Boys Sprints
Mention Evan McClellon (the now-graduated holder of two Hamline records and one all-time mark) to the likes of senior Denzel Brown, and you'll get the knowing smile of one who isn't intimidated.
Brown was the state Class AA runner-up to McClellon this past year in the 100 and is also the reigning state champion in the 200. With season bests of 10.75 and 21.80, Brown will be tough to beat, but one who could do it is Keylan Jackson. A competitive sprinter since the age of 7, Jackson has seeds of 10.80 and 21.74 that already stand toe-to-toe with Brown, and we could see them drop even further yet.
Beyond that, we have fellow junior Jeremiah Jacobson and the small-but-deadly Genuine Matthews and a host of others all eager to make their marks. Speaking of Matthews, he took the Elite Meet by storm in 2016 thanks to his jaw-dropping performance in the 400.
Having never run under 50.77 before, Matthews skipped the 49s entirely with a final of 48.75, a personal record by nearly two seconds. But again, the junior Jackson and his lifetime best of 48.55 could rain on Matthews' parade, too.
Having not been truly tested yet in 2017, Keylan Jackson could very well be the meet's first 100/200/400 triple-winner winner since 2007. Behind those two are also the likes of Marcus Haskins, Abner Moseti, and long-sprinting newcomer Dylan Smerillo, none of whom can be counted out to do something special.
But in the hurdles, there is one team that rises above the rest, and that team is Edina. In each of the nine-team hurdle fields, an Edina athlete occupies two spots, including both the top seeds, who are arguably heavy favorites.
Henry Adams in the 110 hurdles put the rest of the competition far behind him this past weekend thanks to a performance that was closer to 14 seconds than 15. But the competition tightens significantly after that. Just 0.27 seconds separate the remaining seeds, which include this past year's Class A champion, Ethan Dahlen, juniors Reid Pierzinski and Caden Turner, Edina's Grant Fuller, and the lifetime PR of 14.64 in Evan El-Halawani.
As for the 300 hurdles, Grant Fuller takes front stage, and after a disappointing eighth-place finish in 2016, hopes to hold off Minnesota's reigning Class AA champion El-Halawani, sub-39 seeded Pierzinski, and perhaps most notably, reigning Hamline Elite champion (and Fuller's teammate) Abdihafid Sahal.
In the relays, however, things are a bit more up in the air. The Denzel Brown-led 4x100 from Eden Prairie may have possibly claimed the spot of favorite with a 42.79 performance last weekend (although Rochester John Marshall may have a thing or two to say about that), but aside from that the relays seem to be anyone's game.
Three of the four athletes from Monticello's winning 2016 4x200 team return, and they come in with a faster seed in 2017, but the 1.06-second difference between the top seed and No. 9 could be made up in a particularly stellar handoff by itself.
Can Lakeville South defend its claim to the top seed? Maybe the sophomore-and-under team from Hopkins can steal the show (and the next two years as well)? Or the all-senior Monticello squad for one last Hamline Elite hurrah? And the 4x400 may be even the most up-in-the-air race of all. It will be hard to top this past year's thrilling four-team drag race to the finish, but if it does come down to that, perhaps Mankato East and Bemidji could use their experience from that drag race to their advantage. Of course to do so, they need to take on other experienced teams like Edina or the converted distance guys of Stillwater, Centennial, and Prior Lake.