The weather should be much better this year at the North Atlanta Invitational
The 2024 Georgia outdoor track and field season is underway. And there are plenty of meets to keep an eye on here. Georgia MileSplit will have coverage at four meets this weekend. Here's my weekly rundown of what to look for over the weekend.
Westlake Lions Showcase
It's a good rule of thumb to just always be checking out results from any meet held at Westlake. Sometimes the elite performances are expected, and sometimes people break state records. Who knows what will happen here at the Westlake Lions Showcase. It does look like the host is playing it conservative out of the gates, but Jaden Billings is running the 100m dash and the weather forecast for Saturday looks to be pretty solid for fast times. The hurdles should see a good battle between Zaniyah Jones and India Thorpe as well. Thorpe could be the star of the meet if she can win both hurdles and the high jump. On the boys side MLK appears to be the team to beat as they lead the entries in most events. The best race will probably be the 110m hurdles or the 800. In the hurdles Dalen Penson, Bryce Wilson(MLK), and Kyshon Kenney are all sub 15. In the 800 it could be an MLK sweep as they have the top 3 seeds and the only 2 sub 2:00 guys with Omari Sawyer and Kameron Sutton.
North Atlanta Invitational
The meet of the weekend though is almost certainly the Bima Sports North Atlanta Invitational. There's a lot of sprint firepower at this one and there are too many big names to list them all. The big dog is state record holder Maurice Gleaton who is the heavy favorite in both the 100 and 200 if healthy. He's also got his teammates Carsyn Baker (100/200), Dorian Page (100), and Kani Smith (200/400) to show off the depth that Langston Hughes has. They could also be loading up in a relay or two to go for a fast time in the good weather if they want. Other potential sprint stars at this meet include Christian Whitmore (100), Blake Williams (200), Kylan Swift (100/200), and Ian Hodge (400). In the hurdle events look for Williams to do well in the 100 as he battles Ethan Johnson and Daniel James leads the way in the 300m hurdles. Altaveon Grant and Willem Mandel are both 1:53 guys and could put on a show in the 800. In the 1600 Joseph Jacquot is the stud but don't write off Jacob Pullen. Jacob Jacquot will tr to win the 3200, but both Jacquot brothers could be challenged by Matthew Coates. Malachi Yehudah is entered with a 7-0 in the high jump while Phillips Moore has thrown over 60 feet in the shot put.
On the girls side the sprinting events again appear to be the deepest and there are too many big names to list them all. Chelsea Williams is the top seed in both the 100 and 200. In the 100 she'll be challenged by Jada Ray and Sophia Richard and in the 200 she'll be pushed by Maddison Brister and Richard. The 400 has 8 girls under a minute led by 3 sub 56 with Madison Gardner, Brister, and Yasmine Williams. Kennedy Myers leads the way in both hurdle races with her biggest challenger being Sydney Glee in the 100 and Kennedy Reynolds as well as Glee in the 300. Claire Shelton should get two easy wins in the 1600 and 3200 while Kenyah Conner will make her 800m debut on Saturday and could be pushed to the line by Sophie D'Elena. In the Discus, Kaz McLoughlin and Jakayla Arnold should have a good battle while Arnold is the favorite in the Shot Put. Madison Townsend should take care of business with her 13-0 PR in the pole vault and Mary Rozier will try to hold off Kayleigh Stargell in the long jump.
Roswell Swarm at the Nest
The Roswell Swarm at the Nest will feature the season debut of many talented athletes. The boys 1600 should be a good one here as Dermot Maloney and Christian Jimenez lead the way over several other athletes who could be ready to breakthrough. Abenezer Woellore could be looking to disrupt their party though and then will double back inthe 800 later on in the day as the favorite. Will Frederick(marietta will be the top seed in the pole vault at this one as he's 4 feet higher than the next best competitor and might not come in until everybody else is already done. In the girls 1600 I expect several new PR's considering how well the XC seasons went for some of these ladies. Morgan Grace Sheffield and Elizabeth Stamey lead the way, but Josie Hutchinson and Sanam Rangaraj will certainly be in the mix with how well they raced this fall. Kaya Booker and Camille Brown should have a good race in the 400. Lilah Versluis will be making her outdoor debut in the high jump with a 5-9 PR in her quest for 6 feet this season and she will also come back in the triple jump as the favorite with a PR of 38-2.
Other meets
North Oconee FAT has most of the top talent from Athens and the surrounding areas. Look for Cooper Timberman in the 1600, Johnny Carter, in the 300 hurdles, Rickey Robbins in the Discus, Luke Samples in the Pole Vault, Clodagh O'Bryant in the 1600 and 3200, and Amelia Johnson in the pole vault to lead the way with the top marks of the meet.
The Alice Coachman Invitational will set out to prove there are elite athletes outside of the metro Atlanta area in the state of Georgia. Many of the top athletes from "south of the border" will be at Hugh Mills Stadium on Saturday for this one. Look for the top marks to come from Jacarre' Fleming in the 100, Austin Davis in the 200, Tykerie Washington in the 400, Kaedreon Thomas in the 100, Kaitlyn Williams, in the 400, and Kendall Johnson in the 800 to put up really good marks. But the top athlete to watch is state record holder Marianna Wright in the 300m hurdles. We need to pay attention to her times every single time she lines up this season.
And don't forget about the Ryan Clark Relays where we have several strong programs meeting up which could produce some good relay performances.