PREVIEW: Top Races to Watch at KYA Invitational


The 2018 KYA Indoor Invitational kicks off this afternoon at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

And you can watch it live right here on Milesplit.

The state's top talent will square off for the first time this season, and they'll be joined by local stars from Georgia and Alabama. 

Whether it's in the field or on the track, there's a star-studded list of competitors ready to open their seasons. 

Saturday's Distance Races

Early on Saturday morning, we'll kick off day two of competition with the 2 Mile Run. 

The girls race is highlighted by Knoxville Catholic freshman Callie Tucker. She finished third in the A-AA State Championship last year for 3200 meters. In cross country, Tucker set a new personal best of 18:43 at the Cherokee Classic.

Her top challenger is Breanna Roy, who's currently Tennessee's fastest 800 meter runner. The David Crockett High School senior has a career best mark of 11:34 in the 3200m from back in 2015. 

Roy was an All-State finisher in the state championship, running 19:11 for seventh place.

On the boys side, former Brentwood Academy runner Davis Holliday is the favorite to take the 2 mile run. Holliday transferred back to Franklin High School, where he started his high school career, and competed unattached in cross country this past season.

But for both schools, he's run some very fast times. Holliday's 3200m PR came back in 2016 at Eastern Relays while competing for the Eagles. In that race he finished with a 9:17.

While competing unattached this fall, Holliday's season best was just under 16 minutes at 15:56. But his career best is 15:37 in his freshman year at Jesse Owens.

Maryville High School senior Seth Bowden comes in as the top challenger. Bowden, who's entered with Knoxville Youth Athletics, has a career best of 9:32 in the 3200m from last season's Volunteer Track Classic.

Bowden also finished 11th at the AAA Cross Country State Championship this past November.

After the two mile, we'll see the one mile run. 

The girls competition is headlined by Brynne Sumner. The Woodstock High School (GA) senior comes in with a personal best of 5:02 for 1600 meters. She also finished ninth in the mile at New Balance Outdoor two years ago.

Creekview (GA) sophomore Nyah Hernandez has run 5:03. And she ran that to win a state title last season. She's also got good endurance -- running 18:49 in cross country this past season at Foot Locker South.

The top in-state talent is represented by Landri Wilcox. She was one of the fastest freshmen in the southeast this past cross country season, running 18:08. 

And she was also voted the Freshman of the Year in Tennessee.

On the guys side, there's another loaded field. Holliday is listed as the top seed in this event as well, so we're assuming he'll likely scratch one of those two early morning distance events.

If he does scratch the mile, that makes Zac Cantrell the top seed. The Creekview (GA) senior ran 4:22 to win the Georgia Meet of Champions last season. That's his career best.

Knoxville Catholic's Jake Renfree turned a good season in 2016 to a sensational one in 2017. The junior was an All-State finisher in AAA, and then got fifth at Foot Locker Nationals.

His 1600m personal best came at the KIL Championship last year when he ran 4:26. But after his major breakthrough at the end of the cross country season, there's no telling what he could run this weekend.

All of the same contenders will come back for the 800 meters. 

On the girls side, Sumner and Hernandez will highlight that field as well. Cantrell and Renfree will also potentially get another battle in the 800 as well.

We're certainly expecting a banner day for distance with so many good runners in attendance.

Field Events

Starting with the throws, one of the nation's best throwers is coming from Knoxville to open his season. Joshua Sobota, a two-time state champion just last season in the shot put and discus, will throw 11th in the third flight of the shot put. 

But the New Balance Outdoor All-American will have a challenge. Because Jermaine Anderson, state runner-up in Georgia last season, comes in with a career-best mark of 60-1.5. 

Sobota was third at New Balance Outdoors last season in the shot put. In that competition, he threw 65-11, which is his career best. He'll be looking to get his season started right on Friday night. 

Also on Friday night, the girls triple jump will get started. The favorite coming in is Brentwood Academy's Morgan Louderback. She finished second in the Division II State Championship last year with a jump of 36-10. 

She also finished 15th at New Balance Outdoors when she jumped 37-1.75. 

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Hardin Valley Academy's Lizzie Davis will also be a factor in this competition. She was third in the Indoor State Meet last season with a jump of 35-4.5.

The girls triple jump kicks off at 4:00 pm this afternoon.

Cedric Johnson has been one of the top performers of the indoor track season so far. And he's back again this weekend in the triple jump.

Johnson leads the state with a jump of 45-0.5 so far this season. Last year, he jumped 42-11.75. And that personal best was crushed quickly to start this season.

So it'll be interesting to see what he can do this weekend. If Johnson keeps improving along the same trajectory, the junior could have a big day.

In the Sprints

Austin-East's Aristotle Huffman was one of the fastest freshmen in the state last season. His 22.56 200m personal best came at the KIL Championships, where he finished third.

He'll be in lane three of the tenth and final heat of the KYA Indoor Classic. 

Kentucky State Champion JP Vaught is the favorite in this competition. He won the 100m at Eastern Relays last season in 10.65. He also ran a career best 21.33 to win the state meet last season for 200 meters.

He opened the season with a 22.69 at the Hoover Alumni Invitational a few weeks ago. He runs in heat nine. Vaught will come back and race in heat five of the 60 meter dash as well.

On the girls side, Marietta High School's Sterling Lester headlines a fast field in the 400m. Lester, a New Balance All-American and AAU National Champion, comes in to the 400 with a career best of 52.69. 

And she's still just a junior.

She will race out of section number one in the 400. She's also a favorite in the 200m (heat seven) and the 60m hurdles (heat one).

Lester was also one of the top performers in last season's installment of this competition.

We'll have full coverage from the KYA Indoor Classic on Saturday. Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@TNmilesplit) for LIVE video and updates from Johnson City!