Photo by Craig Amoss
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This year the annual Southern Maryland Indoor Track Classic ushers in the new decade as the state's first big invitational of 2020. We take a look at some of the best matchups heading into the weekend and which meet records are potentially in peril.
Girls 55 Meter Hurdles
Current Meet Record: 7.93 (Kori Carter, Nansemond River High School)
Nansemond River's Kori Carter won the prelims, semi-finals and finals at last year's Southern Maryland Track Classic, edging Bullis' Leah Phillips and setting a new meet record in the finals. Carter's record beat out the previous meet record of former Nansemond River hurdler Brandee Johnson; could the meet record shift back into Maryland hands this year? The two top seeds in the event, Bullis seniors Leah Phillips and Ashley Wallace, have run 7.82 and 7.84, respectively, so far this winter.
Girls 55 Meter Dash
Current Meet Record: 7.03 (Leah Phillips, Bullis High School)
Despite falling just short of the win in the 55 meter hurdles at last year's meet, Phillips did come back to set a new meet record in the 55 meter dash. Phillips won't be running the 55 meter dash at this year's meet, but her teammate, current state leader Victoria Perrow, is. Perrow ran a blazing 6.96 in her victory at the Energice Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational back before the holiday break.
Boys 1600 Meter Run
Current Meet Record: 4:23.64 (Graham Bazell, Atholton High School)
Photo by Mary Ann Magnant
Saturday's race features a border battle between two of the best milers from Virginia and Maryland. From the commonwealth, Yorktown's Albert Velikonja broke out with a 4:18.23 performance last spring, a season during which he also won the 6A state title. Herndon's Colin McCauley, who kicked off his indoor season with a win in the 1000 meters at the PR Holiday Invitational last weekend, owns a 4:20.71 personal best.
From Maryland, South River's Sam Keeny has only raced once this year: a current MD #2 9:28.07 3200 coming off the cross country season back in early December. This year's XC state champion owns a 4:21.55 personal best. Finally, Oakdale's Kyle Lund owns both the current top time in Maryland (4:21.85) and the top personal best in the field (4:16.54) to go along with five state titles.
Boys 500 Meter Dash
Current Meet Record: 1:04.60 (Ashton Allen, Bullis High School)
Allen is scheduled to make his senior season debut on Saturday and will be chasing his own record in the 500 meter dash. Last year Allen beat the previous meet record by over a second and a half; in fact, the record had already been broken a few heats prior to Allen's by Richard Montgomery's Seydi Sall. Only two other runners in the field have run under 1:07, so Allen will likely be the only boy in the field with a good shot at breaking the one-year-old record.
Girls 800 Meter Run
Current Meet Record: 2:17.02 (Hayley Jackson, Patuxent High School)
Photo by Ed Lull
Last winter, Frederick tied the current Southern Maryland Indoor Classic meet record when she ran a season-best 2:17.02 at the University of Kentucky High School Invitational. She has a career indoor personal best of 2:16.69 and ran 1:36.48 in the 600 last weekend. The field also includes Episcopal's Alli Boehm (2:17.62 indoor personal best), along with South River's Bronwyn Patterson (2:17.39 indoor personal best), who made her junior season debut last weekend at the Anne Arundel County Invitational.
Boys 800 Meter Run
Current Meet Record: 1:58.84 (Ryan Lockett, Poolesville High School)
If the 800 meet record seems a bit slow, consider that the meet features both the 800 (which attracts mostly Maryland runners) and 1000 (which attracts mostly Virginia runners), splitting up some of the top mid-distance competition at the meet. Kyle Lund began his senior season with a dominant 1:56.13 performance at the Howard County Winter Festival a couple of weeks ago, where he had already run a fast split on the 4x800. North Point's DeVion Bryant also already ran faster than the current meet record this season - by one hundredth of a second.
Girls and Boys 4x400 Relays
Current Meet Records: 3:46.29 (Bullis High School); 3:29.14 (Oxon Hill High School)
If seed times (3:42 in the girls 4x400 and 3:27 in the boys 4x400) are any indication, Bullis is planning on running some fast relay squads to close out the meet on Saturday. They already own the record in the 4x400 and certainly have the depth, even without one or two of their top runners, to challenge the boys record. At 3:31.01 the Bowie boys own the second-fastest time in the state to date, and plenty of other teams in the boys field have the depth to at least challenge the 3:30 mark in a fast race.