PTFCA Indoor States Preview: Girls' Sprints & Hurdles


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