The girls 800 features athletes with contrasting styles. Always a marriage of speed and strength, this 800 will see whether speedy Julie Yescas (2:24) of Chavez can match up with the strength of Flagstaff's Courtney Lewis (2:22) and Red Rock's Tia Myers (2:24). Expect a slower pace to benefit the strong finishing speed of Yescas who has a 59.32 400 to her credit. A fast early pace should feature the strength of Lewis who has a 5:20 mile under her belt and finished 5th in division II at the state cross country finals. Whatever happens expect Myers to be involved as her 800 PR is the most recent of the three.
The 3200 looks to be a race between Sedona's Natalie Cox (11:44) and Jordan Twombley-Ellis (12:22) of Prescott. Jordan's PR may be a bit deceiving, coming two years ago, as a recent 5:21 1600 at Chandler and a top ten finish at the state cross country finals show that she is probably as well as she has in her career. Cox on the other hand set PRs in both the 1600 and 3200 at Chandler last week and appears to be on quite the roll. Cox also has plenty of experience in big time meets, having finished in the top five of the Division IV cross country meet and run in four events in the 2014 track finals.
Never one to shy away from competition, Cox (5:25) also features as the top seed in the 1600. Her victory in the Sedona Friendship Meet is her biggest so far. Julia Yescas' (5:30) biggest victory so far was in the Phoenix Union District championships last year, but her fastest time was just last week at Chandler. Cox and Yescas should expect competition from cross country state finals qualifier Elyssa Bell (5:30). Her victory in the Buckeye Lions Invitational 800 shows solid range from 800-5000.
Look for the Northern Arizona girls to lead the way in the 4x800m. Flagstaff's 10:15 leads all entries.