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Sprints/Hurdles

Anna Cockrell (Providence Day) was one of the major surprises of the winter season, running a state-leading 8.10 in the 55 Hurdles and also leading all NCISAA athletes in the 300. She moved to Charlotte from Detroit, which made it seem like she came out of nowhere, but she has also improved significantly since last winter. 9th-grader Cha'Mia Rothwell (Durham Academy) is the top returner in the 100 Hurdles, as well as the defending champion in both the 100 and the 200. Sarah Whitmore (Charlotte Latin) also broke 16 in the high hurdles last spring, while Mia Wilson (Charlotte Country Day) enters the outdoor season with the top returning time in the 300 hurdles. Lauren Smir (Greensboro Day) is the only athlete back from 2012 who broke 60 in the 400 Dash, but she will have a ton of competition from 5 sub-61 girls.

Distance

She gets a lot of attention from NCRunners, but then she is also one of the best female distance runners in our state's history. I'm talking, of course, about Ryen Frazier (Ravenscroft). That's right, the "little sister" now sits in third on the indoor all-time list for the 3200 with her recent PR of 10:37.73 (she is also 6th all-time in the 1600). Big sis is pretty good, too: Wesley is fresh off of a new indoor all-time state record of 10:14.88 in the two-mile (equates to 10:11.31 for 3200) to go with a pair of 4:48 miles this past winter. They weren't the only girls from this classification to put up impressive times indoors; Gabby Merritt (Greensboro Day) ran 5:13.84 and 11:20.45 and Eliza Dekker (Durham Academy), recovering well from injuries during the fall, ran 11:12.92. Dekker is also well-known for her mid-distance work, having run 2:14 and 4:56 last spring. Were it not for those big names, Hanna Goetz (Cary Academy) would be more well-known; she might get a bit overshadowed, but she ran 2:20, 5:17, and 11:30 last spring, and those are very strong times.

Field Events

Margaret Edwards (Ravenscroft) got a jump on the outdoor season (get it?) by attending several indoor meets, and cleared 5' 4" a couple of times in the process. The long jump appears to be a toss-up right now; Peyton Dilweg (Durham Academy) and Anna Bogaschewsky (Forsyth Country Day) both jumped 16' 7" last spring. Likewise for the pole vault, where the Charlotte Latin duo of Emily Ho and Sarah Tomlin both went beyond 8 feet to hold a narrow lead coming into the season. Morgan Goodson (Providence Day) leads the returning field in the triple jump, with her 35' 2" mark giving her a 1-foot advantage over the nearest competitor. Joy Mallory (North Raleigh Christian) and Betsy Wiener (Durham Academy) fell just short of 32 feet in the shot put during the 2012 outdoor season; Wiener is a strong favorite in the discus, as the only returning competitor to throw farther than 100 feet (her PR is 105' 4").

NCISAA 3A Winter 2013 Rankings

NCISAA 3A Returning Rankings from Spring 2012

Boys Preview

Sprints/Hurdles

Kofie Yeboah (Ravenscroft) had a solid run in the 55 dash during indoor season, and he is clearly the top returner in the 100 and 200. Royce Turnbull (Charlotte Country Day) and Bryon Fields (Providence Day) will provide some strong competition for him in the 200, and Fields is the only returner to have broken 50 in the 400 (actually, the only one to have broken 51). Marco Ricci (Charlotte Latin) and Garrison Rountree (Ravenscroft) are set to battle it out in both hurdle races this spring, after posting nearly identical times last year.

Distance

Clayton Wilson (Greensboro Day) had an impressive winter season, producing a 2:34 in the 1000 and a 4:23 for 1600. Ben Huffman (Providence Day) spent most of the winter training, but did emerge once to run 4:34; it will be interesting to see his progression after an astoungingly strong cross country season in the fall. We await the return to health of Colin Godwin (Cary Academy), the top returner in all three distance races, who was also running very well during cross country until injuries stole away his postseason. Ben Fiedler (Asheville School) and Ryan Speer (North Raleigh Christian) both broke 2 minutes in the 800 last spring, and both have strong teammates around them to create potentially strong 4x800's. However, the favorite in the 800 could be Christian White (Charlotte Latin), who was formerly at Ardrey Kell; he ran 1:54.63 last spring and would be the leading returner in the NCHSAA 4A classification. Paul Jordan (Asheville School) burst into the rankings with a 9:36 in the 3200 during the 2012 outdoor season, and he should be a factor there again this spring.

Field Events

Marcus Abraham (Metrolina Christian) threw 48' 6" to close out the winter season. That's better than the top two returning marks from 2012: Jeb Blazevich (Charlotte Christian) threw 47' 10", and Elijah Mallory (North Raleigh Christian) 45' 11". Mallory has the best discus throw at 140' 2", with Abraham and Dalton Friehl (Christ School) two feet behind. Alex Julian (Charlotte Latin) jumped nearly 6' 5" over the summer, and if he can duplicate that he will be the favorite in the high jump. Jonathan Terry (Greensboro Day) returns with a PR of 21' 3" in the long jump, the only 21-footer back from last spring. He is also the returning leader in the triple jump, and his mark of 41' 10" is nearly a foot ahead of the next competitor as the season begins; three guys in the 40-foot range will be gunning for him, though. The most competitive boys' field event will be the pole vault, where 5 are back with best marks between 12' and 12' 6". Will Dubose (Asheville School) and Cody Sterrett (North Raleigh Christian) had the 12' 6" clearance, making them slight co-favorites coming into the spring season.