Here are the biggest state meet storylines heading into a week of state meet action.
Madison Whyte
Without a doubt, the biggest storyline of the week is Madison Whyte (Heritage-Newport News) and her quest for some fast times. She is the top seed in the 55 and 300 and currently the third fastest 300m runner in Virginia History. She ran that time on a flat track so anything is possible on the bank and with a strong team this year, this meet is just going to be fun for this superstar.
Thomas Dale Girls
The Thomas Dale girls are building a scoring team just like the University of Georgia where they focus on the field and hurdles instead of all the other events. They are lead by Madison Mcconico and Devyn Parham who team up to lead the state in two events (TJ/55H). In fact, they make Dale the only school to have two separate athletes be state leaders.
If both of these athletes and a couple other role players score the points they need to, they could seriously come away victorious. It would be one of the most impressive wins in the six classification era. South County is the favorite for Class 6.
Abingdon Boys
On the other end of the spectrum is the distance group from Abingdon who look to show how you score some points when you're limited by events. On paper their distance squad wins the meet by themselves but because of doubling rules, they will be limited. They don't need to worry too much with strong hurdlers and role players scoring major points too.
When it is all said and done, it will be interesting to see how many other state meets this team could win. Meaning, could the Class 3 team have won the other classifications.
Overall State Records
There are a few state records, not state meet records, in danger of falling. The two biggest that come to mind are the boys 4x4 (Battlefield) and Girls shot put (Wisdom Williams). Keep an eye on that all-time list as well throughout the week.
Alaysia Oakes
She is already one of the winningest athletes in Virginia history and this weekend she could add to it further. She could potentially score 50 points by herself. She is the favorite in the long jump, triple jump, 55m dash, 300m dash, and seeded second in the 500m dash. In the LJ, TJ, and 55, she could legit win any classification's title.
