The girls 60 and 200 meter dashes will be a huge confidence boost for the winner. The dash will have former PA#2 Jaylyne Aminu of Liberty returning to the place where she ran 7.68 in December. Christina Johnson Susquehanna Township, Alicia Collier of Penncrest, and Jameela Muhammad of Paul Robeson will challenge her in the dash. Johnson and Collier will be joined by 9th grader Jayana Webb of Norristown, who has had a good start to her high school career, failing to break 26 seconds just once out of 5 appearances.
The 400 meter dash will feature the outdoor 400 meter AAA state champion McKenna Keegan of Avon Grove. Keegan has been in good form, coming off a 2:17.51 800 meter performance a couple of weeks ago. She has run 58.03 in the 400 this season, and will look to put herself in the state mix with a good race on Saturday. Ty’Asia Dansbury of Harrisburg currently has the 2nd fastest 400 meter time in the state on a flat track behind Keegan (58.27). Katie Arbogast of Penncrest is also a sub 59 second 400 meter runner this season.
The 60 meter hurdles features the event debut of the reigning state champion Sierra Brabhim-Lawrence of Harrisburg. Her competition schedule has been limited, but Saturday will be her first run at 60 hurdles since her state meet record win last March. Aspen Gaita of Strousburg and Markeeta Thomas of Paul Robeson will make this race one not to miss on Saturday.
Keegan is also scheduled to compete in the 800 meter run against the steady Natasha Fedkina of State College and the up and coming Agnes Mansaray of Penn Wood. The trio all sits in the top 11 in the state this season. The mile will have Emily Burd of Friends Central and Katie Bacher of Emmaus seeking victory and a time that can place them into the seeded section at states. Both have dipped under 5:15 this season. Lizzie Morris of Central Bucks East will be a formidable challenger to the two top seeds.
Stakes will be high in the 3000 meter run, as the standard to reach the state meet has soared in the past several weeks. With a projection of a sub 10:30 needed to go through (should everyone enter), big marks will be needed to guarantee qualification. Hannah Molloy of Pennsbury and Claire Wolters of Strath Haven have achieved a sub 10:30 mark, but will want to go faster to secure their state berth. Jackie Kinkead of Central Bucks East is on the cusp of sub 10:30 and can achieve it with a good race. AA cross country state champion Ally Rome of Dallas is coming off a Varsity Classic 3200 meter win a week ago in 11:11.
In the relays, Susquehanna Township will take on the 4x2 and 4x400 meter relays. The former 4x2 state leaders will look to put themselves back in state title contention. Norristown, Overbrook, Harrisburg, and Penncrest will challenge the former leaders. All five teams have dipped under 1:45 this season. Norristown and Penncrest will also join Susquehanna Township in the 4x4. Outdoor state champions Central Bucks West, Penn Wood, and Paul Robeson will also run the 4x4. Six sub 4:10 teams in total will compete head to head in this event.
Central Bucks West will also run the distance medley relay as they look to get close to regaining their state lead they held back in January. Conestoga and Central Bucks East will look to secure state meet qualification with a big performance. The 4x8 will have the likes of Abington, Central Bucks West, Friends Central, and Wilson (3) shooting to get into the state meet, as they are currently on the outside looking in.
In the field events, Shannon Taub of Council Rock South looks to continue her winning ways in the high jump. The senior has cleared 5-5 this season and is on the cusp of joining the crew of 5-6 jumpers. Grace Becker of Central Bucks East will challenge Taub. In the pole vault, Tesia Kempski of Bishop McDevitt has sat at the top of the pole vault list since day 1. She will look to break 12 feet for the first time since then when she takes on Lucianne Burner of North Pocono, who won at Lehigh in her last appearance in December. Megan Fry of State College won the Kevin Dare Invite 3 weeks ago, while Kaitlyn Toman of Salisbury finished behind Burner back in December.
The long jump will be an event to watch on Saturday, as the top two in the state meet head to head for the first time since the Christmas City Relays. Aspen Gaita of Stroudsburg edged out Katy Alberici of Susquehanna Township by one inch in that meet, 18-4.5 to 18-3.50. Neither jumper has come close to those marks since that meet, but have not lost their place in the state rankings. Will lighting strike twice for these jumpers?
The shot put will be another opportunity for Emily Stauffer of Cocalico to improve on her 47-10 she set back on January 10. This will be her 9th meet of the season. She has six wins so far this season.
