Great Southwest (NSAF Select Meet) Preview, Part 2: Eight great storylines for Saturday
1. Dior Hall comes full circle
Few national prep hurdles fans will forget the day at this meet three years ago when Dior Hall made all of our jaws drop, destroying the freshman class 100H mark with a meet record 13.18 that made her history’s 3rd fastest high schooler overall. What kind of career could this girl have with such an amazing performance as a 9th-grader! The daughter of Yolanda Johnson, a prep legend herself, the possibilities seemed limitless. Well, it took Hall – now a Denver Science and Tech senior (competes for George Washington HS) – nearly three years to top that mark. But there has been tremendous success along the way: Two national titles at the indoor 60H, plus a national record, as well as a silver medal at the World Youth Championships – among many highlights.
But two weeks ago, Hall blasted a 13.09 at her state meet to erase that 13.18 as her PR. Now, in her final trip to the altitude-friendly ABQ and the GSW Classic, there is a tremendous opportunity to reach her long-sought goal: The 12.95 national record for 100H, held by Candy Young since 1979! There may be nothing, track-wise, that would please the senior more. But she’ll have to excel in hot, possibly windy conditions, and against a great field that includes the latest young Colorado hurdles star – Ashley Miller, a Cherry Creek soph – and Nevada standout Tiana Bonds (Centennial senior). Miller triumphed here in 2013 while Hall suffered a fall and finished last – so there’s that, too.
2. Orji chasing records, too
Dior Hall isn’t the only girl chasing an individual national record at Great Southwest. With the help of altitude and, hopefully, a friendly wind, Keturah Orji (Mt. Olive, NJ senior) could replace Brittany Daniels’ name in the record books for the triple jump with her own. Orji nearly did that last summer when she leapt 44-11 for the bronze at the World Youth Champs, just ¾ of an inch off Daniels’ mark.
So in 2014, Orji has been unbeaten, leapt to the #2 all-time indoor TJ, won the NBNI and Penn Relays titles and, just this past Tuesday, nailed her first 44-footer of the outdoor season with her 44-1.25 triumph at the New Jersey Meet of Champions. The rigors of travel notwithstanding, Orji looks to be reaching peak form for the post-season as she prepares for NBNO and the Juniors in the weeks ahead. She will also be pushed by NSAF Project Triple Jump teammates Darrielle McQueen (North Florida Christian senior), Felicienne Axel (Columbus, TX junior) and Chinne Okoronkwo (Mountlake Terrace, WA soph) – all of whom have jumped 40-11 or better. In case the record still proves a little much, however, there’s also Erica McLain’s meet record of 42-10.25 to surpass!
3. STA relayers go for individual golds
Fans who wondered if they’d get to see the girls St. Thomas Aquinas, FL run the 4x200m relay again – a few months after they twice bludgeoned the national record – got their wish Friday night here as the quartet of Khalifa St. Fort, Diamond Spaulding, Kendell Ellis and Krystal Sparling ripped a 1:34.29 – a time topped only by themselves and the Long Beach Poly crew of 2004 that previously held the HSR. No, it wasn’t quite vintage STA, but still mighty impressive with Sparling having mostly recovered from injury and the others having raced little or none since state. At state, of course, they raced the 4x1 and 4x4, but Florida doesn’t have the 4x2 at the championship level, so the last time they had done this relay that is so much in their wheelhouse was the first weekend of April in Gainesville.
Saturday three of their stars – St. Fort, Spaulding and Ellis – have a chance for individual titles. St. Fort is the #2 seed in the 100, while Spaulding and Ellis are top-seeded in the 200 and 400, respectively. Ellis is one of only two girls under 53 seconds this year in the full lap and with her 52.95 best she has exceeded the 52.99 meet record. She’s nearly a second better than any other entry. St. Fort and Spaulding, on the other hand, will have their hands full with Aleia Hobbs, the Louisiana standout who has designs on a 100/200 double herself. Mikiah Brisco – who nearly ran down Sparling in the 4x2 Friday and who won the New Balance Nationals Indoor 60 dash – is another strong contender in the 100. Another key contender in the 200 is Danyel White of Texas.
4. Battle of the giants: Boys discus war
A week ago, you would have said that Kansas throws king Kord Ferguson (Ottawa senior) was the overwhelming favorite to sweep the discus and shot put here. He sat at #1 in the country in both, sporting PRs of 210-3 and 67-10. But the potential competitiveness of the discus battle changed in a hurry last weekend when Carlos Davis (Blue Springs, MO junior) hit a massive 212-5 at his state meet – crushing his old PR by almost 18 feet. Suddenly, the discus got real competitive and Davis – who came into GSW last year with a 176-foot PR but only hit 140 – has a great chance at redemption.
While the rest of the discus throwers will be challenged to reach the 210-level, it’s still a very loaded field. Davis’s brother Khalil is a 198-footer himself (who also struggled here last year), while Anthony Davis (Parkland, TX senior) at 195-7 and Kevin Roddy (Duncan, OK senior) also at 195-7 give the field five 190-footers – and 5 of the top 9 guys in the country. This could be the event of the meet.
5. NSAF teammates battle
KeAndre Bates and Ja’Mari Ward may live and compete for schools more than 1,000 miles apart, but they are also teammates with the NSAF’s Project Triple Jump. They competed together at NBNI, where Bates was 2nd and Ward was 7th before having to pass due to injury. Now Ward has the top wind-legal jump in the country this spring at 50-6.5, while Bates has gone 50-4 with an aiding wind. Here they are the top two seeds and could have a battle to remember. Bates (El Paso Burges, TX senior) is the defending champ, with this meet having started him on a string of post-season successes in 2013 that took him to the World Youth Champs final. Meanwhile Ward (Cahokia, IL soph), in his first year in the NSAF program compared to Bates’ second, has been taking down national class records this year and will be eager to try for his biggest victory to date. Both athletes have won state titles this spring.
6. Badger vs. the Utes
The quality of the distance races here probably varies a little more, year to year, than the sprints and hurdles – depending how many of the aerobic types are willing to withstand the rigors of higher altitude racing. This year, fans will be in for a particular treat in the girls’ 800 and mile with three of the region’s best battling it out. Nevada distance queen Sydney Badger (Centennial senior) will hope to sweep the two events. Utah super standouts Lucy Biles (Herriman junior) and Sarah Feeny (Ogden senior) – fresh off a dominating 4x8 Utah team win Friday – will hope for the sweep themselves.
In the mile, it will be Biles facing Badger. The Arcadia champ and Golden South runner-up, Biles has twice run 4:50 this year. She swept the distances at the Utah 5A state meet recently. Badger, who also had a state meet triple, has a 4:52.76 best this year in a tight runner-up performance at Chandler. Badger beat Biles in the Arcadia 3,200 by 11 seconds (finishing 10th and 19th in that loaded field), but Biles had already won the mile.
In the 800, Badger has a faster seed time than Feeny, 2:10.28 to 2:10.41. It’s probably a little more natural distance for Badger, though at the short end of the range of both. But Feeny’s impressed tremendously during her best meets this year, with the 2:10 being part of a huge 4A state meet triple that included 4:45.13 and 10:13.86. She also ran a 4:46.17 1,600 to win Simplot among other 2014 highlights. Badger’s speed will be tough to contend with, however.
7. Chyna chases 21
Chyna Ries (Denver East, CO senior) is on the short list of athletes who’ve contended for victory here three times or more in their career. She was the runner-up in the long jump as a freshman, then after a year’s hiatus came back last year and captured the event against a great field with a 19-9.75. This time around, she’s the overwhelming favorite to win, so it becomes about distance – can she break the long-sought 21-foot barrier?
Ries has had at least 15-20 meets over 20 feet in her career, including a long string this spring. She reached a new wind-legal best of 20-8.5(+1.3w) back about a month ago, then won state again with 20-4.5. Could this be the weekend that she does it?
8. Haley’s double double
Haley Showalter is no stranger to successfully doubling in the throws. She did it last year here in the hammer and discus with 166-4 and 139-5. She’s done it in USATF Youth competition and two months ago she swept the events at the Youth Olympic Trials. As she keeps getting better, the doubles, however, are getting more and more impressive.
On Friday here, Showalter fired off a US#1 193-4 in the hammer, adding several feet to her PR and becoming the #8 prep ever in the event. The performance reflects her increasing passion for the event, which has exceeded that for the shot and discus. But she’s still a pretty darn good discus thrower and the competition will be tougher here is she wants to repeat. She has a best of 155-6 and will be challenged by fellow Coloradoan Josephine Natrasevschi (among others). The Fort Collins senior has a 154-7 best and was the 5A state champ while Showalter was taking 4A. Showalter beat Natrasevschi back in April at the Liberty Bell meet, but the senior has improved since then and should make for a closer battle.
9. Girls jav: Looking for new PRs
The girls’ javelin features an elite group of NSAF throwers from the Kultan Keihas Project Javelin program who have achieved some great PRs this season – but all PRs that are more than a month old and overdue to get smashed. US leader Katelyn Gochenour (Marian, NE soph) tops the group with a 167-0 best, set back in late March at an open/college meet. Her state does not contest the event, so opportunities are limited anyway. Chrissy Glasmann (Park City, UT junior) does get to throw the spear in Utah, but her 160-6 best dates back to that same March weekend.
Then there’s Kristen Clark (Ruston, LA senior), who blasted a 148-2 to start her season way back in mid-March. She hopes this will be the weekend that she surpasses 150 feet. And Sophia Rivera (Brentwood, MO soph) will also be hoping to hit 150, with a PR that’s relatively new for this group at 147-0 from the mid-April Kansas Relays. Clark does throw the jav in Louisiana, but it’s new event at the state level in Missouri and not yet contested in championships.
