The girls mile will have the most PA representation, as four athletes will represent PA. Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury and Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley have been in sharp form in the past several weeks. The two represent two-thirds of the trio that have broken 10 minutes for 3000 meters and sit in the national top three. Clahane punched her ticket for this meet with victory at the Millrose Trials in 4:58.11, while Sargent ran 4:55.17 to win the mile at the New Balance Games 3 weeks ago.
Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends will also enter the mile after her recent successes at 800 and 600 meters the past few weeks. She spent a couple of weeks at US#1 at 800 meters with her 2:10.52 performance at Yale. Two weeks later at the Armory Track Invite, she made a huge move in the final few meters in the 600 meter run to earn a win and a US#1 time of 1:32.30. This will be her 4th career mile.
Meanwhile, Marissa Sheva of Pennridge will be making his 3rd consecutive appearance at the Millrose Games. Sheva is seeking the form that got her to this meet, a 4:50.73 win at the Bishop Loughlin Games back on December 20. Can she find it at her final Millrose appearance?
The boys mile will have Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy carry the PA flag in New York. Ritz has regained his sharp form that had him at the top of the country in three events. Ritz finished 5th at last weekend's New Balance Grand Prix in Boston with a PA state record 4:10.50! What can he do for an encore?
Joining those milers will be some of the state's top sprinters competing in the 55 meter dash. The boys will have the state leader at 60 meters, Christian Brissett of Cheltenham and Osiris Nicholson of Church Farm School compete in the 55 meter dash. Brissett ran 6.96 for 60 meters last week at Lehigh. Nicholson spent a portion of the season as the top 55 meter sprinter early in the season.
The girls race will have top 60 meter sprinter Chanel Brissett of Cheltenham, top 55 meter sprinter Taylor Chapman of Pennridge, and Dasia Pressley of Pennsbury. Brisset got the better of Chapman by .01 seconds the last time those two went head to head. This will be the first time for Pressley squaring off against both Brissett and Chapman. The winner will have a huge advantage entering the state meet.
In the 4x8, Pennsbury and Penncrest will represent the boys. The last time these two teams went at it, Pennsbury ran a US#5 7:52.46 in a 5th place finish at the Armory Track Invitational. The two teams are still the top two in the state at the moment. How much can they improve?
Cheltenham boys will put their US#1 4x200 meter ranking on the line against the US#3 and 4 teams. Cheltenham ran 1:28.40 in their last trip to the Armory. Can they better that performance and win once again? The girls 4x2 will have PA's top two teams, Cheltenham and Pennsbury go at it. Cheltenham ran a US#4 at Kevin Dare 3 weeks ago, but on their last trip to New York, they went down in the 1st exchange. Clean exchanges will be key for them this time around. Pennsbury ran 1:40.96 for US#9 3 weeks ago, but this will be their first time going head to head against the state leaders. The state record is 1:39.00. Will that go down?
The pole vault will have Tesia Kempski of Bishop McDevitt representing PA in the girls, while Ryan Wilkes of Valley View will represent the boys. Kempski has been on top of the state since day 1 this season with a 12 foot clearance. Wilkes cleared 16 feet at the Hispanic Games over a month ago, and cleared 14-6 in his last competition last week.