3A Meet Preview - What I Am Looking Forward To

This is not meant to be an event-by-event preview and there are so many great athletes and teams that deserve to be mentioned.  Please augment my list by posting what you are looking forward to seeing in the comments.

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Robin Reynolds 

How can I started anywhere else?  It was so thrilling to watch her compete at the middle school state meet last year and dominate so many events.  So now we get a chance to see her at her first high school state meet.  A FRESHMAN who could potentially win three events!

Her toughest challenge is definitely going to be her first running final... that 100 meter dash.  Robin is probably really a 400 meter runner.  She has such great range and can even run up at 800 meters very well.  So coming down to the other end of the spectrum with the short race does stretch her a little bit. She is seeded 5th in this one, but with her tenacity she should definitely finish higher.  But can she get favoriate Tatianna Fisher or even fellow-freshman Kyri Tabor?  That is the question!

In the rest of her events she is seeded first.  Not taking anything away from her competition, but the 400 should be a walk in the park.  Her season best is 54.21 in that event.  She should be able to take the 200 as well, although she will have to face Tatianna Fisher of Oak Ridge again.  Robin's PR is 23.94 in that event, Fisher's is 24.25.

By the time I get to the meet in the evening, Robin will most likely have already wrapped up her first victory in the long jump.  The only one who really could disrupt that effort is Olympic Heights senior Monique Williams.  Those two clearly stand out from the pack in that event.

Robin is a truly special athlete.  It will be a great four years getting to see her compete!

Distance Triple Attempt Part 2

Last week we got to watch Joane Pierre attempt the distance triple and fall just one event short.  This week it's Lily Williams' turn to give it a shot!

The distance triple is one of the most difficult feats to achieve in this sport.... especially the way our state meet is run because the finals events are bang-bang-bang run so quickly.  You can triple in three sprint events and it's pretty amazing, but that is much easier to recover from.  Running 5600 meters of hard races (1600 + 800 + 3200) in a span of two hours takes a Herculean effort!

Judging from Lily's Facebook status messages though over the past couple of weeks... man, this girl is ready to go!  She is a comeptitor and a half!  Lily, by the way, is another freshman like Robin.  How amazing would it be if two freshmen swept the running events!!!!  100-200-400-800-1600-3200! Wow.

Lily's first test will be a tough one against defending 1600 state champion Ashley Shiver.  Shiver is seeded first with her season best of 5:04, but she put up a 4:58 effort last year!  Lily will definitely have to race hard and improve upon her 5:08 personal best to even get out of the first round of the distance triple attempt!

Next on the docket will be the 800.  Darroneshia Lott from way up in Pensacola Pine Forest is the #1 seed.  I honestly know nothing about her and this is the first time I've seen her name!  Those Pensacola people are like a separate state, aren't they?  Anyway... so Lott defeated Williams last week at the 3A Region 1 meet running a 2:16.32 to Lily's 2:17.06.  They are seeded 1-2 in the race and it really should come down to them:  the third and forth seeds were also from that same region!

Finally, her attempt will end at the 3200... the only one that is is actually seeded first in.  It would be tough no matter what with the athletes in this race, but fresh I think that this would be her race.  But after two hard races before, she might just get denied and go 0-3 for state titles.  Wouldn't that suck?  Let's hope that worst case doesn't happen!

Tori Lawson and Ashley Shiver, who she will have already raced in the 1600, are the 2 and 3 seeds.  But with Sydney Devore,  Juliana Stern, teammate Kaia Hampton, and Isabelle Amaro (sister of Emilie Amaro) it's going to be a good race!

Can she do it???

Girls Team Battle

This is almost certainly setting itself up to be one of those meets where the team title is not decided until the 4x400!  Pine Forest is the favorite going in and based on season best times are slated to win all three relays.  Wouldn't that be something?

I don't think it will happen though.  I think they will have a tough time beating Satellite in the 4x800 and Miami Jackson in the 4x400.  With those poing downgrades and the fact that I think Robin Reynolds will finish at least second in the 100... I'm calling a Miami Jackson team title on this one!

Oak Ridge, the perenial girls dynasty in the 3A, is somewhat still in the picture if in the distance.  They have had some struggles this season, culminating with a baton drop in the 4x100 at regionals.  It would really take a miracle for them, but it's possible.  With some eye-popping performances Wharton and Satellite are also darkhorses.  It would probably take Satellite scoring 28 points in the 1600 and 3200 and winning the 4x800 to put them in it.

Joseph Byrd

I expect a big performance in the 100, possibly in the 10.3-high range from the Ida Baker junior.  And I think he'll be so pumped up after that performance that the adreneline will carry him to come back to win the 200 against sophomore Michael Bellamy.

Boys 800

Three guys in the 1:53 range makes for an exciting race any day!  It will no doubt be a tactical race and all three of these guys are trying to figure out how to make it work out in their favor.  Let's face it though, rarely does an 800 meter race like this go to anyone but whoever has the best kick the last 100 meters.  I believe that person is going to be Sean Obinwa.  Look for him to make a move with about 300 to go and carry Matt Bevil and Tyler Cardillo to some really fast times.  

Boys 1600

Should be a two-man race between Erick Montoya and Matt Mizereck.  Both have PRs from way back in March around 4:15.  They are both geared up for this one and though they will again face each other in the 3200... this is the one both of them most wants to go after.

It's hard to bet against either one of these guys, but... I'd have to predict Mizereck.

Boys 3200

Mizereck and Montoya come back in this one, plus Matt's teammate Will Stanford.  Mizereck is the top seed with 9:09, Stanford at 9:15, and Montoya (9:43) is actually the fourth seed behind Felix Soto (9:42).  I think Montoya is much faster than that, even after the 1600.  Will Stanford fresh versus Montoya and Mizereck coming off a heated 1600 battle might throw the chips in his favor.  But.... what the hey I put odds on a Mizereck double!

Mizereck/Stanford Interview

Last week I really enjoyed prodding Michael Wallace and Colin Barker of Bishop Kenny... trying to get them to talk smack about each other.  So I think that I'll see if Mizereck and Stanford will take the bait this week!  You know that even though they are friends and teammates they want to cream each other... come on!  So how about some good old fashion trash talking, boys?  Make it interesting!

Mike Vani

Coach Bobby Haeck has seen so many great pole vaulters over the years... so when he tells me he is excited about one of his athletes that says something.  He believes that Mike is only starting to live up to his potential.  As he explained technical aspects of the vault such as how many steps Mike was taking to where he's holding the pole, even to my non-vaulting brain it was clear that this young man is currently out-performing.  So as he adds more steps and holds the pole higher we could see him clear some really huge heights.

Vani has cleared 16 feet this year and if things go right for him we could see him challenge Riley Eagan's one year old state meet record today.  Riley, by the way, was another one of Coach Haeck's pupils!