Class 1A Girls Track & Field Deep Dive

It’s a dangerous game writing a deep drive on the state prospects for 1A Girls this early in the season. Unfortunately, the schedule of getting all the deep dives done before state week demands doing some earlier than others—with all the risks that entails.

FEATURE PHOTO BY MATT SCOGGINS

To illustrate what I mean, Lone Star’s Alivia Weathers won four events at state last June. She hasn’t even competed in two of those events at the time of this writing. I’m aware of that situation, but I’m assuredly not aware of all the similar situations around the state. So, I write this knowing I may end up having to eat a few of my words before long.

One sentence that I’m pretty sure I’m not going to have to eat—at least not for some time—is that Heritage Christian Academy is a prohibitive favorite to win it all. You could base that on the returning athletes from last year. Or, you could base it on the results we’ve seen already this year. Either way ends up being rather convincing.

And I’m well aware of the concerns that surround HCA’s domination of 1A track and field. If there are issues to be settled, however, I’m not the person to settle them. I report on 1A track and field; I don’t preside over it. And, if you didn’t know it already, I count my friendship with HCA coach Joe Packard as one of the better friendships I hold within the coaching ranks. Whatever the solution may or may not be, me vilifying Joe Packard or HCA is not part of it.

I believe a reasonable case could be made for HCA competing in 2A track and field, but it’s not my case to make.

I say that in hopes of not having to repeat it this season. It’s a difficult situation with fair points to be made on both sides. I simply don’t care to get caught in the middle. Count these three paragraphs as my declaration of understanding, and also one of official neutrality.

Having said all that, let’s stare down the question of what makes Heritage Christian Academy so dominant. It’s simple, really—they can score, usually big points, in almost every event of a track meet.

Kayla Cuckler and Kate Green are among the best sprinters in the 1A ranks. Distance? HCA has it in droves. There’s Juliana Lundy, Lilly Lukens, Sarah Bates, Helena Lee, and Ainsley Stanton. Bates, Green, Abigail Cuckler, and Kali Seimers hold down the hurdle events. When we go to field events, Harper Siemers tops the classification rankings in the high jump. Staci Brown and Harper Siemers do the long jump. Kayla Cuckler and Green do the triple jump.

Relays? Of course. Before the end of the season, HCA will be ranked at or near the top of every 1A relay. They aren’t on the board yet in a few of the relays, but we aren’t very deep into the season either.

The chinks in the armor this year exist only at the pole vault and the throws. That’s not many chinks, and especially not at the 1A level.

There isn’t much point in discussing at length who’s going to win this year in 1A. The much better discussion concerns who will take home the other trophy.

For the time being, the best prospects for a 1A Girls trophy this spring seem to come from east of the Continental Divide. One glaring exception to that rule of thumb, however, is Nucla. Nucla, along with its sister metropolis—Naturita, is almost as far west as you can get in Colorado. Slightly farther west is Dove Creek, but the Bulldogs don’t yet appear to be ramping up a run at a state trophy this year.

Nucla’s hopes center around sprinter/hurdler Lisa Sutherland. Sutherland ranks #2 in the 100 and at the top of the pile in both hurdle events. Elsewhere, Nucla shows up in the top tens only with a #10 ranking in the 4×200 and a #10 ranking for Keiran Bray in the 800. Although Sutherland is on the short list of the potential top athletes in 1A, Nucla will need more than Sutherland’s contributions to bring home a trophy.

With that, we travel back to the eastern half of the state. We’ll take teams, more or less, from north to south, which means starting with Fleming, just a little north and east of Sterling. It’s off the well-beaten path of I-76, however, and therefore easy to miss.

The Wildcats were emphasizing relays this past weekend. Reading between the lines a bit, that suggests they may (or, rather, that they almost certainly do) have some sprint cards they’ve not yet laid on the table.

The relays, however, were purring along nicely last weekend. So much so that Fleming currently owns the #1 4×100 ranking, the #4 4×200, and the #1 SMR8. Elsewhere, Madisyn Serrato is ranked #5 in both the 1600 and the pole vault, plus Maddy Harms owns a #9 ranking in the 400. Expect more rankings to emerge for this team as the season develops. Fleming should figure among the more likely contenders for a state trophy.

Inching our way south, our next stop takes us to Lone Star. There’s no town of Lone Star, but it’s an area of the northeast corner of the state that, at least at one point, was dominated by folks arriving from a state you’d never guess. Or, maybe you could guess it. If not, maybe you could mine another clue out of the school mascot. Not so much so with the school colors, however.

Anyhow, we’ve talked about Alivia Weathers a little earlier in this article. She’s already made her mark in the pole vault and triple jump rankings. Presumably, we’ll see her soon among the top-ranked hurdlers, but she’s not there yet. It was a long basketball season for Lone Star…

Aleighcea Kuntz also holds a place in the pole vault rankings for Lone Star. I had to stare down that first name a couple of times, but I’m pretty sure now that I have a handle on how to pronounce it.

Merino should be our next stop. If you’re curious about this location name, the best I can do for you is Merino is a type of sheep that produces long, fine wool. As things go in the world of wool, Merino wool is good stuff. I can’t provide any details of the history of raising Merino sheep in the area, however. Maybe somebody else can step up to the plate for me there. I am relatively certain, though, that Merino does not wear woolen uniforms.

Wool aside, Merino has a very good track team. As someone recently pointed out to me, the Rams (of course that’s the mascot at Merino!) are heavily invested in repeating as state champs in the 4×400. And, they’re well on their way with a #1 ranking, leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

But, Merino’s spots in the rankings extend well beyond a single relay. Merino also tops the charts in the 4×800, and holds a #7 ranking in the 4×200. Beyond that, there’s Taysa Conger at #1 in the triple jump and #3 in the long jump. Veronica Baray owns top billing in the long jump and a #10 in the triple jump. Tobi Erickson stands in at #9 in the 800. Keila Nunez stands in at #3 in the 3200. Emily Buckler and Oceana Miersen go 5-8 in the 100 hurdles. Buckler also holds a #9 in the 300 hurdles.

In short, you could do a lot worse than wagering on Merino to come away from the state meet with a trophy. I have (almost) no idea who is running which relays, but it may not matter much as the Rams seem intent on defending their turf in the 4×400 and 4×800. Offhand, I’d say it looks like winning those relays ranks as a higher order of priority for Merino than collecting a few more points in individual events.

Next up, Idalia. If you have never been to Idalia, you can join a lot of other folks with that distinction. It’s more or less midway between Burlington and Wray, though you have to drive a couple miles out of your way for the full experience. Back before they (depending on your point of view, “they” might mean the state of Kansas, the vast portion of Colorado’s population far removed from the eastern plains, or water rights lawyers) pulled the plug on Bonny Reservoir, there was more reason to visit Idalia than there is now.

Idalia, however, retains a strong track and field tradition. True to form, pole vault is still part of that tradition. Doing her part to hold the tradition together this year is Kyndal Richards, currently ranked #3 in the 1A Girls pole vault. Alma Cordova has a #6 in the shot put, augmented by a #3 in the discus. Allison Rice owns a #9 in the discus. Idalia’s 4×800 currently sits at #3, while their SMR8 slides into the rankings at #9. Krista Wieser has a #7 in the 200 and a #8 in the 400. Chances are, she’s an important part of the relays as well. Finally, we have Melani Monarrez at #9 in the 1600.

They key for Idalia to come home with a trophy will be to climb a few positions from the places they’ve already established. They have the numbers; it’s just a matter of pushing those numbers closer to the top.

From Idalia, it’s south to the I-70 corridor and a stop at Stratton. I’ve never dropped in for a visit at Stratton, but the town has solid curb appeal from I-70. Perhaps I should drop in someday.

Stratton also owns a place in my heart for putting a cross country team on the course when a lot of larger schools can’t seem to get it done. No doubt, there’s a measure of carry-over from cross country to their current state of success in track and field.

Keirstyn Louthan is a big part of the puzzle for Stratton. Not only did she make state cross country last fall, but she holds down a #7 ranking in the 400 and a #3 ranking in the 800. She could probably score very well in the 1600 and 3200 if she chooses to expand her repertoire in that direction.

Extending the notable jumps tradition at Stratton is McKenna Notter. She’s ranked #4 in the triple jump.

After that, it’s all relays at this point, but it’s a very good set of relays. Stratton sits at #1 in the 4×200, #5 in the 4×400, #6 in the 4×800, and #8 in the SMR 8.

From Stratton, the road heads nearly due west to Kiowa. Not all that far from the teeming cities of the Front Range, Kiowa maintains, for now, an away-from-it-all kind of existence a few miles east of Elizabeth.

Kiowa has some speed in the house with Lauryn Morehead and Jordan Perreault ranked 4-6 in the 200. Perreault moves up to #5 in the 400. Paola Vidales owns the #5 slot at 800 meters and the #2 slot at 1600 meters. I’m going to assume the Karina Vidales in the #10 position at 1600 meters is her sister. Kendra Byrd is tied for third in the high jump. Sara Kirkpatrick in the shot put and Kailey Hermes-Hill in the discus currently sit on the edge of state meet points.

Kiowa’s sprint relays look very solid—a #4 in the 4×100, a #3 in the 4×200, a #4 in the 4×400, and a #3 in the SMR8. If Kiowa can hold position on all four sprint relays, that bodes very well for their trophy chances at state. If they have to unload one or two relays for individual events, it will come at great cost to their trophy chances.

Onward, now, to Simla. Tiny little Simla is the high school home of an Olympic gold medalist and a former NFL player (and consensus All-American at the University of Colorado). Not many 1A towns can lay claim to that kind of distinction. Trivia question: Who was the Olympic gold medalist, and who was the NFL player?

For the time being, a very large share of Simla’s state trophy hopes rest on the shoulders of Cecilia Richardson. Richardson’s been to state before, but this will be her last time at the dance. We expect she intends to finish well. Finishing well might mean upholding, or improving upon, her #4 ranking in the 800, her #1 ranking in the 1600, and her #2 ranking in the 3200. For that matter, it probably entails winning the pole vault as well.

The Cubs also have rankings representation from McKenna Murphy (#10 in the 400), Ziada Harms (#4 in the 100 hurdles, tied for #3 in the high jump, #6 in the triple jump), Skyla Harr (#7 in the pole vault), and in the relays. Simla sits at #3 in the 4×400, #5 in the 4×800, and #7 in the SMR8.

There is much potential for Simla to have an outstanding state meet, one that could bring home a trophy. The Cubs are better positioned than most.

After Simla, the road turns seriously east to Cheyenne Wells (and we’re almost done traveling). As the name suggests, the area around Cheyenne Wells was once a significant watering hole for the Cheyenne tribe. You would, however, be hard-pressed to find much evidence of that as you drive by.

The Tigers are led by hurdler Shaylee Scheler. Scheler currently sits at #2 in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. For the record, the hurdle races may end up as the best races in the entire 1A Girls state meet. That’s not a done deal yet, but the potential is definitely there.

Amie Niles also holds down a #5 in the 3200 meters, but that position may turn out to be tough to hold onto as more girls start lining up for the 3200.

Pickings get slim for Cheyenne Wells after the hurdles, however. The only other spot where the Tigers show up for likely state points is a #2 ranking in the 4×100. Cheyenne Wells has some pieces, but they’ll require more pieces to make a run at a state trophy.

Finally, we land in Cheraw. Cheraw is situated a little north of La Junta, just before things gets really bleak as you travel uphill and to the north on Colorado 109. The verdant Arkansas Valley ends not far beyond the city limits of Cheraw.

But, Cheraw has assembled a small arsenal of track and field weapons this spring, and that—not their proximity to the ends of the earth—makes them a topic for this article.

The throws host several of the Wolverines’ weapons. Abby Provost ranks #3 in the shot put and #6 in the discus. Teammates Kieran Harris and Ana Ledbetter lay claim to a #5 in the shot put and #7 in the discus, respectively. Clearly, Cheraw has potential to do significant damage in the throws.

Adding to that potential are sprinters Delanie Bond (#5 in the 100 and #2 in the 200) and Kenzi Bartholomew (#2 in the 400, also a #2 in the 800). With sprinters like that, you’d expect some relays, and you get them with a #8-ranked 4×100 and #4-ranked SMR8. It’s possible that we’ll see more from the Cheraw relays in time, but it’s not on the board yet.

With that, we’ve exhausted the list of 1A Girls teams that have, to date, shown any reasonable probability of coming away from state with a nice trophy. It’s not the end of the story, but it is the story as we know it now.

Check back next week. If I can keep things on schedule, we’ll take Deep Dives into 3A Boys and 5A Girls.