Winter Track Preview: Sprints & Hurdles

In all of our rankings and articles for the winter season, we will distinguish between outdoor or "All-Comers" performances and true indoor performances. This is because the size of the track has a definite effect on the performances: smaller indoor tracks with tighter curves sap more energy and speed from the runners, while full-size outdoor tracks with larger curves make it easier to maintain speed. Indoor conditions and equipment can also impact field event performances (sometimes positively, sometimes negatively). We will always use the term WINTER in article titles to refer to outdoor performances (which can also be found using the term "polar bear" in our rankings. We will always use the term INDOOR in article titles to refer only to true indoor track performances. Whenever we have both indoor and outdoor performances together, we will always use the heading WINTER SEASON.

Girls Winter Track Sprints & Hurdles Preview

Returning Girls Stars

Ariyonna Augustine (Long Beach Poly) has an unusual history with indoor track, taking trips to the Armory in New York City in 2015 and 2017 without competing in any other indoor meets. However, she hasn't really had great success at the Armory (she finished 19th in the 60 and 13th in the 200 last year). Of course, this is certainly because she is early in her training, but we can't help but wonder if she will get to work a little earlier this time around in pursuit of a better outcome. Another versatile 100/200 girl, Jasmyne Frost (Serra) also went to New York in March, and she competed in the UW Indoor Preview as well. Tierra Robinson-Jones (Bishop O'Dowd) ran sub-25 indoors last winter (much harder to do on tight indoor tracks than outdoors), so keep an eye out for her - and we would love to see an early 400 this winter to go with the 200! 

Tierra Crockrell (Calabasas) may be the biggest overall star back from last winter, even though she only leads the rankings in one event (the 60 Hurdles). She won the pentathlon at the Winter Championships, a prelude to a big summer where she qualified to compete for Team USA in the Pam-Am Junior Championships. Will she follow the same pattern this year, or will we see her focus in on one or two ares this winter to increase her overall development? Speaking of hurdlers, expect to see at least three more put up big times this winter (and all three are strong in at least one other event, as well): Danae Dyer (Temecula Valley) and Jada Hicks (Upland) both excel in the 60's, while Breanna Bernard-Joseph (Roosevelt) prefers longer races like the 300. Finally, watch out for Maya Sharp (Westlake), whose strong 600 in the winter foretold a 55 for the 400 in the spring. (Kalea Ibarra ran the fastest 600 last year, but she is better known for the 800 so we'll focus more on her in the distance article!)

Girls Stars We Hope To See

We would love to see Deanna Nowling join Crockrell at winter competitions again; she raced in 2016 but sat out last year. It would also be great to see Stockdale's Aaliyah Wilson make it to some of the national-caliber indoor meets, as I think she may be one of the most underrated sprinter/hurdler combo athletes in the nation.

Winter Track Returning Rankings