What to Watch for on Day 2 of the Bojangles Classic

Girls 100m Dash Prelims

Who: Kylia Wright, Tamara Clark, Taylor Scott, Nia Judkins & more

When: 9:30AM Start

Tamara Clark (High Point Central) and Kylia Wright (Southeast Raleigh) have established themselves as the top 2 female sprinters in NC.  The ran NC#2 & NC#3 All-time in the 55m Dash indoors in the NCHSAA 4A Final and will have a highly anticipated rematch if they make the same finals section, which both should be in the faster heat.  Wright sits at NC#1 at 11.67 from Wake County's last week, but she's hungry for more.  Clark hasn't raced anything big this outdoors season and this will be the first test to her current fitness level.  Taylor Scott (Wakefield) and Nia Judkins (Athens Drive) will need to run at their best if they want to earn one of the 16 spots on the line to advance to the final.  

Boys 100m Dash Prelims

Who: J Johnson, Brandon Ray, Chantz Sawyers, DJ Moyer, Brenton Ervin & more

When: Approx. 10:15AM

16 spots in a 2 section final are on the line here as J Johnson (Panther Creek) hopes to improve on his 10.34 PR from last weekend at Wake County's.  Johnson put himself on the map at the VA Showcase indoors winning against a loaded field and will look to add a Bojangles Classic title to his impressive resume.  Brandon Ray (Athens Drive) has had an awesome start to his outdoor season.  Previously he hasn't met his potential in the 100, but at Wake County's he finally had the breakthrough running a huge PR of 10.50.  Look for this junior to get faster and faster throughout the year.  Chantz Sawyers (HPCA) will look to make the fast section of the 100m dash before switching his focus on the 400.  Though he's more of a 400 guy, his range down to the 100 is impressive with his 10.72 PR.  Freshman DJ Moyer (Reagan) and Brenton Ervin (Mallard Creek) have been impressive to start the outdoor season and will look to keep the ball rolling against a huge field.

Girls 400m Dash

Who: Gracie Whelan, Kyna Robinson, Marish Atwater, Ticoiya Gidderon, Blake Strong 

When: Approx. 3:55pm 

Gracie Whelan (Providence Day) and Kyna Robinson (Southeast Raleigh) both look to make the fast section tomorrow with Mariah Atwater (Rocky River) and Ticoiya Gidderon (High Point Central) need a few scratches to get bumped up.  Whelan opened the season with a near PR of 56.61 at Marvin Ridge Invitational and will look to break 55 in a fast field.  Robinson ran 56.30 last weekend at Wake County's and hasn't really been challenged in her two 400s this outdoor season.  She ran 54.94 last year at the regional meet as she'll look to get back into the 54s again tomorrow.

Boys 400m Dash

Who: Chantz Sawyers, Anthony Morgan, Emerson Douds

When: Approx. 4:25pm

Chantz Sawyers (HPCA) comes in with the fastest seed time of 46.35 and will be the man to beat with only no one else in the field having a PR under 47 seconds.  Sawyers will look to become the first boy in state history to break 46 seconds in the 400.  It's rumored Elija Godwin (Newton, GA) might be a late addition, if so it might become the best race of the meet. Godwin won the Brooks PR meet last outdoor season as a sophomore in 45.83.  The meet record of 46.34 set in 2004 is in by Cedric Goodman (GA) is in some serious jeopardy.

Anthony Morgan and Emerson Douds look to be in the earlier sections, it's tough to know as the 400 gets reseeded before the event.  But both look to break 50 seconds for the first time this season.  Douds has run 50.0 marks twice in his last two attempts.

Girls 800

Who: Melissa Zammitti, Elise Wright, Monzerad Creary, Tiara Patterson-Mills, Sarah LaTour, Isabel Zimmermann

When: Approx 5:50pm 

Melissa Zammitti (Davidson Day) shows some great range on the track, but has really excelled in the 800 where she holds a PR of 2:13.1.  She hasn't raced much other than a Raleigh Relays 3200 this outdoor season, but this will be a true test of her fitness.  Elise Wright (T.C. Roberson) has emerged as a very strong middle distance runner this indoor and outdoor season and set a PR last week of 2:17.20 at her County meet.  Look for her to drop another big PR in this assume she gets in good position.  Monzerad Creary (HP Central) is a fantastic middle distance runner and ran 2:13.64 last year as a sophomore!  This will be Creary's first big race of the outdoor season.

Boys 800

Who: Evan Harris, Canoy Tyree, Austin Carroll, Mason Bhatia, Anthony Williams, Jalin Petty

When: Approx 6:20PM

Evan Harris will finally see a fast field of 800 runners for the first time this season.  Harris is entered in the Mile earlier in the day, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him scratch to focus on a fast 800.  Canoy Tyree (Mallard Creek) currently is NC#1 in the event with a 1:54.  You also have Mason Bhatia (Marvin Ridge), the 3A 1000 State Champion who ran 1:58 two weeks ago.  Austin Carroll is entered in the 800, Mile and 3200 and I'm not sure which event he will come in with a big focus on.  Jalin Petty (Hopewell) has had an awesome start to the outdoor season.  The final section holds 18 boys in it so it is very important to get out well and out of trouble if you want to run fast.

In the section before, section 7, you have many guys that will break 2 minutes including Anthony Williams (Mallard Creek), Dylan Shamburger (West Henderson), Luke Gostling (Millbrook), James Lundergan (Cary) and Clayton Weston (Millbrook).

Girls 1 Mile Run

Who: Isabel Zimmermann, Mariah Howlett, Melissa Zammitti, Sarah LaTour, Ainsley Cooper, Lindsey Lanier

When: Approx: 2:25PM 

We will see many girls attempt to break the 5 minute barrier in a stacked Mile field including Melissa Zammtti (Davidson Day), Sarah LaTour (Cuthbertson), Isabel Zimmermann (Reagan) and Mariah Howlett (Lake Norman Charter).  Zammitti holds a PR of 4:58 and Zimmermann has been close many times running right around 5:00 the last year.  Howlett has run 5:03.8 this outdoor season and run under 5:12 4 times all alone this outdoor season.  She has never been in a Mile field of this caliber and will look for a break out performance.  LaTour saw an elite heat this indoor season at David Oliver Classic where she ran 5:06.  She's been dominating the Charlotte area this season and will go up against her first real test of the outdoor season.

Boys 1 Mile Run

Who: Coleman Mitchell, Noah Graham, Austin Carroll, Luke Gostling, Evan Harris, Chad Stirling, Ben Savino, Hayden Blalock, Michael Moerk

When: Approx 3:10PM

Coleman Mitchell (Cary Academy) and Noah Graham (Brevard)enter as the top 2 seeds in this event.  Graham holds the best mark in the field on the season, but the hold field is within a few seconds of him.  Austin Carroll (Corinth Holders) hasn't seen a fast Mile field this season and will look to be one of many NC athletes under 4:20 for the first time.  Luke Gostling (Millbrook), Chad Stirling (Charlotte Catholic), Evan Harris (Lake Norman), Ben Savino (Apex), Hayden Blalock (Providence) and Noah Dolhare (Providence Day) have all run from 4:21-4:23 this outdoor season.  This is a race in the making for someone to have a break out performance and is truly anybodies race.

Girls 3200 - 4 Sections

Who: Mariah Howlett, Melissa Zammitti, Sloan Walter, Marissa Bishop, Sarah LaTour, Lindsey Lanier, Alexis McDonnell

When: 8:45 AM

Mariah Howlett (Lake Norman Charter) ran a huge time earlier this season of 10:37 that really put herself on the map.  She went up against a strong field at Raleigh Relays and took 2nd to Isabel Zimmermann.  As Howlett dominated the XC season, this was her first was that she's been challenge in in a long time.  She will go up against Libby Davidson (E.C. Glass, VA) who needs no introduction.  Also in this field is Sloan Walter and Marissa Bishop (Cardinal Gibbons) who will be looking for a strong after running well at Raleigh Relays a few weeks back.  Sarah LaTour (Cuthbertson) and Melissa Zammitti (Davidson Day) are entered in all 3 distance events.  I think it's unlikely Zammitti runs all 3 and will opt for the Mile/800 as she ran a 3200 recently.  LaTour might run the triple as we've seen her do a few times this season, and I wouldn't ever count her out of a race.

Boys 3200

Who: David Melville, Gable Dershem, Noah Dolhare, Ben Mitchell, Austin Carroll, Sam Thornton, Hayden Blalock, Haven Honeycutt, Daktoa Mendenhall, Andrew Robinson, Luke Evans

When: 7:02PM

David Melville (Northern Guilford) enters as the top seed in the boys 3200 and holds a PR of 9:18.  I don't think Melville has come near his potential in this event.  If he's recovered from his illness of a few weeks ago don't be surprise to see a big statement from him.  NCHSAA 3A competitor Gable Dershem (Cleveland) will enter his first big race of the outdoor season. Dershem showed up at the outdoor state meet last year and ran 9:20.79.  He was also runner up to Melville indoors in the 3200.

Noah Dolhare (Providence Day) and Ben Mitchell (FCDS) have a battle between themselves showing who could be the top dog going into the NCISAA 3A State Championships.  Dolhare got the best of him and Coleman Mitchell last year, but was beaten by both in XC.  Beyond the 4 mentioned above, this field is loaded with NC talent including Luke Evans (Westchester), Sam Thornton (Cardinal Gibbons), Hayden Blalock (Providence), Haven Honeycutt (Asheville) and Dakota Mendenhall (Forbush) who all will be looking to post a PR in this loaded field.

Girls 100m Hurdle Prelims

Who: Sierra Fletcher, Akira Rhodes, Olivia Goodwin, Charnessa Reid, Taylor Scott

When: 11:00AM

Sierra Flectcher (Southeast Raleigh) and Akira Rhodes (Mallard Creek) are the top 2 100m Hurdlers in 4A and will square off for the first time since indoors.  Both have been dominant over the hurdles this outdoor season.  I really hope these two end up in the same section of the finals.  Olivia Goodwin (Cary) is mainly a Pole Vaulter, but is pretty dang good at the hurdles as well, she and Charnessa Reid have a strong shot at making the finals.

Boys 110m Hurdle Prelims

Who: Cedric McGriff, Raymonte Dow, Enoch Cheung, Sam Handy

When: 11:45AM

4 boys have a strong chance to make the final in Cedric McGriff (Providence), Raymonte Dow (High Point Central), Enoch Cheung (Raleigh Charter) and Sam Handy (Cary).  McGriff had a strong indoor season, but is still looking to get a fast mark outdoors, though he's still be dominating his competition.  Dow is better over the longer hurdle distances, but still should contend for a spot in the faster of the two final sections.  

Girls 400m Hurdles

Who: Sierra Fletcher, Emerson Porter, Abby Happel, Kiara Pettis, Liyah Jones

When: 5:00PM

Sierra Fletcher (Southeast Raleigh) is currently NC#4 in the 300mH after winning Wake County's in 45.60.  She ran 43.55 last year and is certainly just getting started this outdoor season.  Emerson Porter (Providence Day) is new to the hurdles and had a strong race last weekend at Queen City Relays where she ran an NC#8 mark of 45.81.  

Boys 400m Hurdles

Who: Raymonte Dow, Elijah Knight, Enoch Cheung, Seraphin Kibonge

When: 5:25PM

Raymonte Dow (High Point Central) was the outdoor 300mH champion and ran 52.93 a year ago in the 400mH.  He's a strong long hurdler and should be one of the top finishers in this event.  Elijah Knight (Cary) is currently the state leader in the 300mH with a 38.88 this outdoor season.  He's hungry for the state title in the event, and will go up against his biggest competition in Dow tomorrow.

Girls 4x100

Who: Southeast Raleigh, High Point Central, Mallard Creek,

When:1:00PM

Boys 4x100

Who: Mallard Creek, Rocky River, Weddington, Reagan,

When: 1:20PM

Girls 4x400

Boys 4x400

Who: Grimsley, Mallard Creek, Hopewell, Cary, 

When: 7:45PM