The second annual David Oliver Classic kicks off tonight at 5 PM, with the first session being composed exclusively of running events. The two-day schedule has two big benefits: it allows for larger fields in many races, and it also allows athletes more rest between their multiple events, keeping the competition sharper throughout the weekend. Saturday effectively features two sessions: the remainder of the regular schedule starts at 10:00, including all the field events, while the Invitational events are expected to begin at 2:45 (of course, the schedule of a meet this large can be a fluid thing). NCRunners will release the preview in three stages, starting with Friday night's events below.
4x800 Meter Relay:
The girls' race gives us the matchup we have wanted all season, NC #1 Leesville Road vs. NC #2 Cary (and we get to see them race on back-to-back weekends!). Behind the two front-runners, who should push each other the whole race, there could also be a great race for third between Apex and Southeast Raleigh.
Speaking of the Bulldogs, Southeast Raleigh's NC #3 boys are the top seed in this event, although they may have some good competition. Even if they are able to pull away from NC #5 Lake Norman, a team they defeated last weekend at UNC, there should be a great race for second with 6 teams that have run between 8:22 and 8:27 this season entered!
55 Meter Hurdles:
Several of the athletes competing in the Invitational 60 Hurdles on Saturday are also in this race, including US #7 NC #2 Ebony Williams (Parkland), US #11 NC #3 Ariel Davis (Platinum Sports), and US #19 NC #6 Breanne Bygrave (Wakefield) in the girls' race. The cut line for the finals will be interesting to watch, as the #5 - #13 seeds are separated by only 0.19 seconds.
For the boys, US #4 NC #2 Emmanuel Jackson (Sanderson, above) will tune up for Saturday's big race as the top seed on Friday evening. Brian Kendrick (Hopewell), Isaac Johnson (Providence Day), and Benjamin McMillan (Hough) are also in the 60 Hurdles on the second day of the meet, and they will all be looking to make the finals in the 55 to develop some momentum for that race.
500 Meter Dash:
The girls race features 3 athletes that will be in the Invitational 400 on Saturday, plus some out-of-state competition to add a little spice to the event. Tia Robinson (Wakefield, above) is justified as the top seed after running 1:16.00 US #9 NC #4 two weekends ago, and we should see strong times from NC #8 JeMay Ward, her teammate, and also NC #5 Victoria Porter (South Meck). Caitie Faust (Marist, GA) hasn't run the 500 before, but she has run 58.63 for the 400. Don't be surprised if G'Jasmyne Butler (Leesville Road) runs well enough from the second-fastest section to bump off some of the top 6 seeds, if she isn't worn out from that 4x800 earlier in the evening!
Let's face it, North Carolina isn't very deep in the boys' 500 this year - graduation of several elite long sprinters each of the last few years will do that. In a way, though, that could actually make this race MORE exciting - behind NC #3 T.J. Bleichner (Fuquay-Varina) and NC #5 Kaylan Love-Soles (Rocky River), pretty much everyone in the last 4 sections of this event is on a relatively even level. We could see top-5 times posted from relatively unknown runners, as the door is wide open for someone to move up the rankings with a good race. Those two that I mentioned above, by the way, will also be in the Invitational 400 on Saturday.
4x200 Meter Relay:
The top three squads in the state will face off here: US #4 Parkland, Wakefield, and Cary. Throw in Southeast Raleigh, Dudley, and several other competitive teams, and we could have several teams that push past the 1:45 barrier in this race.
Ed Teasley calls the 4x200 "train wreck," referring to the chaotic handoffs during the race - but he could also be talking about the upcoming seeding for the state meets in this event. Teams with big outdoor times that have never run the race indoors will almost certainly not be able to duplicate those times on the flat 200. In particular, this is a big deal for Asheville: they lead the state when Polar Bear times are included, but haven't run the race indoors this season, and tonight's experience will be very valuable for them. NC #4 Phillip O. Berry has the top indoor time among the teams entered, followed by NC #8 Parkland.
3200 Meter Run:
Weini Kelati (Leesburg Heritage, VA, above right) was quite the story in her first year of American high school running; the native of Eritrea tore the cross country course up, making it all the way to Foot Locker Nationals. She doesn't have much in the way of track times on her profile, but that could be deceiving given her background - and she did run an eye-opening 9:12.32 for 3000 last summer at World Juniors. With a 5K best of 17:04, you can expect her to be sub-11 here at a minimum. That will be great for Caroline Yarbrough (Page), who pulled away from everyone in the field when she ran her US #22 NC #2 10:58.26. Don't be surprised if several other runners try to ride that pace toward the 11-minute mark, including Sophie Ebihara (Cardinal Gibbons), Lexi King (Marvin Ridge), and Khloe Pointer (Maggie Walker, VA). How many will get under 11?
The headliner of the distance races all weekend at JDL Fast Track is Drew Hunter (Loudoun Valley, VA, above left). The Foot Locker All-American in cross country ran 8:53 for a full two miles last June, as well as cranking a 14:36 at McAlpine for Foot Locker South; he's not just a stamina runner, though, having posted times of 4:13 and 2:28 this winter. Unfortunately, he may not have as much close competition as Kelati will in the girls' race, and that could leave the rest of the field striving for second. There will be a bunch of guys running the 3200 indoors for the first time this winter, and some of them for the first time ever: Jackson Ellenburg (Ashley Ridge, SC) makes his all-time indoor debut after running 15:21 during the fall, Andrew Cacciatore (Holy Trinity, FL) ran his first indoor mile two weekends ago, and David Edwards (Cardinal Gibbons) has only run the 1000 so far this winter. Will that favor someone like Connor Lane (Cardinal Gibbons), who has more experience running 16 laps on a flat 200?
