West Potomac Girls Indoor Track Team Wins State

The West Potomac girls 4x800m relay outdistanced the rest of the field to win at the Virginia High School AAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held February on Friday and Saturday in Hampton.

Sophia Passacantando, Dale Lescher, Sami Miller and Sarah Jane Underwood lowered their own school record by two seconds (9:25:09) and recorded the fastest time in Virginia for the 2011 indoor season, ranking them 10th fastest in the nation.

West Potomac’s Underwood held off a strong challenge by third-seeded Cosby in an extremely fast anchor leg, crossing the finish line .03 ahead of Cosby’s top runner Megan Moye.

The boys 4x800 meter relay of Mark Hanak, Marc Lotterie, Khoki Bernier and Ben Aleixo also ran strong with a new season best time of 8:06.71, placing ninth. Their time is the second fastest in school history.

In individual events Lescher and Underwood had strong performances, both earning all-state honors. Lescher recorded a new personal best time and beat her 8th place seeding in the 1600 m race, finishing in 5:08.36 to finish sixth overall. Underwood was 5th with a time of 2:57.13 in a 1000m race that was one of the fastest in memory, according to Virginia track and field website Milestat.com.

Lisa Kingston placed 12th in the shot put with a throw of 35-01.50. The girls team finished 11th overall in the team scores.

Khoki Bernier set a new personal best of 2:38.15 in the 1000m boys race. Tyron Jenkins competed in the triple jump setting a mark of 43-01 as well as running his best time of 1:07.59 in the 500m.

Editor's Note: Lisa Guide is the parent of West Potomac indoor track member Sophia Passacantando.