The Eastern Relays
The Eastern Relays should be one of the state's finest meets again this year. The Eastern Eagles welcome our largest field in 5 years for the meet and certainly one of the best in recent memory. The lady Eagles and rival Ballard are two of the state's top AAA teams. Cincinnati St. Ursula also brings a great team down from Ohio. Floyd Central from Southern Indiana also joins in.
The day promises some great performances. The women's 4x800m, 100m dash, 200m dash, and 800m run should be some of the day's highlights.
On the men's side St. X, Trinity, Tate's Creek, and Eastern will all compete for the overall title. All of the men's distance races will be extremely competitive, as will the sprint relays.
Below is an event by event breakdown of some of the top entries.
4x800m Women's
This race includes 3 of the state's top 5 AAA teams in addition to Ohio powerhouse Cincinnati St. Ursula. Eastern's team heads the field with Notre Dame Academy, and Manual also expected to be in the hunt. Last weekend Eastern won the Bulldog Classic Elite title in this event while Notre Dame bested a deep field at the Heart of the Bluegrass Invitational in Harrodsburg. Manual did not compete in this event last weekend but defeated Eastern in the Male Invitational earlier this season.
4x800m Men
This event features St X's nationally elite relay team made up of Matt Blum, Thomas Davis, Scott McClain, and Spencer Schardein. They will be challenged by Trinity's team which includes the State's best open 800m runner Kenny Minogue.
100m Hurdles Women
Ranked number 2 in the state, Christine Valley of Waggener is the class of the field in this event. Kristyn Robinson of Ballard should challenge.
110m Hurdles Men
Trinity's Agyei Williams was a state finalist last year in this event. He will hope to fend off Tate's Creek's Dale Smith.
100m dash Women's
This event boasts an extremely deep field. Three finalists from last years AAA state championship. Lutisha Bowen from Ballard, Amaka Omenyinma from Waggener, and Jennifer Nwachukwu from Manual. These athletes will be challenged by freshman standout Jazzmin Jeter also from Ballard, Brittney Davies from Central, and Kharina Petty from Eastern all of whom are currently ranked in the top five in this event.
100m dash Men
Steve Orndorff from Trinity and Gerry Cooper are currently ranked 3rd and 4th in the state in this event. They will challenge one another and a deep field for the victory.
4x200m Relay Women
Rivals Eastern and Ballard will face off in this event. They will be challenge by St. Ursula (OH).
4x200m Relay Men
Manual, Trinity, and Tates Creek are ranked in the State's top 10. They will be challenged by host Eastern and Central.
1600m Run Women
Manual standout Mary Grace Pelligrini heads this field. She will be challenged by two outstanding runners from St. Ursula (OH), Liz Coorey and Danielle Meiners. Other challengers include former state champion Manual's Colleen Campbell and Eastern's Chani Clark.
1600m Run Men
St. X has a terrific duo of Thomas Davis and Brian Long, currently ranked 1st and 2nd in AAA. Jason Parks of Manual also figures to compete well in this event.
4x100m Relay Women
Six of the states top 10 teams will compete in this race along with a strong team from Floyd Central (IN). Ballard is Kentucky's early season best in this event. They will be challenged closely by host Eastern and Paul Dunbar.
4x100m Relay Men
Male, Manual, and Trinity are ranked in AAA's top 5 in this event. This should be a great race to determine Louisville's best in the quick relay.
400m dash Women
Kentuckian's Brittney Davies of Central and Hannah Washington of Eastern will compete with St. Ursula's Kelly Johnston and Floyd Central's Nikki Korte in the women's 400m dash.
400m dash women
Ken Vereen and Kevan Wilson were state finalists last year in the 400m dash. This will be their first meeting of the outdoor season. They will highlight this event.
300m hurdles women
The 300m hurdles will see a deep field in what should be a very competitive race. Floyd Central's Sydney Gholston and Ballard's Kristyn Robinson lead the pack. Challengers shold be Caitlyn Maguire from Presentation, Rachel Clark from St. Ursula, Eastern's Camila Aramburu, and Manual's Casey Henry.
300m hurdles men
Michael Hayes from Male and Agyei Williams lead this event. Hayes is currently ranked 5th in AAA.
800m run women
Another event deep with the state's best talent. Chani Clark and Sarah Turi of Eastern will face off against Manual's Colleen Campbell. It should make this race very exciting.
800m run men
Trinity's Kenny Minogue is the states top runner in the 800m dash. He was victorious last weekend in the Bulldog elite meet. Spencer Schardein and Matt Blum of St X. are ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in AAA. Manual's John Erickson, also in the top 10, should challenge as well.
200m dash women
Top ranked Lutisha Bowen looks to be the favorite in this race. Another very deep field will challenge her including Eastern's Kharina Petty, Amaka Omenyinma from Waggener, Jazzmin Jeter also from Ballard, Rachel Martinson of Floyd Central, Brittney Davisof Central, and Manual's Jennifer Nwachukwu.
200m dash men
Steve Orndorff from Trinity is currently ranked first in the state. Gerry Cooper is also ranked in the top 10. These two should make this sprint race very exciting.
3200m run women
This event headlines the state's top ranked 3200m runner, Mary Grace Pelligrini. The top pack also includes the St. Ursula duo of Liz Coorey and Danielle Meiners, Eastern's Cristin Samuels, and Seneca's Brittney Chesser.
3200m run men
Matt Smith and Scott McClain are currently ranked 1st and 2nd in AAA in this event and will face off for the first time this year. These two athletes have put up very fast early season marks. Smith won the Bulldog Elite 3200m race last week defeating some excellent athletes. They will be challenged by Ben Draper of Floyd Central (IN) and Jason Parks of Manual.
4x400m dash women
Host Eastern will do battle with St. Ursula (OH) and Floyd Central (IN) for top honors in this event.
4x400m dash men
Two traditional powers in this event are Eastern and Tate's Creek both teams include highly rated individuals (Ken Vereen of TC and Kevan Wilson of EHS). These teams will be pushed by Male, Waggener, and St. X.
Shot Put Women
Lashelle Pitney, currently ranked first in the state, is the class of this field.
Shot Put men
Corey Peters of Central is currently ranked 3rd in the state in shot put. He will be challenged by Cory Reece of Floyd Central (IN) and Matt Guida of Oldham County.
Discus women
Katie Meyer of St. Ursula and Gabrielle Goode of Central head this event.
Discus men
Matt Guida who is ranked 3rd in the state comes in as the favorite in this event. Floyd Central (IN) brings Charlie Day and Central brings Corey Peters to challenge. We should see these big men push one another to some great throws.
Long Jump
Eastern's Angelia Tutt and Amaka Omenyinma will do battle in the long jump.
Men's Long Jump
Anthony Randle from J-town, Dale Smith from Tate's Creek, and Doug Beaumont from Male are the top jumpers entered in this weekend's event.
Triple Jump- women
Eastern's Angelia Tutt, Ballard's Lutisha Bowen, and Central's Britney Davies will duel for the triple jump crown.
Triple Jump- men
Doug Beaumont from Male and Dale Smith from Tates Creek highlight this event.
High Jump Women
Tate's Creek's Laura Futch is ranked 2nd in the state and has jumped 5'2". She'll be challenged by Chasity Wilkerson who is 2 inches behind at 5'.
High Jump Men
Steve Jenkins from Trinity is the top ranked high jumper in the state. James Johnson from Tates Creek will also challenge for the title
Pole Vault
Miki Boeing from St. Ursula (OH) and Jayme Hawthorn from Tates Creek lead entries in the women's vault.
Men's Pole Vault
Derrick Brown from Tates Creek and Jeremy Tomes from Male are the top men's vaulters.