The indoor track team performed well at an elite varsity meet on Jan 8. Only a handful of athletes were chosen from one of the largest indoor track teams in the country to attend this meet, mainly for the purpose of qualifying for the Virginia High School League AAA state meet. This handful of runners only participated in a few events at the meet: shotput, high jump, 55-meter hurdles, 55-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4 x 400 meter relay.

The 4 x 400 meter relay team consists of seniors Nathan Seeto and JP Jenkins and juniors Dylan Van Balen and Ahmed Bile. The relay team missed the time to qualify for the state meet by just three seconds. Other athletes who attended this meet included senior shotputters Nick Doumbia and Paul Phongsavan and high jumper Josh Jean-Jacques.

“It was a good first meet of the indoor season for me. We ran well even though we didn’t hit state auto [qualifying time],” said Bile.

Bile has impressed the AHS community after winning the Virginia AAA state championship and placing 14th in the nation this year in cross country. He hopes to continue his success indoors.
Van Balen also ran the 200 meter dash. He ran fairly well with a time of 23 seconds, but did not automatically qualify for the state meet.

“I felt like I ran a pretty good time but I definitely could have run better. Hopefully I’ll be able to PR [personal record] at the next meet,” Van Balen said

The team has high hopes this year as they hope to defend their spring track Patriot District Championship. They narrowly missed the Northern Region Championship that season, losing by one point.

Head Coach Sean Miller’s team also won the Indoor Track District Champions two years ago, and hope to claim another title this indoor season and pave the way for future success in Spring track.

The top performers and placers of the team include senior Joel Hoisington in shot put, Jean-Jacques, Jenkins, and Bile, along with many other athletes and relay teams who are expected to perform well and contribute to the team.

The rest of the competition in the Patriot District have reason to fear, as the varsity boys team looks to be in great shape for the Patriot District Championship meet on Feb. 5.
For more information on the indoor track including schedule and results go to www.annandaleatoms.com.