Who Will Be The Kind Of The Boys Sprints?
Michael Gupton (Rolesville) has been phenomenal throughout his freshman year. He won the NCHSAA 4A Indoor 55m Dash in 6.31. He has run a NC No. 4 100m Dash of 10.58 100m and NC No. 2 200m of 21.17 this spring. Both performances came from the regional championship.
Gupton looked to be the favorite heading into the weekend in both the 100m and 200m dash going into the week. But the 4A Midwest Regional shook things up significantly. DJ Moyer (Reagan) and Cameron Rose (Hickory Ridge) each tied the state lead running 10.47 in the 100m while Rose also ran the 200m state lead of 21.08. These bumped Gupton down from the top-ranked 4A Regional running to 3rd and 2nd respectively.
Gupton could make history in both events winning as a freshman. We don't think a freshman has won either event before in 4A, but older results don't always list grade years. Since the NCHSAA moved to run the 100m and 200m Dash in 1980, few athletes have won the event more than once. None have won it three times. Gupton could start a trend being the first as well as the first to ever sweep either event throughout their high school career.
Rose has a chance to make similar history. Rose won the 4A 200m last year as a sophomore in 21.74 (-1.3) and will be the favorite to defend heading into the weekend. After running PRs of 10.47 and 21.08 on Monday at the regional meet, it's hard to argue that Rose isn't in the best form in the field. Rose did get edged by Moyer by .001 seconds in the 100m at the regional meet. Moyer is going to need the win and a high placement in the 200m for his Reagan teammate who are seeking the team title. Moyer has been clutch all year and don't be surprised for another performance Saturday.
The 200m is one of the most stacked fields of the event with Rose, Gupton, Moyer, and All-American's Randolph Ross (Garner) and Romel McRae (Southeast Raleigh). Out of that field, only Ross is a senior.
The thing we've seen with Gupton is he rarely loses. He lost once outdoors individually against McRae in the 200m at the Wake County Championships. He's been undefeated in the 100m, and now that his Baseball season for Rolesville is done it could lead to some bigtime performances on the track. There is certainly no limiting him based off what he's shown us on the track this year.