Nearly 1600 athletes and 44 teams are set to compete over the next two days in the Rocket City or more formally known as Huntsville, Alabama. This first year meet has competitors from Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and of course Sweet Home Alabama. The Rocket City Showcase presented by Huntsville High School is a championship style track meet which will have prelims for all events from 400m down, progressively more competitive flights in the field events, and distance events where pace light technology will be utilized.
Some athletes on the girl's side to keep an eye out for are Caroline Sanders of Scottsboro. Just last week Caroline leapt 20-0 feet in the long jump! She is currently ranked #1 in Alabama in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump, with her specialties being spread across 2 days we could see some even bigger marks dropped by Caroline! In the girls 100m Zaria Parker of James Clemens will display her sprint prowess as she is currently #1 in this event. Additionally, Zariah has her eyes set on cracking into the top 5 for the girls 200m. In the long sprint/middle distance department Jordan Bray of Calera looks to improve on her Alabama #2 400 of 56.88 and her Alabama #5 of 2:16.34. The 400 finals, if all ladies perform to their standard could see three ladies under the 1 minute mark. Watch for Alivia Urrutia of Bob Jones and Mia Martin of Scottsboro in the 400m finals. In the ladies 100m hurdle we should see a top 10 showdown between Ashanti Slaughter of Mae Jemison and Erin Pernell of Northridge. Both of these ladies have run under 16.0 this season and only .03 separates the two!
Not to be outdone by the ladies, the boy's competition will be stiff across the board all weekend. In the 800m we will see Dylan Dryer Alabama #3, Luke Alverson Alabama #5, and Eric Moore Alabama #10 battle it out. I suspect the pace lights will be set for 1:52 or faster. In the boy's 400, Austin McCall of Crosstown High School in Memphis, Tn is set to impress with his US #20 47.41 time! In the field department Adam Byars of Cullman will put his big gun on display in the javelin. He currently sits at US#34 and Alabama #4. In the boys triple jump two of the absolute best in the state who also happen to compete for the same school, Northridge, should impress with their athleticism. Kilan Little is currently Alabama #3 in the triple. Sitting at the #2 spot in Alabama and US#11 with a personal and season best of 48-5 is Khiyon Lewis. Northridge's William Numnum hopes to improve on his incredible vault of 14-0 mark set at the Husky March Classic. With all the points Northridge should rack up in the field events they coul be in the hunt for the team title at the Rocket City Showcase!
Finally we come to what could be some of the most electric races of the weekend in the boys 100m and 200m. In the 200m we have 3 of the states fastest in Jaden King, Jordan Urrutia of Bob Jones, and Alijah Vaughn of Sparkman. Jaden is right on the brink of joining the sub 22 club with his recent 22.10 performance, if he can get pulled along we could see 3 boys dip under 22 in the 200m final! Then there is the 100m, just last week Alijah Vaughn and Zathian Webster battled to the line at the Northridge-Jaguar Invitational. Only .03 separated the boys when they crossed the line!
Be sure to tune into to the meet page for all the latest updates and action for the meet!