The Texas Track and Field Coaches Association (TTFCA) will have the 7th annual Meet of Champions this weekend on the campus of Texas State University, in San Marcos, Texas.
Some of the top athletes in the state from every conference/league will put it all out on the the line for this weekend's events.
Below are some of the events you will want to keep an eye on.
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Girls 2K Steeplechase
Margaret Thompson (Hockaday) won the Texas Relays steeplechase when she ran her outstanding 6:59 PR. She'll have Sara Morefield (Lucas Lovejoy) in the race who was third at the Texas Relays race in 7:11.
Boys 110 Meter Hurdles
Gerardo Mejia (San Antonio Central Catholic) was a three time TAPPS 6A state champion this year. One of those events was the 110 meter hurdles. He won with a 14.08 and has five sub 14 second races this year including a 13.60 (w) PR.
Malik White (San Antonio Taft) is another one of the Alamo City's top hurdlers and is one to keep an eye on this weekend. He is also no stranger to sub 14 second runs and has a13.62 (w) PR. He was eighth at the UIL 6A state meet.
Boys 1600m
The boys 1600m could be an exciting race. There are 77 entries including 14 sub 4:20s.
Jack Boyd (Klein Oak), Drew Campbell (Austin Lake Travis), Hudson Bennett (Burnet), David Soto (Winnsboro) and Zain Hamdani (Houston Bellaire) were just at the UIL state meet.
Add guys like Todd Worth (Antonian), Farrin Mangelson (San Antonio Patriots Homeschool) who also have state meet experience and things could get really fast.
Girls 100m
The girls 100m event is loaded.
Speedsters like TAPPS champ Aliyah Johnson (Fort Worth Southwest Christian), Sydney Bryant (Shadow Creek), Michaela McCall (Pearland) will make this a blazing fast race. They all check in with sub 11.80 races this season. Add in Alyssa Banales, Alaya Gradney, and Alyssa Tate and this will be quite an entertaining 100m.
Boys 800m
The boys 800m just might be the best event on the track of the weekend. One of the state leaders Marcus Gaitan (Houston Lutheran South) at 1:52.06 ranks TX No. 6 and UIL 5A runner-up Kepler Huntress at 1:52.24 is the second ranked half-miler in the field.
With 12 entries under 1:55, I anticipate a 1:51 requirement to win.
Girl Discus
Harlingen senior Jazmine Thompson will be fresh of her state meet performances in the shot put and the discus. She'll be looking to improve on her 156-2 PR from the Region 4 5A/6A Championships.
Not far behind Thompson's best throw is Kacie Rhodes (Klein Cain), Aniya Hill, Tirea Reed( Klein Cain) who have all thrown over 145.
Boys Shot Put
The UIL 6A boys shot put champion Michael Pinones (San Antonio East Central) will compete. He has a 66-6.25 Sb and a 67-6 PR.
Daniel Sowell (Austin Lake Travis) will bring the competition with his 63-1.25 PR He was third at the UIL 6A state meet and threw two feet under his best, but will look to rebound in San Marcos.
Girls 800m
The girls 800m will be a lot like the boys race. There are four girls who had seed times 2:12 and under. TAPPS state champion Faith Murphy (Marble Falls Faith Academy) at 2:11.16 has the fastest seed time closely followed by UIL 6A seventh place finisher Gia Kurp (The Woodlands) who has a 2:11.22 PR.
Mia Perez (Smithson Valley) and Hailey Johnson (Montgomery Lake Creek) are also coming off the UIL state meet and are under 2:13. Grace Kowalski (Conroe Grand Oaks), Ivy Parada (Round Rock) and more are in the 2:15 range and will help make this a barn burner type race.
