The state of Maryland was well represented with strong participation and national class performances on Friday at day one of the 2020 VA Showcase. Three victories on the track were especially notable.
The Bullis School girls led things off in winning the championship 4x400 meter relay with a US #1 time of 3:44.15 to win the event for the third consecutive year at the meet. Western Branch gave them competition thru the first two legs, but Leah Phillips on third leg and Shaniya Hall on anchor leg were able to take over the lead and race for them.
Brandon Nya of Bowie has had an incredible last 24 hours. On Thursday evening, Nya competed in four races at the Prince George's County Championships winning two individual titles in the 300 (34.56) and 500 (1:06.24) and helping the Bowie become the state leaders in the 4x400 meter relay.
On Friday at the VA Showcase, Nya won the invitational 200 meter dash with a 21.48 personal best clocking, ran a 49 second opening split to put Bowie boys in the lead en route to a MD #2 overall time of 3:27.07, and his 7th race over 24 hours turned out to be his finest performance yet.
In the final section of the invitational boys 300, the Bowie senior clocked the nation's fastest performance at the time with a 33.80 clocking to dip under 34 seconds for the first time. The performance was remarkable considering how many races over the last two days on little rest and likely lack of sleep with the Prince George's County Championships ending close to 10 PM last night and then getting on a bus this morning to travel nearly 4 hours to Lynchburg.
His spot on the national leaderboard was short lived though as the AAU elite race of the event less than an hour after his race saw Cameron Rose at 32.84 and Justin Robinson at 32.87 run two of the faster times in U.S. high school history. Nonetheless, Nya has come a long way from last year when was ranked #144 in the entire nation for the 300 meter dash and only 13th fastest in the state of Maryland with a 35.71 best.
Believe or not. Hartford junior Caitlyn Bobb had never raced 300 meters on a banked track before Friday at the VA Showcase. The defending Maryland 2A state champion in the event took advantage of her first opportunity to race on a faster banked track in clocking a US #5 time of 38.61 to win the invitational division of the event. She had only broken 40 seconds once before in her 39.34 win at the Southern Maryland Classic two weekends ago.
Many more great performances were recorded by Maryland athletes in some of the deepest fields will find a in a meet prior to nationals. Day 2 action resumes on Saturday starting at 7:40 AM. Watch LIVE on FloTrack.
The state of Maryland was well represented with strong participation and national class performances on Friday at day one of the 2020 VA Showcase. Three victories on the track were especially notable.
The Bullis School girls led things off in winning the championship 4x400 meter relay with a US #1 time of 3:44.15 to win the event for the third consecutive year at the meet. Western Branch gave them competition thru the first two legs, but Leah Phillips on third leg and Shaniya Hall on anchor leg were able to take over the lead and race for them.
