Patriots have eyes on Group AAA title

In Hampton, the Western Branch indoor track team has its eyes on winning its third consecutive Group AAA indoor track championship.

Ten Albemarle athletes stand in the Bruins’ way.

After winning the Northwest Region championship by nearly tripling their next closest opponent’s point total (Mountain View), the Patriots are looking to bring home a state title.

“First things first — I want a state ring,” said Albemarle’s Jordan Hill. “I want to be beat Western Branch. They’ve got a lot of mouths. We don’t talk. We just do what we’ve got to do.”

Hill has plenty to be excited about after his performance last week at the region meet. Hill won four events, including all three jumping events.

The good news for the Patriots is that Hill is just one of the team’s many talented athletes.

On Friday night, Zach Vrhovac, Garrett Bradley, Luke Noble and Anthony Kostelac showed that they were the best, taking first place by running the 4x800-meter relay in 7:44.71 — the fastest time they’ve ever ran and a new state record.

The championships resume today at 7 a.m. Albemarle trails Western Branch by just two points.

“We like going to the big meets,” Vrhovac said. “That’s where we get a lot of hype and that’s where we seem to perform at our top level.”

With such a talented group of kids, coach Buz Male has taken a different approach this week, adopting a more laissez-faire attitude.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Male said. “It was just the way I felt on Monday. I was tempted to go back to my old self, but just couldn’t do it. In 36 years of coaching, I have six or seven of the best kids I’ve ever had, and all at the same time. It’s just weird.”

Heading into the event, Male also resisted the idea of placing different athletes in different events.

“I said we’re going to dance with the people that brung ya,” Male said. “Everyone who qualified is going to be in their own events and all I want is for everyone to go as fast as they can. And it’s amazing — it looks like that’s the right approach, because the last few days I’ve never seen a looser bunch. I think they know that we’re either going to win this or not. In a high schooler it’s good not to put too much pressure on them.”