Price-led/anchored Easton team favorite. Several state meet records should be surpassed.

By Kimberly Jaick Soden, edited by Don Rich

The Easton girls have depth. Not only that, they can score in a ton of events. But heading their chances to move from last year's runner-up to this year's champs is junior Chanelle Price. She should contribute with two individual wins and give them a chance at two relay wins, as well. Watch the rest of this remarkable junior class of girls, including Ryann Krais in the hurdles, 400, long jump and a relay, Carly Seymour in the 3000, and Karen Shump in the shot put. The boys individual match-up mile between defending champ Paul Springer and Millrose mile champ Jason Weller should be epic. The 800 will be a rumble. And the shot will be out there over 60. It may take some special jumps to win the high, long and triple. And buckel your seatbelt for the sprints and relays. There is always something to prove in a very short time.

GIRLS PREVIEW 

Sprints
  Defending silver medalist Simone Carter of West Catholic enters this year's 60-meter dash the No. 1 seed at 7.66. Looking to give her  headaches are No. 2 seed Shanae Bailey of Swenson (7.73) and No. 3 seed Whitney Winters of Conestoga (7.80). Bailey and Carter will also battle in the 200-meter dash with Bailey entering as the No. 1 seed at 24.89 and Carter as the No. 4 seed at 25.24. In between them are Germantown Academy's Caitlin DeFusco (24.89) and Devan Coon of Schuylkill Valley (25.17). Methacton sensation Ryann Krais looks to be in control of the 400-meter dash, entering the meet with a 56.46 clocking. No. 2 and No. 3 seeds Ijeoma Iheoma of Council Rock South and Jessica Dorsey of Easton enter with times of 57.63 and 57.81, respectively. At least a bronze from Dorsey will help the Red Rovers in their quest to win this winter's team title after taking second last year. Krais, who has dreams of being an Olympic hepthathlete, is also back to defend her 60-meter hurdles title. Coming in with an 8.60, better than her state-winning time last year, Krais' closest competition looks to be Hughesville's Rachel Houseknecht at 8.90.

Distance
  After taking bronze in the Millrose Games girls mile, Chanelle Price is out to double-dip in the 800 and mile. Price enters the 800 with the US #1 2:08.26 and the US#2 4:50.65 mile. No one should touch her, but she'll have to cover the early fast pace set by Shaniel Chambers of Chester, who never shies from the battle. But Price isn't just out for individual gold, she's out to lead her team to the state championship. She should also appear as anchor in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. Foot Locker cross country All-American Carly Seymour is the favorite heading into the 3,000 meter run. Her best is 10:14.42 and her closest competitor is Cedar Cliff's Kassie Meholick at 10:21.20. One shouldn't rule out No. 3 Alison Shickora, however, who enters with a 10:33.44.
  
Jumps/Vault
  Rebekah Newhart of Hughesville heads into this year's high jump championship as the No. 1 seed with a best of 5-06, which was the height that won it last year by Bradford's Erin Hannon. Behind her are Central Dauphin's Katie Butler and Reading's Jasmin Hunt, both at 5-05. Stephanie McDougal of North Penn and Abby Schaffer of Easton will battle in the pole vault. McDougal enters at 12-06, Schaffer at 12-4, but Schaffer will also be thinking team points as well as continuing the Red Rover pole tradition started by the Regan sisters. Methacton's Ryann Krais will be popping back and forth with running trials/events to defend her long jump title. She enters at 19-01.75, just two inches off her winning leap from last year and over a foot ahead of No. 2 seed Tanaya Lloyd of Girard College(18-03.50). Nohjay Nimpson of Archbishop Ryan is the favorite in the triple jump, having leapt 38-02.75 on 2/16 at the DVGTCA MOC. Her competition is Binton Dibba of Upper Darby, who's best mark is 37-09.25.
 
Throws
  2006 shot put runner-up Karen Shump of Penncrest is throwing consistently better this season since opting out of full-time softball as a pitcher. Her season best and all-time PR of 49-04.25 is US#2. She will try to get a winning throw and then head for the ultimate goal of 50'. Seven other girls are over 40' in shot-rich PA, led by Coatesville's Kaleena Gray at 44-01.75. North Allegheny's Jade Hambrick and Norristown's Gabriella Rinehart have both gone nearly 41'.
  

Relays
  Harrisburg enters the 4x200-meter relay with the No. 1 time of 1:43.45, but close behind are defending champion West Catholic (1:44.51) and Swenson (1:44.62). Thanks to strong anchor legs by Chanelle Price, Easton holds the top seeds in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. The Red Rovers are the defending 4x800 champions and last year's 4x400 bronze  medallists. Easton enters this year's 4x4 with a 3:57.76, followed by Methacton's 3:59.10, so expect to see an exciting battle between Price and Krais. Easton's season best is actually 3:52.55, set at the Armory, where Price also ran a US #3 in 54.37 in the open 400. A week after Price ran at Millrose, Easton clocked 9:33.38 at Lehigh to secure the team for states. The top time in the state belongs to St. Basil Academy, a 9:32.26 run in January at the NY Armory. A team looking to challenge is Downington East (9:34.00). In the distance medley relay, Henderson enters as the No. 1 seed at 12:28.64 followed by Pennridge (12:35.04) and Archbishop Prendergast (12:36.08).
  

BOYS PREVIEW 

  
Sprints
  Cheltenham's Brandon Bing enters this year's 60-meter dash as the only sub-7 second sprinter with a 6.98 clocking earlier in the winter. William Penn Charter' Kashif Smith, who was failed to finish in last year's semi-finals, is the No. 2 seed with a 7.01 and the next four guys, who include JP McCaskey's Lynn Anderson, Upper Darby's Mark Short and Smith's teammate Dareem David are all seeded at 7.04. Smith did beat Bing in the 2/17 TFCAGP Meet of Champs, but Bing had the fastest time of the meet earlier in the prelims. This one will have to be settled on the straightaway center-track. Bing also holds the No. 1 seed in the 200-meter dash, entering the meet with a 21.81, the only sub-22 entering the championship. With the graduation of the Talley brothers (Kenneth was last year's state champ and Kevin was fourth), the door has opened for former Simon Gratz teammate Khaliff Featherston, fifth a year ago, to keep Gratz on top in this event. Featherston enters as the No. 3 seed at 22.50, but will have to contend with Bing and Cumberland Valley's Juan Steward, seeded second at 22.01. If Featherston can't bring gold back to Simon Gratz in the 200, he'll have a good shot in the 400, where he's the top seed at 49.41 after finishing eighth last year. A close second is last year's runner-up Chad Sargeant of Neshaminy at 49.47, followed by Joshua Potts of Harrisburg (50.24). With the graduation of Chichester's Carrington Queen, Brice Myers of McDowell, who placed 16th last winter, enters the boys 60-meter hurdles with a comfortable lead over the field. Myers clocked a best of 8.17 this winter and his closest competitors are Kashif Thompson of Archbishop Ryan and Jonathan Kowal of Ambridge with seeds of 8.31 and 8.34, respectively.
  

Paul Springer (leading) and Jason Weller, will match up in a great mile.

Distance
  Andrew Rotz of Central Dauphin enters the 800-meter run with a 1:54.92, but will face Henderson's Chris Ferry and last year's bronze medalist Jamar Jones of the School of Engineering and Science, who both have times of 1:55.44. After showing how well he can run the short, banked Madison Square Garden track, Millrose Mile and PIAA 3A cross country champ Jason Weller of Boyertown is out to pull off the distance double this weekend. He has entered his 4:15.81 Millrose clocking in the boys mile run and his distant competition includes T.J. Hobart of Baldwin and Lucas Zarzeczny of Avonworth, seeded at 4:21.12 and 4:21.34, respectively. However, Unionville's Paul Springer is also entered in the mile (and later the 800), and after beating Weller head-to-head in the 3000 on 2/10 at the PTFCA Track Carnival with a PA-leading 8:32.07, has his sights set on bettering the meet record of 4:13.98 held by O'Hara's Sean Duffy. Weller is also the No. 1 seed in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:39.24. Scott VanKooten of Pittsburgh Central is the No. 2 seed at 8:47.44.
 
Jumps/Vault
  Entering with a height of 6-10 in the boys high jump, defending champ Jay Pittenger of William Tennent would seem to have the event all but wrapped up. But that jump was in early December. Tim Malloy of Neshaminy, fourth a year ago, and Kyriq Williams of Phoenixville enter tied for second at 6-6. Pittenger has gone 6-8 twice since that big 12/2 jump, and will have to be on his game to hold off the competition. Defending pole vault champion Sean Gil of North Allgheny is set to do battle with Hatboro-Horsham's Joe Berry, who enters with a height of 15-2, the state best. Gil's best this winter has been 15-0. Steve Werner of Cardinal O'Hara has a comfortable lead over the boys long jump field, entering with a distance of 23-04 from his final jump at the TFCAGP MOC. Nick Coberly of Pennridge is next at 22-09.75, followed by the Central Bucks South duo of Vice Formica and Colin Donnelly, both at 22-09.5. Spencer Semaj of Glen Mills can relax even more as he enters the triple jump with a 48-05 leap. He was 3rd last Saturday at Penn State, over 3' under his season best. Garner McCloud of Kiski Area enters second at 46-04, followed by Semaj's teammate Darren Johnson, 45-11.25, and Darin Carter of Pottsgrove, 45-06.

Throws
  Chesnut Hill Academy's Wayne Crawford and Bethlehem Catholic's Joe Kovacs made headlines a few weeks ago by surpassing the 60-foot mark in the shot put. Crawford holds the lead at the US #16 61-01.75 over Kovac's US #18 60-04. Crawford was sixth last year with a throw of 52-06.
 
Relays
  With four teams seeded right around 1:30, it may take surpassing that mark to win this year's 4x200-meter championship. Cardinal O'Hara, which placed 10th last year, leads the way at 1:30.32, followed by bronze medalist Harrisburg (1:30.50), Neshaminy (1:30.61) and JP McCaskey (1:30.70). Defending champion Harrisburg and Neshaminy will also battle in the 4x400, but Harrisburg holds an advantage with a top time of 3:21.67 entering the meet. Neshaminy has run 3:24.09. After finishing 17th a year ago, Bradford enters the 4x800 as the No. 1 seed, clocking a best of 8:01.25 this winter. Great Valley, 12th last winter, follows at 8:02.63. Wissahickon and Henderson look to be the favorites in the first states-level running of the distance medley relay with times of 10:28.54 and 10:29.94, respectively. But don't rule out No. 3 Boyertown, despite its best time being 10:39.39, if Weller puts down the hammer in the mile (after his open mile and 3000, of course).