* Montverde Academy's Issam Asinga at New Balance Nationals Outdoor
Photo Credit: Danny Aguas/MileSplit
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The New York Grand Prix will act as a prelude of sorts.
Roughly two weeks shy of the USA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the likes of Athing Mu, Sydney McLaughlin, Daniel Roberts, Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas are all set to appear at Icahn Stadium in New York City on Saturday.
Just a peg below, however, the same can be said of promising young athletes looking to tune up ahead of the USA U20 Championships, which is also set for the same time and in the same place as the senior championships -- in Eugene, Oregon from July 6-10.
On Saturday, the most compelling storyline will be within the sprints, which on the U20 side will include the likes of Shawnti Jackson and Adaejah Hodge.
On the men's side, Montverde Academy graduate Issam Asinga, who will likely represent Suriname at the World Championships in August, has been added to a men's 200m that will include Lyles.
Jackson and Hodge will line up in the 200m -- in a rematch of the NBNO final that saw Jackson false start and then Hodge win the title.
Asinga, meanwhile, could go after another sub-20 performance in the 200m.
Jackson, a University of Arkansas signee who is MileSplit's top recruit in the Class of 2023, and Hodge, who is among the top two ranked girls recruits in the Class of 2024, will take top billing in the 200m.
It will be round three for these two.
To recap:
- Over the indoor season Hodge beat Jackson straight-up in the 200m in a new national record time of 22.33 seconds.
- Last week, Jackson false-started in the final of the 200m at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, which netted an open lane and then led to Hodge's win in 22.64 seconds.
So what could we see this time around?
Fireworks, for sure.
Jackson already has that 100m national record to her name, not to mention a stellar record of 22.70 seconds in the 200m and a time of 52.13 in the 400m. She captured four state titles in her final North Carolina State Championship appearance.
But anything can happen between these two ladies.
In the last scheduled race of the night, the men's 200m will go off.
It will feature Asinga, the senior out of Montverde Academy who has put together arguably the greatest high school sprints season in history.
He broke the 200m high school national record, officially, in April, clocking a wind-legal time of 19.97 (+1.3) at the Corky-Crofoot Shootout, and has run three efforts at or under 20.20 on the season.
He even beat Lyles earlier in the season.
That came at the PURE Athletics Invitational in April when he ran the fastest all-conditions 100m of all-time in 9.83 (+2.6).
Could he drop an official sub-10? Officially, Trentavis Friday still owns the high school national record of 10.00 flat, which was accomplished back in 2014.
Notable High School/U20 Athletes Competing:
100m: Charlie Sexton, Auburn (AL), '22; Eddy Vu, William Floyd (NY) '22; Jadon Spain, James O'Neil (NY).
400m: Morgan Roundtree, Oak Park (MI); Nevaeh Burns, Oak Park (MI); Jayla Johnson, X; Wesley Noble, Bishop Loughlin (NY).
800m: Peyton Hollis, Jimmiea King and Kaleigh Gunsiorowski, Union Catholic (NJ); Emma Zawatski, Freehold Township (NJ); Victoria Vidolova, New York (NY).
