1A/2A/3A Girls Indoor Preview
Photos by Mark Keenen
Who’s going to win? Parkland, Jacksonville, & TC Roberson are receiving the most votes on NCRunners.com. However, I included Cummings, Western Guilford, and Southeast Guilford in the poll as well because they could be sleepers.
Shot Put
The girl’s shot put may be one of the most lopsided competitions in the meet. Deirdra Morrison of Wilkes Central is the #2 ranked shot putter in North Carolina. Her best this winter is 4 feet further than the #2 seed, Nakiesha Liggs of Southeast Guilford. However, Nakiesha will be battling plenty of others for those crucial 2nd place points.
Long Jump
Cummings HS knows how to jump, that’s a fact. These girls won the team title last year with top performers in the jumps and sprints. Can they do it again? Brittany Wilkins and Sherice Walker are the top 2 seeds and are separated by one inch. Nadia Morgan of Parkland is the 
3rd seed and again will be fighting for very important points. Parkland also has the #6 and #7 seeds, so this event could be huge for them.
Triple Jump
Radiance Basden of Western Guilford is the 5th ranked triple jumper in the country this indoor season with her mark of 39-02.50. She will need a big mark again, as she has some stiff competition in this event. Sherice Walker, the #2 seed is also the 21st ranked triple jumper in the US. Again, both Parkland and Cummings will be looking for big points from this event, as these two teams have 5 of the top 6 seeds.
High Jump
The girl’s high jump looks to be a solid event. The top two seeds are listed with marks of 5-5. Laura Langley of Southern Nash and Jordan Lee of Cedar Ridge lead the way with Leigh Taylor of Southern Guilford only one-inch back. January Spencer of Union Pines is an accomplished jumper and Amy Wenner of Ragsdale won this title one year ago. Can we see 5-6?
Pole Vault
Brooke Yeakley of Parkwood will look to help her team to the title and win this event. She is favored as she the only girl to clear 9-6 this winter. It won’t be easy however, as 4 others have cleared 9-0: Jordan Lee, Summer Hughes, Courtney Raynor, and Rebekah Johnston. There are only 8 girls in this event.
55m Hurdles
Sherice Walker, a familiar name already, is the top seed in the 55m hurdles. She was one of the nation’s best last year, and will look to return to her top form with a win here. There are 7 girls with times under nine seconds, and any one of them could finish top 3. There are many top returning hurdlers from last year in this event, such as: Naadia Crutchfield, Radiance Basden, Sophia Treakle, and Taylor Graham.
55m Dash
Kelsey McCorkle leads this group with a time of 7.18. She had a fine meet up in Virginia a few weeks back but was unable to compete at the Eastern HS Challenge. If she is healthy, look for her to be tough to beat. However, Stormy Kendrick of Forestview was one of the top sprinters in NC last outdoor season and is seeded #3. Sushannie Blake ran very impressively at the Eastern HS Challenge, busting on the scene with her 4th place finish in 7.20.
4x800m Relay
This could be a great race! Sun Valley was the fastest 4x800 girl’s team in the state last year. They return a solid group of girls and have run well so far this season. However, TC Roberson is also running very well, with 3 girls under 5:25 in the 1600. Then you can’t count out
Jacksonville as they definitely have 2 studs on the team in Ryanna Henderson and Brandy Swann, both capable of a time around 2:20. This should be an exciting race.
1600m Run
Now, unlike the boy’s the top girls will be running the 4x800. With little rest, the 1600 could be a race of strategy. If that is the case, look out for Lindsay Ester who has shown in the past she can sprint with anyone. Kylie Smith of TCR is the top seed with Ryanna Henderson right behind her, both clocked in at 5:20. Will TCR come into the race with a specific strategy? They do have 3 of the top 4 seeds in the event . . . we’ll see.
500m Dash
Brandy Swann of Jacksonville has run very well in the 500 this season. She has run 1:16.76 and is ranked 11th in the US. I don’t think anyone in this event can run with her the way she has been moving. The #2 seed is Breanna Alston of SE Guilford with a 1:20. The battle for 2nd could be a fun one to watch as about 9 girls are within 3 seconds of one another.
1000m Run
Ryanna Henderson of Jacksonville should be the top seed as she has run 3:03 this season indoors. However, she is only listed at 3:08, don’t that fool you. Like the boys, there are some athletes in this race who could be finding themselves racing for the 3rd time. That may be a tough task. Laura Hoer and Kylie Smith of TCR have solid seed times, but look out for Dannielle Hobbs of Sun Valley. She will have run the 4x800 but is sitting out the 1600. With somewhat fresh legs, she could easily steal this race. Just as I did last year, and it’s not much of a surprise, I will call Heather Beichner to finish WAY higher than her 11th seed. I hope she is in the first heat, we could see the 11th seed win!
300m Dash
Again, Kelsey McCorkle of South Central is the favorite in this sprinting event. Her time is a good bit faster than the #2 seed Sushannie Blake of NW Cabarrus. Look for Sushannie and Brandy Swann to push Kelsey to a solid time in this event. I see it as a 3-girl race.
3200m Run
Caroline Kirby of TCR is schedule for a big day as she is entered in each of the distance races. I have to believe that she won’t run them all, my guess, no 1000m. This should be her event, but there is tough competition in the race. Lindsay Ester of Williams pulled out the win over Kirby during the XC season, so she too has the strength. However, she’s also entered in all 4 events. Again, it could be Dannielle Hobbs’ to win should tired legs be in front of her. Also watch out for Cardinal Gibbon’s Sarah Rapp who had a very impressive 9th grade season in XC.
4x400m Relay
This event, as always, should be fun as the top 5 teams are within about 6 seconds on each other. Western Guilford is the top seed and could be racing for a team title. As a matter of fact, the top 3 teams could be racing for a team title, WG, Parkland, and Jacksonville. This has the makings of a classic race.