Sprint & Hurdles Events Preview
Girls 60 Hurdles
Danae Dyer (Temecula Canyon) posted a wind-legal 8.57 this winter, which isn't too surprising given that she made the CIF State Meet in the 100 Hurdles last spring. That makes her the favorite, although you can expect Breanna Bernard-Joseph (Eleanor Roosevelt) to make it a good race. Shante Robinson (Mira Costa) has also been under 9 seconds this season, which will put her in contention. With big names like Tara Davis and Jurnee Woodward sitting out to focus on indoor meets, this will be someone's time to claim the spotlight for her own!
Boys 60 Hurdles
In contrast to the girls' hurdles, this race is completely up for grabs, with at least three and as many as 8 legitimate contenders. With Joseph Anderson opting out, Anthony Easter (Eleanor Roosevelt) and Shawn Bettencourt (Golden Valley) are the the co-top seeds at 8.31, with Ian Ward (Servite) right behind in 8.33. However, there are 5 more guys at 8.50 or below, and if that holds up through Saturday's prelims then the final could be crazy!
Girls 60 Dash
Technically, Jasmin Reed's seed time is 7.55, which is enough to make her the slight favorite. However, she ran 7.42 indoors last weekend, which makes her close to unbeatable if she can duplicate it on the Arcadia track. Dyer is also in this race, and should be able to keep Reed honest by keeping the race close. Emerald Bowens and Gizelle Ried (who is from Rancho HS in Las Vegas, but is competing here by virtue of participating in a qualifying meet) could also contend for podium spots.
Boys 60 Dash
Could Golden Valley go 1-2-3? That's how they're seeded, with Bettencourt leading the way at 6.90 and teammates Alex Salas and Elijah Merino not far behind. One potential problem with that scenario: four more runners are seeded within 0.03 of Merino. Another potential problem: Myles Webb (Oaks Christian) is clearly under-seeded after running 6.92 indoors two weekends ago. Why does it matter that he was indoors? It's because, unlike the all-comers meets, Webb had no possibility of wind at his back to improve his time. My money is on the guy who went to New Balance Indoor Nationals last year.
Girls 300 Dash
This is shaping up to be the best battle of all the girls' track events. Shae Anderson (Norco) has been having a great season, but she has stiff competition from Carolyn Wilson (Oaks Christian), the state's #4 returning 400 runner. Likewise for Reid and also Shante Robinson (Mira Costa), making this at least a 4-way battle for the title.
Boys 300 Dash
California's big gun in the sprints this year is likely to be Isaiah Cunningham, but he is not registered this weekend. No worries, though - we still have strong sprinters on hand, starting with top seed Chase Wells. Three challengers will try to knock him off the top spot on the podium: Max Glasser (Marin Catholic), Mark Nunez (Dorsey), and Jordan Tillis (Franklin). What this event lacks in big names, it will more than make up for in competitiveness!
Sprint Medley Relay
As with the DMR on the previous slide, it's hard to tell who will run for a particular school during the winter. In this event, though, you can always learn something by looking for the team with the best 400 runner, since that girl runs as far as the rest of her teammates combined. In this case, that person appears to be Kolonnie Green of Great Oak, who clocked 56.11 last spring. For the boys, Valencia is the top seed at 1:35.17 with Sam Pica on the anchor (he has a PR in the 49's to go with his better-known 800 prowess). Keep an eye on Cathedral, a team with two guys seeded high in the 600.
4x200 Relay
This should be a pretty competitive event, with the Corona girls set to battle La Sierra and the Valencia boys favored to defeat Cathedral. Don't make the mistake of comparing these times to indoor 4x2's, by the way - it's much harder to run this race well on an indoor track, even a banked one, and a team would have to run really fast (probably under 1:38 for girls or under 1:28 for boys) to even be considered in the same breath with the top indoor teams right now.