A look at the 1A/2A/3A NCHSAA Girls Championship (as of 1/31/07)
Don’t look past the small schools in North Carolina. Some of the finest athletes in North Carolina call the smaller divisions, 1A/2A/3A, home. On February 10th, the NCHSAA will see how it’s new format works. In the past, all classifications have competed together at the indoor state meet, but this year there will two separate meets. It is somewhat a shame, as we won’t get to see a “Meet of Champions” as it has felt in the past. However, it will also give more athletes the opportunity to feel successful, and there will be more state titles handed out.
In the girls’ 1A/2A/3A meet, Burlington Cummings looks to have a strong team led by Latoya James, Brittany Wilkins, and Sherice Walker. Parkland’s girls also look to be tough. Christine Council will score in the sprints and their relay teams look solid as well. TC Roberson is always tough in the distance events and will look to score a lot of points there. Finally, Ragsdale looks like a true contender with the Crutchfield sister’s spreading out among multiple events. There will obviously be others there too, but these look to be four of the top teams.
In the sprints, you should see a lot of similar names at the top of the races. Kelsey McCorkle of South Central broke the state 3A record last year in the 100m running 11.79 as a 10th grader. She will be tough to beat in the 55m and the 300m dashes. One young lady who will look to do just that will be Christine Council of Parkland, just a sophomore. Ericka Charles of Durham School of the Arts could be competing for wins in anything from the 55m to the 500m, and she is entered in all three. Latoya James of Cummings has a legit shot at winning the 300m dash after her fine performance at the Eastern HS Challenge. Back to Ericka Charles – her best event may be the 500m as she is seeded #1 with a time from an outdoor polar bear meet. Yvonna Hines of Northeast Guilford won’t go down easy though as she was a sub-60 400m last year. Also, Jasmine Irby of Parkland and Brandy Swann of Jacksonville broke 60 and should be in the mix.
In the distance events, there are obvious favorites, but also a lot of question marks. Christina Hobbs of Sun Valley and LeaAnna Godwin of Triton look to be the 2 early favorites in the 1000m run with sub 3:10 performances. Lindsay Ester of Williams ran 5:19 last year and is the 3rd seed. Look for her to be right in the mix. The big question mark will be Heather Beichner of Cardinal Gibbons. Beichner was the 2A state XC champ, and ran under 5:10 last year in the mile. She only comes in with a 3:21 but I guarantee she is faster than that. In the 1600m run, similar names will be competing for the title but now you can throw Laura Brentnell of Ragsdale into the mix. Laura showed up at one of the last polar bear meets and looks to be in fine form. Don’t count out the TCR girls, Caroline Kirby who recently won the 3A XC title, Hannah McArdle last year’s 3A 1600m champ, and Kylie Smith who just ran 5:32 in the cold at the WNC Polar Bear Championships. The 3200m race will feature Caroline Kirby and Kylie Smith again. Caroline ran 12:05 at the WNC champs, winning by over 40 seconds. However, Kaylin Royals of Glenn is the top seed with her 11:50 from a Mt. Tabor polar bear meet. Kathryn Dispennette of Northwood had a very fine XC season and is the #2 seed, right behind Royals. Look for Cara Hayes of Asheville to do well as she too is coming off a very exciting XC season.
The 55m hurdles should be owned by the ladies from Cummings as both Latoya James and Sherice Walker have some of the fastest times turned in in the US this indoor season. The real battle here looks to be who will take 3rd: Radiance Basden of Western Guilford, Kiara Crutchfield of Ragsdale, or Sophia Treakle of Asheville.
In the girl’s 4x400, Parkland’s girls just ran a swift 4:13 at the Virginia Tech meet. This time is actually 2nd in the state up to this point, so they have to be the favorites. Your guess is as good as mine with the order here. The other relays event, the 4x800, looks to be in the hands of one of the top distance programs in the state, TC Roberson. Word is they would have run faster than 10:08.8 at Clemson had the lap counters done their job correctly??? Sun Valley has Christina Hobbs, who may the best 800m runner in the field, but will that be enough to run with the girls of TCR? Jacksonville just ran 10:24, all by themselves the other day and you can’t ever count out Gibbons.
The jumps should be close, especially in the high and triple jump. Southern Nash has the top 2 qualifiers in the high jump in, Laura Langley and Kiona Crudup. Don’t forget about Bridgette Hills of TC Roberson who is the top returner from the 3A outdoor state championships last year. Also, January Spencer of Union Pines finished among the top athletes at the 3A outdoor meet last year. This one should be good. The triple jump features the top 4 ladies in the event so far this indoor season. Radiance Basden of Western Guilford won the Eastern HS Challenge with a hop, skip, and a jump of 38-7. Behind her are Latoya James and Sherice Walker of Cummings HS. Both ladies have been over 38 feet this season and are looking to win. The 4th is Dekalah Price of T.W. Andrews. She is very close to the 38’ mark, as her best is 37-10.5 from V-Tech. Kiara Crutchfield of Ragsdale had a stellar jump at Virginia Tech, going over the 18’ mark. She is the only one who has jumped beyond 17 and one half feet in the competition this season. Don’t count out Radiance Basden or Brittany Wilkins though.
The pole vault looks to be a battle between 2 ten-foot vaulters up to this point. Kristina Parker of White Oak and Maggie Jordan of Rocky Mount have both cleared 10’ this season.
Finally, the women’s shot put may be the biggest runaway of the competition. Deidra Morrison of Wilkes Central has thrown over 6 feet further than any other lady in the event this indoor season. Unless she really stumbles, look for her to win big.