When the championship comes around, the champions bring their A game - and nobody in this meet has more championships under his or her belt than Anna Vess.
The first of the newly-formatted NCHSAA State Championships kicks off at 10 AM Friday at North Carolina A&T State University's Belk Track. One thing is for certain: with two classifications competing simultaneously, the meet will be longer than in recent years. As far as the competition goes, though, nothing is ever certain - even the most dominant favorite can be upset, and there will be surprise champions that perform their best on the biggest stage while others struggle. That's the way a state championship always goes, and the double meet will bring double the number of great performances. And double the crowd, which is a good thing for all the competitors! It will be an exciting and tiring day, and NCRunners will be there to document all of it.
Before the meet starts, though, let's look at some of the top athletes and teams in the meet, and focus on a few events that seem to be particularly loaded.