The indoor track season should start off with a bang with the annual Wildcat Classic held at Nutter Fieldhouse in Lexington at the University of Kentucky. The running starts off at 12:00 and will last into the early evening. This is the ultimate test of where everyone’s fitness level is in the middle of January as they start training for the Kentucky State Track Meets in mid-May.
60 Meter Hurdles, Girls
Defending AAA 100 Meter Hurdle champ Dominique Edmonds of Male is the heavy favorite in this race. She will be pushed by last year’s AAA Runner-Up Sydney Wininger of Barren County who she bettered by .21 at state. A couple of multi-purpose athletes in Brianne Brown of North Oldham and Kiara Austin of Fort Knox ran times comparable to Edmonds in the hurdles in 2010. The shorter distance of 60 meters will work best for the athlete with the best technique this early in the season.
60 Meter Hurdles, Boys
This should be a nice match-up between Bullitt East’s Jacob Duvall (Runner-Up Class AA 110 Hurdles) and Bryan Station’s Jacob McLimore (3rd Class AAA 110 Hurdles.) They come in with best times of 15.31 and 15.32. Ravon Russell (North Hardin) actually comes in with a better best of 15.29, but had a disappointing state meet finishing 17th overall in AAA.
Girls One Mile Run
AAA XC Champion Cassidy Hale (duPont Manual) will square off against her sister, Kristen for the win. The girls have traded positions with each other several times over the last three years, but Cassidy should be the favorite after the XC win in November. Sacred Heart’s Caitlin Carroll was one of the biggest surprises of the 2011 season coming out of nowhere as a freshman to finish with a best of 5:12 making her a contender Saturday.
Boys One Mile Run
AA XC Champion Taylor Sanders (North Oldham) comes in with the top seeded time in a race that is completely wide open. The top 10 comes in with times within four seconds of each other. Sam Meredith (Trinity) is the only one in the group that has run under 4:30 with a best of 4:26. There are several runners who make huge strides in XC that will look to continue that success in track including Sanders, Kyle Covert (Eastern), Nicholas Laureano (Lexington Catholic), and Ben Turner (Conner.)
Girls 60 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash
Western Hill’s Alisha Adair has owned the sprints at the Wildcat Classic and during Indoor the last two seasons leading to being named the KYtrackXC.com Indoor Sprinter of the Year each time. Saturday she will be tested in both the 60 Meter and 200 Meter Dashes. Louisville Ballard teammates Kaysee O’Bannon and Cidnei Johnson are seniors looking to start their season on top. They were both top five in Class AAA last year in the 100m and 200m. Tates Creek sophomore Natavia Barber is a runner that looks to be on the verge of being one of the best in Kentucky over the next three years as a freshman. She will be a threat to challenge Adair and the Ballard girls in the 200m Dash.
Boys 60 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash