Khullen Jefferson was on his way to a huge section 400m win at Texas A&M before race officials disqualified him.
Boys-
Khullen Jefferson and Xavier Curtis will headline the speedy feet display-
The sprint fields have rounded out quite nicely to keep the early season palate wet. The 60m, 60HH, 200m, and 400m will be contested.
When it's time to enter the arena all eyes will be on
Khullen Jefferson (Sr., TF South) in the first of two events for the U of Minnesota signee. Jefferson's first event will be the 400m where he is a notable favorite. Coming into the affair with a season-best 49.07 is quite delightful. However, Jefferson may be in rampage mode after getting a seemingly US top ten 48.69 wiped off the board for a lane violation last weekend at the Texas A&M HS Indoor Classic. Let's see if he can duplicate another sensational performance.
It's anyone's guess who will advance out of the short dash prelims and prevail in the final. The assumption is
Xavier Curtis (Sr., Glenbard North) is the young man with a bullseye on his back. It is only the third week of the new year but Curtis has rocked 6.99 for a state-leading mark. He should breeze again and if with a clean start, look for another time drop. Curtis will face Jefferson in the 200m. Both speedsters have the ability to challenge the sub-22.40 barrier during this very early indoor campaign.
The fire marshall may get called in if the likes of
Mason Childers (Bloomington North IN),
Caleb Lerus ( Chicago [Lycee' de Francais]), and
Ugo Anidobu (Homewood-Flossmoor) all live up to the early season hype in their respective events.
The key figure in the jumps is
Isaiah Tyler (Sr., Proviso East) in the high jump. The 2019 USATF Jr. Olympic All-American has a personal indoor best of 6-7 and he is very familiar with the Proviso West facility (his indoor practice facility).
David Emuze (Sr., Springfield Southeast) enters as the one to beat in the long with a personal best 23-1 from last season. Emuze, a U of Illinois signee, has competed in several meets on the young undercover season.
Distance events expected to hold up their end of the bargain-
There are only two events in which distance runners can claim as their "own." Despite just having the 800m and 1600m to choose from on the docket, the entry numbers are bursting out of the seems. There are four sections of the 800 and with the fourth one expected to turn out some solid marks. Aaron Terrell (Jr., Thornwood) comes in as the very early state leader, having run 2:05.03. Terrell's seed time is 1:57.75 (run last outdoor season at the end of his peak). It is highly unlikely that he or anyone else will run such a time, but a good effort and possibly a new state-leading mark is in order.
The "mile" field is not loaded in terms of numbers, while there is not a superstar name expect someone to step up and drop some solid times. Top seed Gabe Martinez (Sr., Bismarck-Henning) has a personal best 4:25 from last spring. He is also coming off of an all-star cross country campaign in which he ran 15:19 for 3m and placed 12th in the 1A state meet.
