Girls Field
High Jump
Nine girls jumped 5' or higher at regionals, but no one touched the 3A leading height of 5' 6". In fact, the only two girls to jump that height this season, Maggie Bamber (Swansboro) and Brittany Beckford (Rocky Mount), just slipped out of the East regional in 3rd and 4th place. Madison Conner (West Henderson) and Cemere Petty (Eastern Guilford) cleared 5'0 at regionals and have both cleared 5' 2" during the regular season. Myia Spivey (Nash Central) and Ciara Robinson (Cleveland) both tied their season bests of 5' 4" in their 1-2 finish at the East regional to lead all regional jumps, and they will aim to carry that momentum up and over the bar at States.
Long Jump
Mackenzie Whitaker (West Carteret) had the highest jump from the regional meets, picking up the East win with an 18' 4" over London Green (Rocky Mount) who had the second best regional jump in 17' 8.5". Not far behind was Mekayla White (Walter M. Williams), who jumped a 17' 6" to take down 3A leader Zinzili Kelly (Douglas Byrd), whose 19' mark still stands as the best in the 3A this season by four inches. Cyera Carter (Charles B. Aycock) and Indya Hill (Jacksonville) nabbed the third and fourth spots from the East regional and both have top ten marks this season. Hassani Burris (Ashbrook) has a 17' 10" mark from earlier this season, and picked up the win in the West region, and should be able to post a much higher mark at States than she did at her regional to climb the leaderboard
Triple Jump
Hassani Burris (Ashbrook) has jumped as far as a 3A-best 39' 4" this season and picked up the win easily at the West regional, winning by a full two feet. Midwest Champion Kalynn McNair (Asheboro) has the second highest jump this season at 39' even, and is the top returner from last year's state meet. Just behind Hill at regionals was Mackenzie Whitaker, who like hill set her season best at the regional meet, jumping 38' 4". Jayde Hunter (Jacksonville) comes in with a season best just outside of this top pack, but if she can improve on her regional mark of 37' 1.75" she could also find herself competing for a medal.
Pole Vault
Reigning 3A champion Tessa Sheets (Northwood) is the big time favorite to pick up ten points in this event, as her 12' 6" mark from multiple times this season leads all other competitors by a foot and a half. Behind the Purdue-signee is Maria Alamo-Worley (North Buncombe) who has cleared 11' during the season and in her West regional win. Isabel Crandall (Marvin Ridge) picked up the win in the Midwest with her 10' 6" jump, beating Sami Ebberhard (Weddington), who posted a 10'. Tori Martin (Rockingham County) at 10' 6" and Delaney Taylor (North Buncombe) at 10' will also look for a big performance at States to find a spot at the podium.
Discus
Patience Marshall (Anson) is the top returner from last years state meet, and showed it in a big way with her toss at Midwest regionals. She has yet to lose this season, but her 130' 10.5" toss at regionals is her best yet, beating out the next furthest throw this season by nearly 11 feet. Lauryn Carlton (Western Alamance), Eulanda Blue (Union Pines) and Mia Terry (J.F. Webb) are the only other three to have cleared 115' this season, but they will have to muster something extra special to bridge the gap between Marshall and the pack.
Shot Put
Marshall again has the top mark in the 3A this season, but this time by a significantly smaller margin. Marshall is undefeated in this event as well this season, but her 41' 8" is slightly more at risk of being caught if one of her competitors can come out swinging on Saturday. The list of people who could come within striking distance is long, and includes Mia Terry, whose 39' 5.5" was the best mark from regionals. Keyanna Spivery (Rocky Mount), Makayla Moore (Freedom), Ne'ja Ervin (East Gaston), Princess Lea'e (Jacksonville), Kamryn Henderson (Marvin Ridge) and Amari Brigham (Eastern Wayne) all threw 36' or further at their regionals and should be in contention on Saturday. Samantha Ennis (Northwood) has thrown nearly 39' this season and will be another of the many girls in the field with a shot at taking home a medal.
Boys Field
High Jump
The High Jump is wide open, with three jumpers tied for the all-classifications state lead, and a pack of high fliers behind them. Gabriel Stainback (Concord), Sean Jones (A.C. Reynolds) and Jeremiah Ganaway (Hunt) have all cleared 6' 8" this season. Morgan Paschall (Orange) won the Mideast regional with his 6' 6" and Orlandus Gamble (Kings Mountain) took the East as one of seven jumpers to clear 6' 4" across all regions last weekend. Paschall and Stainback are the top returners from last year's state meet, where they finished second and third. With only two jumpers going higher than 6' 4" at regionals, it will be interesting to see who steps up for the State meet among a classification which saw 18 athletes jump 6' 4" or higher this season.
Long Jump
The Long Jump has slightly more clarity than the High Jump, with Samuel Helms (Terry Sanford) and Samuel Johnson (Statesville) having state leading marks of 23' 8" and 23' 3" and both emerging victorious from their regions. Johnson is the defending 3A champion, while Helms has climbed the rankings since finishing 9th at last year's state meet. Behind that top duo, there is a lot of parity. Despite last year's state runner up Brenden Westbrook (Jesse C. Carson) being the only other jumper to surpass 22' at regionals, Marcus McDonald (Southern Durham), Leighton Spurling (Corinth Holders) and Sean Jones (A. C. Reynolds) also come into the meet having at least jumped that height during the regular season. Thai Tuttanon (Kings Mountain) won the West regional with a 21' 2.25" and could also bridge the gap to compete for a podium spot.
Triple Jump
Samuel Johnson's 48' 6" was far and away the best jump from any regional this weekend, and ties his all-classification second best and 3A best mark. He is the top returner from last year's state meet. Darren Lammons (North Henderson) and Jamar Davis (Orange) had the second and third best marks at regionals, both of which were season bests and could suggest they are just coming into top form. Another contender will be Daniel Best (Eastern Wayne) who boasts a season best mark of 46' 9", second best in 3A, and was victorious in the East regional meet.
Pole Vault
Brett Parks (White Oak) and Ben Finger (North Gaston) come in tied for the best 3A mark this season at 14' 8", and advanced with the top two marks across all regions in their regional wins. Charles Cooley (West Carteret) matched Finger's regional jump en route to his runner up finish to Parks at the East regional. Peter Shelley (Marvin Ridge) rounds out the top tier with his 3A third best 14' 6" and can expected to be in the mix into the late heights on Saturday.
Discus
Joshua Faison (Smithfield-Selma) has the furthest season best in the field by a full two feet, and will definitely be the man to beat. Sherrod Greene's (Rocky Mount) 152' 8" to finish runner up to Faison at the East regional was a season best and represents the next highest toss among the competitors. Solomon McDonald (Union Pines) and master-of-all-trades Gabriel Stainback (Concord) rounded out the top four marks from the regional meets. Aaron Wilkerson (Southern Guilford) and Torrence Williams (Walter M. Williams) could also find themselves near the top of the standings if they can bridge the gap between their regional performances and their season bests.
The wheelchair discus will see top seed William Fuller (Jesse C. Carson) take on Tylor Brown (Piedmont), who won last year's wheelchair shot put but did not compete at discus. Both athletes are top 15 in the nation at the wheelchair discus this season.
Shot Put
The shot put has perhaps the clearest leader in any of the individual event at this championship. Aaron Wilkerson has a season best of 61' 3", over five feet further than anyone else in 3A. Sherrod Greene is the only other qualifier to have thrown over 56' in regionals, but he is the defending 3A champion over Wilkerson. Six other throwers cleared 50' in regionals, including Mideast champ Solomon McDonald (Southern Pines) and West champion Jon Barrett Lewis (Hibriten)
In the wheelchair shot put, it will be defending 3A champion Tylor Brown (Piedmont) who comes in with the top seed of 9' 6.5" and will look to hold off William Fuller (Jesse C. Carson) who is seeded at 8' 1.25".