The wait is over. It is officially PTFCA Championship Week. With an action-packed meet on deck - we want to ensure you're as prepared as we are.
Throughout the week, we will release event-by-event previews of the action and what you can expect on Sunday. Today we have previews of the 60 Hurdles, 60 Dash, 200m and 400m. Make sure to click through to each event to read event-by-event previews of the action.
60 Hurdles | 60 Dash | 200m | 400m
60m Dash Preview
by Karlon Nixon
The Boys
Who will be crowned the fastest boy in Pennsylvania this Sunday in Happy Valley? It will happen in the blink of an eye and be anyone's race, with the top 6 seeds all under 7 seconds.
Richland's Evan McCracken will compete in his first PTFCA Championship this weekend and has run the fastest 60-meter dash this season at 6.83 seconds. McCracken started his indoor campaign in January with a win at The Kevin Dare Invitational, winning in 6.93. He followed that race by placing 2nd at the Spire Scholastic Showcase Meet over an elite field.
Jackson Clarke (Danville) is the second seed with a personal best of 6.94 this season. Clarke has had an active indoor season, placing first at the Spire Scholastic Invitational and East Coast Invitational. At the Kevin Dare Invitational, Clarke took 2nd behind McCracken but will have another shot at racing him this weekend in the highly anticipated rematch.
Jaylen Foster of Wissahickon is having a breakout junior year. He enters the 60-meter dash with a personal best of 6.95, winning three of the TFCAofGP meets this season and can claim the 60-meter state championship.
Three sprinters have run 6.98 this season. Asir Moore (Imhotep Institute Charter), Austyn Winkleblech (Canon-McMillan), Lavar Jackson (Upper Darby). All three will seek a personal best and could find themselves on top of the podium.
Hickory's Long Jump specialist, Luca Bertolasio, is the only returning medalist from 2022 in the 60-meter dash with a season-best of 7.04 and will bring much-needed experience to make the final.
With 13 boys under 7.05 this indoor season, navigating between the prelims to semis and then to the finals will be a massive task for each competitor.
The Girls
In the 60m - all eyes will be on Avery Lewis of Friends' Central, who looks to defend her 60-meter dash PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championship from 2022. Lewis' accolades speak for themselves. Entering her junior year, she is the fastest girl in the 60-meter dash in Pennsylvania history and currently has the 4th fastest time in the nation in 2023. Lowering her state record will be a challenge entering the PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championship.
Lewis will be joined by Saige Forbes (Episcopal Academy) and Dani Prunzik (Upper St. Clair), both medalists in 2022.
Forbes is looking to continue her success at Penn State. In January, she won the Kevin Dare Invitational (7.79) over a great field of competitors and followed that meet with a first-place finish at the Ocean Breeze Invitational.
Prunzik has run a limited indoor meet schedule in 2023 but has won the YSU meet #3 and TSTCA #4. She also has a personal best of 7.66, run on the Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Track at Penn State last year.
Junior Macaela Walker from Oxford Area will have a busy afternoon competing in both the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles, where she is ranked first in the 60 hurdles & second in the 60m dash. Walker took the PTFCA Indoor Carnival last weekend with a season-best 7.67
Freshmen Amirah Nesmith from Archbishop Ryan is looking to make a name for herself by entering her first PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championship. Nesmith has had a great start to her high school career, winning the Garden State Invitational and PCL Indoor Championships.
Tatum Norris 7.71 (Susquehanna Community), Natalia Holmes 7.81 (Chambersburg), and Malia Abdullah 7.86 (State College Area) are looking to claim a spot on this year's podium. All three competitors are having successful seasons in 2023 and would like to cap off the indoor season with an indoor state medal.
With the entire field of 24 girls under 7.97 seconds, this event looks to be exciting and fast through all three rounds.