Will 3:20 Even Qualify In Section 4?
In January, we profiled a race that featured two Collierville Dragons who both ran 50.XX for the 400m dash at the KYA HS Indoor Classic. We noted at the time that Kaleb Conway and Kelvin Brown paired with David Deberry and potentially one more runner in maroon should be on target to run 3:24 or faster in outdoor. The team went on to win the State Indoors title in the event with a 3:22. On Saturday, two teams at the Mid-South Relays, Memphis Central and White Station, dueled to an early season TN #1 and #2 times in the event going 3:24 and 3:25 respectively. Below is that race.
Even though Bartlett finished 5th, in the race above, their primary runners had already dominated the 400m open earlier in the meet here in the race below.
Deshaun Catron led the Panthers to a 1, 2, 3, 5 finish in the event running 50.84 with Ezekiel Miller, Cornelius Moore, and Izayah McHenry all crossing the line under 52.5. Now throw in the two-time defending state champions Whitehaven and an emergent Germantown, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that more than 4 teams break 3:20 within the next two months and a couple of them get left in Memphis during the final week in May.
Can DII Class AA Boys Distance Get Any Lower?
For those that need a reminder, the way qualifying works in Division II Class AA is the winner of each of the three regions gets an automatic bid to state and the remaining five runners are determined by At-Large bids. Last year in the boys 1600m, if you didn't win a region and ran 4:20, you didn't qualify. This was the breakdown of who did:
- East Winner: Keegan Smith - 4:13
- Middle Winner: Luke Thompson - 4:18
- West Winner: Kaleb Smith - 4:25
- At Large 1: Hugh Carlson - 4:18.2 (East)
- At Large 2: Evan Simpson - 4:18.4 (East)
- At Large 3: Jack Bowen - 4:18.7 (East)
- At Large 4: Carter Johnson - 4:18.9 (Middle)
- At Large 5: Ciro Albamont - 4:19.2 (Middle)
- First Man Out: Aidan Nix - 4:20.6 (Middle)
This year, the first seven in the list above will return with more quality added to the mix, especially in the East Region. Baylor's Christopher Knight, who had just returned to the sport last year, ran a 4:23 in a solo effort at his debut meet on Tuesday. If you're looking at the other distance races, CCS's Zachary Youngblood won the Siegel Open 800m breaking two minutes, in sub-optimal conditions, for the first time in his career indoors or out.
What I ultimately think it will come down to is how much emphasis teams like CCS, Knox Catholic and Baylor put on the 4x800m relay. McCallie has the depth to qualify with their "second string" (loosely phrased) while Carlson, Bowen, and Simpson can rest for their open events. The others likely don't have that luxury. So if these open events come down to time, and Knight and Youngblood are only 30 minutes removed from a very competitive 4x800m relay, will they have their legs back in time to roll sub 4:20 or not? Remains to be seen but in any case, it's hard to see other classes matching what this one has to offer in these distances this season.