Junior Lia DiValentin had the most success of any of the Chargers, earning her first indoor regional title, in the 3200m run.  It was the first regional track championship since 2006 (Nicole Kazuba- pole vault).  Coming in with the top time in the state this year, Lia successfully upheld her seed with an exciting race, which saw her lead from wire to wire in the 16 lap event, with a finishing time of 11:12.63.  This was a satisfying result, following a frustrating 5th place finish a couple hours earlier in the 1600m run, in a maddenly slow pace which DiValentin was unable to shake the field out of.

While Lia's 14 points were the most of all the girls who contributed to the 8th place finish, she was by no means the only star of the day.  Freshman Amira Idris showed why she would be a force to contend with in the years to come by also earning state qualifiers in the 55m Dash (6th- 7.51) and 300m Dash (4th- 42.44), as well as a third all-region award for the triple jump (8th- 34' 4.5"). Junior Kim Weinberg also earned her first trip to state competition by tying for 3rd place in the pole vault (9' 0").

While the boys team did not field a regional champion, their 9th place overall effort did come from 8 All-Region medalists.  In the pole vault competition, junior Wes Sun fought through injury to finish a brave 2nd place, in 13' 6", before withdrawing.  Junior Kyle Cantrell moved up in the standing from 10th to a tie for 4th with his personal best jump of 12'0".  His place earned him his first trip to the state meet.

On the track, points came from a number of disciplines.  Senior Raymond "Bugsy" Urrutia led the way for the Chargers with the best day of his 4 year career.  After posting a personal best time for the 55m Dash in the preliminaries (a 2008 region leading 6.59), Bugsy blazed to a close 3rd place in the finals of the event, earning his first all-region placing.  In less than 2 hours, he earned two more medals.  In the 3o0m dash, he placed 6th (36.54), and will go to states in both individual events.  Bugsy also led the boys' 4x200m relay team to a strong 6th place, teaming with senior Robert Herrity, and juniors Efraem Salas and Curtis Sun.

The distance runners also got in on the show.  Senior Eric Palmer experienced the ups and downs of the regional competition.  In his first race, the 1600m run, Palmer finished 3rd overall, expecting his first trip to states, only to be DQ'ed shortly thereafter for a mishap in the last 250m.  Despite the frustration and the fatigue, Eric then ran in the 1000m run, less than 1 hour later.  He let his earlier disappointment fuel him for the 5 lap race, and he blazed to a personal best time of 2:37.3, and also qualified for his first state berth.  Sophomore Chris Foley earned the last medal for the Chargers in the 3200m run.  His 7th place just missed out on a trip to state, but did earn him a personal best time of 9:48.76, and did earn him his first regional award in track, cementing his reputation as one of the better distance runners in the Northern Region.

The seven Chargers who will be representing Chantilly at the state meet will compete on Friday and Saturday, February 29th and March 1st, at the GMU Fieldhouse.

ALL REGION HONORS

Full results of the regional meet can be found at: http://www.chargercctrack.com/wt07results.html.

The team thanks CHS parents Tom Foley and  Mark Hall for providing photos from the regional meet, found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/CHSrunning/2008IndoorTrackRegionals and http://www.flickr.com/photos/13978586@N05/sets/72157603969597548 .