White Plains NY - The 44th Annual Glenn D. Loucks Games are to be held this weekend.  With a little precipitation on the radar, it still looks to be one of New York's biggest meets this season.  Some very fast athletes will be on the track over  the 3-day competition, and we've broken down some of the tougher running events.  Fast times are expected, as the newly-renovated White Plains track is one of the finest outdoor facilities on the East Coast.

Girls

Full Seeds

100m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  Based on seeds, it looks like Valencia Hannon of Elmont has an edge on the competition for the 100m dash.  However, looking at times run this year, Laeisha Philson of Benjamin Cardozo’s 12.03 is currently the second fastest in NY this spring.  Robbi Rogers of Mount Vernon is also in the conversation, as she has run an 11.9 hand-time for her league meet.  Look for a very fast final including any number of these girls.

200m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  The seeds don’t lie on this one, as Kadecia Baird of Medgar Evers looks to be the athlete to beat.  In addition to running an 11.85 in the 100m, Baird also ran NY #1 in the 200m at a quick 23.74.  Behind Baird is Valencia Hannon at NY #4, who has a 24.87 to her name over the half lap race.  Philson has yet to run an outdoor 200, but her 24.94 indoor time looks to be lowered.  Kimberly Bailey of Taft and Tanaya Yarde of Mount Vernon also hover around that 24.9 mark, and look to be in the race as always.  Precious Holmes of Hillhouse CT, more notably a 400m expert, has a 24.5 to her name, and looks to push Baird as well.

400m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  When the NY #1 is only the third seed, you know there is some talent.  Top seed Holmes has run 53.53, which overshadows some of the younger athletes on the track.  2^nd seed Sydnee Over of Windsor CT has also broken through, as she comes in with a PR of 53.62.  Baird has run 55.59 over the quarter, but you can expect her to be pulled to a fast time here.  As for Emma Gallagher of Garden City and Jessica Gelibert of Bay Shore, both athletes reside in the 56.3 range, and look to place.

800m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  This looks to be the marquee race for the girls, as the field includes some of the states fastest ever.  Top seed Mary Cain of Bronxville is in the hunt for the Olympic Trials “B” standard, after missing by milliseconds at last week’s Lions Invitational.  Her PR of 2:05.9 comes from only three weeks ago, and her split PR of 2:03 looks to be becoming an open-race reality.  Cain will not have the race handed to her, however, as Cardozo’s Alexis Panisse has shown some early season affinity for the 800m.  Panisse comes in after running 2:07.89 earlier this year, a time that looks to fall as her PR.  Brianna Nerud of North Shore, whose team will be giving the 4x800 a rest after their recent NY #1/US #2, split 2:10.7 in that race, and looks to be on an Olympic Standard search of her own, for the steeplechase.  Gallagher will return from the 400 to race again here, and her 2:11.01 this weekend proves fitting for the race.  Not to be underestimated, Kelsey Margey of Friends Academy is also in the race, seeded 9^th.  However, one only needs to look at her 2:09 open at St. Anthony's to know Margey is ready to run with the best of them.

1600m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  Samantha Nadel of North Shore is the top seed coming into the 1600, but nothing is guaranteed here.  Nadel went 5:51 in the 1600m leg in the DMR, but proved she was back in action a week later as she split 2:12.3 over 800m.  It seems Nadel’s competition may come from her own teammate, whose run faster than Nadel’s qualifying time this year, at 4:43.64 converted.  Also dangerous is Panisse, as she has run 4:46.96 converted as well.  Anima Banks of Mamaroneck, Indoor State Champion in the 1000m, is also a threat for the medal stand.

3200m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  The day after Penn, Nadel went 9:43.5 over 3000m, showing the longer races are on the table for the North Shore senior.  Nadel’s PR for the 3200 rests right around 10:22, which she ran at Loucks last year.  Looking to challenge is the frequently-seen-in-NY Dana Giordano of Bernards NJ.  This year, indoors, the Jersean went 10:24.73, which could prove to be a challenge to the recovering Nadel.  Also a threat are Rachel Paul of Sachem East, whose gone 9:49.64 over 3k, and Gianna Frontera of Newburgh, who went 10:49 her freshmen year in this same race.  Look out for a great race.

Boys

Full Seed List

100m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  While Davon Henry of Uniondale looks to be the fastest seeded athlete, Winslow Dorsainvil of Spring Valley is the only one of the bunch to dip under 11 seconds this year, as well as winning the Indoor state championship over 55m.  Tyroy Lawson of Sheepshead Bay is not to be checked out however, as he has posted low 22 second 200m times this spring.

200m

Top Seeds

Breakdown: This race is going to go fast, as it will surely take sub-22 to hit the medal stand.  Najee Glass of St. Peters Prep NJ would appear the favorite with his PR of 21.34, but Steven Gayle of Mount Vernon is not far behind with a 21.64 hand-time converted to his name.  Also in the mix is CT’s Daniel Jamieson of Windsor CT, who has clocked a fast 21.87 as well.  Lawson again has gone to 22.19, and could break that time with this sure-to-be fast final.

400m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  Look for a showdown here, as Glass returns to the 400m against Strymar Livingston of Christopher Columbus.  Glass has run 46.06 this year, but last week Livingston hinted at seeing a 45-second mark before he graduates this spring.  After his 46.5 split two weeks ago at Penn, this is not unheard of.  Also of note was the indoor rivalry between the two, as Livingston sprinted away from Glass twice to break the National Records in both the 500m and 600m.  Gayle and Kevin Hunter of Pawling are great runners in their own right, but have never broken 48 seconds, so it looks to be a two-man race for gold.

800m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  It will be Zavon’s first premiere return to the 800m after Indoor Nationals, and he will be in good company on the line.  Watkins won this event last year in a 1:50.6, but went on to run 1:49.7 outdoors later that year.  With 1:48.8 as the Nation’s leading time, you can expect Watkins to start ramping up his training to cope with the increased competition outdoors, which may produce a fast time here.  Challenging Watkins is Livingston, along with Boys and Girls’ Robert Rhodes.  Livingston holds a PR of 1:51.9, while Rhodes comes in at 1:53, despite splitting better in the relays’.  New Hampshire’s Jon Vinnenberg from Bow High School could be the dark horse of the race, as he has posted a 1:53 this season.

1600m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  It’s hard to choose which will be the marquee event for the boys, as both distance races include a stellar lineup, each with their own National Champions.  In the 1600m, Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict's Prep NJ posts the fastest previous run, as he went 4:02.21 indoors this year.  Speculation has run rampant about when, not if, Cheserek will break 4 minutes in the mile, but it seems more likely that will come with the Addidas Dream Mile, where he will be facing off against his Foot Locker National rival Futsum Zeinasellassie of Indiana.  Behind Cheserek is Watkins, who will be looking to place higher than his outing at Penn.  Watkins is no stranger to closing on the Ethopian-born junior from Jersey, as the SMR at NBIN was almost an upset .  That may not be replicated here, as Watkins comes in with a PR 12 seconds slower, but sans-Cheserek, it will be a great showing of what could be the State Meet matchups.  Thomas Awad of Chaminade holds the state-leading mark in the 3200m, and has gone 4:12 for mile as well.  Harvard-bound Konrad Surkont of Stuyvesant is also a threat with his 4:17.63 ran earlier this year.  Dan Lennon of Peru may have a better shot in the 3200m than he does here, but his 4:19.3 PR could be lowered here.

3200m

Top Seeds

Breakdown:  Again, Cheserek is the clear favorite here.  His PR of 8:43.16, run indoors this year, is a good 25-seconds faster than the next seed.  But a case can be made for the 3200m being the better race of the two distance events, as the New Yorkers behind Edward all have significant accomplishments to their name.  Dan Lennon was the Indoor National Champion in the 5000m, as well as the sole Foot Locker finalist in XC.  His 9:02.9 converted looks to be formidable here.  Indoor 3200m Champ Kris Moran of North Babylon has a PR of 9:04.84 converted, but knows how to execute well.  Sibby Hanson of Arlington is coming off a great 4:11 mile split, and has cruised to a clean 9:06 full 3200m.  Eric Holt of Carmel, despite being seeded fifth, has run 9:03.1 converted and will definitely be in the race.  Look for some tight pack running out on the super-mondo White Plains track, which could lead to some very fast times.