Girls Stars Set to Dominate Again: NCHSAA 1A State Meet Preview

The boys' and girls' NCHSAA 1A state meets could not be much different from each other if you tried. On the girls' side, the action will be dominated by 3 star individuals, each of which will be virtually unchallenged in her events. With the boys, however, there will likely be a lot more single-event champions, and even some of the expected stars may have their hands full with strong challengers.

One interesting subplot to this meet: rarely have we seen a regional day with such differentiated weather as we did last weekend. The Mideast had to postpone to Monday due to the heavy rain, while the East competed through downpours; meanwhile, the Midwest ran at night in breezy weather, while the West had a perfectly beautiful 80-degree day. Expect lots of athletes from the East and Mideast to exceed their seeding this weekend as a result.


More NCHSAA 1A State Meet Coverage


Sprints & Hurdles


The girls 100 and 200 are Deonica Reid's to lose. The Winston-Salem Prep senior won the 100 and finished 2nd in the 200 last year, but she enters as the top seed in both races (as well as the long jump). Aaliyah Craft (Walkertown) gave her a challenge in the 200 last weekend, but Reid is determined to add 3 more individual titles to her resume before she's done. Shakai Ward (Elkin) is the top seed and the defending champion in the 400. For the boys, Jairus Collins (North Edgecombe) comes into the 100 with a narrow edge over Ramalik Parker (South Creek) and Jaquan Buffaloe (Northampton), and any of the three could win with a good race. Isaiah Cole (Bessemer City) looks like a pretty strong favorite in the 200 (with Buffaloe barely holding onto 2nd), while Terrace Ellis (Albemarle) is the top seed in a 400 race involving zero athletes that have broken 50 this season.

Kylie Polsgrove (Avery) is a big favorite in both girls' hurdle races, as well as the high jump, and she also advanced in the 200 - and that could be enough to put her over the top for the MVP. Trey Lomax (Starmount) and Foster Stroup (Murphy) enter the meet in a virtual tie for the top seed in the 110 Hurdles, both just under 16 seconds. In the 300 Hurdles, Vidusha Rao (Raleigh Charter) and Jarred Small (Whiteville) both ran under 42 despite the weather last weekend.



Field Events

Defending shot put and discus champion Samson Bradsher (Hobbton) has his hands full with Jacob Whitaker (Andrews), who has improved tremendously since finishing 3rd and 5th, respectively, at the 2014 state meet. Both throwers have been well over 50 feet in the shot, but Bradsher has been a little off in the discus all year - he will need to return to the 150's to defend his title. Nobody else is in position for a double win in the field events, though. Cooper Reinert (Swain) is the top seed in the pole vault. Tyquan Davis (Heide Trask) and Isaiah Cole (Bessemer City) both cleared 6' 4" in the high jump last week (and Cole is also the top seed in the 200). Sophomore Da'Rod Crutchfield (Lejeune) looks dominant when you check the performance list, as he jumped 22' 2.5" last weekend; however, Tyler Leek (Hayesville) has a 22' 6.5" jump on his profile from earlier in the season. Trevor Carr (Camden) is a heavy favorite in the triple jump, where surprisingly few of the top long jumpers in this classification have been successful. Worth noting: in addition to sharing the top spot in the high jump, Davis could have been seeded 6th in the triple and 3rd in the long jump had he chosen to focus on those at the regional.

We've already mentioned two of the girls' top seeds: Deonica Reid (W-S Prep) in the long jump and Kylie Polsgrove (Avery) in the high jump. Avianna Hopkins (Queens Grant) enters the meet with the #1 mark in both the shot put and the discus; however, Latiya Williams (Louisburg) and Tiffany Holloway (Andrews) have thrown farther at other points during the season. Vanisha Wilshire (Louisburg) has the best mark in the triple jump by nearly 2 feet, and she could be a dark-horse contender in the high jump, as well. Maddie Cole (Robbinsville) is the top seed in the vault, but only because Emma Sizemore (Starmount) had a rough day at her regional - those two should have an interesting battle on Friday.


Distance Races

It's Malia Ellington's world, and all of 1A is just living in it. The Community School of Davidson senior has 12 individual state titles on her resume so far, with an extremely strong chance to add 3 more this weekend. If anybody is going to take her down, it will be long-suffering Shawnda Martin (Robbinsville) in the 3200. (Martin might be the second happiest person in North Carolina at the moment that Ellington graduates, by the way.)

Ellington's counterpart on the boys' side is Zach Boone (Mitchell), who is the top seed and defending champion in the 1600 and 3200. You can bank on him adding two more titles to his list of accomplishments, but he doesn't run the 800 in the postseason, so that opens the door for someone else to win at least one individual distance race. Madison Daniel (Research Triangle) has the best regional time among a very tightly-bunched group of competitors, but Justin Kenard (North Stokes) has the fastest season best. Including Jeremy Kankula (Atkins), that makes 3 guys who have broken 2 minutes this spring, and that could make this the most exciting race of the day. It's worth noting that Kenard and Daniel are both entered in the 1600, but Kankula is not.


Relays & Team Scores


Even with Reid only running one relay, Winston-Salem Prep is the top seed in both the 4x1 and 4x2. They are more likely to get upset in the shorter race, where Pamlico is within striking distance. Community School of Davidson is normally known for a strong 4x8, but last week they lost to top seed Robbinsville and 2nd-ranked Swain. On the other hand, CSD is the top seed in the 4x4 instead!

in boys' competition, the four relays have four different top seeds. West Montgomery and Albemarle are in a virtual dead heat coming into the 4x1, while Albemarle leads the 4x2 rankings (although, you should watch out for Southside, who ran 1:38 at their regional after running 1:31 earlier in the season). North Stokes has a solid advantage in the 4x400, as does South Davidson in the 4x800.

The clash between two 3-event stars extends beyond their individual events. Deonica Reid and Malia Ellington will try to power their teams to the overall title, but if anything is going to change from the virtual meets, it won't come from those two - they are both seeded for max points already. This could be a very close team battle between Winston-Salem Prep and Community School of Davidson, and every detail will matter. On the boys' side, North Stokes appears to be a heavy favorite, but there could be intense competition for second place: Hayesville, Albemarle, Murphy, Research Triangle, and Bessemer City could all be in the hunt.