A big weekend is upon us. Two handfuls of state meets, dominating invitationals in New York, Florida and Virginia, and conference and state qualifying action should create quite an exciting weekend. See which meets top the schedule this weekend as we preview the best of the best.

Weekend Preview (5/8 - 5/11)

UIL Track Championships (TX)

UIL Track Championships: Meet Page / Best Coverage (TXRunning.com)

Preview Coming Shortly.

Arizona State T&F Championshis (AZ)

Arizona State T&F Championships: Best Coverage (AZTrackXC.com)

AZTrackXC.com's Meet Previews: Boys / Girls

With the boys scattered across 7 division in most events the girls are a little different. Three Footlocker Cross Country finalist will be competing in the 5A-I division for the state title in the 1600 and 3200m races. The 1600 is scheduled for Saturday evening and top seeded sophomore Jessica Tonn (Xavier Prep,4:52.44) will be racing Nadya (Mountain Ridge, 5:05.17) and Nastia (Mountain Ridge, 5:06.04) Bishton along with teammate, Sarah Penney (junior, Xavier Prep, 4:54.74). All four runners plus freshman, Kristina Vanderhout, will face each other in the 3200 event tomorrow evening. Lindsay Prescott from Sandra Day O'Connor will be hoping to add a few more state titles (4A Division I) to an already impressive resume. Click Here for rest of girls preview from AZTrackXC.com.

State meet prelims start tonight for 5A - II at Desert Vista and 4A I and II at Mesa Community College. Tomorrow evening 5A - I, 1A, 2A and 3A will begin their prelims with all divisions heading to the finals on Saturday evening at three separate venues. The boys 800m has the two top runners in the state and two of the top three in the country with John Kline (US#2) and James Echberger (US#3), however they will be competing in separate events as Kline (Desert Vista) runs in 5A div. I and Echberger (Catalina Magnet) runs in 4A div. II. Both should easily win their events. Click Here for rest of boys preview from AZTrackXC.com.

Georgia Olympics (Boys State) (GA)

Georgia Olympics: Meet Page / 5A Preview (GATFXC.com)

5A- This batlle of the "BIg Boys" could come down to the last event of the day. McEachern and Marietta qualified nearly all of their best athletes and both relay teams. William Wynne will be going after both Hurdles titles and look for Trey Charles to push him in the 300h and Marchello Sinkfield of Douglass to push Wynne hard in the 110h The Astros also should be near the top of the leaderboard by mid-Saturday and are definitely going to be in it all the way. What is not surprising is Mr. Wynne LJ'd 23-7 at the region meet and that could be a huge factor by the end of Saturday. Marietta's Woodrow Randall could possibly sweep the 100m and 200m dashes and along with Charles in the 400m and their relay teams it will be an exciting day. Redan also figures to be in the mix with Travis Benton having the fastest time of 2008 in the 200m and 2nd best time in the 100m along with their relay teams. Brookwood will get off to a fast start in the Vault led by the top 2 vaulters in the state in Paul Niederhardt and Aaron Unterberger. The Broncos Robert Jackson will be a threat in both Hurdles events and Eric Griffin may get some big points in the sprints. Parkview also has a strong group of qualifiers including Marcelis Lynch who has top times in both the 800 and 1600. Click Here for rest of 5A preview from GATFXC.com.

In other classes, Christian Taylor (Sandy Creek, GA) and Wesley Wright (Villa Rica, GA) are two to watch. Taylor, who is ranked U.S. #1 in both the triple jump and long jump, looks to improve on his leading marks, while also moving over to the track to help his team try and secure a team title by running the 400m dash. Meanwhile, Wright looks to better his personal best throw this weekend and win the shot put. He has a great shot at throwing somewhere in the 63-64 foot range.

Southern Track Classic (VA)

Southern Track Classic: Meet Page / Best Coverage (MileStat.com)

The ninth edition of the Southern Track Classic will be held under the lights on Friday night for the third consecutive year at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. The meet will certainly carry a great deal of momentum into the 10th ever STC next May with another slate of stars expected to push each other to the highest levels of excellence.

We are actually ten years removed from the first ever Southern Track Classic, which was held at Dinwiddie High School as the meet took a one year hiatus in 2004. Meet director Dan Ward put a great idea into action on that May night in 1998, which has been a crown jewel of a meet for high school track and field in Virginia ever since. Recruiting our state's best athletes to compete in a meet setup to have only one agenda in providing ideal conditions for running faster, jumping higher, and throwing farther.

Lets take a look at what to expect from the 2008 Southern Track Classic in a preview article by MileStat.com's Brandon Miles. Click Here for rest of preview.

Loucks Games (NY)

Loucks Games: Meet Page / Best Coverage (ArmoryTrack.com)

ArmoryTrack.com's Meet Previews: Boys / Girls

Many of the top teams and individuals in the northeast assemble at the annual Loucks Games looking to improve their times before the conference, state qualifying and state meets all start taking place. Leading the way this weekend are the boys DMR and boys 4x4, as well as the girls DMR and girls 800m run. While not every event is stacked with talented and deep competition, many relay and individual races should produce numerous national marks.

Here are a few previews from ArmoryTrack.com's Tim Fulton and Chris Hunt:

Boys DMR: Warwick Valley and Scarsdale ran 2-3 at Indoor Nationals (Scarsdale out of the slower section) and 3-4 at Penn Relays. Warwick is better than they ran at Penn and Scarsdale anchor's Julian Sheinbaum, who has split 4:16. Archbishop Ryan won the Indoor National titles in 10:19.59 also out of the unseeded section. St. Benedict's Prep has Brandon Jarrett on the anchor but he has been plaqued all year long with injuries and who know if he'll be on the line. Shen has been running very well this spring and placed 8th at Penn. Monsignor Farrell ran 7:54 in the 4x800m at Penn as did Fordham Prep. Arlington is a good squad that could suprise some people. After that, look for HHH West's Kyle Merber to run some people down and turn in a fast split. If his team can keep him close, he can close better than almost everyone in the race.

Boys 4x400m Relay: Tough call on this one depending on who has what left in the tank and who's healthy. All these teams are capable of winning. Colonie has the top time in the state this season at 3:19.40 and Newburgh is number two at 3:19.58. Ramapo ran 3:21 with Mike Abelhard while Midwood ran 3:25 early. It's hard to pick against Newburgh but it should come down to them and Colonie with Midwood hanging close as well.

Girls DMR: None of the top three times have been able to run a fast DMR yet this season. Suffern had the fastest time in the field indoors (11:51.08 at NSIC). Lincoln-Sudbury ran 9:06.44 to win the last section of the 4x800 at Penn Relays and Carmel won this race last year. The likelihood is this race should be pretty close toward the end. If Carmel’s Kristin Reese is anywhere close by she’s a threat. Last year she was running clear out of her skin and anchored the relay in in 4:52. Suffern’s Shelby Greany proved she’s ready to run this season too after she dropped a 9:48.92 in the 3,000 at Penn. She’ll probably run the anchor for Suffern too on top of the fact that if Jen Clayton, who is listed to be on the relay, runs the 400 leg, then the Mounties have the fastest quarter-miler in the field.

Girls 800m Dash: I can’t help it. This is going to be my favorite race of the meet. I’ll tell you right now, don’t sleep on Phyllis Francis, even if you haven’t hear much from her so far this season. The last time I personally felt like she disappeared she came back and broke the national 600-meter record at the CHSAA championship. I really hope that everyone who is entered in this race shows. Remember that Francis ran 2:07.92 at NSIC indoors. Emma Miller-Bedell and Kristin Reese have both broken 2:10. It pains my soul that Charlene Lipsey (Hempstead) and Sarah McCurdy (Bay Shore) are not in this race. Either way, it’s going to be ridiculous fast as long as the weather holds up. Reese is always on the verge of having the type of race that astonishes you and Miller-Bedell has a sick finishing kick and always keeps her in contention.

Running-Zone.com All Class Showdown (FL)

RZ.com All Class Showdown: Meet Page / Best Coverage (FLRunners.com)

While the state meet might have concluded the Florida track and field regular season, some of the top distance talent in the state will take to the Running-Zone.com All Class Showdown this weekend to prove who is the best in the state regardless of class. The FLRunners.com girls two-mile is the best event of the evening, with all four Florida Foot Locker finalists in the field. 10:15 3200m state champ Ashley Brasovan (Wellington, FL) leads the way, while Emilie Amaro (Cypress Bay, FL), Kayla Hale (Trinity, FL) and Brittany Koziara (Boone, FL) are all entered as well and will be looking to run a fast time. The top male athlete in the field is multiple time state champ Jospeh Franklin (FL).