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Who's Coming - Relays - 2016 New Balance Nationals OutdoorPublished by
This year we are highlighting the top NBNO commitments leading up to the championships on June 17-19. View All Who's Coming Releases > By Steve Underwood of the NSAF
Great Oak boys’ 4x1 Mile: Can they get HSR #3? Great Oak ran those national records – translating to 17:01.75 and 16:58.83 for 4x1 Mile, breaking the 1976 mark of 17:06.6 – at the Arcadia and Mt. SAC invites in April. Current form suggests they might run even faster now – so long as they can adjust to the early morning, Eastern Time Zone start Sunday. The 1600 PRs for Isaac Cortes, Spencer Dodds, Cole Spencer and Solomon Fountain are 4:04.01, 4:05.47, 4:08.74 and 4:10.28, respectively – adding up to an extremely extraordinary 16:28.50. The Wolfpack have improved all spring, and they also logged US#3 times of 7:37.61 4x800 and 10:01.71 DMR back in April. They are entered in all of those relays and individual events as well, so there may be some picking and choosing as the weekend goes on. In any case, the 26-athlete contingent Soles is bringing (boys and girls) should be “history-making.”
Western Branch, VA girls’ 4x800: Sub-8:50 may be in the cards
At NBNI, they won with 9:02.27, but the sense was that there might be more there. Then at the Penn Relays, they ran 9:10.39 in the prelims and 9:03.53 in the final, taking 6th. Coach Toukene expressed displeasure with the performance in the prelim and the final wasn’t what it could have been. Five weeks later, however, the Bruins took a huge step towards fulfilling that potential, with an 8:51.61 triumph to take the 6A state title. This, this was more like it. The talent in the group is stellar, paced by do-anything senior Faith Ross – who is national class from the 55m dash and hurdles all the way through the 800 and probably beyond. It also includes Adriana Shockley, Martina Smalls, and Amanda Thomas – who is also capable of sub-2:10.
Archbishop Carroll, DC boys’ 4x100, 4x200: Willis takes them over the top But at NBNI, ACHS – running as Elite 6ix – should have made it high on the podium, but while Willis was 2nd in the 200, the 4x2 only managed 9th in the prelims and in the 4x4 they were 12th overall. But they rebounded strongly in the big early spring meets: At the Texas Relays, the quartet of Kendall Leach, Maxwell Willis, Justin Davis, Stedman Cook ran 1:25.61 for 3rd – the 2nd-fastest non-Texas 4x2 in the country this year. Then at Penn, the same four blazed a 40.94 4x100 for 5th and a 3:14.32 4x400 for 4th. They haven’t been tested since, but with a chance to run for 4x100 and 4x200 titles from a top seed position, they should be supremely motivated this week.
Miami Northwestern, FL girls’ 4x200, 4x100m SHR: The old and the new The Northwestern girls have the top seed in the 4x200, where they’ve run 1:35.65 last year. It’s not an event commonly run in Florida, and the time was from an early-season invite – so it will be interesting to see if they can progress here. They will also be a medal contender in the 4x400 and Swedish medley again. But the new thing for them this year is the 4x100 meter hurdles. It’s not something they ever run, but NW has a really good group this year, with Mitchell at 13.61, and Charlease Rodgers, De’Andreah Young, Ariayanna Val and Taranique Alexander all in the low-mid 14.00s. Could they possibly wrest the title from 2-time record-setter Western Branch?
State College PA boys’ 4x800: Post-NBNI breakthrough At the Penn Relays, State College was a well-beaten 4th, but they did improve to 7:44.74. Finally, at the outdoor AAA state meet, with everyone running in peak form, they put together an eye-opening 7:37.25, taking over the national lead. It was doubly pleasing that the victory, as well as Milligan’s 1,600 win, helped propel the Lions to a state team title under 1st-year coach Steve Shisler. At NBNO, State College will face another squad in Great Oak, CA, that has run 7:37, too – plus some other squads with sub-7:40 potential. Having broken though, though, the Lions will be tough to stop.
North Rockland, NY girls’ DMR: Encore for NBNI champs Very often NBNI DMR champs then turn to the Penn Relays as the next race to conquer, especially if they are from the Northeast and Atlantic states, but North Rock was unable to compete due to the Penn rule of only allowing high school athletes in its events. So put together a good 11:39.49 to win Loucks, but it’s only now at NBNO where they will again be at full throttle. At last weekend’s NY state champs, Tuohy showed top form, clocking a spectacular runner-up 4:24.36 in the 1,500 and March and Harris have run some special times throughout the year. The outdoor DMR national record is a much faster 11:22.23 (Harvard-Westlake, 2011), but North Rock projects as having at least 11:20 potential, so stay tuned!
Arlington Bowie, TX boys’ 4x4: Special visitor from the Lone Star State Then at the Texas Relays in late March, the Volunteers – with Kobe Daniels, Ardran Carr, Braydon Johnson and Darien Porter – had their ultimate moment, taking the D2 4x400 in 3:12.31, a time that was the best in the nation and would stand up as US#2 for the year. It’s been surprising, because Bowie has no one who’s run individually under 49 seconds this year. Daniels and Carr have both run 49.3 or so, but Johnson has a 21.87 PR to Porter’s 21.52 in the 200. Carr is a great 300m hurdler, though, at 37.13. Something magic happens with the baton, though, and Bowie finished off their regular season with a 3:14.03 at 6A state – just off Lancaster’s winning time from 5A. Five weeks later, fans will look to see if they can reprise that form.
Nansemond River, VA girls’ 4x100 and 4x200: Declaring WAR on the sprint relays
The senior leader is Brandee’ Johnson, already a two-time international medalist – she won 200m bronze for Team USA at the 2014 Youth Olympics and 400H bronze at the 2015 World Youth Champs. As that combination would indicate, Johnson excels at any sprint or hurdle distance, as well as the jumps. Johnson and rising star Syaira Richardson are on each of the three key relay entries for WAR, with Richardson having improved to 54.27 for 400 this spring, along with some other strong sprint times. Seniors Morgan Towe, Dajae’ Goulet, and freshman Kori Carter and Tre'Breh Scott-McKoywill also be handling various legs.
Make sure to check out NBNationals.com and NationalScholastic.org often for new updates and make sure to tune in to NBNationals.com on June 17-19 to watch all the action LIVE! |