5 1A Story-lines to follow at the State Mee

1.  Can Calvary Christian's Hannah Brookover complete the Distance Triple?

We watched in awe back in 2012 when Chiles stand-out and Vanderbilt signee, Lily Williams accomplished a historic Distance Triple winning the 800-1600-3200 in the span of a few hours.  That feat had seen a 30 year stretch of unfettered failures due to a myriad of reasons associated with the pace of the State Meet. 

Well, that's all about to change due to the new 2-day State Meet format which will allow more rest and different events on different days.  Much like the 4 minute mile which has seen a rash of boys break the historic milestone, the Distance Triple's significance will be diminshed over time if the State Meet format stays the same going forward.

Enough about the historical difficulty of achieving the Distance Triple. 

Will Hannah Brookover be able to win the 800m Friday over the likes of Evengelical Cristian's Sierra Oliviera and Oak Hall's Grace Blair, and then cruise to victory in the 3200m later that evening?  If so, she'll surely relish the 10am start for the 4x800m Relay (assuming Calvary decides to add her as a member for the final as she didn't contest the 4x800 at Regionals).  Alternatively, she could be as fresh as a cucumber for the 1600m much later on Saturday and it will be lights out as she will have racked up 30 Individual points for Calvary.  We believe Hannah is a shoe-in for the Distance Triple assuming she wins the 800m capping off a stellar high school career that will see her follow in her mother's footsteps as a Florida Gator for Coach Spangler this coming Fall.

2.  Will Noah Perkins post the fastest 3200m of the 2016 Finals?

The University of North Florida signee leads the State in the 3200m after an impressive 9:08 win at the stacked FSU Relays earlier this spring.

It would be quite a triumphant task as the field won't be as deep as the rest of the classifications.  For Noah to cement himself as the best true distance runner of the 2016 Track and Field season, he will have to attack the oval from the start and run against the clock vice going tactical with the rest of the field in the early goings.

3.  Can Admiral Farragut Girls repeat as State Champions?

Last year, Admiral Farragut rode the 40 points that Brittany McGee scored in the Finals to score 76 points and claim the 1A Trophy.  That was 9 points better than Oak Hall's 67.  Will they be able to repeat the stellar 2015 result in 2016 without the likes of McGee's 40 individual points to carry them to the Team title? 

If they are to fend off a deep and talented Oak Hall squad, this year they will have to rely on the youth of their own squad, namely 100/200m Regional champion, freshman Jazmine Alderman to take care of business early and steadily.

4.  Which Boys team will claim victory in 2016?

The Boys team battle is too close to call with any degree of certainty if there is such a thing.  North Florida Christian, P.K. Yonge, Northside Christian, First Academy and slight favorite Admiral Farragut will all have to be scrape together every possible point for victory in 2016.  Normally, experience and coaching comes into play to a higher degree with closely anticipated battles across the disciplines.  One false start, scratch or no height usually spells doom and the 1A Boys team battle will go straight to the wire.  expect a lot to be riding on locking up points in the final event on Saturday night, the 4x400m Relay.

5.  The Boys 4x100m Relay will be hotly contested.

When we look at the Boys 4x100m Rankings, P.K. Yonge's DNF during Regionals looms large not only in the 4x100m Relay, but also in the team battle scenario as well.  In effect, the field is now much more evenly matched and is really up for grabs.  2015 4x100m Relay Champions, First Academy will have a tall order repeating in this evenly, hotly contested match-up where points will be at a premium.