Akala Garrett talks expectations after 60mH win at Mondo Elite
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NCHSAA 1A/2A Indoor Rankings
A couple summer transfers have completely re-shaped the NCHSAA 1A/2A classification. Shawnti Jackson (South Granville) and Akala Garrett (Albemarle) are ready to chase glory for their new schools. In fact, Garrett was the 2022 Indoor NCHSAA 4A State Meet Most Valuable Player.
We are acting under the assumption, however, that Jackson will be competing in the 60m dash against the professionals at The Millrose Games, which also take place Saturday in New York City, New York at The Armory.
Garrett has been on a tear since transferring. And the Texas signee shows no signs of slowing down as we head into the postseason. She is NC and US No. 1 on the season in the 55mH and 60mH. The 55mH final may turn into Garrett versus the clock. This may be one of the last few chances she gets to take down Anna Cockrell's 7.63 state record from 2015.
Keep an eye out for freshman D'Anna Cotton (Cummings), as well. She has been on a roll to start her high school career, and if she can score an upset win on Garrett, she will bolt into national stardom.
Garrett will be running multiple events one right after the other, as she is the top seed in the 55m dash, as well. The straight race will be much tougher on Garrett, as the 1A/2A classification has some beasts in the short sprint.
Defending champion Aniya Edwards (Elkin) is not ready to give up her stop on top of the throne. 2022 3rd place finisher, and fellow sophomore, Jaida McGrew (Mountain Island Charter), looks for the glory of her own. Garrett has a season best of 7.16, against McGrew's 7.23 and Edwards 7.27. Another sophomore, Jalee Brown (South Stokes), also holds a 7.27 season best.
Garrett will battle Cotton and Edwards yet again in the 300m dash. Once more, Garrett is the top seed with her NC No. 5 all-time mark of 38.60 which she ran in Virginia in December.
The top four finishers from 2022 have all graduated, so we are guaranteed to see a brand new podium for the 300m.
Edwards will once again defend her state title against Garrett, this time in the 500m dash. Garrett ran NC No. 6 all-time 1:13.51 in the event at The VA Showcase.
In the 1,000m, Brooke Hope (R-S Central) is the top returner from 2022, where she placed 4th. She is seeded second behind Lincolnton senior and 2022 cross country state champion Katherine Hopkins.
We did not see Arizona Blankenship (Swain) during the cross country but the 2022 outdoor runner-up in the 800m, 1,600m, and 3,200m is looking to finally get her first individual track state title. She won the 2021 cross country state championship.
She is seeded second behind Hopkins in both the 1,600m and 3,200m.
Defending outdoor long jump and triple jump and indoor long jump state champion, Zoie Shuler (Robbinsville), is the top seed in both of the horizontal jumps.
However, again we see D'Anna Cotton's name at the top of the performance list. She has a triple jump best of 38-10.0, which is seeded second behind Shuler's 38-10.5. That half-inch advantage will give Shuler the final jump of the competition, which would win or lose the event.
Cotton is the top seed in the high jump. She has cleared 5'8", which is three inches over Shuler's 5'5" season best.
In pole vault, Swain County teammates Amelia Rogers and Alden Thomas are the top two seeds.
The boys' NCHSAA 1A/2A state championship will give us two of the best all-around athletes in the state in Kenneth Byrd (East Burke) and Jonathan Paylor (Cummings).
Byrd won the 2022 adidas Outdoor Nationals and was 3rd at AAU Junior Olympic Nationals in the decathlon. He is the 1A/2A indoor pole vault state meet record holder, as well. He is competing this weekend in the pole vault, high jump, and 55mH. He won both the jumps in 2022, but now he's looking for a unique triple.
He is the top seed in the high jump. Ayden Thompson (Bunker Hill) is seeded ahead of him in the 55mH.
If there's any event to focus on this weekend it is the pole vault. Byrd will be defending once more against Swain's Matthew Gray, who cleared 16-08 this year and is the defending outdoor NCHSAA 1A champion.
At Mondo Elite, they both cleared 16-06, which is NC No. 4 all-time indoors.
However, in Byrd got the best of Gray at the state meet in an all-time showdown. 2023 will be even more exciting.
Let's shift focus to Paylor, one of the top football players in the country who has drawn interest from Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, NC State, and UNC amongst others.
Still only a junior, Paylor is the defending outdoor NCHSAA 2A 100m, 200m, and 400m state champion. He is also the defending indoor 300m state champion. He is scheduled to run the 55m dash, 300m dash, and the 4x200m with his top seeded Cummings squad.
Southwest Onslow's Chris Johnson is the top seed.
Keep an eye on Eastern Wayne sophomore Rahkeem Faison. He only competed once this indoor season, a 6.44 polar bear mark on February 1st that qualified him for the state meet. He was runner-up in the 100m and 200m at the 2022 NCHSAA 2A outdoor state meet behind Paylor. He was 4th in the indoor 55m in 2022, as well.
Union Academy teammates Evan Pardue and Nathan Swinney will battle over the 500m state title. However, Owen sophomore and top seed Davis Kendall is the lone runner with a seed time under 1:08.00.
Elijah Jones is the top seed in the 1,000m, and 1,600m runs, however NCSSM senior Andrew Parker wants to win his first indoor state title. He won the NCHSAA 2A outdoor 3,200m this past spring. Jones and Parker are scheduled to battle in the 1,000m and 3,200m.
The 1,600m has a lot of talent in it. With Jones and Parker, Evan Mitchell (Union Academy) and Joshawa Huneycutt (South Stanly) have all gone under 4:35.00 this season.
Jack Anstrom (Seaforth) is only running the 4x800m and the 3,200m. With a lot of the competition in the 3,200m running multiple individual events, Anstrom should have his eyes set on the title.
Defending long jump champion Jared Hiatt (North Surry) will look to once more take home a state title, while Southwest Edgecombe's Princeton Loch wants to avenge his runner-up finish from the 2022 indoor triple jump.