Great Southwest Preview

Great Southwest Boys Preview

Decathlon

·      Gunner Nixon looks to set a high school record, as he is on pace through day 1 to beat Curtis Beach’s record.  Beach set the record at this meet two years ago, as Nixon tries top the Duke athlete’s mark. 

100 Meter Dash

·      DeAndre Jacobs, making the trip from Louisiana,comes in with the best seed with a blazing 10.30, a US#6.  Joe Fischer, a senior out of Kansas who was narrowly defeated at KU Relays in the Dream 100 qualifier, is close behind in a time of 10.37.  Texas star, Cameron Burrell has also dipped under the 10.40 barrier, setting the stage for a great race.  All of these young men are on the Watch List for the dream 100, which should add some extra motivation for the field.

400 Meter Dash

·      US#6 ranked Richard Gary out of Texas leads the field running a 46.79 this season.  Two others are seeded under 47 seconds including Borias Berian and Vernnon Norwood.

800 Meter Run

·      Daniel Tarango comes in with a US#9 time of 1:51.09.  While the air thin in Albuquerque, there is no doubt he will be aiming for sub 1:51. Another Texas star, Ronald Vaughn, has the second fastest seed time of 1:53.  Tyler Banks, Class 3 champion in the 800m, ran a 1:54.00 only 30 minutes after his All-State finish in the 400m.

1500 Meter Run

·      Missouri senior, David Everett, looks to continue his great racing the past week and a half.  He PR’d by almost 9 seconds at his state meet, running 4:12.8 to finish second behind his twin brother.  Wednesday night, he ran a 4:10.31 for a full mile to give him a US #10.

3200 Meter Run

·      Also coming off a great state meet, Drew White, a junior out of Missouri, had a huge PR to run a 9:16.83 to win the Class 3 state title. Utah looks to finish strong in this event, as they have the next 5 seeded runners. Dallin Taylor leads the charge with a seed time of 9:17, very close behind White. 

110 Meter Hurdles

·      Texas star and US#6, Michael Stigler, comes in as the favorite; closely followed by Jeylin Reed, also form Texas.  Both of these young men won at their the UIL Track and Field Championship, Reed in 5A and Stigler in 4A. 

300 Meter Hurdles

·      Michael Stigler also leads this event, currently holding a US#8mark of 36.87. Another Texas state champ, Jordan Burgess, looks to dip under the 37-second barrier as well.

High Jump

·      Three young men come in that have cleared 7-0.  Bradley Atinks, Logan Brittain, both of Texas, and Carlos Hernandez, New Mexico, are all seeded at 7-0. 

Pole Vault

·      Reese Watson, a senior from Texas who is currently ranked #3 in the nation looks to continue his winning streak.  Andreas Duplantis, Louisiana State Champ, comes in ranked 7^th, setting the stage for a great battle.

Long Jump

·      Marcus Dendy, who is flying in all the way from Delaware, comes in as the favorite as he is currently ranked 7^th in the nation. Cameron Burrell, who is also one of the favorites for the 100 Meter Dash, comes in seeded 2ⁿ and ranked 11^th in the nation in this event. 

Triple Jump

·      Marcus Dendy, who is one of only 11 people to jump further than 50 feet this year, comes in comfortably over that mark with a jump of 50-8.25.  Josh Horton, who finished second behind the top triple jumper in the nation at state, has also jumped well past 50 feet this year, jumping 51-1.75 this year.

Discus Throw

·      Kevin Allen, a senior from Wyoming, comes in with the best mark of 189-11.  Jeremy Tuttle, Arizona senior isn’t far behind, throwing over 186 feet this year.

Shot Put

·      Austin Perry comes in as the clear favorite, as he is ranked second in the nation, only behind Nick Vena.  Jordan Ross, who is ranked 12^th in the nation respectively, still is over 4 feet behind Perry’s best mark.

Great Southwest Girls Preview

100 Meter Dash

·      Missouri state champ, Tianna Valentine, with the best seed time, only 1 one-hundreth ahead of Ana Holland of Texas and Stephanie Kalu.

400 Meter Dash

·      The Missouri trio that is headed to LSU, Kendra White, Sam Levin, and Montenae Speight, are all in this event.  Speight just set the state record in the 400 last week, Levin ran a US#4 800, breaking the state record, and White ran a 54.55 to place second at State.  Another Missouri runner, Asia Thomas, who set the state record last year but false started this year at state could contribute to the possible Missouri sweep.  Courtney Okalo, who is currently ranked 4^th in the nation in the 400 looks to split up the Missouri girls.

800 Meter Run

·      Sam Levin, who dominated the Missouri State meet, looks to continue her streak and improve on her 2:06.74.  Samantha Barragan of Colorado and Danielle Aragon both have run in 2:11.

1500 Meter Run

·      Missouri Class 4 Cross country champ, Samantha Nightengale, should be in the mix.  With the 1500 not a typical high school race, seed times are a bit hard to tell.  Susannah Hurst of Utah has the best seed time, putting her mark in just under 4:40.

3200 Meter Run

·      Rolando Jumbo and Susanah Hurst come in with the fastest times.  Hurst ran 10:30 at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational.  Jumbo finished four seconds behind her at that meet.  This week should provide a rematch for the 6^th and 9^th place finishers from Arcadia.

100 Meter Hurdles

·      Dior Hall, a freshman from Colorado who is ranked 8^th in the nation is the pre-race favorite.  Abreanna Parker and Kasha McDougald of Kansas should provide solid competition for Hall.  Missouri mutli-event star, Lindsay Vollmer, will be coming back after a long two days of competition to compete in this event.

300 Meter Hurdles

·      Texas hurdler, Melissa Gonzalez, was a close second at state but her time was good enough to rank her 6^th nationally.  Keisha Rickburg, Florida state champ, is making the journey to New Mexico and should be close to Gonzalez.  

High Jump

·      Carly Paul, the Colorado native comes in clearing 5-10.75.  The freshman placed second at state two weeks ago.  Ashlee Moore, also a freshman, has cleared 5-10.  A duel between the two best freshman in the nation should be a good one.

Pole Vault

·      US 2^nd ranked, Kaitlin Petrillose comes in after winning her state meet three weeks ago.  She has cleared over a foot higher than the next competitor, Jaimie House, of Kansas

Long Jump

·      LaTristan Pledger, Kansas State Champ should be the favorite, ahead of another Kansas jumper, Abreanna Parker.

Triple Jump

·      6^th ranked Brianna Richardson, jumped 41-2.75 early in the season.  She won the state meet in just over 40 feet.  Danielle Williams of Colorado has also cleared 40 feet this year.

Discus Throw

·      Texas sophomore, Chamya Turner, who won state is ranked 4^th nationally.  She should be the favorite coming into Saturday’s competition over Kate Foster, also from Texas.

Shot Put

·      Megan Smith, who comes in with a seed time better than the national leading mark.  Ashlie Blake from Nevada threw over 47 and a half feet.