NBNI - Boys' Sprints/Hurdles Preview
60-Meter Dash (Prelims - Sat. 3/10, 9:25am)
A number of Pennsylvania's best will toe the line in the 60-meter dash on Saturday morning. Austin Kratz of Dock Mennonite headlines that list of PA boys. He won the indoor state title in a meet record time of 6.73. Two others from DeMatha Catholic (MD), Brendon Stewart and Nick Cross, have both run faster than Kratz this season.
Bethel Park's James Krandel took second at indoor states and has run a time of 6.91 (PA#3). Look for Krandel, in just his first season running indoors, to make a splash on the national scene. PA#4 Armonte Paulk of Hill-Freedman didn't run at states, but is worth watching for at nationals.
PA#5 Octavious Carter of LaSalle, PA#8 Alex Trower of Penn Hills, PA#9 Edner Dorwil of George Washington are among the other entries in the field.
200 Meters (Prelims - Sat. 3/11, 5:55pm)
Kratz will return later for the 200 meters. He broke the state record at SPIRE this season, running 21.04, and then followed that up with a state meet record of 21.09 at Penn State a few weeks ago. What's he have in store for an encore? The top seed is Eric Allen Jr. from Maryland, who dropped an incredible 20.91 at UK earlier this season. Don't expect Kratz to back down from this challenge and this will be a great race.
Paulk is also entered in the 200 meters. He ran a best of 22.34 on a flat track earlier this season and didn't compete at the indoor state meet, so he'll have a lot of motivation to close out his indoor season on a high note.
400 Meters (Prelims - Sat. 3/10, 3:55pm)
The top six boys in Pennsylvania are all entered in the 400 meters championship section at NBNI. Leading the charge is Miles Green of Saint Joseph's Prep, who took home the state title in the 400 meters, returns to the track. Green went 47.93, a US#8 in that state victory. His SJP teammate Robert Dupell III (PA#3) is also in the field.
Bishop Shanahan's Rick Zink, who took second to Green at states in a PR of 48.54 is entered. Zink has been one of the season's breakthrough performers. Council Rock North's Michael Welde took third at states in a PA#4 49.14 and will look for a strong race at The Armory. Germantown Friends' Kai Cummings is another 2018 breakthrough. He was fourth at states.
60-Meter Hurdles (Prelims - Sat. 3/10, 10:15am)
This may only be the second most anticipated matchup between North Allegheny's Ayden Owens and Germantown Academy's Kyle Garland (#1 comes a few pages over), but it will still be a good one.
Owens has been incredible in the hurdles all season long. He ran 7.70 at TSTCAs and two other clockings under 7.8 in the 60-meter hurdles this season, culminating with a state title in the event a few weeks ago. He sits at US#2 entering NBNI. For Garland, an injury kept him out of the state meet, but he has dropped a now-US#5 7.86 this season. The question remains what his health is like, but Garland is a battler and we should expect him to compete hard this weekend.
But leading the field is US#1 Eric Edwards from Texas. He went 7.66 this season and sits atop the national rankings. Owens said his sights are on that top spot and it should be one of the best races of the weekend. US#4 Joshua Brockman from North Carolina is also in the field.