You should recall that Cedaredge won the 2A girls state championship last spring. Well, actually, by the time they won it, it was summer already. And, when they did win it, they won it rather convincingly. The Bruins had 87 points to 53 for second-place Banning Lewis Prep.
PHOTO BY MATT SCOGGINS
So, you’re wondering, how badly did graduation ding the Bruins? Not very badly, as it turns out. Cedaredge had a grand total of seven points in individual events from graduating seniors. That doesn’t begin to undo their margin over second place (never mind what graduation did to other schools high in the team standings).
It’s easy, therefore, to ping Cedaredge as this year’s favorites in 2A Girls. The point of this article, however, isn’t to take wild guesses at who’s going to prevail, but to take a magnifying glass to the results we’ve seen so far and explore what they mean for May 19, 20, and 21.
Given last year’s outcome, it makes sense to start out analysis with Cedaredge. We can safely assume they’ll be in the hunt, so we know we aren’t wasting our time looking at their possibilities.
We’ll start with the individuals. Kylee Terry is the big gun as a sprinter for the Bruins. She’s at or near the top of the rankings at both 100 and 200 meters. If we assume she holds those events for state, she projects for something in the range of 15-18 points. That would also leave her event room to participate on two relays. For the time being, that seems like the most likely scenario.
Moving over to the hurdles, we have Megan Jenkins. Like Terry in the 100 and 200, Jenkins is at or near the top of the rankings in both hurdle events and figures to stay there. The estimated range of 15-18 state meet points applies again here, but, if we’re getting terribly precise about numbers, Jenkins is more likely to end up at the top end of that range than Terry.
Jenkins also placed third in last year’s state meet in the triple jump. So far, we haven’t seen that event from her this spring. She could be ditching that event in favor of relays. She could be saving her shins (hurdles and the triple jump, together, exact a monstrous pounding on the shins over the course of the season). It could be that she and Coach Henderson are playing a game of wait-and-see. In any case, we have reminded ourselves they hold that card in their hands.
Moving over to the rings, sophomore Elizabeth Brooks comes back from placing at state in both the shot put and discus as a freshman. Her game this year is already well ahead of where it was last year. At this early stage, she could reasonably be labeled as the favorite in both events.
We also have freshman Jessica Black to consider in the 800 and 1600. Black splits time with soccer, which could limit some options for her, but she figures as solid points in at least those two events. How many events she tries to carry at state could depend some on how deep into the season her soccer team goes (I believe Black commutes to Delta to play soccer, but I’m open to correction about that.).
Those four are, without a doubt, the big four for Cedaredge. Around and including those four, however, Cedaredge also figures to build a formidable set of relays. It’s not clear that the Bruins will have a 4×800 to bring to state, but the three shorter sprint relays should all easily qualify for state.
You know how it goes, load up one relay one week, another one the next week, and so on until you have all your relays qualified.
We’ll wait a bit longer and see about the prospects for the 4×400. For now, at least, that relay comes with a cloud of uncertainty.
Barring injury, it’s not difficult to project Cedaredge landing somewhere in the vicinity of 90 points, maybe a little higher, at state. That’s hardly insurmountable, but it is consequential nonetheless.
Now, let’s take a look at what some other top teams in the classification bring to the table.
Banning Lewis Prep was last year’s runner-up. The graduation of Mikayla Hutchison ripped a gaping hole in their roster, but the Stallions have been doing a solid job of shoring things up early in the season.
At this point, the title of main point producer for the Stallions rests on the shoulders of jumper Jaysa Even. Currently, Even ranks second or third in all three jumps. Presumably, those three events are on her state plate as well. Whether or not she runs at state on a relay is something I can’t determine for you at the moment, but you don’t jump like she does without at least a modest gifting of speed.
Madison Cook has some state meet point potential for the Stallions in both the sprints and the jumps, but it’s more likely that she’s on the edge of points than climbing up to score fives, sixes, or even something higher.
Thrower Gabriella Hagerman is one more who is currently flirting with the edge of scoring points at state. The potential is there in both the shot put and the discus.
Beyond that, the Stallions will look to distance events. BLPA has a cross country program, and that pays dividends in the spring—particularly so where it comes to the 3200. Alexia Gonzales, Emelia Falcon, and Olivia Bell are all three potential point producers. None of the three appear as threats for top places in any of the distance events, but you don’t dismiss lightly any point potential when it comes to state track and field. And, their combined potential for scoring in the 4×800 goes well beyond trivial. For the moment, at least, BLPA has the top-ranked 4×800 in all of 2A.
BLPA also has the top-ranked 4×400. I’m less certain they’re drawing from the distance ranks for those legs, but, clearly, they’re going to be a handful in at least those two relay events.
All the way down at 10th at last year’s state meet was Dayspring Christian Academy, but it’s difficult to envision them finishing that far down the order this year.
The key for DCA is the sister tandem of Eboselulu and Odone Omofoma. Between them, they own the current #1 ranking in the 100, #1 ranking in the 100 hurdles, #1 ranking in the high jump, #4 ranking in the long jump, and #2 ranking in the shot put. It’s tough to argue with the kind of points those places at state would accumulate.
DCA also boasts highly-ranked SMR8 (#1) and 4×200 (#4) relays. Finally, there’s Aliya McClanahan to consider in the triple jump and discus.
Presumably, the DCA relays borrow heavily on the talents of the Omofoma sisters. There are two things to consider there—the overall event count, including individual events, and the fatigue factor. Four-eventing someone at state brings with it a certain factor of risk, though Dayspring Christian is far from the only team dosey doeing with that factor.
Another school to consider at you project forward to state is Hayden. The Tigers own the classification’s top triple jumper in Alison Rajzer. Rajzer is far enough ahead in the rankings right now that, barring injury, it’s difficult to project her finishing as anything other than the state champion. Strange things happen at the triple jump pit on any given day, but we do have a clear favorite even so. Isabella Simones is a bit further down the triple jump rankings, but definitely still someone you’d want to project for a few points.
Jillian Bennett has looked good thus far in the 200 and 400. Someone who’s good in those two events could probably extend well to either the 100 or 800, though we haven’t seen that yet from Bennett. Bennett almost certainly figures in some strong early success in the SMR8 and 4×200 relays.
And, there’s thrower Dakota Munden to consider in the discus.
Altogether, it’s not a lot of girls—at least not so far—contributing to the pile of points, but it is a team of intriguing possibilities even so.
Wray may be the most difficult contending team to measure at this point. After a nice run at state basketball, the Eagles have only been back for one meet. As such, there’s assuredly a large number of possibilities with this team that we haven’t seen yet.
What we do know about Wray, however, is that Chloe Cure should be easily worth double-digit points in the throws. While we’re at the rings, Makynna Deland is probably worth a few more points when state rolls around.
Wray has two pole vaulters ranked in the top six so far in Sydney Cheek and Braelyn Wentworth. It’s reasonable, though, to expect a lot of movement in pole vault rankings between now and the third weekend in May. That could either help or hurt Wray. For now, we’ll have to be content just to know Wray is squarely in the hunt.
Typically, Wray brings some strong relays to state. Being only one meet into their season, we haven’t seen a lot of that yet from the Eagles, but it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility.
Mayra Diaz is—like the rest—one meet into her season, but she brings back a history of having finished fifth in the 800 at last year’s state meet.
Karly Godsey’s name doesn’t appear in the results of Wray’s first meet, but, if she’s back this year, she represents returning state meet points in the 300 hurdles and 800. Doubtless, she figured on a relay or two as well.
Suffice it to say there is much yet to be learned about Wray’s prospects of making a run at a 2A Girls state title.
At this early stage, those would appear to be your teams in the hunt. Swallows Charter and Colorado Springs Christian have both posted some solid marks so far this season (think of names like Kaitlyn Pearson, Isabel Case, and Elle Stevens), but both teams are dealing with fairly limited casts of characters who have demonstrated capability of putting state meet points on the board. Until that situation changes, in either team’s camp, there’s not a lot of reason to consider either as solid candidates for a team state title.
Similarly, Rangely leans heavily on the multiple talents of Mary Scoggins, but there haven’t yet appeared enough sources for additional points to put the Panthers into the inner circle of contenders.
Under the general heading of fascinating-but-don’t-get-your-hopes-too-high, Lyons is not (yet) appearing on the radar screen as a 2A contender. We have a Josie Gaines here and a Gemma Powell there, but not yet the kind of presence that sends the dogs running back home with their tails between their legs.
Buena Vista has been impressive in spots, but the overall presence does not yet measure up to what it will take to contend for a team title.
If time permits and enough things change between now and the week of state, I’ll come back for another look at how things stack up in 2A girls. For now, though, you have a close read on the overall picture.
