By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The 81st NIKE Chandler Rotary Invitational is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Austin Field at Chandler High.

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Here are 10 storylines to keep an eye on at one of the most prestigious high school meets in the country:

Keeping the Desert Dream alive

Entering its ninth decade of competition, this year’s version of the Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational will be similar in terms of many of the teams outside Arizona returning to support the event after the Coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of last season’s meet.

But it will be unlike any of the previous editions of the biggest high school track and field showcase in Arizona based on the structure of the competition.

Meet director Dave Shapiro, who was responsible for staging the first significant national track and field meet during the pandemic when he hosted the Desert Dream - Last Hurrah in June at Poston Butte High in San Tan Valley, has relied on a similar framework in order to give student-athletes from as many states as possible the opportunity to compete Friday and Saturday.

In addition to the elite section for several Arizona schools, Shapiro also created an open/unattached/club section, also similar to the format created in October at the Desert Twilight Festival cross country event.

That has allowed student-athletes from California, which has seen many sections already cancel postseason competition, and Colorado – scheduled to hold its season from May 3 to June 26 – the opportunity to attend the event, without jeopardizing the spring season in their home states.

Pop-up meets in November at Brophy Prep, along with February and March at Queen Creek and Eastmark have provided a safe and competitive environment for student-athletes from California and Colorado the opportunity to travel and participate in elite distance races.

The Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational is looking to build on those concepts with every event being contested Friday and Saturday for both Arizona, as well as out-of-state competitors.

Which Makayla is mightier?

One of the most anticipated head-to-head matchups of the meet could be spread across all three throwing events, including the discus and shot put Friday, with Makayla Hunter of host Chandler and Makayla Long of Perry scheduled to square off in a showdown of the top two competitors in Arizona.

The shot put has the potential to be special, with Long producing a personal-best 53-3.75 (16.24m) on April 2 at the Red Mountain Rampage event and Hunter entering the competition having achieved a mark of 50-5 (15.36m) on Feb. 27 at a USATF Arizona Regulation meet at Queen Creek.

Long and Hunter are the only two prep competitors in the country this year with outdoor shot put marks surpassing 50 feet, in addition to the only pair to surpass the barrier in state history.

Long launched the discus 163-2 (49.73m) on March 26 at the Queen Creek True Grit Invitational, with Hunter finishing second at 145-3 (44.27m).

Hunter holds the edge in the javelin throw, scheduled to be contested Saturday, with a personal-best 147-6 (44.95m). Long produced a 141-11 (43.25m) effort last year.

Former Mountain Pointe standout Kayleigh Conlon set meet records in 2017 in both the discus and the shot put, with marks of 150-7 (45.89m) and 45-8 (13.91m).

Chloe Fraley of Valley Christian achieved the meet record of 133-1 (40.56m) in 2019.

Another memorable girls mile

The legacy of great Sally Meyerhoff girls mile performances at the Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational is one of the strongest at any regular-season high school meet in the country, with three athletes having run under 4:47 and another achieving a sub-4:50 performance, all in the past six years.

The 2015 meet record of 4:46.17 produced by Dani Jones, a former Desert Vista star and NCAA champion at Colorado, could be challenged Saturday by one of the deepest groups in meet history, competing in the open/unattached/club section.

Eight athletes enter the competition with sub-5 performances during their career, with another group ready to eclipse the barrier for the first time.

Riley Stewart, a junior at Cherry Creek High in Colorado and representing Kokopelli Racing Team, has thrived on multiple occasions during her career racing in Arizona. She expects to be challenged by Desert Vista sophomore Lauren Ping, who ran a personal-best 4:44.94 mile March 27 at the Sundown Track Series at Queen Creek, which included a 4:43.26 split for 1,600 meters.

Ella Borsheim from Bellarmine Prep in Washington and Chloe Foerster of Jesuit High in Oregon, along with Lucca Fulkerson, Mia Prok and Madison Shults from Niwot High in Colorado – all representing REAL Training – are also entered, in addition to Sadie Engelhardt, an eighth-grader from Ventura, Calif., who is considered the top distance athlete nationally in the class of 2025.

The girls 3,200 competition Friday is led by Fulkerson and her 10:20.48 personal-best performance and Borsheim at 10:29.49, with Harper McClain of St. Helena High in California also capable of challenging the meet record of 10:36.96 achieved in 2019 by Madeleine Burns of Durango High in Colorado.

An A and B conversation

Two of the elite male sprinters in Arizona will have an opportunity to compete in the 100 and 200 meters, when Quaron Adams of Chandler squares off against Dominick Brister of Centennial.

Brister, a senior, achieved personal-best efforts of 10.70 in the 100-meter dash and 21.59 in the 200 on March 26 at the Ridge Invite.

Adams, a junior, established himself as one of the top freshmen in the country in 2019, winning the Arizona Division 1 state title by clocking 10.49 in the 100, along with running 21.61 in the 200.

Adams has run 10.69 in the 100 and 22.07 in the 200 this season, but is expected to raise his level competing at home for the first time this season.

Zachary Sutton of Shadow Ridge could also be in contention in the 100, with Chandler showcasing its depth by also entering Tyson Tippett and Eli Sanders in the race.

Relay rivalry renewed

One of the rare opportunities for the top two girls relay groups in Arizona often occurs at the Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational, when the host Wolves – the top program in Division 1 – face reigning Division 2 state champion North Canyon.

Although the Rattlers are showcasing a significant overhaul in their lineup following graduation, they still boast Ella Escobar, J’Neya Hill, Riley Patera, Joy Moorer and Treasure Rinaldi.

Chandler counters with Erykah Garrett, Trinity Henderson, Jocelyn Johnson, Tara Sommerville and Saniah Christian.

If both teams field their top lineups in either relay, the potential for a sub-47 effort in the 4x100 relay, along with a performance under 3:50 in the 4x400 should be expected.

Men on a mission

For all the exceptional boys distance runners who have competed at the Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational, there has never been a sub-9 performance in the boys 3,200 meters.

Dayton Carlson of Casteel High in Arizona, who ran 9:01.81 at Brophy Prep in November, along with Ty Garrett of Valor Christian in Colorado – with an indoor personal-best 9:04.32 from the Virginia Showcase in January – could both make history Friday by being the first male athletes in meet history to break the barrier.

The meet record of 9:02.69 held by Cerake Geberkidane of Denver East High in Colorado has stood since 2014.

Carlson and Garrett are also scheduled to compete Saturday in the mile, with 11 entries under 4:20.

Evan Jenkins of Camas High in Washington is also entered, along with Colorado standouts Erik LeRoux of Cheyenne Mountain, Harrison Witt of Mountain Vista, Charlie Welch of George Washington and both Zane Bergen and Grayden Rauba of Niwot.

Only three male athletes have run under 4:10 in the mile in meet history, including Cole Sprout of Valor Christian clocking 4:08.61 in 2019. Geberkidane also holds the mile record at 4:08 flat from 2014.

Atkinson looks to hold strong against Steadfast

Asjah Atkinson, a senior at St. Anthony High in California, is one of the most versatile athletes in the country, especially in the hurdling and jumping events.

Following her season opener March 20 at the Don Green Invitational at Moorpark High in California, Atkinson will face significant tests in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, along with the long jump, including several challengers from Steadfast Academy Track Club in Colorado.

Atkinson is scheduled in the 100 hurdles to face Kimora Northrup of Niwot, representing REAL Training, along with Steadfast’s Fabiola Belibi, who attends Regis Jesuit.

In the long jump, Atkinson is expected to compete against four Steadfast competitors, including Teagan Zwaanstra from ThunderRidge, Symone Adams of Cherokee Trail, Melody Nwagwu of Grandview, as well as Belibi.

Maddy Ortman from Valor Christian and Northrup are both entered in the 300 hurdles against Atkinson.

High stakes hurdling across state lines

Although the boys 300-meter hurdles competition Friday will showcase five Arizona athletes having run under 39 seconds, the open/unattached/club section will highlight a showdown involving California standouts Anthony Taylor of Cathedral and Carson Kaminski of Trabuco Hills, both boasting sub-38 credentials.

Kaminski has run 37.81, with Taylor clocking 37.97, making for an intriguing matchup in the first significant test for either competitor in more than a year.

In the Arizona competition, Logan Hubler and Kawai King of American Leadership Academy (Queen Creek) are scheduled to compete against Trenton Givens and Tyson Givens of Valley Vista, along with Yan Vazquez of Red Mountain.

Taylor is the only sub-14 entry in the open/unattached/club section of the boys 110-meter hurdles, with Trenton Givens having produced a personal-best 14.04 effort March 20 at the Richard Thompson South Mountain Classic and looking to eclipse the sub-14 barrier for the first time.

King of the ring

In addition to the showdown involving Makayla Hunter of Chandler and Makayla Long of Perry in the girls throwing events, two of the top competitors in Arizona are also expected to compete against one another in the boys discus and shot put, with Amar Elmore of Chandler looking to excel at home against Mason Hickel of Desert Vista.

Elmore achieved a personal-best 172-7 (52.60m) in the discus March 26 at the Queen Creek True Grit Invitational, in addition to achieving a mark of 52-5 (15.97m) in the shot put March 19 at Brophy Prep. He also boasts a top javelin performance of 170-11 (52.09m) from last year.

Hickel enters the competition following a discus effort April 2 of 170-10 (52.07m) at the Casa Grande Kiwanis Invitational, along with a 62-foot shot put (18.89m). He doesn’t contest the javelin.

Taylor-made trifecta

With the 400 meters scheduled for Friday, along with the 200 and 800 as part of Saturday’s lineup, it has created the opportunity for Niwot senior standout Taylor James, representing REAL Training, to tackle the impressive triple, with potential to win all three events.

James has already raced the 100, 200, 400 and 800 at outdoor meets Feb. 27, March 20 and April 3 in Colorado, in addition to competing indoors during the winter in the 200, 300, 400, 500, 800 and mile.

James boasts top outdoor marks of 24.76 in the 200, 54.25 in the 400 and 2:05.83 in the 800.

Both the 400 and 800 performances would put James in contention to eclipse meet records, but without the presence of Valor Christian senior Camille Peisner of Valor Christian – a future teammate of James at Stanford – following an emergency appendectomy in March, the depth of challengers won’t be as significant in the 200 and 400, although Harvard athlete Sharelle Samuel is entered in both events.

James is scheduled to square off against Magdalene Williams of Summit High in Oregon, along with Katie Sigerud of Desert Vista and Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep in Washington in the 800.