100m dash
In the 100m dash, we have the 2021 MHSAA 6A State Champion in the 100m going up against the best freshman sprinter in the state, and one of the best freshmen in the nation. That dual will be between none other than Madison Central's Ashton Smith and Clinton's Omari Hampton.
| 10.95 | ||
| 10.95 |
Hampton, the freshman, just recently ran faster than Smith at the Last Chance Invitational in the 60m. As a matter of fact, Hampton's 60m PR of 7.09 puts him as the second-fastest freshman in the nation, just 0.01 seconds away from the #1 ranked freshman nationally. However, Smith and Hampton were not in the same race as they will be this Saturday, so anything could happen. This will be a great preview of what we could potentially see at the 2022 MHSAA 6A North State Championships and should be a great duel between the two on Saturday at the Clinton Season Opener.
1600m run
The 1600m has some of the best milers in the Jackson metro area, specifically Madison Central and Clinton High. There is the potential to have four sub 4:40 runners in the result. Here are those potential four:
As you can see, three out of the four entries above have already broken 4:40 in their careers - Miguel Bankston has his 4:31 from 2021 MHSAA 6A North State, Benjamin Owens from his W at the 2021 Mississippi Meet of Champions, and Christian Parks also running 4:36 this past indoor season back in early December at the Holiday Invitational.
And if you can bet on anything, it's that 16:30 5k runner Colin Brannon's 1600m PR will shoot way down after this Saturday.
Brannon may have skipped out on the indoor season, but is coming off of a stellar cross country season. That cross country season included a win at the 2021 MHSAA 1-6A Regional Chamionship, as well as a Top 5 finish at the 6A State Championships.
And then we have Miguel Bankston, who is one of, if not the most versatile middle distance runners in the state. With PR's such as 50.6, 1:58, and 4:31, he's got a lot of tools in his shed. He is slated to run in the 1600m against a stud field, and I, for one, am very excited to see where he is at after an incredible indoor season that ended in Bankston leading the state in the 400m and 800m.
Related: Indoor Rankings in the 400m | Indoor Rankings in the 800m
Madison Central's Owens has an elite kick, and if he's anywhere within striking distance with 300 meters to go, he could be dangerous. However, I'm going to have to go with Bankston as the overall favorite to take the 1600m this Saturday at the Clinton Season Opener.
Long Jump
Last but not least, the field event on watch at the Clinton Season Opener is the High School Boys' Long Jump. The top three entries in this event are Hattiesburg's Javarius Molden and De'Vaunce Norman, as well as Clinton's Maxiumus Littleton.
Molden and Norman are both state qualifiers in the Long Jump, and Littleton is well on his way to doing so in the first-ever outdoor track season of his career. Molden is also coming off of an indoor season where he led the state in the Long Jump with an overall PR of 21-8, over a foot more than his PR from the outdoor season. Littleton, in his first-ever season of competition, jumped 20-5.75 in the long jump, as well as 6-2 in the high jump and 41-9.5 in the triple jump.
With all of these stars aligning at the Clinton Season Opener, we could see them throw down some impressive marks to open up the outdoor season.