New Class, New Favorites
If the cross country state championship was a preview for what we can expect from this new cycle of classifications, it's going to be an exciting track and field season in these divisions. Towards the end of the year teams that were small fish in big ponds now are recalibrating how they set their roster to maximize points across all events rather than just a few and runners who were on the outside looking in just last year, find themselves with a target on their back's now as they become one of the top returners in their event. Here are a handful I've identified that I've likely not already covered in previous write ups.
Avia Lane - MLK
For Avia, I don't think it would've mattered which class she was going to be in this season, she was going to be in contention no matter what. As a freshman, she placed 2nd and 4th in the 100m and 200m distances respectively in Large Division-I and would return Top 5 in both races considering every runner state-wide. In Class AA though, she returns as the favorite in both with a nearly a full second advantage on her next closest competitor in the 200m dash. With the Lions in contention for a team title, it'll be interesting to see how they utilize Lane in her other two events as she does have a decent Long Jump mark at 17-3 and I would imagine could run a pretty mean 400m as well as she was part of the MLK 4x400m Relay team that ran 4:05 last season.
Avia Lane won the Large Division-I Section 3 100m Dash last season over eventual champion Whisper Thomas.