Mason Invite Preview
This year’s Mason invite appears to be shaping up to be a distance showdown on both the girls and the boys side of things. The Mason teams appear strong, but so too do the challengers, especially the Wayne girls along with Gahanna Lincoln. On the boy’s side, the LaSalle squad has a lot of strong pieces, as do the Wayne and Westerville teams and never count out Saint Xavier as they come off of their State Championship XC season. The most complete team appears to be Centerville, but they are still holding their cards until the post season as is their tradition. Overall, both the girls and the boy's competition appears to be loaded, and should provide a great post season test as these squads gear up for the end-of-the-season run.
Girls events to watch:
In the 100 Dash, Autumn Heath of Lakota East is the favorite, with Johnson of Gahanna, and Woods of Wayne not far behind.
The 200 will feature the same people (possibly) as they vie for the title of top sprinter at the meet. They will be joined by Mbah of Lakota East along with Caroline Mink, Freshman from Turpin.
The 400 could be the race of the night on the sprint side of the meet. It features six girls who have gone under the 1:00 mark, with race favorite, Taylor Darks of Walnut listed with a time of 58.79. Not far behind will be Rodenbaugh, Sycamore, Mink of Turpin, and Shaw of Gahanna.
The 800 race could be very hot depending on who runs. The top 8 girls all have times under 2:23, with Heffernan of SUA toping them all at 2:18. Not too far back will be Lowry of Walnut, McDowell of Mason, Gaus of Mason and Sharpe of Westerville North.
The 1600 is not quite as loaded as the Wayne meet was, but it too could be smoking. Heffernan has been running effortlessly lately and is penciled in to run this race (4:56 PR) After Heffernan is Wood at 5:02, Siler at 5:06, Sandvick of Westerville at 5:10 and Studebacker of Centerville at 5:14, followed by “Rossie the Riveter” of Sycamore at 5:16.
The 3200 features a few of the girls who will most likely be fighting it out at the Regional meet in a few weeks. Heffernan of SUA has set a new city record with a time of 10:27!! (one of the top times in the nation) and Lauren Wood ran to a 10:35 just last week. Also, Sam Siler has quite a resume and has recorded a time of 10:53 this year and not too far back will be Murphy of Mason at 11:18.
Both the 110 and 300 hurdles will be a war between Horning of Mason and Daniels of Gahanna (Freshman) along with Walker of Wayne and Cornett of Walnut. Not far out of the contest will be Stokes of Gahanna, and Ballard of Wayne, all of these young ladies share great PRs and all could contend for the win on Friday night.
The relays will be a battle between Mason, Gahanna, Wayne and Walnut. All are loaded and will be going at it on Friday night. The 4x100 appears to be tight between East, Wayne and Gahanna all recording times under 49.0 this year so far. In the 4x200, Mason, Gahanna, Walnut and Wayne all have times of under 1:45 this season, and all appear to be clicking on all cylinders as they prepare for the post season. The 4x400 is Sycamore’s race to lose. They have a great group of young ladies and a solid anchor in Biancca Rodenbaugh. However, it appears that Gahanna and Mason are slowing closing the gap and it could be a great war at the end of the night.
The 4x800 is also a loaded field, with 8 teams entered at sub 9:50 times and 5 at or below 9:40. This could be flying if the conditions are right and the relays are loaded.
The field events look to be solid as well, with the Shot and Discus led by Carpenter of Walnut and Jumper and Avery of Wayne, all with very big marks and strong performances this season.
The jumps might be a big factor with Horning and Springer of Mason and Ursula battling it out in the high jump and Mbah of East and Johnson of Gahanna and Marmora of Mason leading the long jump entries, all with jumps over 17 this year.
The pole vault could also be an event to watch with the top 8 entries all at or above 10 feet this season, with Kay of Centerville and Stein of Mason leading the way. (Kay 11’4” this year already)
BOYS PREVIEW
In the 100 Dash, it appears everyone will be chasing Riak Reese of Gahanna, with Chanatry of Mason not too far behind. The word is Hytchye of LaSalle will sit this one out, but his teammate Tim Bell and Ronan of Turpin are running very well.
The 200 Dash should be equally as talented a field. The entries suggest Reese will lead this one as well, with Cummings of Mason, and Harman of LaSalle not too far back. All of these men have logged times at or bellow 22.0 and it should not disappoint if the rain holds off that long.
The 400 is anyone’s race. With 5 men all right around 50.0 or under, it is all about who wants it. Reese has the top time, but heads up for Diehl of Mason, Whitfield of Wayne or even DUMFORD from Westerville North.
In the 800, the field is stacked with 8 guys all at or below the 2:00 mark. It appears Dumford will sit this one out, so it is the battle of the guys between 1:57-1:59. It should be an all out war, with Garrett Morrison of Centerville at the top entered time as of now.
The race of the night could / should be the 1600. The Mason boys have loaded it up with all of their distance horses, Dumford of Westerville North, and Tirba of Turpin is entered as are several other fast men.
The 3200 is the race where lots of interesting things could happen. The top St. X guys, Mason guys nor Westerville guys and a few others are not racing. This opens the door for all of the others to shine. The race is now leaning toward Steible of Centerville, but heads up for Forshey of Sycamore after his hot mile at Wayne along with, Thompson of Mason and never count out the Westerville boys.
The 110 hurdles are looking like Asad Maiden of Mason may run away with them after his 14.13 at Wayne, but he will not run the 300s. After Maiden, Hickman of Northmont and Cambell of LaSalle look tough. The 300s should be a nice race between a number of athletes all looking to break 40 seconds for the first time this season. It should be close between Meacham of Westerville, Voutto of Sycamore and Harmon of Lasalle, all of whom have run well under 41 this year.
The relays should be fun! Mason has the top 4x1, 4x2, and 4x4 times coming in, but may mix it up at their Senior night. The word on the street is that the 4x100 is loaded, with solid competition still in the 4x2 and 4x4. The 4x800 race should be great as well. 12 teams have gone under 8:20 in this field, along with 5-6 at or below 8:10. This should be a great preview of future battles and what may come our way at Regionals and beyond.
In the field, it is a mixed bag, with no one team dominating. Wayne “Field and Track” will for sure score lots of points in the field, but many other teams will be in the mix as well. Long Jump and High Jump should go to Wayne’s Jordan Latimer, but Tim Bell of LaSalle and the Northmont tandem of Hickman and Williams could make it interesting. High jump should be tight with several men over 6’0” including Latimer, Wayne, Bell of LaSalle and Williams of Northmont along with several others.
In the Discus, Wayne’s Lovell Peterson enters with a mark of 193-7 and appears out of reach, in fact, he may hit the Mason Tennis courts that are only at 190 feet along the right sector. Mockma (GL) and Lassiter (WH) should be battling it out for 2nd if all goes to plan. The shot is not as much of a blow out on marks, but … of Sycamore does appear to be the favorite with a put of 56+ so far this year. Landers of Wayne and Lassiter of Walnut should be in the mix, but don’t count out Maldonado of Mason out who has been over 50 several times this year.
Lastly is the pole vault. This is anyone’s game. No huge super stars in this field like last year, but a solid cast of 12-14 footers. Kruer of Miamisburg leads the entries at 14’6” and is followed by Murray of LaSalle and Combs of East.