Girls Preview
Ai'yana Gray-Williams (Parkland IB) is ready to showcase her talents this weekend in both the 100m and 200m dash. She is seeded No. 3 in the 100m, and is the top seed in the 200m. Gray-Williams is the defending NCHSAA 3A 100m and 200m state champion. Her teammate, Ziyah Etchison, will be in both the 100m and 200m alongside Gray-Williams. She is the No. 6 seed in both events.
Marvin Ridge senior Lauren Fleming will join them in both events. She is seeded No. 4 in the 200m, and No. 9 in the 100m.
Madison Moraja (Weddington) is attempting the 200m/400m double. She is the No. 7 seed in the 200m and No. 6 in the 400m. She is NC No. 4 in the 400m this season. Seeded right behind her in the 400m is East Mecklenburg's Jaylin Pate, Parkland's Megan Hatcher, and Olympic's T'Sheylah Moore.
The distance events are flooded with superstars from #TeamNC. The 800m will be a showdown, featuring Cuthbertson's Charlotte Bell, Stella Kermes, and Justin Preisano, going against Lake Norman's Maddie Huecker, Madeline Stolberg, and Lily Yampolsky. Hannah Rae Shaffer (Cardinal Gibbons) is dropping down to the open 800m after an impressive 4x800m leg at Apex Lions' Relays, and joining her is teammate Peyton LaNasa. Natalia Martin (Olympic), Hannah Riley and Katie McFerrin (Mount Tabor), Caroline Hamrick (West Johnston), Ashley Horwitz and Carly Arrington (Providence Day), and Ella Arnold (Apex) round out the top 20 from #TeamNC. In total, 15/20 top seeds are coming down from North Carolina!
The 1 Mile run meet record of 4:54.22 from 2006 is very much in jeopardy. Mary Bonner Dalton (Myers Park) headlines the field with her 4:50 1,600m personal best. Sarah Mitchell (Apex) will be running on fresh legs. Alyssa Preisano and Lillian Nasta (Cuthbertson) elected not to run the 800m and are focusing on the mile and 3,200m. Joiner Evans (Mount Tabor) is another name to watch in the field. A slew of girls from the 800m are starting their days in the 1,600m, including Shaffer, Bell, Kermes, J. Preisano, Arrington, and Hamrick. Shaffer has the NC No. 1 in the 1,600m this season, running 4:56.81 at Apex Lions' Relays.
We will see Dalton, A. Preisano, Nasta, and Hamrick later in the 3,200m, as well. Weddington standouts Emma Jones and Elizabeth Ritter will be running fresh in the 3,200m.
In the hurdles, Falon Spearman (Providence Day) is the top seed in the 100mH, holstering a personal best of 13.54 from last year's NCISAA State Championship victory. She will be gunning for the meet record of 13.26 from 2008. Her sister, Santana, is seeded No. 3 and could look to challenge her for the victory. Keep an eye on Aria Wegh (Marvin Ridge) in the event, as well.
Parkland IB will be gunning for gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, where they are seeded No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Mallard Creek is also in the two events, and is seeded No. 3 in both. Cuthbertson will be an X-factor in the 4x400m, depending on the team the run.
The record most likely to go down this weekend is the 4x800m record of 9:16.93 from T.C. Roberson in 2014. Overall state record holders, Cuthbertson, will be gunning for the record, and their first outdoor sub 9:00 performance.
They are not a solo show by any means. Charlotte Country Day is seeded No. 3, and they are more than capable of completing an upset this weekend, as are Mount Tabor and Weddington.
In the field events, Ija Mumford (Parkland) is seeded No. 4, and Faith Spencer (Panther Creek) is No. 5. They are both doubling back in the triple jump, where Mumford is the top seed. Mumford was the NCHSAA 4A Indoor long and triple jump champion. Maya Studney (Cuthbertson) has had a fantastic outdoor campaign and looks to build on it this weekend in the triple jump.
Butler's Cheyla Scott will be jumping for the meet record of 5-11.5 from 1997.
Weddington's Kendall Ford is the No. 3 seed in the pole vault.
Mallard Creek's Macy Dulaney is in both the shot put and discus competitions, and she is seeded No. 2 in shot.
Hough's Deborah Brown is No. 2 seed in the discus, however.