Late June’s heat might not scream “sprinter showcase” but these kids are already different from most everyone else.
A collection of elite high school tracksters from Arizona and neighboring states will descend on Chandler High School this weekend for the inaugural Arizona Sprints Showcase, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night (preliminaries) and Saturday night (finals). There’s also a block party in downtown Chandler from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The showcase was organized by the Phoenix Regional Sports Commission, which invited the top three boys and girls from each state to crown a national champion in six sprint events: 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 100-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles.
There won’t be a shortage of “oohs” and “aahs.” Arizona’s best will be there (Devon Allen from Brophy, Ky Westbrook from Chandler, Trae Armstrong from Glendale Deer Valley and Edgar Poe from Vail Cienega).
Those three are hardly alone. Other East Valley speed demons include Preston Holding (Cactus Shadows), Justin Templeton (St. Mary’s), Andrew Sullivan and Trent Masselink (Valley Christian), Sherelle Jordan, Dominique Jackson, Makaila Flannigan, Imani Adams and Tope Williams (Chandler), Tristan DeCosta, Michael Strnad and Cameron Wooden (Higley), brothers Blake and Kyle Elliott (Dobson), Michael Armstrong (Mountain View), Quincy Stokes (Williams Field), Ebony Randle (Red Mountain) and Elizabeth Smith (Pinnacle)
State champions from Texas, California, Colorado and New Mexico and Utah will also compete. Many of them also among the nationally-elite.
Admission is $10 per day and the finals will be webcast at FOXSportsArizona.com. More information can be found at http://www.phoenixsports.org/arizona-sprint-showcase/.
Mark Heller is the East Valley Tribune sports editor. He can be reached at mheller@evtrib.com or (480) 898-6576.
