2015 Brooks Twilight Preview

2015 Brooks Twilight Race Preview

The start line at the Brooks Twilight race straddles the length of a soccer field. It's huge and the boxes are about as wide open as you can get. The start goes across several soccer fields at the Mike Rose complex, takes a couple of short drops over the first few hundred meters, and gets the athletes moving pretty fast as the adrenalin is racing through them! Then it quickly narrows to about a fifteen meter wide shoot and makes a quick drop of about fifteen feet or so and even more quickly, or should I say scary, makes a sharp left turn. For some, this is a pretty scary part of the race, but for all… it's time for a fast start to position yourself in this wide open and spectator friendly course!

The event is hosted by Christian Brothers University with Coach Bill Hoffman the race director and organizer. It's also a featured FloTrack meet this year. For those of you that don't know, Coach Hoffman is the starter at a lot of the local big Track and Field meets in the Memphis area, including the D1 sectionals here. CBU has been hosting this event for several years and paralleling the highest level of education you get from this University, this event by far is one of the highest level of competitions you'll ever see in an evening race! The amount of talent is nothing less than astounding for all the categories competing here. There are eight classes of competition. First we start out with the younger of the groups at 5:30pm with the middle school girls and then the boys (6:00) run. Then the JV high school teams (6:30 & 7:20) followed by the varsity high school athletes. Finishing the evening off are the college women (9:20) and at 10pm the college men's race. Believe me, there is no quiet sunset during this meet. This event starts out fast, gets faster as the night goes along and ends up with the college athletes pushing their limits on this super course.

Even though this meet comes early in the season for most, it one of the most highly competitive you'll see even throughout the season. The HS boy's record is 15:13.48 set in 2007 and the girls HS is 17:35.07 set just a couple years ago in 2013. With teams coming from Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Illinois and of course Mississippi and Tennessee, you will be seeing some of the best athletes in the country running here. Over 3000 athletes entered to run Saturday evening. All total, and at last count, there will be over 30 college teams, 47 middle school teams and a whopping 92 teams for the high school divisions. This is not a come see what you can do meet… this is a come bring your best and be sure you're here to compete!!

Last year the middle school girls started out the evening with Houston Middle's Felicity Bost breaking the record for the 2K distance with a 6:55.42 time. That time is about 5:30 mile pace for a middle school athlete! By the way, Felicity is just now in 7^th grade and ran a 5:13.81 1500 this summer and she is running Saturday here! With the talent coming into this meet Saturday, that record might fall again… and possibly some of the others as well. And with that in mind, let's take a look at some of the athletes that may just be in that front pack as they enter the stadium at the end of their races:

Coming back to defend her title will be Kate Mattox of Starkville MS HS. She ran 18:37.64 last year to win the HS Girls Varsity race and was just ahead of Chelsea Drum of Jackson High MO. Chelsea is also coming back and likely wants to improve on her position this year! Last track season Kate won the 1600 and 3200 for her division in the MS State championships. She also ran 18:18.40 to win the MHSAA State last cross country. It looks like this race was a very good springboard for Kate and with that experience, she could be a force to deal with Saturday. Chelsea may be one to give Kate some trouble though since she's run a fast 18:11.10 late in last year's cross country season. And with a 4:56.21 1600 added to her credentials, she's certainly improved her speed for this season.

Last year, Laura Lys Shallow was the first local girl to cross the varsity line coming in fourth place in a time of 18:53. This St. Agnes athlete is accustomed to being at or near the top when she runs and with this being her senior season, my guess is she's coming into the season fully loaded and ready to run. California transplant and Briarcrest senior Ruth Wiggins burst on the scene last year as a junior and just barely got outkicked by Laura Lys at this race. Ruth ran an 18:54 and set up a pretty good competitive rivalry for the rest of the season with Laura Lys. Ruth matched her fifth place finish at the State championships too, and was again just behind Laura Lys. Ruth seems to have the edge in the shorter track distances but with both these girls being seniors, your guess is as good as mine as to who might just be the first across the finish line and kick off the year as the best!

Ruth and Laura Lys are both in D2 and will meet later in the season at state but will get a chance to go up against D2's Harpeth Hall's Caroline Daniel who is the currently ranked right behind Ruth and Laura Lys with her 19:04.90 best time from last season. Houston's Ella Baran or Shian Mallory may just have something to say from the local viewpoint and be at the finish line first as well. Ella is ranked 6^th in TN for returning athletes with a swift 18:19.70 on her resume that she ran at the Nike Southwest. So yep, some local talent might just shine at this meet too.

Out of Kansas City Missouri's Winnetonka HS is junior athlete Emma Evans. Emma has run a 5:06 in the 1600 and a 10:57 for the 3200 on the track and has been All State every year she's run high school cross country. That 10:57 was cranked out for a 7^th place finish at the Eastern Relays this past season and so you know she's ready to break out in the 5K cross country race this Saturday evening. Her best 5K is a pretty swift 18:50.20 which would put her in the top four at last year's race.

Louisiana's First Baptist Christian senior athlete Gabrielle Jennings is coming into this year's Brooks with a very robust cross country and track resume that is nothing if not packed full of wins over wins! Multiple LHSAA state indoor and outdoor championships in the 1600, 3200 and 800. Her PR's are just as impressive with 4:59.56 (1600), 10:43.75 (3200), 2:16 (800), and a 5K CC best in the low 18's (18:15.77 last season). Looking at Gabrielle's profile, you can tell that this girl absolutely loves to compete and is clearly a running machine! I counted almost 190 races under her belt and at least 80 percent of them were wins! And those wins were at some impressive meets, LSU HS Invitational, FSU Relays, not to mention the Louisiana indoor and outdoor championships. She last competed at this meet in 2011 as an 8^th grader and got 4^th overall in the girl's varsity division with a 19:13.47. And surprising enough, she has some indirect ties in the Memphis area: Mark Newman (St. Georges) and Gabrielle's dad went All State in the 1600 their senior seasons in South Louisiana! She is certainly one to watch!

Rebecca Buteau of Madison Central comes into the meet ranked #2 for returning 5K athletes in Mississippi. She's run 18:27.20 to get a runner up finish in the state cross country championships last year. She also has a 1600 time of 5:10.27 and very close to breaking under 11 with a fast 11:02.10 time.

Anna West, of Lafayette Missouri's team comes to town having the #2 overall Missouri mile split time for returning cross country athletes of 17:55.60 that she ran at the Nike Cross Midwest Regional last season. Her teammate, Sarah Nicholson also has a top 5 spot having run her best at the same meet in 18:10.20. Anna has some impressive track times too with a 4:51.24 in the 1600 and a 10:37.62 for the 3200. Sarah has some pretty classy times on the track too with a 4:55 (1600) and 10:52.47 (3200). These are going to be the girls to watch this year for sure!

Bentonville Arkansas's team brings in some raw talent Saturday too with #2 and #3 ranked returners in Katie Andrews (19:16.80) and Trinity Walker (19:23.60). Those two could just work together to pull in the top runners and get them near the front!

I might also jump out on a limb and say Houston could have the best overall girls' team this season in the area. They came in ninth last year at this meet but I expect that to be a bit better Saturday. However, West Plains Missouri team (3^rd in 2014) is back again this year and has reloaded with some pretty strong talent. Same goes for Jackson High, another strong team from the state of Missouri competing in this meet. As far as the boy's teams, West Plains came in with a lot of seniors at the top of their roster last season but their JV team was stacked with some really good talent. Josh Ingalls, the highest placing varsity non-senior, ran a 17:03 last year for West Plains and is probably the leader coming into this meet for them as well. The Houston boys were the top local team to finish last year and they could be strong again this year. But I think the Lafayette Missouri team may just be the top dogs at this meet and you'll see why after you read a little more about their athletes later in the article.

On the boys' varsity side, Javon Winders out of Henry County could be one to put up a great case that he's coming into this meet in better shape than how he finished the season last year. Last week he ran a PR of 15:24.56 and all eyes should be on him to be a favorite at the top. That race makes Javon the National #7 senior for the 5K. Titus Winders, Javon's brother and teammate, also comes into this meet having run a PR in his first race of the season. With his 16:17.47 last week, that shows a more than minute improvement from what he started his freshman season out last year.

Arkansas senior Kieran Taylor ran a 16:08 for the 5K distance at the Arkansas 7A XC championships last season and comes into the season ranked #3 overall in Arkansas for returning 5K athletes. Combine that with a 1:56.03 for the 800 track distance puts this athlete on the watch list as the leaders come into the stadium Saturday night. Kieran, who also has a 4:24.68 1600 and knows how to win, is making it to the meet from Little Rock's Catholic High School this weekend.

There also is an exceptionally fast contingent of Missouri athletes with Lafayette's Austin Hindman coming in at probably the top of the group having run a 15:31.50 PR at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest last season. Austin seems to have an ability to hold some speed over the longer distances with that CC time and also having a 9:11.34 track 3200. His teammate, Alec Haines is also a pretty talented speedster having a 15:33 PR in the 5K and has run 9:19 in the 3200 and is 1:55 for the 800 on the track. And this is interesting, Austin and Alec are ranked in the top 5 of the Missouri Mile Split for returning 5K cross country athletes. But that's not the most interesting part, two other Lafayette athletes, Dylan Quisenberry (15:46.40) and Devin Meyrer (15:53.10) fell into the top 10 for returners too! Umm, yea… my money might just be on this Lafayette team as the top of the heap this weekend.

Pearl MS high school is bringing some top guns to the meet in senior Shamar Tucker who has the fastest 1600 track time in Mississippi at 4:24 and won the Jesse Owens Classic Silver Division last year in 16:16.21. Another Pearl senior is Nakenbe Fleming with a 16:30 5K time and sub 10 in the 3200. Both these guys are top contenders at this meet. With about 30 high school and over 20 middle school athletes, Pearl is one of the bigger entries in this meet this year.

A couple of athletes may make some surprising moves at this meet as they seem to be right on the threshold of breaking out a strong race. University School of Jackson's Jack Goodwin with a 16:00 cross country time and Dylan White of West Plains (16:16) could be among the leaders.

I believe the Lafayette Missouri top guns of Austin Hindman, Alec Haines, Dylan Quisenberry, Devin Meyrer and Henry County TN's Javon Winders are the top runners to watch at this meet this year. With these top athletes in the mix, and who knows who else might just step up, we could see the boy's record drop a bit this year!

The college teams are bringing some top guns too. I was told that several of the schools coming into here are among the top NCAA ranked schools. Alabama women are coming into this meet with a #31 ranking, Mississippi State women at #24 and the Ole Miss men at #20. Teams are also coming from all over the country, however, that's not all that unusual in the college ranks. But schools like Murray State, Southeastern Oklahoma, William Woods, West Florida, Kentucky Wesleyan, several Arkansas and Mississippi schools, and Alabama make up a list of college entries that will end up this Saturday evening races with the Women running the 5K and Men running the 4 miler starting at 10pm.

There are a host of local runners among those college ranks, either making their debut as a collegiate athlete or coming in as a seasoned veteran in the field. Former Arlington stand out, Nik Pinarski joins the Christian Brothers University team along with Senior Matthew Billings (Munford), Ben Seaton (Germantown), and Adam Sommers (Germantown). On the girls side for CBU will include Juniors Shelbie Hunt (Bartlett) and Shelby Cavagnaro (St. George's).

And some Memphis athletes will be competing with veteran Tiger Chelsea Ladd (Dyer County) working to improve on her 11^th place finish here last year and Freshman Savannah Jordan (White Station) making her debut at the college level. Briacrest's Clay Austel running Unattached while attending Alabama will be out there and I have to believe his family will be watching his college debut for sure! Abigail Topham (Cordova) running for the Central Arkansas made her collegiate debut here last year and we look forward to seeing her run this season.

There's also some old (ok, old might be the wrong word but no longer freshman in college kind of old) but familiar names from the area coming to the meet. Running for Freed-Hardeman University is Noah Wallace (Harding Academy) and senior Ben Moon (ECS) and on the women's side is Sloan Scott (Harding). With Central Arkansas will be Sophie Clauss (Arlington) and Abigail Topham (Cordova). A few areas athletes coming with the Austin Peay team are Sarah Carpenter (Collierville), Jessica Gray (Arlington) and Unjala Lester (Bolton). And I'm sure there are several more that I'm missing but no doubt all will be cheered on at this meet!

I believe as a coach, this is how you want to start out the season. It's a chance to stack your athletes and team against the best runners around! In a way, it's an early season final exam. And when you wake up Sunday morning, you'll have one of the best assessments of what your team can accomplish. That's when you get to work on improving where you are and adjusting your goals for the rest of the season. When the gun goes off Saturday night for the first race, it means that cross country for the Memphis area is off and running again! Good luck to all!

See you on the Track… and the grass! And of course... Go Bucs!

Coach Ted