley Sun

Chris Foley

Chargers Open Season at Edison

The 2009 Spring Track Season opened during the first weekend of April, on an excedingly windy Friday evening and Saturday against some of the better teams in the Northern Region, competing at the Metro Run & Walk Northern Virginia Invitational at Edison HS.

Several Chargers earned medals, showing that as the season continues, they will undoubtably make their marks. Earning is first career invitational victory was senior Josh Trikakis, who vaulted 11′ 0″ in the pole vault.  Junior Chris Menzel also scored in the event, taking 3rd place in a career best height of 10′. Senior Kim Weinberg also took first in the pole vault, earning the lone regional qualifier for the Chargers.

On the track, many of the times were adversely affected by the wind and cold temperatures, but the Chargers remained competitive. Junior Chris Foley made his seasonal debut a successful one.  The indoor track 3200m regional champion led the Chargers to a 2nd place finish in the Distance Medley relay, teaming with sophomore Mohamed Labor-Koroma, junior Matt Cumpian, and senior Wilson Bever.  Foley also returned to take a competitive 3rd place in the 3200m Run.

Sophomore Nina Ullom took two medals, placing 5th in the 400m dash, and 4th in the pole vault.  Junior Sara Meier also enjoyed a strong start to the season with a 3rd place finish in the shot put.

The Chargers return to competition after spring break, with two meets.  They will face Oakton and Westfield at Westfield on Wednesday, April 15th.  On Friday/Saturday, April 17th & 18th, they will compete in the Lake Braddock Hall of Fame invitational.

Full results for the Chargers’ first two meets can be found at:  http://www.chargercctrack.com/stresults.html.