Breaking down Friday's action at the Texas Relays

By John Sullivan for DyeStat

Boys 300 Hurdles

Canyon sr Norman Grimes is off to a hot start this year, clocking a US#1 36.40 home invitational win.  Last year he blossomed at this meet, recording a lifetime best 36.10 which ended up US#1 for 2015, and then won State 5A.  In the post-season he excelled in the 400 hurdles, claiming silver at US Junior Nationals (top high schooler) and gold in all-time US#13 50.10 at the Pan-American Juniors. His top competitors sit in the current US top 11 including George Ranch jr Jayson Baldridge, National AAU Junior Olympic 400 hurdles in the 15-16 age-group last summer; EP Franklin sr Cody Johnson, 3rd in State 6A last year and winner at Chandler Rotary (AZ) this season; Abilene sr Jesus Serrano, 4th in State 6A; and Ft. Bend Christian sr Tyler Hart, TAPPS champ.

Boys 1600

CC King sr Parker Scott is currently TX#3/US#19 with a 4:16.50 effort at Jesuit-Sheaner and looks to move up from his 7th-place finish in 2015.  In hot pursuit will be St Mark’s sr JT Graass (TX#6) and Strake Jesuit sr Andrew Hebert (TX#9) while St Paul, LA jr Eric Coston (State 5A champ) and Little Rock Catholic, AR sr Kieran Taylor (son of U of Arkansas great Gray Taylor) are the leading out-of-staters.  Westlake soph Matthew Kearney qualified for NXN and hopes to make his mark on the oval.

Boys Sprint Medley

Top Texas contenders include Kingwood Park (US#3 3:29.54), DeSoto (US#4 3:29.59), Summer Creek with anchor Cam White who ran 1:53.53 at District last year, Strake Jesuit, and Atascocita.  Long Beach, CA visitors Poly and Wilson will contend as could Edmond Memorial, OK and Cincinnati Withrow, OH.

Boys Distance Medley

Could be up for grabs depending on which athletes run.  Strake Jesuit has the fastest time this season, but will rely on team depth without standouts Andrew Hebert and Jason Bugg.  Southlake Carroll earned team silver in cross country, but won’t use standout Reed Brown.  Flower Mound was 3rd in XC, but won’t use soph Payton Ash, 15th at State.  If they stay close through three legs  then College Station (with Jon Bishop, 4:12.17 at the 2015 Meet of Champions), Colleyville Heritage (David Strome, 1st and 3rd in State XC), and SA Holmes (soph Ethan Hageman, State XC 4th) will be dangerous.

Boys High Jump

No one has cleared 7 feet in Texas this season, but several are close and in this competition. Leading the charge is Grandview sr Trenton Wallace who topped 6-11 to stand at US#6/TX1.  Four others have made 6-10 to tie for US#7/TX2 – Lake Ridge sr Iyanu Adeyeye, Nelson sr Brandon Bowen, DeSoto sr CJ Gilmore, and Lancaster sr Zhafear Ray.  Withrow, OH jr Albert Kalala was a top soph in 2015 with a mark of 6-8.

Boys Pole Vault

The headliner is Lafayette soph Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, the 1st high schooler ever over 18-feet indoors which he did at LSU in February on his way to State and NBIN titles.  The all-time outdoor freshman class recordholder at 17-4.5, he has the sophomore (17-6) and junior (17-8.5) class records clearly in his sights and is bearing down on the overall high school record of 18-3.5.  Grapevine jr Peyton Weissmann’s 16-6 makes him US#3/TX#1 in this early outdoor season while Arkansas sends Lake Hamilton sr Nick Johnson and Har-Ber jr Zach McWhorter who both topped 17-2 indoors.  Just 19 US non-seniors made at least 16-feet in 2015 and 6 of them are in this field.

Boys Long Jump

Boswell jr Jalen Seals soared 24-4.25 for undercover bronze at NBIN.  His challengers include Frisco Heritage sr Kene Nwangwu with a season-best 24-5 (nwi) for all-conditions US#4 and Tesoro, CA sr Michael Mitchell whose leap of 24-1 is all-conditions US#8.

Boys Discus Throw

Wow, this one is also loaded with 4 of the current US top 10 and 8 of the top 20 signed up.  Hightower jr Gabriel Oladipo heads the field with a US#2/TX#1 195-4 at Rice, following a World Youth 9th in Cali, Colombia to cap off last year.  Frisco Centennial sr William Petersson has stretched out to US#4 194-8.  Esperanza, CA jr Bronson Osborn (193-0 US#7) and The Woodlands jr Adrian “Tripp” Piperi (US#10 190-6) are better known as 70-foot shot putters, but obviously have strong discus credentials including World Youth 6th for Piperi.  Coppell sr Colin Echols and Timber Creek sr Colin Echols are tied at US#13 186-11, followed by Esperanza, CA sr Clint Meyer (US#17 185-9) and Red Oak sr Kevin Steward (US#20 182-2).

Boys Javelin Throw Throw

Frisco Centennial sr William Petersson is the US#13 returner from last year, reaching 198-3 to claim Texas Relays gold.  The rest of the field, all Texans, is hard to handicap as the javelin is rarely contested in the state.

Girls 300 Hurdles

Vacaville, CA jr Jurnee Woodward leads a strong out-of-state contingent as the US#1 returner at 41.10 last year.  Nansemond River, VA sr Brandee’ Johnson is the US#5 returner at 41.33 while Clinton, MS sr Monica Mosley is the US#10 returner at 41.87.  Joining them are 8 of the current season US top 15, including Hightower sr Birexus Hawkins (US#2 41.86 at Rice last weekend), Houston Lamar jr Milan Young (US#8 42.29) plus  Pearland Dawson jr Paige Kimble and Elgin sr Selena Wright - both US#9 42.44 (converted hand-time for Wright).  Katy sr Christie Terhune will contend based on her US Junior Nationals 7th in the 400 hurdles and is the US#16 returner in this event at 42.20.

Girls 1600

Winter Park, FL soph Rafaella Gibbons is US#11 4:55.85, just ahead of NXN vets Hebron sr Anna Elkin at US#12/TX#3 4:55.96 and Rouse sr Madie Boreman US#23/TX#4 4:57.78 (silver here last year in 4:53.49 and all-time TX#5 at 4:44.57c). Also under 5 minutes in 2016 is Argyle Liberty Christian soph Elizabeth Reneau (TX#5 4:58.2).  Sonoma Academy, CA soph Rylee Bowen claimed the 2k steeplechase title on Thursday night while Alama Heights sr Abby Gray, 21st at NXN and 18th at Foot Locker, is coming off a minor injury and will be in the mix. 

Girls Sprint Medley

This one could be very interesting!  Elsik is currently US#1 with its 4:06.53, followed by Oak Ridge with US#2 4:07.20 and Long Beach Poly, CA with US#4 4:08.05.  But hold on, McKinney Boyd sr Aaliyah Miller is the 2-time 800 State champ and clocked all-time TX#3/US#67 2:05.94 to win the inaugural TX Meet of Champions.  But that’s not all as Houston Lamar jr Julia Heymach makes her season debut coming off post-XC achilles issues and she owns all-time TX#2/US#53 2:05.64 credentials from the Brooks PR (WA) meet last June.  Lancaster, Judson, and DeSoto typically pull from superb team depth while Nansemond River, VA and Edmond Memorial, OK could also contend.

Girls Distance Medley

Katy is currently US#4/TX1 with a 12:17.91 Will Taylor win in February and sr Christie Terhune, 3rd in the TX 6A 800 last year, could be a big factor here.  Marcus is the TX 6A XC champ and will have fresh legs from sr Maddy Reed (current TX#2 1600) and soph Quinn Owen (TX 6A XC 6th) who are skipping the open 1600.  Southlake Carroll, TX 6A XC silver, will be in the hunt as usual.  Cinco Ranch was 6th in XC and will count on XC silver medalist soph Reagan Koppel to excel.  Possible relying on doublers from the earlier 1600 are Hebron (Anna Elkin) which was 5th in XC, Rouse (Madie Boreman), and Argyle Liberty Christian (Elizabeth Reneau).  New Braunfels may have a fresh Paige Hofstad (2014 State XC champ and NXN runner-up), but she may be rusty after missing much of the last couple of seasons.  The Woodlands and Smithson Valley are deep while Long Beach Poly, CA and Har-Ber, AR could be in the mix.

Girls High Jump

The Woodlands sr Ellyana Long, defending TX 6A champ, has improved to 5-10 US#2/TX#1 this season as has Mayde Creek sr Samara Hodges.  They’re joined by Stanwood, WA sr Madison Yerigan and Highland Park jr Falyn Reaugh whose 5-10 marks in 2015 make them US#3 returners.  Nelson soph Sanaa Barnes has matched her 5-9 PR (cuurent US#6) from last year when she was TX 6A 2nd and National AAU Jr Olympics 1st.  Lincoln-Way East, IL jr Oloade Ayoola was 2nd at her State meet while Denham Springs, LA jr Abigail O’Donoghue struck gold at hers.

Girls Pole Vault

This will be exciting with cross-state rivalries renewed.  First Presbyterian Day jr Carson Dingler made 13-6 last year as did Smithson Valley jr Colleen Clancy, making them US#4 returners.  Dingler topped 13-4.5 at NBIN, matched by Clancy with Dingler earning the national title on the tie-breaker.  Anaheim Canyon, CA jr Rachel Baxter is the US outdoor leader at 13-10 (13-3 in 2015) followed by Dingler at 13-3 US#2.  Boerne Champion sr Kendahl Shue is the US#18 returner (12-9) and Greenwood, AR jr Bailee McCorkle #19 (12-8) so PRs will keep them in the hunt.

Girls Long Jump

Last year Cy Springs sr Samiyah Samuels won a showdown here with Agoura, CA jr Tara Davis.  Davis went on to win the World Youth title in Colombia at 21-0.5, all-time US#13.  They went head-to-head this indoor season with Samuels claiming NBIN gold at 21-3.25 (all-time US#3 indoors) ahead of Davis’ fine 20-10 (all-time =US#6).  They battle again here.  Alvin soph Kynnedy Flannel spanned 19-9.5 as a freshman making her the US#8 returner. Lake Ridge fr Jasmine Moore hit 20-0 (nwi) at Jesuit-Sheaner, good for US#5 all-conditions.

Girls Discus Throw

Valley Christian, CA sr Elena Bruckner is the class of the field, reaching all-time US#10 182-8 in 2015 and sitting atop the current US leaderboard at 181-1.  Whitewright jr Zada Swoopes is TX#1/US#7 at 148-4.  Ellison sr Jannia Price hit 153-5 for TX 6A silver last year making her the US#10 returner.

Girls Javelin Throw Throw

This event appears to be wide-open as the javelin is seldom contested in Texas.  Pitman, CA jr Cerah Moren and Colstrip, MT jr Hailey Poole have both thrown over 130-feet.