The Wiggins sprinters who aren't named Shane Finegan have plenty to run for on relays this weekend.
Two of the biggest questions answered earlier this week with respect to 2A Boys were the questions of what events Chad Mikelson and Shane Finegan will be doing.
Finegan's event choices, of course, could have a direct bearing on who wins the state title. Wiggins is very much in the title hunt this year.
While Sedgwick County isn't in the title hunt, the events Chad Mikelson competes in could ultimately have an indirect bearing on point totals for teams actually in the hunt. And, if it's close, one or two points here and there could make the difference.
We now know Shane Finegan is the #1 seed in the 200 and the #2 seed in the 400. Presumably, that also has him in Wiggins' #1 seeded 4x100 and #2 seeded 4x400, though he could conceivably end up in the 4x200 rather than one of those two relays.
For Chad Mikelson, his events will be the long jump (#1), triple jump (#1), shot put (#2), and discus (#2). Presumably, the most likely impacts on the team title there would be against Cedaredge's predicted point haul in the long jump, making it a little less likely Cedaredge scores in the triple jump, and Cedaredge's predicted point hauls in the shot put and discus. Wiggins gets to breathe a sigh of relief with these event selections.
That still leaves Cedaredge with an advantage in the virtual meet scoring. In short, Wiggins needs a stellar state meet to come away with the title. And, it doesn't hurt the Tigers' cause at all if Cedaredge stumbles from projections at a point or two. The reality of it is the Cedaredge has more projected state meet scorers than Wiggins, and the advantage figures to remain with Cedaredge unless they have a lapse or two.
Cedaredge's advantage goes away rather quickly if relays do not perform up to seeds, but Wiggins has a few relay irons in the fire as well. A lot rides on 20-meter exchange zones and 30 cm tubes of aluminum.
Outside of relays, Cedaredge will lean heavily on guys like Isaac Swoffer, Ty Grant, and Brendon Klaseen (sprints), Danny Mendoza (hurdles), and Xander Purcell and Patrick Walker (throws).
Outside of Finegan and relays, Wiggins will lean heavily on Connor Kaufman (distance), Tyler Hein (hurdles), and Teggan Freauff (400).
Some of the top match-ups to watch this weekend include:
- Isaac Swoffer, Noah Sarria, and Caleb Urwiller in the 100. Inclement conditions could impact this one.
- Ben Kelley, Patrick Scoggins, and the Custer County duo of Jerald Taylor and Jack Bowker in the 800. Try to wrap your head around the idea this will be Bowker's 800 meter run. Given that, most anything could happen--good or bad--when the 2A Boys 800 goes. Kelley has to be your favorite, but there's nothing given in this showdown.
- Jacob Yates and Austin Davis in the 110 hurdles. These two may not quite be the fastest two 2A Boys has ever produced, but they are fast and, better still, they appear to be very closely matched.
- Wiggins vs. Cedaredge in the 4x400. If it comes down to the final event, both teams should be putting excellent 4x400s onto the track.
- Chad Mikelson versus Jose Flores-Lauro in the triple jump. Mikelson won 2A last year. Flores-Lauro finished second in 3A. Both have been excellent this year. There's a strong likelihood they'll have to deal with conditions as well as each other.
- On paper, the discus is a long way from having the best match-ups of the meet, but--if conditions are difficult--this is one event that could go a lot of different directions. Even if they're able to keep the ring dry (important for safety concerns), cold fingertips is a difficult thing for discus throwers to manage.
