SPRINTS
High School Girl's 60m Dash
We have some HUGE names in the 60m heading into this weekend. For starters, Clinton High School is coming back to assert their dominance on the indoor circuit, and they are starting with Tacherria Lawson. Lawson is the #1 overall seed in the 60m and is undefeated heading into this weekend as she has already won the Magic City and Holiday this season. Most recently, she ran a 7.77 60m PR at the 2021 Holiday Invitational on December 11. Most of the competition that she is facing this weekend are athletes that she has already taken down this year, though there are some Mississippi athletes that will be making their indoor seasonal debut against Lawson this weekend...
First off, competing in her first-ever indoor meet from Biloxi High School, we have Cheyanne Alston! Alston, an MHSAA 6A State Medalist in the Long Jump, is slated to throw down in the 60m with a seed time of 7.88 - This will be Alston's first time ever running this event. With PR's of 12.30 in the 100m and 26.27 in the 200m, it will be very interesting to see what she throws down in the shortest sprinting event.
And if this field wasn't star-studded enough, we also have the 2021 MHSAA 6A State Champion in the 100m, Taylor Stratton of Pearl! Stratton has quite the pedigree in the 100m and is looking to improve on that in the 60m as she faces off against some of her in-class rivals. Stratton has a seed time of 7.99 and a PR of 8.30. I know it's January and it's still early, but Stratton is surely ready to cash in a PR at Ice Breaker this weekend.
All in all, the high school girl's 60m is going to be downright awesome. A stacked Mississippi field that includes the names above, as well as Lawson's teammate Zharia Bonner, Irianna Evans of Hattiesburg High School, and Semaj Pettis of Oxford High School make this event one to watch this weekend at the 2022 Icebreaker Invitational.
High School Boy's 60m Dash
Headlining the high school boy's 60m dash from Mississippi going into this weekend is Clinton's Omari Hampton. Hampton has already thrown down some pretty serious times, especially for a freshman in high school, such as 7.09 in the 60m and 52.08 in the 400m(Read about his past performances HERE). He will face his biggest challenge yet at the Icebreaker Invitational though, as he will be facing off against numerous sub-7 60m sprinters, including Alabama State Champion and 6.86 60m runner Keon Buck of Spain Park.
Hampton will be alongside teammate Kyler Hutton, who is seeded as a 7.06 and has gone 22.93 in the 200m dash. Knowing Clinton's program the way that I do and with how successful they have already been in this year's indoor season, I would say that Hampton and Hutton, among others, are ready to roll this weekend.
Something to look out for this weekend... Hampton could potentially be the first Mississippi freshman to break 7 seconds in the 60m dash.
High School Girl's 60m Hurdles
Another headliner event going into the Icebreaker Invitational as we have a big Mississippi star coming back out of the woodworks to open up her indoor season across multiple disciplines as she is a very multi-talented track athlete, and that is none other than 4 x Mississippi State Champion Lenasia Drummond of Hattiesburg High School! Drummond is coming off of a wildly successful outdoor season where she only took 1 loss in the 100mH, which was at the high-caliber Mobile Challenge of Champions, taking wins at notable meets such as the Gulf Coast Classic, the Pearl Invitational, the MHSAA 5A State Championships, and the Mississippi Meet of Champions.
Last year's Ice Breaker Invitational is where it all started for Drummond, and she has surely stepped up her game since. Expect her to get after it and climb up the All-Time ranks in the 60mH - She currently sits at #6 in the All-Time rankings in the 60mH.
Facing off against Drummond this weekend is Clinton High School's hurdle specialist, Corshunna Hughes! This will be Hughes's 3rd time on the indoor circuit this season, so she will have that advantage over Drummond. In her previous meets, Hughes has placed Top-5 in both outings, recently running 9.67 for a new PR. Although running with the likes of Drummond is a tall task, Hughes is quite the short-hurdler herself with pedigree wins such as the 2021 MHSAA 6A North State Championships, and looks to be making even more improvements so far this indoor season.
Drummond v.s. Hughes, along with Hughes's teammate Jenesis Williams will be some names to keep an eye on in the high school girl's 60m Hurdles this weekend at the Icebreaker Invitational.
High School Boy's 60m Hurdles
The main competitor to keep a lookout for in the High School Boy's 60m Hurdles this weekend is the 2021 MHSAA 5A State Champion in the 300mH and Runner-up in the 110mH, Hattiesburg's Javarius Molden! This will be Molden's first indoor meet of the 2022 season after putting down times like 14.74 in the 110mH and 40.46 in the 300mH last outdoor season. Last year, Molden ended the indoor season with an 8.64 60mH PR, which is a fantastic time for a sophomore in high school - As a matter of fact, this time ranked #4 All-Time for Mississippi Sophomores, right behind Mississippi hurdle legend Christopher Hudnall.
It will be very exciting to see what kind of work Javarius Molden has been putting in the off-season this weekend. Molden will also be a strong contender in the Long Jump, as he is the #1 seed heading into the meet.
High School Girl's 400m Dash
In the High School Girl's 400m, the top Mississippi seeded athlete is 800m specialist Hannah Jackson of Clinton High School, taking another crack at the 60-second barrier in the 2-lap (indoor) event. This is only Jackson's 2nd indoor meet this season, her first being a 60.92 400m Overall PR at the 2021 Magic City Invitational, where she came away with a solid Top-5 finish.
Like we have mentioned before, Jackson is a 2:26 800m runner and placed 4th at the 2021 MHSAA 6A State Championships last outdoor season. I'm not sure if Jackson is transitioning into the 400m or she is just working on her 400m speed for the 800m later in the season, but she is starting to look pretty dangerous in both disciplines as of late.
But wait... that's not at all that's happening in the indoor 400m this weekend, as we have another Mississippi star making her career indoor debut at Icebreaker this weekend... 2021 MHSAA 6A State Champion in the 400m where she has gone 57.54 on the outdoor oval, Gracyn Yelverton of Biloxi High School! Yelverton had a breakout second half of her season with that state title, and then went and backed it up with the bronze medal at the Mississippi Meet of Champions. There is a solid chance that Yelverton could get put in the same heat as Jackson, along with Akierah Walker of Clinton and Semaj Pettis of Oxford, so it's looking like it's going to be quite the MHSAA 6A Showdown this weekend!
High School Boy's 400m Dash
The last sprinting event to be previewed, and yet another Mississippi star to be talked about. This time, we have probably the most diverse track and field athlete in the game right now with PR's of 10.47 in the 100m, 21.62 in the 200m, 49.03 in the 400m, and 14.38 in the 110mH... 2021 MHSAA 6A State Champion in the 110mH, Pearl High School's Corvin Johnson! This will be Johnson's first time running the 400m indoors as he usually opted for the 60m or 60mH in the past (he can basically do it all), and is slated to run against some top dogs such as 47.71 400m runner William Shelton of Parker. Towards the end of last year's outdoor season, Johnson was going through a little bit of injury, so it will be thrilling to see him in full force against some of Alabama's heavy hitters.
We also have the 2021 MHSAA 6A Runner-up in the 400m from Biloxi making his indoor debut, 50.03 400m runner Derrick Bennett. Much like Yelverton, Bennett came on very strong towards the end of his season as he went from barely squeaking past the regional meet to becoming an MHSAA 6A Silver Medalist. We will definitely have to keep an eye on Bennett this weekend - He is seeded as a 51.75.
There are also a slew of guys entered in between 51-52 seconds, most of them being generally distance runners. Those athletes are Jordyn Battee of Clinton making his indoor season debut, the 400m sensation Frank Bradley-Reed also from Clinton, 16:48 5k runner out of Tupelo Robert Hooper, and 2021 MHSAA 4A Bronze Medalist in the 800m Kendrick Matthews, now competing for Southaven High School.
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