Girls New Balance Outdoor Nationals North Carolina Edition - Championship Events

Championship Girls 100m Dash

NCHSAA 4A State Champion and North Carolina State leader Tamara Clark (High Point Central) took 9th in the prelims last year at the national meet narrowly missing the final.  Clark will be hungry to cap off her career with an All-American performance at the national meet to go along with her many individual state titles.  She also will be looking to tackle her 11.52 PR from last season.  Kylia Wright (Southeast Raleigh) is back after a hamstring injury at the regional meet.  Wright had beaten Clark in their head to head match-up at the Bojangles Classic this season.  It's somewhat of a question of what kind of shape Wright will be in after the injury, but knowing her she's going to be ready to prove that she could have beaten Clark at the NCHSAA 4A State Championships this season.  NCHSAA 4A Runner-Up Tayler Grier (Wakefield) and Zachyre Lane (Cardinal Gibbons) will also be looking to have a strong day and advance to the finals this Saturday.

Championship Girls 200m Dash

Tamara Clark also headlines the 200m field for North Carolina athletes.  She will look to take momentum from the 100 finals on Saturday to push herself to a fast 200m time.  Clark made the finals in this event at indoor nationals this season.  Corbin McLean (Platinum Sports), Cambrea Sturgis (A.L. Brown/Salisbury Speedsters) and Jamila McKoy (Hillside) will look to push for a spot in the finals, but they'll need to set PRs in order to do so against this loaded field.  Clark currently sits NC#1 in this event at 24.44.

Championship Girls 400

Kiya Oviosun (Southeast Guilford) returns to the track where she ran 53.53, good for NC#4 All-Time in the 400.  This mark was good enough to get her in the fastest section, but she will be out of lane 8.  Oviosun hasn't been pushed since the state championships, but we with 7 girls just as fast as she is in the final section I expect her to get out hard and have some girls to chase down going into the final 100.  Maya Singletary (Hoke County) also will look to throw down a fast mark in the second fastest section out of lane 2.  Singletary currently sits at NC#3 in this event.

Championship Girls 2 Mile 

Mariah Howlett (Lake Norman Charter) is the lone North Carolina athlete in this field and will compete in the first of 2 sections.  Howlett clocked an 10:37.39 earlier this season, but hasn't been able to eclipse that mark since.  It'll be interesting to see how she adjusts to running in a big field as she's seemed to grow comfortable in two of her first big races in the Bojangles Classic and Raleigh Relays 3200 where she took 2nd in both.

Championship 5000m Run

Friday evening Isabel Zimmermann (Reagan) and Natalie Tyner (Laney) will compete in the 5000m run with Zimmermann in the fast section and Tyner in section 1 of 2.  Both have run very impressive 3200m marks this season.  Tyner holds the better 5K mark in XC of 17:59, but Zimmermann has been much stronger on the track.  Since it's an event neither have competed in on a track it's hard to gauge what kind of time they'll be able to run.  Zimmermann certainly has a chance to finish as an All-American in the event.  She is the #2 seed on the heat sheets, but most of the girls in the field likely haven't run a 5K this season so that's hard to use with accuracy.

Championship 100m Hurdles

North Carolina's top hurdlers will be in this event on Saturday as each will be fighting for a spot in the finals.  Akria Rhodes (Mallard Creek) won the event at the NCHSAA 4A State Championship over Taylor Scott (Wakefield) and Sierra Fletcher (Southeast Raleigh).  Fletcher proved she was in good form last weekend running 13.97 equaling her NC#2 mark.  Rhodes currently sits at NC#1 in the event with her 13.90 from the state championships.  Scott likely has a fast mark coming after getting 2nd at the state championships, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her under 14 seconds.  Mount Tabor's Charnessa Reid will also be competing for a spot in the finals.

Championship Girls 4x100

This event does run Prelims, which is something most of the squads likely aren't used to in the 4x100.  5 NC squads qualified for the Championship section in Southeast Raleigh, 4A State Champs High Point Central, Mallard Creek, North Mecklenburg, and what looks to be a combined Asheville area team.  Southeast Raleigh holds the NC#1 mark of 46.35, but High Point Central will won the 4A State Title as Southeast was missing their star in Kylia Wright.  Wright is entered for Southeast on this relay and we hope to see her at full strength.

Championship Girls 4x200

Two North Carolina schools will ran in a loaded final section in Hillside and Hoke County, who are NC#1 and NC#2 this season at 1:38.16 and 1:38.66 this year.  Both certainly have strong chances at becoming All-Americans in the event (Top 6), and will also be battling for the top spot in NC. T.W. Andrews, Mallard Creek and Panther Creek are a few of the other North Carolina teams you'll see in the final 3 sections looking to place high and score a fast time this weekend.  

Championship Girls 4x400

Hillside girls have been awesome in the 4x400 this season with a seasons best of 3:44.68.  They'll line up in the final event of the day, which is the fast sections of the 4x400.  Hillside will look to put themselves on the national scene in this event as they go against many national powers in Union Catholic, Nansemond River, Western Branch and Bullis School just to name a few.  High Point Central narrowly missed the fast section and will be in section 3 of 4.  High Point Central can certainly run faster than their seasons best of 3:49.56 I believe.  It'll just depend on if the schedule lines up with Tamara Clark's individual events.

Championship 1000 SMR

Southeast Raleigh will compete in the fast section of the "Swedish Relay" with Rocky River in section 1 of 2.  This is a unique event that goes 1-2-3-4 and really comes down to a strong anchor leg if the first three legs can get them in good position.  Sydney McLaughin of Union Catholic New Jersey looks to be on the anchor leg for them and is likely going to make up a lot of ground on the anchor leg as we've seen many times in her career.

Championship Girls High Jump

This will decide who the best high jump in the state is this season.  Will it be the veteran Kenya Livingston (Rocky River), or Morgan Smalls (Panther Creek) who dethroned Livingston at the 4A State Championships this year as a freshman!  Kayla Mesbitt-McEwen (High Point Central) had a strong year, but will look to make up for failing to advance out of her regional meet. Livingston has jumped 5-10 and Smalls 5-9 this outdoor season.

Championship Girls Pole Vault

Tessa Sheets (Northwood) held the best indoor Pole Vault this year, but Olivia Goodwin (Cary) currently holds the highest mark of the outdoor season at 12-7.  Sheets does hold a PR of 13-0 and had some narrow misses at 13-1 at the NCHSAA 3A State Championship.  Both girls are seniors and will be looking to go out as North Carolina's top Pole Vaulters

Championship Girls Heptathlon

Timara Chapman (Leesville Road) will get to compete in her first ever multi event. Over two days Chapman will contest the 100 Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump, 200, Javelin and 800m Run and will look to score an All-American finish.    Timara qualified for the regional meet in the High Jump, Long Jump, 100m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 this outdoor season as well as anchoring her team to in a few relays.  She's certainly talented and it'll likely come down to if Chapman can compete well in the throwing events.

Championship Girls Shot Put

North Carolina will have three girls contending for the state lead in this event on Sunday in Kayla Beasley ( Hillside), Naadiya Faison (Anson) and Veronica Fraley (Wakefield).  These three juniors hold the top 3 marks in the state with Faison's 45-0.5 being the state lead.  Fraley recently had a PR at CSI Cuba where she threw a 44-0.75.  All three will be in Flight 1 of 2 hoping to make it into the finals.