Girls' 400 Meter Preview
While Davies is heavily favored to win 60 and 200 meter titles on Sunday, one sprint event that is much more wide open is the two-lapper. In the 400 meters. Four girls are entered with season bests under 57 seconds and separated by less than a half a second.
The top seed is Sydni Townsend of Neumann Goretti. She went 55.99 at the Marine Corps Classic and has turned in some impressive splits on the Saints' top-ranked 4x400-meter relay. But before that relay, she'll look for individual gold. She was fourth last season in the 400 and is the reigning outdoor AA state champ in the 300-meter hurdles.
The top returner from last year's indoor state meet, though, is Alexis Crosby of Cheltenham. While she's won a number of relay golds in her career at the state level, perhaps no one is hungrier for an individual state title than Crosby. She ran 56.09 for the win at Ocean Breeze and will look to cap off her indoor career with the win. Her teammate Bria Barnes (PA#3; eighth in 2017) has been right by her side on a number of occasions this season. Look for Crosby and Barnes to feed off of each other in this race.
Speaking of teammates, Townsend will also have a teammate in the field in Mykala Perry. As a freshman, she was third at indoor states last year, and sits at PA#4 this season. Townsend and Perry could also work together. To add to the drama here, crucial team points are on the line for both of these squads as if anyone needed anymore motivation. Ultimately, this could turn into a battle down the home stretch.
Others to watch for in this field include Stroudsburg's Jasmine Douglas-Grant (PA#5), Saucon Valley's Talitha Diggs (PA#6), Hickory's Morgan Donatelli (PA#7), and Springside Chestnut Hill's Alexandria Kitchell (PA#8).
Girls' 400 Meter Entries:
Event 9 Girls 400 Meter Dash (24) =============================================================================== Meet Record: 53.82 2/26/2005 Nicole Leach, West Catholic Name Year School =============================================================================== 1 Barnes, Bria 11 Cheltenham 2 Burton, Jada 12 Susquehanna 3 Crosby, Alexis 12 Cheltenham 4 Diggs, Talitha 10 Saucon Valle 5 Donatelli, Morgan 12 Hickory 6 Douglas-Grant, Jasmine 12 Stroudsburg 7 Helbling, Rachel 12 South Fayette 8 Higgins, Tara 12 Penncrest 9 Irgau, Absara 12 Baldwin School 10 Johns, Kamani 9 Chester 11 Jolibois, Kaela 12 Villa Joe Marie 12 Kitchell, Alexandria 12 Spside Chstnut 13 Kwortnik, Natalie 11 North Penn 14 Lawler, Taniyah 9 Chester 15 MacFarlane, Izzy 10 Friends' Cen 16 Madson, Jane 11 Upper St Clair 17 Mangan, Molly 11 Mount Lebano 18 McGriff, Ashton 12 Bradford 19 Moore, Elicia 11 Penn Wood 20 Mucci, Faith 10 Greater Latrobe 21 Perry, Mykala 10 Neumann Gore 22 Pratt, Acey 10 Baldwin School 23 Townsend, Sydni 12 Neumann Gore 24 Unthank, Haley 12 Spside Chstnut