Christian Grubb, Kenan Christon set for sprint showdown at state track meet

Clovis Buchanan High is the site this weekend for what could be an epic battle between a future Trojan and a future Bruin. And you know how fun that is for fans of USC and UCLA.

The state track and field championships are set for Friday and Saturday, and the leading contenders in the 100 and 200 are football players with blazing speed.

Kenan Christon of San Diego Madison, a USC signee, is the state leader in both events with times of 10.26 and 20.55 seconds. Christian Grubb of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, a UCLA signee, is unbeaten in the 100, including victories over Christon at the Mt. Carmel Invitational and Arcadia Invitational.

Christon has been running faster times than Grubb in recent weeks, but Notre Dame coach Joe McNab said Grubb should be at his best this weekend after no longer competing the triple jump, allowing him to focus exclusively on the sprints.

The temperature will be a lot cooler in Clovis than in the past, because the event was moved up this year to the end of May with the changing of the sports calendar. It’s usually been held in June, when the hot weather produces faster times for sprinters. Saturday’s projection is for a high of 79 degrees with a 30% chance of thunderstorms, according to weather.com.

There are plenty of top performers to pay attention to in the boys’ and girls’ competitions.

In the boys’ meet, state leaders include Kai Wingo of Valencia in the 800, Nico Young of Newbury Park in the 3,200, Caleb Roberson of Upland in the 300 hurdles, Aidan Elbettar of Newport Harbor in the discus and the Long Beach Poly 400 relay team of DeAngelo Chester, Keon Markham, Kenyon Reed and Anthony Johnson.

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In the girls’ meet, defending champion De’anna Nowling of Calabasas is the state leader in the 100 and 200 with times of 11.40 and 23.64 seconds.

There’s also Samarra Monrroy of Long Beach Millikan in the 400. Only a freshman, she has run 54.16. Sophomore Audrey Suarez of Pasadena Mayfield has run 4:45.04 in the 1,600.

Rachel Glenn of Long Beach Wilson is No. 1 in the 300 hurdles and Foothill League rivals Shyann Franklin of Santa Clarita Golden Valley and Natalie Ramirez of Valencia West Ranch should battle for No. 1 in the shot put.

Field events for the preliminaries begin at 3 p.m. Friday, followed by running events at 5 p.m. Field events begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by running events at 6 p.m. Admission is $12 on Friday and $14 on Saturday.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @latsondheimer