This could be the day that Adrien Jacobs (Durham School of the Arts) breaks out into a star.
After winning the 400m at NCHSAA 3A Mideast by almost 1.5 seconds, he doubled back and was runner-up in an exciting 800m. Northwood's Noah Nielson was the victor, clocking 1:56.88. Jacobs, however, is 3A No. 1 this season with his best of 1:54.55.
Three of the top four from the indoor 55m state championship will be lining up for the 100m. Indoor 55m dash state champion William Ratliffe (Eastern Alamance) won 3A Mideast. The top two seeds belong to NCHSAA 3A West's Sincere Moss (Ashbrook) and Bryson Lomick (South Point). Moss is the top seed in the 200m, and Lomick is 4th. West Henderson's Brenden Henby, however, is also seeded top four in both sprint events.
Gabriel Schmid (Orange), the cross country state champion, is going for the 1,600m/3,200m double. He secured both wins at 3A Mideast, and he earned the top seed in the 3,200m, 9:11.10. He is NC No. 6 overall for the season in the 3,200m, having clocked 9:03.06 earlier in the year. Eli Julian (South Rowan) and Stephen Fernetti (North Lincoln) will be all eyes on Schmid as they try to end their seasons with a state title in their own right.
In the 1,600m he will have to battle West Johnston's Harper Clark and Croatan's Noah Guerrero, who are having their own mini-regional rematch. Clark got the win at 3A East in 4:22.26, less than a half a second over Guerrero.
Over at NCHSAA 3A West, Liam Sutton (North Lincoln) won the regional title in 14.35. West Henderson's Tayman Howell gets his chance at redemption this weekend however, as he only lost by .01 seconds, as he ran 14.36!.
Seven programs posted times between 42.07 and 42.99 in the 4x100m, making it one of the hardest to call races of the weekend. From 3A Midwest, Dudley and Southern Guilford are seeded 1-2.
The field events have some crazy individual battles as well. Over in shot put, top seed Jason Bethea (Ben Smith) won 3A Midwest with a toss of 51-10.5. However, over at 3A East, Gabriel Urraca (Northside) won with a toss of 51-9.
Similarly in long jump, 3A East winner, White Oak's Jayson Hedgepth jumped 23-3, secured top seed over 3A Midwest winner, Dudley's Anthony Taylor, who jumped 23-1.5.
In high jump, four athletes cleared 6-4 at regionals: Jashawn Clark (Ashbrook), Jeremiah Taylor (South Central), Christian Hackett (Union Pines), and Cal Drake (Franklin).
Wrapping up the crazy battles on the boy's side, we have two pole vaulters who cleared 14-0 at regionals, both from 3A West: Blake Cassada (Franklin) and Logan Jones (North Lincoln). Cassada was the indoor state champion in the event, and was runner-up outdoors in 2022.
Union Pines' Briana St. Louis is one of the fastest rising superstars we have in the state. We first got word of St. Louis' being at Union Pines during cross country season, and she has not disappointed once she debuted on the track.
She won the NCHSAA 3A Mideast 200m dash, and finished 3rd in the 100m (after posting the top prelim time). She is the current NC 3A No. 2 in the 100m (11.74), only behind Janiya Johnson's 11.63 (+2.6). It is the same story in the 200m, she is No. 2 behind Johnson.
We have to give Statesville's Janiya Johnson her spotlight too. The defending indoor 55m dash state champion is even hungrier for her first outdoor state title. She will be the top seed in both the 100m and 200m. The two have never lined-up next to each other on an outdoor track. Johnson is 2-0 against St. Louis in the indoor 55m/60m dash.
In the 400m, freshman Zoe Dorsey has just been unreal. She posted a NC Freshman No. 7 all-time 55.33 at NCHSAA 3A Mideast.
Lily Yampolsky (Lake Norman Charter) and Eva Rinker (Tuscola) will battle over both the 800m and 1,600m titles, but they will not be alone. Yampolsky is the top returner after finishing 3rd.
North Lincoln freshman Olivia Ferraro was runner-up to Rinker at 3A West, but she clocked a NC Freshman No. 9 all-time 5:01.99.
Cross country state champion Macy Parks is attempting to double the 1,600m and 3,200m. She was 3rd in the 1,600m and 2nd in the 3,200m at 3A West. In the 3,200m, she was runner-up to North Lincoln teammate Bella Wood. Two names to keep an eye on in the 3,200m are Breanna Budzinski (West Henderson) and Morgan Miller (First Flight).
Emma Hall (West Henderson) is going to keep rolling this weekend. Already a multi-time state champion, Hall wants to defend her two hurdle titles from last spring (on top of being back-to-back indoor 55m hurdle state champion).
Speaking of dominance, we get to see Ashbrook's Camryn Massey (shot put and discus) and West Henderson's Tyler Collins (high jump) go to work.
Massey is top seed in both shot put and discus, and at 3A West threw NC No. 2 all-time in the discus.
Meanwhile, Collins is undefeated in her career against North Carolina state talent in the high jump. 2022 indoor: 11-0, state champion. 2022 outdoor, 11-0, state champion. 2023 indoor, 12-0, state champion and national runner-up. And thus far in 2023 outdoor, 5-0, regional champion. She cleared 5-11 at NCRunners Eastern Tour Closer.
Cramer's Alexis Willis is the top seed in the long and triple jump competitions. She won both events during indoor season, and is the defending outdoor triple jump state champion. She was also runner-up in the long jump last spring.
