North of Tallahassee, Chiles High is hosting the 3A Region 1 track and field meet this Thursday, 23 April 2015.

It has already been a busy season on the Timberwolves’ eight-lane track. The Chiles oval has already seen an invitational, a middle school meet, a frosh-soph meet, and a classic (which seems to be a marketer’s word for invitational). If you had to pick a climax, though, you could do worse than to choose the Region 1 meet.

Just last year the Chiles boys won the 3A Region 1 meet, then went on to win the state title. They weren’t the only champions to come out of 3A Region 1. Region 1 athletes won eleven events at the 3A State Finals in 2014, eight on the boys’ side and three on the girls’. That included a sweep of the boys’ distance events when Niceville won the 4 x 800 relay, Avery Bartlett of Chiles won the 800, and Sukhi Khosla of Leon won the 1600 and the 3200. Niceville’s relay team was hit hard by graduation, but Bartlett and Khosla will be back on the track at Chiles.

Those two seniors will meet early in the meet in the 1600. Bartlett had been sidelined by injury since early March, but returned to competition at the 3A District 3 meet at Jacksonville Wolfson on 14 April 2015, where he finished second to Khosla in the 1600, 4:27.53 to 4:28.14. It’s not likely that those times will win the Region, though. Oakleaf junior David Hall ran 4:21.57 to win the 3A District 4 1600; in the same race St. Augustine senior Ryan Aponte went 4:22.07, Creekside senior David Cash Tampa went 4:24.27. Creekside sophomore Joseph Storey was fourth behind them in 4:27.08, but he's a 4:20.78 guy. And Leon senior Adam Wallenfelsz may have only placed third with a 4:32.37 in 3A District 3, but he has run 4:17.02 before. Lee junior Dominic Williams has a 4:17.29 on his resume. I wouldn’t predict a race like the 2014 region, the 4:06.45 to 4:07.12 showdown between Sukhi Khosla and Niceville’s Nick Morken. It’s going to be fast, just not quite that fast.

If you were going by District times, you’d give the four Region 1 qualifying spots in the 1600 to the girls of 3A District 4--St. Augustine junior Kelly Aponte (5:10.01), Creekside frosh Tara Openshaw (5:10.21), Creekside senior Jessica Taylor (5:12.01), and Nease senior Yaranel Abreu (5:13.50). But Chiles junior Emma Tucker has gone 5:12.38 this season, and Fort Walton Beach senior Emma Rudman has a lifetime best of 4:53.46 and ran 5:12.41 earlier this year.

In the boys 800 you have to start with the reigning state champion, Avery Bartlett. Bartlett has a career best 1:52.27, but his best during the current season is 1:56.62 and he ran 2:01.01 at 3A District 3. 2:01.01 was good enough to win, though, so why run faster? Tray LaNasa ran a career-best 1:58.56 to win the 3A District 2 800, he'll be keeping the pace honest at Chiles. As in the 1600, 3A District 4 produced a bunch of quick times--David Cash Tampa's 1:57.30, David Hall's 1:58.46, Bartram Trail senior Isiah Ortiz's 1:58.68, and Cory Aulenbach's 1:58.70. No one is going to be able to coast through the 3A Region 1 boys’ 800.

Of the entries in the 3A Region 1 girls' 800, only Fort Walton Beach junior Brooke Crane has gone sub-2:20. Crane went 2:16.04 at the FCA Panhandle Championships on 21 March 2015, then 2:18.65 at the Florida Relays on 2 April 2015. At 3A District 2 she won big over Niceville frosh Hannah Schneidewind 2:21.25 to 2:24.93. If you need to pick a favorite in the 3A Region 1 girls’ 800, pick Crane. Bartram Trail senior Sydne Grier went 2:23.71 to win at 3A District 4 and went 2:21.30 at the Friday Knight Invite on 13 March 2015. She should compete for a place, as should 3A District 4 champ Chiles junior Emma Tucker. Tucker ran a controlled 2:26.86 at District, well off her season best of 2:21.95. Pace High sophomore Haley Kling ran a PR 2:24.33 to win her race at 3A District 1; anyone who wants to advance to State out of this race is going to have to beat Kling.

In the 2014 3A Region 1 3200, Sukhi Khosla faced the 2013 state champion, Niceville Senior Thomas Howell. Khosla defeated Howell 9:10.96 to 9:16.50 then went on to win the State title. This year the closest runner to Khosla is another Leon senior, Hunter Scott. Khosla and Scott went one-two at 3A District 3, running 9:31.18 and 9:31.70, but they aren't that close. Khosla's best is 8:59.50 and Scott's a 9:20.38. At District they were just trying to outrun Chiles seniors Tyson Murray (9:37.25) and Allan Hernandez (9:37.29). The Region 1 race is liable to be a repeat of District 3 3200. Neither of the top two runners from 3A District 4, Creekside senior Zack Bias and Bartram Trail senior Brad Dixon, have ever gone under 9:40. No one from either District 1 or District 2 has a lifetime best under 10:00. District 3 is dominant in this event, but you could have guessed that after cross country season when the two best boys’ teams in the state and the state cross country champion all came from District 3.

If you want to handicap the 3A Region 1 girls' 3200 on the basis of District Meet performances, you'd like the District 4 trio of Creekside seniors Jessica Taylor and Colleen Openshaw with St. Augustine junior Emily Onimus. They took the top three places in 11:22.31, 11:31.68, and 11:31.79. I’d prefer to look at season bests, though, where Emma Tucker of Chiles has the edge. Tucker went 11:01.97 at the FSU Invitational, while Taylor went 11:07.76 at the Florida Relays. However, don’t discount Fort Walton Beach senior Emma Rudman. Rudman went 11:42.60 in the 3A District 2 race, but she ran 11:33.17 at the Florida Relays. More importantly, Rudman is the defending state champion in the 3A girls 3200 with a lifetime best of 10:50.96. Races aren’t decided by comparing resumes, but you don’t ignore a champion, either.

The distance events aren’t the only highlights of the 3A Region 1 competition. Last year the meet produced the boys 110-meter hurdles champion in 2014, Justin Cromartie of Chiles. Cromartie has graduated, but Lincoln senior John Burt leads class 3A this year with a 13.94. He’ll be racing at Chiles.

Lincoln senior Jadzia Beasley is the defending champion two 3A girls events, the 100 and the 200. Beasley would like to repeat, of course, but at 3A Region 1 she’ll be facing Choctawhatchee frosh Kelisa Cain, who ran 11.30 at the 3A District 2 meet. Well, maybe. Cain is credited with 11.30 in the preliminaries, but she has never been timed within a second of that mark in any other race--including the finals that day. A more credible contender would be Oakleaf sophomore Ka Tia Seymour, who won the 3A District 4 girls' 100 in 11.91. Seymour also comes into the Region with a strong 24.39 in the 200.

All past marks are out the window on Thursday, anyway. It’s all about who crosses the line first, who hurls the weight the farthest, who jumps higher, and who jumps longer. That’s what will determine who gets by this last obstacle on the road to the State Finals.