Junior Lindsay Meadows races in the 1600-meter run at The VA Showcase on Jan. 12, 2024, in the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Photo used with permission from Dan Loughlin.

Boys and girls indoor track competed in The VA Showcase on Jan. 12-13, 2024, at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Fourteen personal records (PRs) were hit by the team. 

Ocean Lakes sent their top runners to this invitational. 

The VA Showcase is known as one of the largest high school indoor track meets in the nation, with over 4,000 runners representing 35 different states participating. This invitational has been running for seven years and has seen 14 national records, four world records and over 200 U.S. No.1 performances. The most significant statistic about this meet is how many runners hit a PR.

“The VA Showcase is a really special event for the track team because we are able to compete against teams we normally don’t see and have way more competition,” said junior Lauren Rakov.

In the 1600-meter race, 10 Dolphins broke a personal record. Senior Lukas Greider (4:45), junior Bryce Phillips (4:48), senior Logan Hamilton (4:47), sophomore Ben Labert (5:01), freshman Van Helgren (5:10), freshman Rowan Smith (5:14), freshman Levi Pearson (5:27), junior Lindsay Meadows (5:22), junior Grace Thompson (5:29) and freshman Eva Wangen (6:12). Four runners hit a PR in the 3200-meter race; Logan with 10:12, Ben with 11:17, Lindsay with 11:38 and Grace with a time of 11:53.

“It was a fast weekend for the whole team with 14 Dolphins setting new personal records and all of us getting pushed to be better by some of the fastest kids in the country,” said Bryce.