Last year, David D'Altorio took home the gold in the Boys Freshman Elite Mile.
It's finally here, National Championship Weekend.
Many Ohioans are making the trek down to North Carolina for the one of the national competitions occurring: adidas Outdoor Nationals, which is set to take place June 16th to the 18th, where the chase to bring home a national championship will begin.
We picked out some of the several athletes/relays that were of interest to look out for this weekend; see below for a preview of what is to come of this weekend.
Grace Biddle - Girls Championship Mile
(Sunday, June 18th @ 1:40 PM)
Kicking off this preview is the Little Miami senior, who is currently the favorite for the Girls Championship Mile with a personal best of 4:52.93 that she set earlier this season during the Angela Bizzarri Mile at the Mason Rod Russell Invitational.
Coming off of a 5th place finish at the OHSAA Division 1 Outdoor State Championships, Biddle has had quite a breakout season, setting new personal bests in all of her respective events this outdoor season, with a highlight being her 1600m Run, in which she has been under the 5-minute barrier consistently this past outdoor season, compared to her 5:08.33 personal best from the spring before.
She is certainly one to keep an eye on and is one in contention to come home with a national championship title.
Te'aira Branham-Patrick - Girls National Elite 100m/200m
(Friday, June 16th @ 12:20) - 100m Semi-Final
(Saturday, June 17th @ 12:20) - 200m Semi-Final
Her summer is just getting started, as she just took first in the 100m Dash over on the AAU circuit last week in Lima.
The sophomore from Cham. Julienne (representing Tck Elite Panthers at adidas) has been on quite a roll this year, earning herself multiple All-State honors and an individual state title during both the indoor and outdoor track seasons in her respective events.
To top it off, she is not unfamiliar with the national's scene, as Branham-Patrick also took 2nd in the 200m Dash at adidas Track Nationals during the indoor season; given that she is set to double up with her marquee events and fresh off of a race as well, there's no doubt the rising junior could turn some heads this weekend.
Ethan Lyon - Boys Championship Shot Put/Discus Throw/Hammer Throw
(Saturday, June 17th @ 12:30) - Hammer(Saturday, June 17th @ 4:30) - Shot Put(Sunday, June 18th @ 1:00) - Discus Throw
Coming into the meet as the third seeded Shot Putter in the Championship Division, Ethan is no stranger to the ring, as he is also slated to compete in the Discus and Hammer Throw.
Throughout the qualifying stages of the OHSAA season and even after the OHSAA Division 2 State Championships, Lyon set personal bests in all three throwing events, with an All-State finish in the Shot Put at the State Championships; and with his personal bests being set relatively recently, will we potentially see him bring back 3 All-American honors?
Col. St Francis DeSales, Tck Elite Panthers
(Friday, June 16th @ 2:25) - Girls 4x200m
(Saturday, June 17th @ 9:30am) - Girls 4x100m Semi-Final
(Friday, June 16th @ 2:25) - Girls 4x200m
(Saturday, June 17th @ 9:30am) - Girls 4x100m Semi-Final
Yep, these two are slated to run the National Elite division of both the 4x100m and 4x200m Relay along with both being seeded in podium position. As it stands, Tck Elite Panthers are looking to take home the crown in both of the relays, as they are the top seed in the 4x200m, and the #2 seed in the 4x100m.
Col. St Francis are not one to mess around with though, as they are fresh off of a state championship title in the 4x100m Relay at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships. As it stands, they are seeded 4th in the 4x100m and 5th in the 4x200m Relay. While they did not qualify for the state championships in the 4x200m, I believe that if they keep up the momentum that they had in the 4x100m, it is possible that they end up placing even higher than they were already seeded.
David D'Altorio - Boys National Elite Mile
(Friday, June 16th @ 12:05 PM)
He's back for more this year, except in a new division.
If you may remember, the now rising junior from Boardman took home the win at the 2022 edition of the adidas Outdoor Nationals in the Freshman Elite division of the Boys Mile.
Since last summer, he has made quite the jump, from finishing as the top sophomore at the OHSAA D1 State Championships during the cross country season, and making big improvements in his marquee event, the 1600m Run, being one of the top guys in his class.
GIven that he will be competing in a completely different field compared to last year, it will be interesting to see how he does once things are all and done.
Brayden Richards - Decathlon
An event (or series of events), that is not contested at all during the OHSAA season, the rising senior from Perry is set to take on the absolute beast that is a whopping 10 events throughout the course of the competition.
While Richards has not had the opportunity to compete in this all year, he is quite familiar with the event itself, taking part in several events that are apart of the decathlon during the indoor and outdoor season. To top it off as well, he showed his range at the OHSAA Division 2 State Championships by taking 3rd in the Pole Vault along with a 1st place finish in the 300m Hurdles to take the state title in the event.
Looking back all the way to the beginning of his campaign, he has certainly known the national stage for quite some time, making several appearances between New Balance Nationals, adidas Nationals, Nike Nationals, and last but not least, the AAU Junior Olympics, all of which he has placed very high many times.
Returning back to adidas Outdoor Nationals after his 3rd place finish last year in the multis, he will definitely be one to look forward to as he has quite a busy weekend in North Carolina.