What Would Have Been: Boys 200m
AA
Like the 100 meters, Marlin Devonshire took home the 200 meter state title. And there are a host of juniors from that final that were set to be hungry for the state crown this time around. It would be a good mix between the 100 meter stars and the 400 meter favorite, ready to battle it out for the win.
Ian Thrush of Brookville was second last year, just .05 off of Devonshire. He went 21.48 last spring to win his district meet and surely would have been in the hunt for the 200 title. Carylnton's Dequay Canton was third in the state final, Girard College's Donovan Sanders was fourth, and Motivation's Laminu Abbas was fifth. It was set to be a good race between the short sprint specialists (Thursh, Canton, and Abbas) and the 400 favorite in Sanders.
Sanders won the 200 meters at the indoor state meet in a time of 21.51 to close out his impressive winter. That boded well for him going into the season.
West Catholic's Marcel Jackson was eighth last season as a freshman and would have been one to watch, as he was set to make another run at the podium. Imhotep's Hafis Upshaw, Hickory's Mike Henwood, and Brookville's Jack Krug also had quick times from last season.
AAA
After capturing the 400 meter state crown last spring, Saint Joseph's Prep's Salim Epps placed a close second in the 200 meters later in the meet. Epps, the big 400 meter favorite, will look to add a 200 meter state title to his resume. He was a narrow second place finisher to Donovan Sanders at indoor states, but Sanders is in AA during the outdoor season making Epps the favorite in the half-lapper.
Epps went 21.60, his outdoor best, in the state final last year, which Ezra Mellinger won. Joseph Bruno of Mechanicsburg is the only other returner from last year's final. The versatile Bruno placed seventh in the final last season and would have been primed for another run at the medal stand in the 200.
Central Dauphin East's Shawn Brown, the 100 meter state champion last year, didn't make the final in the 200 last year, but he would surely be a contender this season. He was third in the very close indoor state final in the winter. Among the other would-be challengers are Wilkes-Barre's Rafael McCoy, Upper Darby's Darlington Brooks, Pennridge's Joey Gant, and Harrisburg's Kamere Day.