The Strategy & Run
Just like the previous slide said, you need legs and not just speed to win a race like this. A race that will all but certainly be faster than the national championship final for a couple reasons.
The biggest reason this race will be will fast is that all teams in it will be in lanes 3-6 making for a fast race to start. No matter what lane you are in, it is going to be an ideal lane on this hydraulic track. Another reason this race will be fast will be the potential use of the 10m acceleration zone. This zone is only allowed in the NFHS rules.
The race itself will likely see Grassfield seeded in lane 3, The Bullis School in lane 4, St. Jago in lane 5 and Western Branch in lane 6. Those lanes are not set in stone by any means but are our best guess for what lanes these teams will select.
If that was the case, and for the sake of argument we are going to say it is, the race will go as follows.
Western Branch has a history of putting strong runners up front. This shouldn't change at this meet and we can make a safe assumption they run 2-1-4-3 at this meet. That would put Jessica Tucker as lead off and Ballard as the second girl. This is important and remember it. It is also something different from their pictured 1:37.50 run just before the new years.
This strategy will likely force the hands of the other teams to at least put one of their top two runners on first or second. That is where the fun and questions begin. The biggest question here of course is what leg does Grassfield run Lauryn. It seems they have many options considering she is by far the fastest athlete on the track. Do you run her as anchor or second?
If they want to run a fast time they likely put her second, if they want to win, they likely roll the dice and put her as anchor. She can make up a 20m deficit meaning she just needs to get the baton one second from the lead.
The Bullis school will most likely run their fastest second making things awfully close after the break. They, just like St. Jago will rely heavily on their consistency over the legs which will help their total time but also lead to hopefully great and smooth handoffs.
If all of those things take place the race will be very close. Western Branch will all but certainly get out to an early lead and most likely handoff each time in the lead but the race to the finish is going to be something special.
| Predicted Order at Handoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Exchange | Western Branch | St. Jago | Bullis | Grassfield |
| Second Exchange | Western Branch | Bullis | St. Jago | Grassfield |
| Third Exchange | Western Branch | St. Jago | Bullis | Grassfield |
| Finish | St. Jago | Western Branch | Bullis | Grassfield |