Girls | Boys

With the temperatures warm but a good chance of rain (or even thunderstorms), there is an element of the unpredictable built into Saturday's meet. That seems to carry over to the meet, where there are an unusually large number of events that do not have any clear favorites. Instead, there seems to be a wide range of athletes capable of taking home gold medals this weekend. That uncertainty even extends to the team scores, which by all measures appear to be very jumbled (at least on paper). Given that there are some top-notch talents in this meet, it should make for a very exciting afternoon, and it's anyone's guess how everything will turn out. That's a fun kind of meet to watch live, and I am really looking forward to Saturday!

Girls Preview

Sprints/Hurdles

Lydia Laws (Western Alamance) tops the rankings in both hurdle races, and she nearly matched her season bests last weekend despite the poor weather. Qizeah Jackson (Westover) holds the top seed in the 100 and 200, and that could lead to triple golds if she jumps well (see below). After a very strong start to the indoor season, Fike's Maya Evans fell off a bit, and she has had a very quiet spring. Hopefully she is healthy, and if so she will likely run away with the 400.

Distance

Two big-time squads will go toe-to-toe in the three distance races, one the perennial power with a long and proud tradition in those events, and the other the recent upstart that has nearly conquered the state. Cardinal Gibbons has decided to focus on the 3200 with their top two runners, Mary Grace Doggett and Sophie Ebihara, who are the top two seeds in that race. Keeping them out of the mile could backfire, though, in a classification without a dominant team, potentially costing the Crusaders a title. It is West Carteret that controls the mid-distances, with Blake Dodge leading the 1600 list and Katie Cease having the best mark of the season in the 800. Cease struggled at the regional, but she did advance in both the 16 and the 8; if she was sick, but is healthy now, that will be big for the Patriots. You can never count out Carmen Hilliard (South Brunswick) in either the mile or the two-mile, and Maddie Lowe (Northwest Cabarrus) will contend in the 800 and 1600.

Field Events

The top two seeds are the same in both throws: Lyssa Wallace-O'Neal (Jacksonville) and Alexis Dickerson (Western Alamance). Though Lyssa has the #1 marks on the performance list, Alexis has the better PR on the season in the shot put (where both have thrown over 40 feet). The jumps should be extremely competitive, with no runaway favorites in any of them. Toya Anding (White Oak) holds a slim advantage in the long jump over a group of 5 girls that are all between 17' 7" and 18' 0", which should make for an exciting event. In the triple it is Hannah Blackburn (Chapel Hill) that leads 8 jumpers between 35 and 36 feet this season. The high jump features a rematch between Qizeah Jackson (Westover) and Elizabeth Olesen (Hickory Ridge), whose PR's and season bests are within 1 inch of each other (and they are trailed by 3 girls at 5' 4"). Only Brooke Shelton (Ledford) looks like a comfortable favorite, as she is capable of dominating in the pole vault.

Relays/Team Scores

The 4x800 should feature at least 7 sub-10 squads, with Chapel Hill having the fastest time this season at 10:43. Berry Academy gets the prime lane 4 assignment in the remaining three relays, and those points are critical to their title hopes. This should be an ultra-competitive team competition, with as many as 5 teams seeming to have a legitimate shot at bringing home the championship. Phillip O. Berry could ride their depth to a championship, while Jacksonville has two front-runners to rack up big points. Stay tuned to updates via Twitter to keep up with the scores throughout the meet!

Boys Preview

Sprints/Hurdles

TJ Logan (Northern Guilford), named the NCHSAA Male Athlete of the Year just over a week ago, is just one of several headliners in the sprints. Cameron Stinson (Hickory) has also run in the 10.60's this spring, and the two could really produce big times together. The 200 could be amazing, as breakthrough 200 runner Byron Smith (DH Conley) stole the top seed in that race with a monster run last weekend. Smith has barely broken 11 in the 100, yet he ran 21.18 (in cold weather, no doubt) at his regional; that suggests he might have great potential in the 400. That last event appears to be completely wide open if you look at regional seeds. However, DeAndre McGill (Northeast Guilford) is the only runner in the field with a sub-49 this season. It is completely possible that the top 3 in the 110 hurdles could be completely different athletes from the top 3 in the 300 hurdles. Damian Silver (Nash Central) looks like the favorite in the highs, while the 300 really is anyone's race.

Distance

Tanis Baldwin (East Henderson) leads the 3200 entry list, and he may decide to drop out of the 1600 and put all his eggs in this basket. He may need the extra energy, too, because Nick Tyrey (Cardinal Gibbons) is a formidable opponent, and his season best would put him almost 20 seconds ahead of any other entry time. Chris Reeder (Chapel Hill) got away with winning the regional 1600 in only 4:32, but that will definitely not get the job done Saturday. Nonetheless, Reeder would be considered the favorite in both the 1600 and 800 were it not for the continued development of John Crossley. The West Carteret senior has the best times in the state in both races, considering all classifications, and he will be extremely hard to beat. In fact, his goals might be more time-oriented than place-oriented, as he wants to break 1:50. Jimmy Hollingsworth (Northern Guilford) could also get in on the action in the mid-distances.

Field Events

Two great throwers will collide here: Mateius Brown (Western Harnett), who has the edge in the shot put, and Colin Minor (South Brunswick), the top seed in the discus. Myquon Stout (Jesse Carson), the defending state champion in the shot, hit 58 feet earlier this spring, but he only threw 46 at the regional. Frank Quarles (Douglas Byrd) had the best long jump last weekend, though Cameron Stinson (Hickory) did not appear to be at his best. Stinson has jumped over 23 feet this spring, and if healthy he could add an outdoor title to his 2013 indoor championship. This meet will suffer for the absence of Jordan Warren (Hickory Ridge), whose season bests would put him on top of the high jump and triple jump. In his absence, there are 6 boys that have cleared 6' 4" and 5 guys who have jumped beyond 45 feet, and any of those could claim a gold medal with a strong performance. Ian West (Fike) is looking to build on his 15' 1" jump from earlier in the season, while also hoping to hold off indoor state champ Thor Smith (Northern Guilford).

Relays/Team Scores

The meet should start of well, with three teams under 8:10 and two more that have run 8:11. South Central posted an enormous 1:28.58 time in the 4x200 at their conference meet, but only managed a four-seed coming out of the regional; there are 6 squads here that have broken 1:30 this spring. Northeast Guilford appears to be the class of the 4x400 field, but there are several teams that could win (or lose) the 4x100 based on their handoffs. If you look at season-best times, it's hard to predict a winner, as a virtual meet shows 5 teams scoring between 37 and 40 points. Based on regional performances, though, Northern Guilford appears to be the pre-meet favorite, with Marvin Ridge having the best shot to catch them and several teams close behind the Mavericks. Asheville, Chapel Hill, and West Carteret all have major talent, but perhaps not enough scorers to get past 40 points and threaten for the win (although I wouldn't count out Asheville, a team with winning experience).