NCISAA 1A/2A Boys
Teams to Watch:
Victory Christian, the defending state champion, looks to have another strong team this season. Jonathan Bridges enters the season as the #1 returner in both hurdles races, as well as #2 in the 200. This is a team with some athletes in nearly every event, and they can win with depth.
Westchester Country Day also has a chance to win, led by George Freiberger (LJ/TJ/300H) and Kevin Permenter (#1 returning 400 runner). WCD also has a few vaulters, and that can be a HUGE advantage in this division!
Cary Christian has plenty of star power (see below) and could be a contender, as well. Any team that wants to contend should think about developing hurdlers: our database has only two returners under 19 seconds in the 110's!
UPDATE:
Word of God Christian Academy may make some serious noise in this classification. Sean McLean (formerly of Southeast Raleigh) was the state leader for all classifications in the indoor 55 and 300 dashes, and his PR's of 10.41 and 21.75 would make him the prohibitive favorite in the 100 and 200. Lewis Corey is also a state leader for all classifications with his time of 7.59 in the 55 hurdles. Those two could account for 40-50 points by themselves, and with a bit of support on the relays could make a charge into the top 3 for team scores. Even if they don't get there as a team, these two athletes will surely affect the scores of other teams that are depending on sprinters/hurdlers for their championship hopes.
Other athletes to watch:
Eric Schmidt (Metrolina Christian) is the top returner in the 100 and 200. In the distances, there looks to be a season-long battle brewing between two of the top runners in any classification, Bobby Mintz of Cary Christian and Scott Morgan of Calvary Baptist. Bobby is the top returner in all three distance races, but Scott will be a tough competitor in any race. Bobby Duncan (Cary Christian) is by far the best guy back in the shot put, but he will have a hard time getting past Anthony Mulligan (Wayne Christian) in the discus. Raine McMillan (St. David's) leads the pre-season list in the long jump and high jump.
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(Based on returning performances from the Milesplit database.)
NCISAA 1A/2A Girls
Teams to Watch:
As with the boys' competition, Victory Christian is the defending champion for the girls, and once again they are a top contender for the team title. They have returners in nearly every event, including the top 2 girls in the shot put. Kaylan Bridges leads the returners in both throws, Davida Scoggins is the top girl back in the 400 and is also 2nd in the 800, and Courtney Thomas will start the season #2 in the 100 and 200.
Don't crown Victory Christian yet, though, because Caldwell Academy has a great chance to win the team title this spring! They have the top-ranked sprinter in Katie Robinson, the #1 returning 800/1600 runner in Taylor Dunn, and they also have Kaitlyn Shaw (#1 TJ, ranked in both hurdles races). This team title may be decided by depth in the field events, where both of the top two teams have multiple athletes available.
Two other teams have a chance to contend: Westchester Country Day and Cary Christian. This could be a tremendous state meet!
Athletes to Watch:
Aminah Gaffar (Fayetteville Academy) looks like the best athlete in this classification, and she could be one of the best overall athletes in the state as well! She is the top returning athlete in the long jump, high jump, and both hurdles races. Whitney Thurnburg (Asheville Christian) is the pre-season leader in the 3200, and she might be the only challenger to Dunn for the 1600 state title.
Subscribers: CLICK HERE to see a virtual NCISAA 1A/2A Girls State Meet!
(Based on returning performances from the Milesplit database.)