Field Events
Cara Salsberry (Marvin Ridge) enters as the top seed in the Shot Put. The junior moved to North Carolina from Florida this year and showed great improvement and consistency with a PR of 40-9 and exceeding 39-2 at 7 of her 9 meets this season. Makayla Watkins (Western Guilford) has thrown 39-2.25 this season and is defending champion indoors and was runner-up outdoors a year ago. Gabrielle Borum (West Henderson) and Christian VanNorden (Clayton) both come in with season best of 37-4.5 and 36-10 this season and will both eye the 3A title tomorrow.
Sophomore Ija Mumford (Parkland) will be the favorite in both the Long Jump and Triple Jump. She is the defending champion in the Long Jump and was runner-up a year ago in the Triple Jump. She comes in around 10 inches ahead of her competition with seasons best of 18-7.5 and 37-5.75. In the long jump Maeghan Wallace (Southern Alamance) comes in with a season best of 17-9 and looks to be Mumford's biggest threat. In the Triple Jump Derica Currie (Williams), Jayda Hunter (Jacksonville), Jade McLain (Cuthbertson) and Amaya English (Northern Guilford) have each cleared 36 feet and each have a chance for the state title in the event.
The High Jump should be very competitive with Sophie Draughon (West Carteret) coming in as the top seed at 5-6. Alejandra Urraca (Northside) and Rebekah Smith (Franklinton) have each jumped 5-4 this season. Urraca holds a PR from the 2019 outdoor season of 5-8. The top 8 girls have jumped 5-2 this indoor season, which could make for a very competitive event depending on if 5-4 is the winning mark or if someone can have a career day a push the bar over 5-6.
Marvin Ridge have a strong duo in the Pole Vault with Emma Stone and Isabel Crandall. The two have cleared 12-3.25 and 11-6 respectively this indoor season. Ava Studney (Cuthbertson) has cleared 11-0 and will look to challenge her cross town rivals in the event. With a jump of over 12 feet a few weeks ago, Stone will be hard to beat if she can compete at that level tomorrow. The meet record in the event is 12-7.5 which could be challenged if the competition goes well for her.