With all kinds of different storylines set-up for this weekend, we thought it might be best to focus on a few things to watch for Saturday. Here are six storylines to track on Saturday as we inch closer to the Kentucky State Championships, which are only one month away!
Withrow (OH) ladies
This group holds Ohio state-leading times in all three sprint relays and they bring that talent to Kentucky to put it to the test. 48.31, 1:41.58, and 3:54.24 easily makes the squad the leading entrants in the 4x1, 4x2, and 4x4 relays entering into the weekend. The individuals are just as impressive, though, and there are several of them to consider. Hurdlers Kayla Lovett, Chanee Winfield and Nyjah Watson enter as the top contenders in both the 100 and 300 meter distances with Lovett and Watson running the shorter and Winfield joining Lovett in the longer. Skyler Willis, who also leads the contenders in the high jump, is the fastest seed in the 400 meters (56.80) almost two seconds clear of Western Hills Alisha Adair currently. Let’s not forget Jade Loveless who leads the entrants in the 100 meters (12.11) and sits 5th on the entry list in the 200 meters (25.21). With all that together, we may be watching an interesting match-up develop between Withrow and the entire state of Kentucky.
Andrew Stewart
Stewart has been the focus of those following distance running in the state of Kentucky for most of the new year and with good reason. Stewart has been very impressive in the 800 and mile distances, but has also been strong in the two mile distance as well. His performance at the Mobile Meet of Champions was especially worthy of note as he dusted the competition to win the mile in 4:16.04 and followed up with an 800 meter time of 1:55.60. Stewart will kick off his weekend with hopes of leading the North Hardin 4x8 squad to victory over a strong line-up of squads, including top seed LaSalle (OH) who already dipped under 8 minutes in this event this year. Stewart will skip the 1600 and take on a tough group in the 400 meters, which we highlight later, before making lining up for a very challenging race against Butler’s mid-distance stud Tretez Kinnaird, who has been doing plenty of short work and even a bit of overdistance in the past month (50.54 in the 400 and 4:20 for 1600 meters). Stewart will be hard pressed to leave the Eastern Relays with a single win, given his current line-up, but he will almost assuredly put on an awesome show trying to win four.
Emma Brink
Brink appears to be functioning at less than 100% thus far based on the times that we have come to expect from her over the years. That being said, she has hardly had the weather or competition to lay down anything impressive thus far and it is quite possible that she will get both this weekend. Brink isn’t the top seed in the 1600 meters as McAuley (OH) standout Danielle Pfeiffer will hold inside position, but don’t expect Brink to run as if she doesn’t believe she is the best athlete on the track every time she steps out there. Brink is entered in both the 800 and 3200 meters as well and is the top seed in both those events, but it isn’t by much as Sayre’s Ann Eason will be looking to see how she measures up to the gold standard in the state of Kentucky this weekend and is scheduled to try the triple as well.
Male vs. Ballard vs. Out-of-state Relays
The sprint titan that is Male HS might just have some serious competition in Louisville Ballard this year, with the recent emergence of Ronnie Baker as their new standout. Both squads will be without their best returner from last year for unknown reasons (Male w/o John Giddens and Ballard w/o William Kannamore), but don’t expect the relay teams to back off at all as they are challenged by Floyd Central (IN) and LaSalle and Withrow of Ohio. Male and Ballard top the list on the 4x1 coming in, but it’s Floyd Central, LaSalle, then Male and Withrow in the 4x2, so expect very close results in both of those events and expect Andrew Stewart and the North Hardin crew to make things even more interesting in the 4x4.
Quick vs. Cummings vs. Farley
The boys’ sprints have a very similar feel in the 100 and 200 meter races, as James Quick (Trinity), Dion Cummings (Pleasure Ridge Park), and DaSean Farley (Withrow) lead the entrants in both events. Quick and Cummings have faced off multiple times this year, with Cummings claiming their 100 meter match-up easily (10.74 – 11.24), while Quick was edged out once in the 200 (both had 21.84 times) before gaining an edge last weekend in a 22.10-22.26 win. Farley looks to be the challenger to Cummings in the 100, but the favorite in the 200 meters, on paper. With some fair weather, we could easily see new state leaders in both sprint events this weekend.
Boys 400 meters
We already mentioned that Andrew Stewart is lined up to race in the 400 meters this weekend, but he is an underdog to most as the best quarter-milers in the state may have convened in one place for a very exciting race this weekend. Eastern HS standout Derayvon Thomas-Randle headlines the entries and was 6th in Class AAA last year, but he may be out-ranked by last year’s Class AAA State Champion and new Kentucky State Meet Record-holder Brandon Nichols (Henry Clay). Nichols has started slow thus far, but expect him to be ready for a race of this caliber, especially with Stewart entered and the top two finishers from last year’s Class AA State meet (Isaiah Burrus of Mercer County and Jaz Hayes of Central) entered as well. LaSalle’s Jaleel Hytchye will look to steal the show, but expect the race to be tight and fast from start to finish.
With all kinds of different storylines set-up for this weekend, we thought it might be best to focus on a few things to watch for Saturday. Here are six storylines to track on Saturday as we inch closer to the Kentucky State Championships, which are only one month away!