Girls compete at the 2022 Texas Tech Under Armour High School Classic
There is a boat load of talent scheduled to compete in Lubbock at the Texas Tech Under Armour High School Classic. We saw many big time marks in the past events and this year should exhibit more.
Here are some events we think will continue the success we've seen at this event.
12 Girls To Watch At Texas Tech Under Armour HS Classic
12 Top Performing Boys At Texas Tech Under Armour Classic
Girls Pole Vault
There will be several girls who can win this event this year.
Canyon's Kashlee Dickinson has a 13-0 PR, a state title, and a runner-up in her back pocket, so she should be considered the favorite.
Hannah Cade is going to be busy with a couple of events, but the Canton athlete has a 12-3.75 and has big meet experience with her UIL state meet appearances.
Count two girls who had big time performances at last week's 2023 National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, NV. Jacelyn Neighbors of Royse City and Emma Tindall from Sunnyvale both had career best jumps with 12-8 clearance a piece last weekend. They could look to continue to PR in Lubbock.
Girls 60H
San Antonio Reagan junior Isabella Dagrosa enters with strong performances at the LSU High School Classic two weeks ago where she ran a 8.94 season best.
Last week, state meet qualifiers Cydni Martin, Sidney Green, Abigail Elmore, Rylee Hampton all had their season starts over the hurdles at the Arkansas High School Invitational.
Martin was third in 8.60, Green was fourth in 8.81, Hampton was sixth in 8.85 and Brown finished eighth in 9.13.
Girls 60M/200m
Last week was huge in the girls sprints and a ton of girls are entered in the 60m and 200m this weekend.
Indya Mayberry is the top ranked sprinter in the 60m and 200m in Texas and No. 6 in both events nationally. She won the Arkansas 60m last weekend with a 7.43 best and was runner-up in the 200m but ran a 24.13 best in the prelims.
Royaltee Brown (Dallas Skyline) dominated the track at the Carl Lewis Invitational when she ran 7.47 and 24.18. Nita Koom-Dadzie - Was runner-up in the 100m at the UIL 6A state track meet with a 11.53. She ran 7.48 behind Brown last weekend at the Carl Lewis Inv.
The list goes on with other girls entered in this weekend's events who ran well last weekend. Laila Hackett ran 7.50 and 24.16, Celeste Robinson ran 7.52, Aaliyah Barnes went 7.53 and 24.48, Taylor Nunez added 7.64 and 24.65, Cydni Martin ran 7.61, Sydney Bryant ran 7.64 this year, and Skylar Brazzell ran 24.49 in the 200m.
It's going to take PRs to make the finals.
Girls 400m
Lauren Lewis, Prosper's reigning defending UIL 6A 400m state champ gets her season started this weekend. She'll have plenty of suitors to challenge her by looking at the field.
Jazmyn Singh also gets her season started. The Smithson Valley junior was sixth at the UIL 6A state meet and had a 54.68 PR last year. Michaela McCall of Pearland is another 54 runner from last year who gets her 400m start to the season, Nia Parks from Shadow Creek who ran 55.02 and will run her first 400m this year.
Girls 800m
Two girls who were UIL 6A state meet finalists are entered in this weekend's field. Keller senior Sasha Crawford was third at state and also ran 2:08 last year. She opened up last week at Arkansas with a 2:13.21
Caila Lyons was fourth last year in the 800m in Austin behind Crawford. She had a 2:11 PR and will compete this weekend.
Faith Murphy (Marble Falls Faith Academy) ran 2:18.45 last week in Arkansas to finish second.
Girls Triple Jump/Long Jump
Tomorrow afternoon, you will not want to miss the girls long jump and triple jump competitions. The pits and runways will be full of state and nationally ranked jumpers.
India Alix of Klein is the best jumper in both events in the country. Alyssa Banales is the No. 2 long jumper in the country and set a meet record in Arkansas last week with a 19-8.75 jump.
Also competing in the jumps are Alyssa Jones, Sky Townsend, and Sophia Day who are all nationally ranked.
Girls Shot Put
Shot puts will fly this weekend and they'll fly far!
Madeleine Fey is the No. 5 thrower in the country after last week's 45-1.75 Arkansas meet record. Maggie Bookout was second to Fey last week with her 42-0.75 toss. She won this meet last year and will have to throw big to win this year. She should be up for the challenge.
Also up for the challenge this weekend are Janey Campbell and Lauren St. Peters. Campbell is the No. 7 thrower in the country based on her 44-3 throw at the LSU High School Classic. She didn't have her best performance last week and will have that for extra motivation this weekend. St Peters threw over 46 feet outdoors last year and has a 42-0.50 indoor PR.
Girls High Jump
There are six feet clearing jumpers entered into the girls high jump as well as six state meet participants.
Claire Lowrey was the 2022 UIL 6A runner-up last year and cleared 6-0 during the season. MacKenzie Dagrosa is another UIL 6A state meet performer who finished fourth and was another 5-10 jumper. Dagrosa has already jumped 5-9 to win the LSU High School Classic.
Abigail Elmore is another 6-0 jumper and was fourth at the UIL 3A state meet. She jumped 5-7.75 last week to take the Arkansas High School Invitational win.
Brianna Rivers and Cali Bryant were the only two freshman jumpers to make it to the UIL 6A state meet last year. Rivers cleared 5-6 last weekend to win the Carl Lewis Invitational competition. Bryant has cleared 5-5.75 this indoor season.
Girls 3,000m
University of Texas commit Haley Harper ran her first indoor track meet last weekend at the Arkansas HS Inv. when she participated in the 3,000m Harper produced a 10:01 thanks to a strong and consistent pace, currently ranking her US No. 9.
She'll have some girls ready to help push the pace and two of them should be Madison Larsen and Reese Pena.
Boys 60H
The boys 60 meter hurdles will be out of sight. We saw fast times last week, but things could get even faster in Lubbock.
Austin Kiser, of Denton Braswell is committed to the University of Oklahoma. He qualified for the UIL 6A state meet two years in a row and ran a 13.83 PR in the 110 meter hurdles last year. At last year's Under Armour Classic, Kiser ran 8.00 and was just off that last weekend at the Carl Lewis HS Classic with a 8.02 to win the event.
Arveyon Davis of Fort Bend Marshall was third in the 110 meter hurdles at the UIL 5A state meet and was fourth in the 300 meter hurdles. He ran 7.99 and 7.96 PRs last weekend at the Arkansas HS Inv.
Donovan Bradley of Humble Summer Creek committed to the University of California and has a 8.15 60H PR. He is the runner-up from last year's UIL 6A state meet and was third in the 300 meter hurdles.
Cameron Jackson from Spring was fourth at the UIL 6A state meet last year in the 110 meter hurdles. He has been busy this indoor season finding success by running 7.89 and 7.94 last weekend at the Arkansas HS Inv.
Alexander Chukwukelu is the US No. 2 hurdler in the nation with his 7.80. He ran 7.82 and 7.83 last weekend at the Arkansas HS Inv and could go faster with this weekend's field.
Boys 60m/200m
There are a lot of big time sprinters who will be in Lubbock this weekend and four of them are already nationally ranked.
Richmond Foster sprinter Eli England is having a superb indoor season. He ran a 6.91 PR at the LSU High School Classic.
Austin Westlake senior Ashton Torns and Klein Forest junior Jelani Watkins ran rampant last weekend in Arkansas. University of Miami commit Torns ran 6.83 in the prelims and 6.84 in the finals. Watkins ran 6.84 and 6.88 and also ran a US No. 1 200m time of 21.52.
Nyckoles Harbor is the US No. 1 runner in the 300m with a 33.09 mark. He won the meet in the 60m and 200m events with times of 6.73 and 20.79. He should make everyone else turn things up a notch. Is the track big enough for all of these studs?
Boys 400m
The boys 400m will be another hot event. Tavon Underwood from Mead, Co is the US No. 1 runner with his 47.79 from last weekend; he is entered in both the 200m and the 400m. With only one race on Friday, the 400m on Friday could be an all-out attempt for Underwood to lower his nation leading time.
Jonah Roberson could be his main competition. Roberson ran 47.70 last year to win the UIL 5A state title.
Boys Long Jump
Miles Jones is the US No. 4 long jumper. The Mansfield Lake Ridge senior is splitting time with basketball season right now, but the kid can soar. He could bo beyond his 24-3 SB.
Jones' competition will come from Jackson Norris and and Colston Adamson. Norris jumped a US No. 5 24-0 last weekend at the Carl Lewis Invitational. Adamson has a 23-3.5 SB and is a top 3 candidate for the win this weekend.
Boys Shot Put
At least two boys should put on a show in the boys shot put ring.
Laredo Alexander thrower Julian Tijerina and Alberto Archundia should shake things up in the shot put.
Tijerina is a state meet thrower; he fourth last year in the discus and sixth in the shot put. He just missed hitting the 60 feet barrier last year when he threw 59-2.50. That distance won him last year's event.
Archundia is a posing threat to Tijerina's repeat. He is the top thrower so far in Texas and won last weekend in Houston with a 57.50 toss.
Boys 1 Mile
The boys mile will be good. It is loaded with some of Texas' top distance runners with some of them being national level runners.
Local runner David Mora and his future college teammate Ayden Granados will be two who will lead the way; the pair of Oklahoma State commits are two of UIL 5A's best. Mora won the state cross country championships and Granados was second last spring in the 1,600m and 3,200m. Both qualified for the Champs National Championships last month.
Franco Parra won the TAPPS 5A state cross country championship and qualified for Nike Nationals and Champs. Adam Burlison was runner-up at the UIL 5A state cross country championships and qualified for Nike.
Carter Gordy and Omer Ibrahim have had state meet success on the track in recent years. Gordy was fourth in 5A in the 3,200m and sixth in the 1,600m in 2021. Last year, Ibrahim was runner-up in the UIL 6A 800m.
Last week in Arkansas, Preston Sanderville won the mile with a 4:19.42.