The outdoor track season gets into full swing this weekend with the 37^th Annual Conn-Madden Relays. The Relays, held on Friday and Saturday at Todd Stadium in Newport News, marks the unofficial beginning of outdoor invitational season on the Peninsula.

This year’s meet will include a twist – a new featured event, the Elite Mile. As the 22 participating schools submitted their entries, meet organizers selected the top 16 boys and girls runners to compete in this event, which is the only individual race offered.

The top seeded entries are both representatives of Norfolk Academy. Julia Lambert will headline the girls’ field with her seed time of 5:01.44, while teammate Petey Decker holds the top time for the boys at 4:30.12. Both runners will face stiff competition from Grafton, who has both Kira Freedman and Maya Caden entered in the girls’ race, while Price Owens, a 9:21 performer in the 3200, is seeded at 4:41.44; however, the Clipper junior clocked a 4:24.7 indoors.

Grafton will be heavily favored in both 4×1600 relays and distance medley, while Hampton’s Burnell Pulley and Heritage’s Timothy Payne should have quite a showdown in the 400-meter hurdles.

Another race worthy of attention will be the boys 4×200 relay. Richmond’s John Marshall comes in seeded at a remarkable 1:25.12 seed, but they will face heady competition from both Hampton (1:26) and Hayfield (1:27.5).

Lafayette, traditionally one of the top 4A teams, should also score heavily in the relays, while Ram high jumper Devon Underwood leads a field of 38 with his leap of 6-5. Lafayette thrower Tyler Jump will be favored in both the shot-put (48-9) and discus (156-8). On the girls’ side, Bethel’s Jalani Davis (38-6) and Smithfield’s Arieana Parker (125-7) are far ahead of their competition in each event.

While many events are run individually, the relay is scored by the top two performances from each team. Scoring is conducted by a 6-5-4-3-2-1 system, and all events, including the elite mile will be scored.

Live results will be featured on Spotlighthigh.com and will also be available on Milestat.com and Virginia Peninsula Sports (vapeninsulasports.com) soon after the meet is concluded on Saturday. 

By Jim McGrath

2017 Conn Madden Relays (Performance List)