This weekend Lakeland high school will play host to the Atlantic Coast “Spring Break” HS Invitational. The Spring Break Invitational is a unique meet in terms of events scheduled and gives high school athletes a chance to compete in events that they normally would not get a chance to do. Lakeland is a fast track where the competing athletes will be able to run some fast times.
Key Events:
400m Hurdles
The 400m Hurdles is one of the many unique events held at The Spring Break Invite. The 400 Hurdles will be held on Friday afternoon as the first running event. The 400m Hurdles has the potential to be a momentous event on both the girls and the boys side. On both sides Western Branch has loaded athletes into this event as the plan on showcasing there hurdling skills on another level. VA’s #1 Gregory Chiles will be leading the field after coming off a notable performance at the 300 Hurdles at the CNU Captains Classic. Also Abdul Ellis who is VA #5 is also competing in this event and plans on giving Chiles a fight in this event. As the distance grows these two plan on making their case as noteworthy distance hurdlers.
On the girls side of things, the 400 Hurdles also looks to be promising as well with Western Branch’s All-Star line up of girl hurdlers. Western Branch girls will be led by the stellar athlete Ebony White who is already a Penn Relays qualifier at the 400m hurdles event. Ebony is going to be challenged by a few of her teammates who are also elite in there own respects with Crystal Eley who is VA #2 at the 300 hurdles and shows no signs of backing down to her teammate. Sophomore Faith Ross who is one of VA’s more versatile athletes is also in the race and will also be up there with her other teammates. These three girls will push each other to a spectacular race and it is one to be expecting big results from.
Boys 400m dash
The Boys 400m dash is also looking to be a key event in the meet as Tyson Robinson from Western Branch and Wae’lene Riddick from I.C. Norcom will be looking to battle it out on Saturday. Robinson, who opened his season as VA #11 in the 800 with a 1:56, looks to make a statement in the 400m by showing off his speed. Robison was a member of last year’s nationals 4x4 champions where he split a 48 in his leg of the relay. While Wae’lene Riddick is a pretty good runner in his own right. Riddick is a national qualifier at 200m and the State-Runner Up at 300m at 4A Indoor State Championship. Riddick has a 400m PR of 49 seconds and will looks to start his outdoor season on the right note in this event. The match up between these two is a classic Mid-Distance versus Sprinter and the winner will simply come down to who wants it more.
Other Key Performances to look out for:
Milan Parks: 300m Hurdles & Triple Jump
Jewel Smith: Long Jump
Zakiya Rashid: Discus & Shot Put
The Spring Break Invite looks to be another one of Virginias outstanding meets. As the season draws closer and closer to crunch time; athletes look to improve there marks and get there qualifiers. The Track at Lakeland High School has been home to many outstanding marks for athletes who compete there from distance to sprints. The Spring Break Invite will be another chance for athletes to show what they are made of. With the Invite’s Freshmen Series races will give the future stars of Virginia Track and Field a chance to shine in their own respects. The Invite also features the DMR and SMR relays. Both relays and Freshman Series will be displayed on Friday Night. With so much to look forwarded to the Spring Break Invite looks to be a meet to keep your eye on this weekend.
