Union Regional
The Union Regional will take place this Saturday, May 4th. The teams competing are your home team, Tulsa Union, Jenks, Bartlesville, Ponca City, Putnam City North, Southmoore, Union, and US Grant. All rankings below are via Milesplit. Every athlete listed as competing is based on assumption, the heat sheets have not been released to us yet.
On the male side, this meet is a pretty balanced competition throughout most events. In the sprints, the 100m is led by Devon Jordan and Ayden Christiansen. Jordan from Union has run 10.46 and is ranked 3rd in the state while Christiansen out of Jenks has run 10.59 and is ranked 11th. Look for these two to both qualify for state pretty handily. The 200m is a mostly Union led event. Outside of Ayden Christiansen running 21.36, the other three leaders in this race place in the top ten, all from Union. Jarek Watie is your state leader in 21.33, Ashton Cunningham is 2nd in the state with 21.36, Devon Jordan is 6th at 21.59, and Boston Carrasco 21.60 is 7th. Look for Union to likely qualify multiple athletes in this event. Which should help them when its time for the state meet. Lastly for the male sprints is the 400m, which Union also holds the two far and away favorites with Jerek Watie and Daijon Gaines placing 1st and 2nd in the state. Look for these two to easily qualify.
Dean Mccune from Jenks is your favorite in the 110 and 300m hurdles. Followed by Damian Marshall from Union in the 110m hurdle event. It is unlikely anyone beats Mccune, but regionals is often a time where crazy things can happen.
As for the distance, your 800m has multiple athletes in the mix. Joshua Rammage is your favorite with a 1:54.11 which is currently ranked 3rd in the state. Following Rammage is Jackson Elliot and Daniel Davis who have both ran 1:56, and lastly Landry Finch with a 1:57. Look for these four athletes to really attack this event as they fight for state qualifying performances. The 800m is a race where anything can happen, so it will be fun to see what happens. For Landry Finch, the 800m will be a battle if he chooses to race the event, but in the 1600m he is the clear favorite out of the group with a 4:22 clocked earlier this season. Following Finch is Rammage, Seth Taylor, Brody Maasen, and Dade Humes. With this many quality milers in the field, it will be quite the race. Lastly, the 3200m is led by Dade Humes, who is your likely favorite.
In the discus, your likely favorites are Michael Murphy from Bartlesville and Caleb Beyer from Jenks Murphy has thrown 160-9 and Beyer has thrown for 158-0, both are top five in the state. Caleb Beyer and Talan Owen are your leaders going into the shot put at this meet.
In terms of the jumps, Jace Morgan from Jenks is the leader off of season performance in both the high jump and long jump. Look for Hudson Woods from Piedmont to battle it out for a 1st place finish. The pole vault is led by Wesley Turner from Bartlesville, who has jumped 14-9.25. Look for him to easily qualify in this event.
Lastly, the relays. Tulsa Union are your favorites in the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400, with Jenks hoping to get a qualifying relay team in each event. The 4x800 will likely come down to a Jenks, Piedmont, and a possible Tulsa Union showdown. As for Tulsa Union in the 4x800, if they have their core group of distance runners run their personal bests, they will likely qualify for state.
For the female side, the sprinting favorite is Campbell Barta out of Bartlesville. She is your leader going into the 100m and 200m at this meet. Outside of Barta, it will be interesting to see who is able to get in that top 3 qualifying mark. The 400m is a highly competitive event. Daijah Gaines from Tulsa Union is your state lead with a 56.25 personal best, but it won't be easy for Gaines. Rachel Cornell and Magnolia Crissup from Jenks have put up 56.77 and 56.81. All three athletes place in the top 5. There is a likely chance that this race is a thriller all the way down to the finish line. Moving on to the hurdles, Amaya Harrison is the favorite in both events. Harrison, from Union, is ranked 4th in the state in the 100m hurdles and 1st in the 300m. Look for her to qualify fairly easily.
For the distance, the 800m is set to be a showdown between multiple Jenks athletes. Kate Barber is your current favorite based off of her season best of 2:16.53, but Rachel Cornell is close behind with a season best of 2:16.69. Charlie Keely is a likely athlete outside of those top two to qualify, but the 800m is a common event for craziness, so who knows what's going to happen. Especially considering Gentry Turner may run as well. In the 1600m, Turner is your clear favorite with a sub 5 already accomplished this season. Outside of Turner, the 1600m qualifying positions are fairly wide open. Turner is also your favorite in the 3200m, with a 10:37.07, which is the state lead. Look for Ava Cornelius from Tulsa Union and Brooke Collins from Piedmont to likely snag those last two automatic qualifying spots.
For the throws, in your discus the favorite is Carly Borgelt from Tulsa Union. In the shot put, Borgelt slightly trails Gracie Kempenich from Union. Look for both athletes to qualify in this event. In the high jump Jill Twiehaus from Jenks and Kadence Barnett from Bartlesville are your top leaders. For the long jump, Kadence Barnett is the favorite with a jump of 18-11.5 this season, while Campbell Barta is right behind her with a leap of 18-7.5 this season. As for the pole vault, Amara Hendricks is the current favorite going in with a jump of 10-0.
In the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 the two teams likely duking it out for 1st and 2nd are Jenks and Union. While in the 4x800 it'll likely be Jenks and Piedmont.
All in all, this regional will surely have some great performances. Best of luck to all the athletes competing!
Thanks for reading,
Shawn Rutledge