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Starting tomorrow at 1:00pm EDT, adidas Track Nationals will get underway in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Don't miss a minute of the action, which continues through Sunday evening - watch it all live here!)
Though there's a definite southeastern bent to the entry lists, a quick scan of them reveals that there's plenty of talent from all across the U.S., including top athletes from Puerto Rico, set to face off at the excellent facilities at North Carolina A&T. While the competition promises to be fierce across every individual race, field battle, and relay, here are five events that you'll want to pay extra special attention to.
Boys' High Jump
The field events in particular at adidas this year should be top-tier, and there's no event for which that's more true than the boys' high jump. At the tippy top of the entry list sits North Carolina's own Maddox Krotzer, the top-ranked high-jumper in the nation this year thanks to a 7-4.25 clearance at the Wake County Championships back in April. The South Garner junior hasn't lost a contest in 2026, and he'll undoubtedly look to keep that streak alive - while also improving on his PR - on Saturday.
But he'll have his hands full. Also entered is Izear Wimberly, a senior from Carrollton in Georgia, whose 7-03.25 jump at his region meet on April 21st was the third highest clearance by anybody in the nation this outdoor season. Wimberly will be motivated, too, after placing second at the Georgia 6A state meet and Meet of Champions.
Make note, however, that this won't be a two man jump-off. Three other athletes are slated to step into the ring who bring with them 7-0 entry marks - Tommy Pringle II, Ethan Rowe, and Jamari Johnson - each of whom is hungry to cap off their seasons as a national champion.
Boys' Shot Put
Saturday's boys shot contest boasts six entries with PBs over 60 feet, led by Zion Coulson, the North Carolina 5A state champ thanks to his 63-9.5 PB toss at that meet. That was his fourth time past the 60-foot barrier this year, and a massive improvement on his PR from this time last year, which was just 56-6. Coulson has been steady but on an upswing all year, and looks poised to launch one into the stratosphere.
But it's really anyone's contest. Right behind him in terms of entry marks is Kentucky 3A champ Miles Hayward, who comes into the ring with a 62-11.5 PB, set at his regional meet last month. Next up is North Carolina 7A champ Rico Mabberley, who opened up his season at 62-10 and will surely be looking to get past 63-0. Virginia Class 4A runner-up Lamont Mayo similarly opened his season with his best throw - 62-9 - and will be looking for fierce competition and favorable conditions to help him extend that PR out further. Donovan Moore, also of Kentucky, also touts a PB from his first meeting of the year: 61-5. And rounding things out is Mason Friedman, the Pennsylvania state champ on the strength of a 61-0.5 PR toss.
Girls' Hammer Throw
We'll be keeping an eye on the hammer ring Friday morning. Several throwers in the mix will be given their first chance of the season to really show their stuff, having spent most of their seasons focusing on the shot or discus - given that the hammer isn't universally contested throughout the U.S. For the likes of Camdyn O'Shields, Bianca Grindo, and Emma Reed, this is a great chance to test themselves in a relatively new event in which they show tremendous promise.
And they'll have an excellent benchmark by which to compare their performance: Puerto Rico's Gillian Peña. Peña enters as something of a wildcard. Her furthest throw - per World Athletics - is a nearly 209-foot heave she uncorked this May - a mark that's almost 20 feet better than anything thrown in the U.S. this season. The kicker is, that was apparently with a 3kg implement, whereas U.S. high school meets (including this one!) utilize a 4kg one. Peña appears to have won just about every meet she's entered over the past two seasons, and her entry mark is 178-04, which we assume utilizes some sort of conversion. So even with a heavier hammer than she's used to, she should pose some serious competition.
Girls' 400m
Cai Culpepper has been something of an age group prodigy since she won an AAU 400m championship back in 2019. Now a sophomore at Tampa Prep, she boasts a PB of 52.70, run as a 13-year old. She ran under 53-seconds again during her 8th grade year, and again last year as a freshman. She was last year's FHSAA 400m state champion, and went undefeated over 400m this year as well, until she uncharacteristically placed 17th. A few weeks later, she dusted herself off and ran a season's best, 53.00. She'll undoubtedly lower herself into the blocks on Saturday looking for a statement performance. Since first emerging on the scene, Culpepper has been a must-watch athlete anytime she races - this one should be no different.
If she's firing on all cylinders, she still should have competition in the form of Patience Grant, a senior from Stratford High School in South Carolina, who boasts a 53.50 PB, plus a handful of 54-second athletes looking to make the jump into 53-second territory.
Girls' 100m Hurdles
Given how often high school 100m hurdlers dabble - or even focus on - different events in the postseason, it's no small feat that five of the top 83 100m hurdlers in the country should line up alongside one another for Saturday's final.
Amarushakur Harris won the Georgia 2A 100m hurdles in a wind-assisted 13.40, finished in the top two of every 100m hurdles race she entered this year, and clocked a wind-legal 13.74 to win the Georgia Meet of Champions. She's the top entry for a reason.
At the Florida state meet, Patricia Costa took third in 13.80, her first time under 14-seconds this year. Costa's improvement curve on the season suggests she's got faster running left in her legs, and that she appears to be peaking at just the right time to make a splash.Harris's fellow Georgian Addriana Haynes's fastest wind recorded time this year was an impressive 13.84 at the Florida State Relays back in late March, a race in which she placed third. She also clocked in at 13.71 in April, although there was no recorded wind for that one.
Kaiya Collier, hailing from Illinois, ran a terrific 13.83 in the prelims at the Texas Relays, but has been relatively quiet since. Her second best mark this season was a 14.20 showing. While she's less proven than the athletes already mentioned, the talent is clearly there - could adidas be just the right stage to unleash it? And Adriene Shaevitz placed fourth at the Indiana state meet, running 14.24 into a headwind. That was her only loss in a final all year, which, combined with her season's best of 13.84 (no wind reading) suggests she could also contribute to this being a fantastic race.