This Saturday, May 2nd, will arguably be the biggest day in sports this year. We all know of course that the Dogwood Track Classic will be highlighting this weekend but with this mega-meet many people all around the country are forgetting what else is going on. So, us at MileStat want to help out sports fans around the country plan their day Saturday around all the great sporting events that are going on.
11:00am
This time will be the start of field events up at the Dogwood meet. We will see quite a few great athletes competing in these events soon followed by the 4x800s at 11:30. In those field events we will get to see Connor Scott (Lee-Davis) one of the top American finishers at the Penn Relays compete against some tough competition in the throws and Grant Holloway in the jumps. Needless to say, there are going to be some huge performances up in Charlottesville.
If you want to catch some sports action prior to this start time and the 10:30am coaches meeting we suggest watching the 7:45am Leicester & Newcastle EPL match to get yourself warmed up for the day. Unfortunately that is the only futbol match starting prior to 10:00am Saturday.
12:30pm
This is the time or roughly at 12:30.139 is when you can say buh-bye to our state leading time in the 110m hurdles. This Saturday Grant Holloway (Grassfield) is really opening up his season and that means expect some monster times from him. If all goes to plan then we will see a sub 14 second time from the indoor national hurdles champion.
But let's not forget that Grant is a multi-sport athlete and quite the football talent as well. With that in mind let's remind you that the NFL Draft will be going on during this time as well with rounds 4-7 starting at 12:00pm. Since it takes roughly two minutes per selection this round we can expect the Brown, 49ers, or Saints to be selecting during this time.
1:05 & 1:30pm
Ok, this is when things are going to seriously heat up. After a big weekend in Philadelphia, Virginia's distance crew has decided to convene at UVA for another set of epic four lap races. Going off at 1:05 will be the girls 1600 featuring Murphy, Angermeier, Davidson, Donohue, Shupe, Dekker (NC), Brown, Beatty, and many more! This race includes the experience of well over ten state championships packed into a single race. These girls know how to win when it matters including Penn Relays 3000m champion Kate Murphy who is also US #1 at 3K.
In the boys 1600 we are getting a Penn Relays rematch between Novak and Hunter and a total of 8 guys under 4:20. We will definitely see a different race then we did up in Philly and with warmer weather the time could be even faster.
3:40pm
Though the girls race will be exciting, the boys race is going to be legendary! At this time the boys 800m race will go off featuring Matthew Novak, Chris Short, and Jacob McCoy. Each of these guys has been 'the guy to beat' sometime over the past two years at either the 800m or 1000m distance. It is rare that all three compete in the same race next to each other but this weekend we get to see that.
4:00 & 4:15 pm
Closing action for the highlight events will be the boys and girls 200m dashes. The girls side of things will feature the best sprinter in the state this season, Lauryn Ghee, who leads the state in all sprint events. She will have some competition but it could quickly be her against the clock as she moves up the national rankings as only a sophomore! Following her race the boys will toe the line. This race will feature state leader Drake Davis (Fork Union), VISAA star Michael Davenport (Woodberry Forest), and Grant Holloway. Grant enters the race seeded seventh but don't let that fool anyone, he is the odds on favorite to win this one.
6:20 pm
Speaking of odds, right around 6:20 the last race will go off at Dogwood right around the exact same time that we will hear those storied words- riders up! At that time the jockeys will be hoisted up onto their horses for the annual run for the roses in the Kentucky Derby. 20 horses will parade down the homestretch under the twin spires to the tunes of the Louisville marching band playing "My Old Kentucky Home". Just two minutes later someone, well a whole lot of people, will be richer. That race is set to go off at 6:24pm.
7:10pm
Right around now all the results from around the Commonwealth will come pouring in and the MileStat database will start filling up quickly. Obviously Dogwood will go first and others will fall in place soon thereafter. While this is going on the NL East's NY Mets and Washington Nationals will take to the diamond in a big deciding series. Right now the NL East favorites Nationals are struggling as the Mets create separation. This is a great game to watch as MileStat updates the leaderboards and the photo/video coverage uploads.
8:00pm
This could be the one everyone is waiting for but few will see. This time is when the Pacquiao Mayweather fight will go off at. It took them nearly a decade to make it happen, let's see if we can get Hunter vs. Fisher at 2 Miles to happen quicker then that!
Throughout the day
Also throughout the day will be some other great sporting events including many meets around the state and of course the NBA and NHL playoffs. The biggest game of the day that could happen would be a game seven matchup between the LA Clippers and defending champs San Antonio Spurs. The series is tied 2-2 at this point with both teams splitting home court games. Game seven will likely be late in the day if not night Saturday at the Staples Center in LA.
Keep this list handy all Saturday as we do not want sports fans to forget about all the other action going on around the world Saturday. We know all eyes will be on the Dogwood Track Classic this weekend but want to share the spotlight with some of these other storied sporting events.
MileStat will also have coverage of the Gar-Field and Charles B Gorman Invitationals to go along with our coverage of the Dogwood Photo and Video coverage.