MileSplit NY - Cross your fingers folks, as two things are predicted for this weekend. The first is that this may be one of the finest looking fields the Loucks Games has ever produced, and fast time are already being heralded on the online message boards. The other forecast? Rain, and lots of it. Hopefully, it holds out for all the action to get underway, but it may be time to break out the umbrellas. Regardless, we break down what we feel are some of the best races to watch over the three days of action.
Boys 110m Hurdles
Breakdown: We have the state leader, last years' state champion, the state leader over 400m hurdles, and two others in the state top ten to boot. This final will be flying, as if there was to be a state meet preview, this would be it.
Top Seeds
1 Stallworth, J.J. Connetquot
2 Hebert, Jay 11 Ticonderoga
3 Pascale, Luke 12 Roslyn
4 Clarke, Patrick 12 Scarsdale
5 Armstrong, O'Neil 12 Amityville
Boys 400m
Breakdown: With the number 2 seed here coming from Section 10, much is unknown about Harvey Smith's early season, but to be ranked over two of the quickest athletes of the winter, it must be pretty impressive. Obadare is currently ranked number #2 Outdoors, while Rose was ranked #2 Indoors. Greenwood is currently #3 in the state, but it may come down to a battle of the elements on one of the fastest tracks in the state.
Top Seeds
1 Greenwood, Jonathan 12 Freeport
2 Smith, Harvey 12 Franklin Academy
3 Rose, Richard 10 Boys & Girls
4 Obadare, Ayo 12 Elmont
5 Savage, Ahkiel 11 Newburgh
6 Fairweather, Benjamin 12 Samuel J. Tilden
Boys 800m
Breakdown: An interesting choice of speedwork for senior Ryan Manahan (Marcellus), as he is know for the longer distances. Dylan Murphy (Kellenberg) looks to be a favorite here, with his state leading and US #11 1:52, but Andre Rolim (Somerville, MA) has a 1:53 under his belt as well.
Top Seeds
1 Murphy, Dylan 12 Kellenberg
2 Rolim, Andre 12 Somerville
3 Greenwood, Jonathan 12 Freeport
4 Nwana, Simon 11 Syosset
5 Alleyne, Justin 12 New Rochelle
6 Manahan, Ryan 12 Marcellus
Boys Mile
Breakdown: Smells like sub-4? It depends if someone is willing to sacrifice their race and pull the pace early. Eric Holt of Carmel has said he wants sub-4:10, and his front running style may just push the pace to that limit. However, this race may be all about the Garden, state that is, as Ben Malone just recently went 4:05 at the Penn Relays, and Ed Cheserek has been gearing up for that 4-minute mark at the Dream mile. A slew of other top NY talent will be in the field, and this is one race that will garner a lot of PR's if run correctly.
Top Seeds
1 Cheserek, Edward 12 St. Benedicts
2 Malone, Ben 12 Pascack Valley
3 Holt, Eric 12 Carmel
4 Vecchio, Michael 11 Cornwall
5 Kelley, Bryce Chariho
6 Meehan, Tom 11 Eastport-South Manor
7 Shine, Stephen 12 Briarcliff
8 Gavigan, Luke 10 Tappan Zee
9 Germano, Philo Albany
10 Pompilj, Marco 10 Collegiate School
11 Manahan, Ryan 12 Marcellus
12 Kelly, Sean 11 Chaminade
13 Slattery, Thomas 11 Chaminade
Boys 3200m
Breakdown: Here is the race many were looking to see at Indoor states. With Hanson, Holt, and Moran all entered, New York is well represented. They could quite easily take the race at 9 minute pace, and it is a toss up at this point. It may come down to who has the most doubling in the relays of the weekend, both of which Arlington and Carmel are entered. Christian Alvarado of Ct. looked good at Penn two weeks ago as well, and won't make the race easy.
Top Seeds
1 Alvarado, Christian 11 Fairfield College Prep
2 Hanson, Sebastion 12 Arlington
3 Holt, Eric 12 Carmel
4 Moran, Kris 12 North Babylon
5 Mullet, Liam 11 Pingry
6 velvasquez, dhahran 11 Capital Prep
7 Jorgensen, Matt 12 Pawling
8 Holt-Andrews, Josef 11 Telstar
Boys DMR
Breakdown: This race will be interesting, and may tire out some anchors more than they were hoping. St. Benedict's has by far the best anchor in the country, but his front end of the relay sure can make his work cut out for him. Arlington may have the most balanced squad here, but it all depends if they run the race stacked. Carmel looks very good as well, and again, it all depends on who can put the most damage in before the anchors get their baton.
Top Seeds
1 St. Benedicts
2 Arlington
3 Carmel
4 Xavier
5 Syosset
6 St. Anthony's
Boys Triple Jump
Breakdown: It seems to be the year of the triple jump, as 45 feet is no longer the standard. All four below are very familiar with 47 feet, and weather permitting, it'll come down to inches rather than feet to determine the winner.
Top Seeds
1 Dais, Mustafaa 11 Hackley School
2 Willis, Devon 11 Schalmont
3 Johnson, Thomas 12 White Plains
4 Plummer, Robert 12 Scarsdale
Boys 4x800m
Breakdown: Anytime Kellenberg and Chaminade line up opposite each other in the 4x800m, you know it is going to be a battle. Look for some very close battles, with St. Anthony's in the mix as well.
Top Seeds
1 Kellenberg
2 St. Anthony's
3 Arlington
4 Ridgefield
5 Lakeland
6 Chaminade
7 Sachem North
8 La Salle Academy
Girls 200m
Breakdown: A good race in its own right, it seems the top seeds here may use this as a warmup for the real stacked field at twice the distance. Baird and Stevens will do battle for the title.
Top Seeds
1 Baird, Kadecia 12 Middle College
2 Stevens, Deajah 12 Benjamin Cardozo
3 Bailey, Kimberely 12 Taft Educational Campus
4 McIntosh, Quashira 10 Hope
5 Thompson, Brenessa 11 Middle College
Girls 400m
Breakdown: It is hard to ask for a better field here. Kadecia Baird has dominated the event on the east coast for years now, but Precious Holmes looked very good indoors, and Olivia Baker's Penn Relays was nothing short of spectacular. Deajah Stevens has proven she is in the best shape of her life, splitting 53 in the relay, and this could be the time to shine. This may be the race of the day for the girls.
Top Seeds
1 Baird, Kadecia 12 Middle College
2 Holmes, Precious 12 James Hillhouse
3 Baker, Olivia 11 Columbia
4 Stevens, Deajah 12 Benjamin Cardozo
5 Taylor, Candace 11 Friends Academy
6 Over, Sydnee 12 Windsor
7 Gallagher, Emma 10 Garden City
8 Golden, Zola 10 Arlington
Girls 800m
Breakdown: Just last weekend, Mary Cain went 2:01.64 over 800m. Sabrina Southerland went 2:03 indoors, with shorter straigh-taways, and tighter turns. Could Southerland take the state record one week after Cain? Maddy Berkson was right in the mix at the race in NBIN, and will be one to put pressure of Southerland, and there are plenty of other qualities athletes in the field should anyone falter.
Top Seeds
1 Southerland, Sabrina 12 Benjamin Cardozo
2 Berkson, Maddy 11 Classical
3 Over, Sydnee 12 Windsor
4 Gallagher, Emma 10 Garden City
5 McCabe, Molly 11 Bishop Guertin
6 Fray, Jazmine 10 Kellenberg
7 Davis, Kellie 12 James Hillhouse
8 Jaskot, Erin 11 Tappan Zee
Girls Mile
Breakdown: Sabrina Southerland also has some good news this weekend, as she was accepted into the Adidas Dream Mile. Consider this a tune up, with some quality milers in the field as well, as out-of-state talents Brown, Berkson, and Weisner have all gone under 5 minutes.
Top Seeds
1 Southerland, Sabrina 12 Benjamin Cardozo
2 Brown, Bethanie 12 Waterville
3 Berkson, Maddy 11 Classical
4 Weisner, Kennedy 11 Elk County Catholic
5 Burda, Bella 10 Arlington
Girls 3200m
Breakdown: The extra 200m may be a pain for some looking for state conversions, but the field looks ready to go regardless. Bella Burda is the top seed on paper, but Gianna Frontera had a very good race at the Penn Relays. Holly Cavaluzzo is one of the top ranked athletes over the 1500m, and could pull out the victory as well.
Top Seeds
1 Burda, Bella 10 Arlington
2 Cavalluzzo, Holly 12 Valley Central
3 Debalsi, Hannah 09 Staples
4 Frontera, Gianna 11 Newburgh
5 Ashe, Amanda 11 East Meadow
Girls DMR
Breakdown: Holy Names and Arlington look the most solid here. After Zola Golden of Arlington went 56 last weekend, it set themselves up for a very good DMR. Holy Names has similar strength, and will be battling to the line here, with potential anchor Catherine Maloy.
Top Seeds
1 Academy of Holy Names
2 Bernards
3 Suffern
4 Arlington
5 Ridgefield
6 Bronxville
7 Mamaroneck
Girls 4x100m
Breakdown: Columbia earned their top seed in all three relays at the Penn Relays, where they were the stars of the show. New Rochelle and Medgar Evers (Middle College) are always good matchups as well.
Top Seeds
1 Columbia
2 Middle College
3 New Rochelle
4 Windsor
Girls 4x400m
Breakdown: Its one of the final events of the weekend, and many of the legs will have run the rounds of prior races. A battle of attrition here, it could be anyones race.
Top Seeds
1 Columbia
2 Middle College
3 Benjamin Cardozo