VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, January 16–18 — The VA Showcase’s reputation for overtaking the all-time indoor prep lists in the long sprints got another boost as both boys and girls HSRs over 300m were smashed and the girls’ 500 was taken down as well.
While the meet’s biggest star — ’24 Olympic 4×4 gold medalist Quincy Wilson — couldn’t quite join the record-smashers with his own new individual standard, he did clock history’s No. 2 mark over 500 and was part of another mixed 4×4 “record” with his Bullis HS teammates.
Coming into the season, 19 of the all-time 40 performers at 300 and 500 had achieved their marks at this meet. And while those distances are not contested nationally, they are state-meet events in Virginia and it makes perfect sense that meet organizers would recruit great fields for them each winter.
In Friday’s invitational 500s, the boys were up first, with Wilson surely using as fuel last year’s distant runner-up finish (1:02:56) to Andrew Salvodon’s HSR 1:00.49.
The Maryland recruit went out extremely hard, covering the first lap in 21.53 and pushing to 33.48 at the bell (0.73 ahead of Salvodon’s pace from ’25). But then it was just holding on for dear life as he needed just over 27 seconds to cover the final lap. His 1:00.56 was just 0.07 off Salvodon’s mark.
They didn’t have to go far to find someone to generate fireworks in the girls’ 500. Grassfield, Virginia, senior Sophie Rambo — hailing from Chesapeake, just 25 miles down I-64 — came in as defending champ (1:12.04) and had already lowered that PR to 1:11.69 a month earlier on this track. Still, topping Athing Mu’s 1:10.22 standard from 6 years ago in this event (albeit on Liberty U’s track) was hardly a done deal.
Rambo — a 52.47 performer outdoors — went out in a sizzling 25.91 and the hunt was on. Ataja Stephane-Vazquez (Southeast Guilford, North Carolina) was 0.37 behind after a lap and actually closed in the next 200 to within 0.15, 54.39–54.54. But she faded harder than the champ in the stretch. Rambo’s 1:10.07 beat Mu’s record by 0.15. Stephane-Vasquez, like Rambo a Georgia recruit, still clocked 1:11.00, good for No. 7 all-time.
“It means everything to me,” Rambo told Flotrack regarding the successful record attempt. “I really trusted my coach [and] my training leading up to this race. Every practice has felt really good so I knew that something was going to happen special for me today.”
A pair of Texans provided the biggest fireworks Saturday.
The girls 300 looked to be a battle between Atascocita (Humble, Texas) senior Mariah Maxwell and 8-grader Camryn Dailey — who shocked the T&F world with her 51.67 at last summer’s Brooks PR meet following her 7th-grade year. Neither girl had ever run a 300.
Another superstar frosh, Melanie Doggett (Landmark, Atlanta), blasted the first 100 in lane 6 as Maxwell chased her from 5 and Dailey stalked both from 4. Doggett faded after 150 and Maxwell pulled ahead, only to have Dailey edge ahead for a moment entering the homestretch. But the senior’s run-in was strongest.
The record came as a big surprise to all as Maxwell took down Elise Cooper’s ’25 mark of 36.30 with her 36.24. Dailey’s 36.70 was not only No. 4 all-time, but also surpassed the former HSRs set by legends like Sydney McLaughlin and Francena McCorory.
“It was actually crazy; it’s my first time running the 300, like actually, ever,” Maxwell told interviewers with a laugh. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but I just came in there and did my best.”
That Tate Taylor (Harlan, San Antonio, Texas) could eclipse the boys 300 HSR — co-held by Brian Herron (’18) and Jayden Horton-Mims (’25) at 32.64 — seemed a bit of a no-brainer. Although it was his debut at the distance, he entered the season with 9.92/20.14 outdoor PRs from his electrifying junior campaign and is the defending Nike Indoor 200 champ with his indoor HSR 20.46 last March.
Taylor in lane 5 had super soph Dillon Mitchell (King, Houston) to chase on his outside, then, in the final 150, heavy pressure from future Texas Tech teammate Jake Odey-Jordan in lane 4 right behind him. Taylor held on for his third HSR, 32.45, while Odey-Jordan tied the old mark at 32.64.
“It didn’t even matter if I beat him, to be honest,” said Taylor. “I just wanted to push him to his absolute limit and if that means he beat me, then so be it. But I’m glad we both got a national record.”
Wilson’s weekend was hardly done after Friday. He ran 3rd (45.79) as he and Bullis teammates Cameron Homer (46.96), Mya Arrendell (53.21) and Kennedy Brown (54.99) hacked nearly 2 seconds off their ’24 standard in the mixed 4×4. He was also part of a 1:24.54 4 x 200 effort that could have improved their standing as No. 2 all-time indoors if not for a botched handoff and lane violation.
Rambo also won another invitational 300 Saturday in 37.45, while Maxwell had prefaced her 300 HSR with a 7.28 runner-up finish in the 60 behind her twin sister Mia’s 7.20.
Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, New Jersey), which set the absolute DMR record at New Balance Nationals last June (11:12.20), nearly beat the indoor HSR (11:17.50 by Cuthbertson, Waxhaw, North Carolina) with its winning 11:18.75.
VA SHOWCASE BOYS RESULTS
300: 1. Tate Taylor (Harlan, San Antonio, Tx) 32.45 HSR (old HSR 32.64 Brian Herron [Lakeside, Atlanta, Ga] ’18 & Jayden Horton-Mims [Imhotep, Philadelphia, Pa] ’25);
2. Jake Odey-Jordan’ (Clemens, Schertz, Tx) 32.64 [=2, 2 HS]
500: 1. Quincy Wilson (Bullis, Potomac, Md) 1:00.56 (2, 2 HS).
VA SHOWCASE GIRLS RESULTS
300: 1. Mariah Maxwell (Atascocita, Humble, Tx) 36.24 HSR (old record 36.30 Elise Cooper [McDonough, Owings Mills, Md] ’25);
2. ****Camryn Dailey (Home, Raleigh, NC) 36.70 (4,4 HS).
500: 1. Sophie Rambo (Grassfield, Chesapeake) 1:10.07 HSR (old HSR 1:10.22 Athing Mu [Central, Trenton, NJ] ’20).
2. Ataja Stephane-Vazquez (Southeast Guilford, North Carolina) 1:11.00 (7, 7 HS).
DisMed: 1. Union Catholic Regional, Scotch Plains, NJ 11:18.75 (3 HS).
Mixed 4×400: Bullis, Potomac, Md 3:20.95 HSR (old HSR 3:22.94 Bullis ’24) (*Cameron Homer 46.96,***Mya Arrendell 53.21, Quincy Wilson 45.79. *Kennedy Brown 54.99].
