Georgia Meet of Champions Preview

Boys: The boy's sprints looks to be better this year than ever before. Freshman Jaylen Slade of Chapel Hill leads the boys 100m with a time of 10.22  He will get a challenge from Jaylin Wilson of Marietta and Jhivon Wilson of MLK. The 200m is even deeper, with three guys dipping under 21.30 led by Garrett Shedrick of Hillgrove. The 400 features Chuck Shawn Collins of Miller Grove having a 47.08 pr. 

Girls: The girl's sprints are highlighted by the Rossum sisters (Alexa and Trinity) of Buford. Both are entered in the 100 and 200. They should get competition from Queen Couch of Maynard Jackson and McKenzie Walker of Marietta. The girls 400 has Dae'Nitra Hester of New Manchester and Yasmine George of Grayson leading the pack. 

Hurdles:

Boys: The Boys 110 hurdles looks to be loaded with 6 guys entered having times under 14.11  Leading the way is Metrius Fleming of Elbert County and Myles Marshall of Lassiter. Both have times under sub :14  coming in. The Boys 300 hurdles looks to be a showdown between Cameron Hudson of Cedar Shoals and Matthew Harris of St. Pius.  Both enter the meet with times of 37.02 and 37.23 

Girls: The girls 100 hurdles has two entered with a time under 14 seconds. Elasia Campbell of Walton and Olivia Brown of Effingham County. Campbell broke the state record in the high jump this year with a jump of 6-0.25. The Duke signee is looking to cap her career with a MOC title in the 100 hurdles. The girls 300 hurdles will be led by 5A champ Niya Benton Andrews of Maynard Jackson. She enters with a pr of 41.38, a time that ranks 7th in the country. Niya is only .08 off the state record in the 300 hurdles. She will be challenged by Alexander's Kennedy Crawford. who was this year's 6A state champion. Also Chloe Fair of GAC and Jasmine Jackson of Alpharetta look to challenge. 

Boys: The jumps look real solid, maybe the best ever as far as depth for the MOC. Jonathan Baker of Northview enters the meet with the top mark of 24-7.75  In the Triple jump, Cedar Shoal's Cameron Hudson has a 50-2 mark this year. The HJ has a deeper field than ever assembled at the MOC. There are 10 guys entered with a pr's of 6-6 or better. Leading the way is Woodward Academy's Sultan Simms with a pr of 6-10. 

Girls: The LJ has 3 ladies entered with  pr's over 19 feet. Shatera Johnson of Charles Drew has the best mark this season with a jump of 19-10. She will get a challenge from Skye Gross of Parkview and Ariel Lawrence of Dunwoody. The TJ has a pair of 40+ jumpers entered with Jasmine Barrow of Athens Academy at 40-5 and Morgan Bentley of Brookwood at 40-0.5. Janaya Jones of Forest Park is entered in 39-10. The HJ is led by Jazzmin Taylor of Alexander. She comes in with a PR of 5-9, it would have been interesting to watch Campbell of Walton face off with her.

Boys: This year's boys vault looks to be extremely competitive. 13 guys entered have jumped 14-0 or higher this year. The field is led by Parkview's Brian Hauch with a bar of 16-6.50 He will get challenged by Grant Briscoe of Carrollton and 6A champ Stephen Smith of Cass. 

Girls: The girls have a clear cut favorite in soph' Payton Phillips of Carrollton. All Payton has done this season is jump 13-07 which ranks number 2 all time in Georgia. Payton is currently ranked #5 in the country. Could we see the magical 14 foot barrier reached for the first time in Georgia HS girls history? Also entered are Journey Gurley of Madison County and Josie Konigsmark of Marietta. Both with a PR of 12-6 this season. 

Boys: The boys throws are led by Georgia's greatest thrower ever,  as Tanner Duffin of St. Pius enters the meet with pr's 202-2 in the discus and 70-2.25 in the shot. No one in the history of Georgia has a better combo in those events. Tanner is definitely looking to better those marks. The boys Discus does have 7 guys entered with throws over 160+ this season. The shot put could be a look at the future when it comes to replacing Duffin (who is heading to Michigan on a full ride) as Georgia's top throws guy. Adam Watkins of Dacula and Eugene Kim of North Gwinnett both come in with throws over 57-0. 

Girls: The girl's shot put has 12 entered that have topped the 40 foot mark this year. Leading the way is Hannah Jackson of Kell and Morgan Johnson of Whitewater. The Discus is led by 6A champ Madelyn Horne of Johns Creek. She is entered with a throw of 154-8. That throw has her tied for 5th on the all-time list. 

Boys: The distance events have been a staple at the Meet of Champions from year one. This year looks to be no different. In the 3200m, there are 15 guys entered with sub 9:30 times this season. The 3200's top five entries are separated by only 1.09 seconds. Including: Seniors Calan Gizelbach of Forsyth Central & Jack Filan of Cambridge who are going to have to hold off Junior Graham Blanks of Athens Academy and the super soph's in Sully Shelton of Harrison HS and Kamari Miller of Marietta HS. Both, are well coached by Jason Scott of Harrison, who always has a stable of runners, and the giant of coaches in (Blackjack) Coleman of Marietta, who doesn't rebuild, he just reloads like FSU football did in in the 90's. Don't be surprised. to see McIntosh's Zach Jaeger steal the show, as he ran extremely well at state in the heat. The 3200m boys is the last race of the evening and should be quite a crowd pleaser, as patrons are allowed to line the Track during the race to cheer athletes on..  

The 1600m is the deepest ever for the MOC with 5 guys under 4:20. The field is led by Devan Crow of North Hall and Myles Collins of Archer. Both guys have run 4:16's this season. The 800m has 7 guys entered under 1:56.00. the field is led by Northside Columbus's Jonathan Myrthil. Jonathan is the defending MOC champ having a 1:52 pr from that meet. He could get challenged by breakout star Karthik Kochuparambil of Denmark and Kameron Jackson of Landmark Christian. 

Girls: The girls 800m looks to be one of the best events at this year's MOC. The field is led by Brynne Sumner of Woodstock. Sumner boasts a pr of 2:08.47 for the 800, which would be a state record, except she ran that time against adults at last year's ATC Wingfoot 800. Brynne is looking to break the state record of 2:08.58 outright this year. She will definitely get challenged by Ani Henderson of Marietta. Henderson is the defending MOC champ with a time of 2:09.41 and always runs well at her home track. These ladies will be tracked by talented freshman Cara Joyce of Atlanta International School. Joyce is a gifted athlete who had never ran before 2018 XC,  and laid down a  2:12.42 800m at State last week. 6A State champ Riley Perlakowski of Harrison comes in with a 2:13.18 pr and looks to better that time. The 3200m is led by another of Coleman's Army, as Ellie Hall has a pr of 10:33 and has :18 on the next best competitor. Erin Fegans of Landmark Christian comes in with a 10:51.38. We could see those times drop if the weather is right Friday night.