Looking around the metro this week, there are three primary meets, hosted by St Thomas Aquinas, Gardner-Edgerton, and De Soto. To be completely honest, each will have it's highlights and lowlights, and the caliber of each appears to be fairly even. However, DeSoto has specific intrigue with a lot of impressive entries from outside the big-three JoCo school districts.
Starting things off in the field events, things will be exciting in the sand pits. Ella Capling of DeSoto is one of the best in the metro on the girls triple jump, while Olathe-Heritage junior Rachel Van Gorp will give her a run for her money in the long jump. Basehor-Linwood's Eddie Wilson and Brant Wilson will also be in action in the sand pits, along with Tyson Ruud in the high jump.
Louisburg's Nathan Vincent is the best all-around thrower at the meet, but he'll be in quite a battle in the discus, so be sure to head out to the ring, since you won't want to miss that one.
On the track, Piper's 4x100 relays are always exciting. The Pirates are typically among the best in all classes. Louisburg could raise some eyebrows on the girls side, though. Emma Lohse is active in the short sprints and has some afterburners for the relay.
Tonganoxie's Eli Gilmore is scheduled to pull off the challenging 400-800 double. He comes in with seed times of 50.5 and 1:53. DeSoto's Palmer O'Connor may turn that 800m race into something interesting. Although, he won't be fresh either, as he's entered as the #2 seed in a tightly-contested 1600m
Another highlight to watch for is Bonner Springs hurdler Jenna Knight, she could produce a really special pair of races, so keep an eye on her.
Lastly, another reason I chose this meet over the alternatives: the 4x100 Throwers Relay. Always a crowd favorite, we have 3 girls teams and 5 boys teams entered at the moment, and this will undoubtedly prove to be one of the premier events of the meet.