The All-American Track Classic is fast closing in.
One of the Southeast's premier regular season invitationals, the event is set to host a crop of the country's best sprint, distance and field event stars at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina.
Related Information:
Live Results of the All-American Track Classic
To ready you for the oncoming performances, we've decided to highlight seven athletes with resumes befitting of their reputations.
These seven are among the top athletes to watch on Friday and Saturday. Catch full coverage on MileSplit, including the live stream, interviews, recaps and more.
7. Charlotte Bell, Cuthbertson (NC)
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Grade: Class of 2024
Events: 800m, 4x800
Bio: The half-mile is set to be a battle in the girls field, with a slew of girls in the 2:13, 2:14 and 2:15 range.
Which means anything can happen on race day.
But Bell, one of Cuthbertson's key contributors in their national-caliber 4x800 relay, at least has one advantage on her side: She's got the top overall time of 2:13.13 entering the field. It's the 10th-fastest sophomore time in the country in 2022.
Of course, Bell will have to do more than just rely on previous history to win this race. But it's a start. She'll face off against a talented half-miler from Mountain Brook (AL), Hunter Anderson, who also enters with a time of 2:13.86.
And then there's Maddie Huecker, a North Carolina signee from Lake Norman (NC). She's gone 2:14.17.
There's one more advantage here: Bell can go into her 800m fresh on Saturday, since the 4x800 is on Friday night.
6. Joshua Knox, McEachern (GA)
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Grade: Class of 2022
Events: 200m, 400m
Bio: While Knox is the No. 2 seed, he's the most readymade to win this event right now.
His form is dead-on, as he's ranked U.S. No. 32 with a time of 47.95. While Ardrey Kell's (NC) Jamier Moten has a single hundredth-of-a-second on him all-time, Moten opened with a 50-point in March. So the North Carolina athlete has some work to do.
And that could give Knox, who's shaved about five-tenths of a second off his best performance from 2021, the figurative inside lane on his competition.
Knox is easily an athlete who could bend his form around the competition around him. So that 47 could be knocked down here. He's also entered in the 200m, where he's clocked a season best time of 22.06.
5. Reagan Riley, Mountain Brook (AL)
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Grade: Class of 2023
Events: Mile, 4x800
Bio: The Alabama native was lights out over the indoor season, logging personal bests in the 400m (61 seconds), 800m (2:11), 1,600m (4:53) and 3,200m (10:36.20). That came after a largely successful XC campaign, too, where she was top 25 in the country at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships and won her first Alabama Class 6A title.
So this outdoor season plans to be a book-end for Riley.
At the All-American Track Classic, she might get the kitchen sink thrown at her -- figuratively speaking.
Facing off against Charlotte Myers Park's Mary Bonner Dalton, a rising talent from North Carolina who posted a time of 4:52.36 indoors in March, Riley will have a chance to cut into her personal 1,600m best. Could we see sub-4:50 here?
On Friday, she'll also try to lead Mountain Brook to an upset of Cuthbertson in the 4x800.
4. Jaylen Boudreaux, Cane Bay (SC)
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Grade: Class of 2022
Events: 110mH, 400mH
Bio: Watch out for the country's top 400 meter hurdler.
Jaylen will be trying to surge past that pesky 53-point, which he's clocked twice already in 2022.
A year ago, he lowered it all the way down to 52.16, finishing the year at U.S. No. 4. This year, he's the top returning long hurdler anywhere in the country.
While patience is key for someone like Boudreaux -- every little improvement matters -- look out for the South Carolina talent to be at his best in the long hurdles.
In the 110mH, he has posted a season best time of 13.98w. That puts him at No. 24 in the country for all conditions marks.
3. Cheyla Scott, Matthews Butler (NC)
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Grade: Class of 2023
Events: High Jump, long jump
Bio: Cheyla is in a league of her own in the high jump, where she's cleared 5-10 twice already this season.
That puts Scott, a junior from Matthews, North Carolina, right at U.S. No. 4 on the season.
It should be noted that Scott finished the indoor season at U.S. No. 1 with a mark of 5-10.5.
2. Kaniya Johnson, Lowndes (GA)
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Grade: Class of 2022
Events: 100m
Bio: Johnson has purely one mission on Saturday: Run the fastest 100m she possibly can.
The Florida State signee is only entered in the 100m, which means her focus is squarely on the event. Through four meets this season she's clocked times of 11.75, 11.87, 11.63 and 11.88, displaying the level of consistency that a high-profile talent like Johnson should have.
But she's still searching for that PR. A season ago, running for White Knoll (SC), Johnson claimed a SCHSL Class 5A state title in 11.53, which was third in state history.
That time was converted on this very track.
Johnson transferred to Lowndes (GA) over the offseason, but now she's back in her home state. Perhaps nostalgia, touched with a level of confidence and bravado, will get her right back to where she was the last time she floored the gas on the straightaway.
Don't miss Johnson in the prelims or finals.
1. Ian Myers, Brookland Cayce (SC)
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Grade: Class of 2022
Events: 100m, 200m
Bio: Wind-legal times have been elusive for Myers thus far.
He doesn't own any to his name this season. But Myers does have some absolutely bonkers 100m times: 10.18w, 10.33w, 10.40w and 10.41.
The 200m remains roughly the same, with all condition marks of 20.96w, 21.36 and 21.39w.
While Myers can't control the weather or the wind, there's no doubt he's ready to blast out of the blocks once again.
The South Carolina native has been on the edges of the nation's best performances all season-long.
And this weekend will go a long way in continuing that season-long narrative.
Myers isn't just a South Carolina starlet. He's a force in the U.S. that's just waiting for his big moment.
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