Rebecca Harris gives Sand Creek solid state point potential in the long jump and 100 hurdles, with hopes for points from the high jump as well. Photo by Alan Versaw.
If you liked the teams that were at the top of the pile for 4A girls this year, you'll probably love next year. It would appear that most of those same teams are coming back with solid entries for next year as well.
Niwot, of course, took home the big trophy from this year's meet, and they'll certainly be in a strong position to do it again next year. Elise Cranny is the most recognizable of the names wearing Cougar green, but Niwot goes a lot deeper than Cranny's exceptional talents at middle distance. Relays were huge for Niwot this spring and should be again this year. Dana Maydew provides a lot of relay flexibility for Niwot along with good enough 400 speed to be counted among the likely medalists for that event. Winning that event could be a different story, as the 4A 400 figures to be brutally tough again next spring. Christa Boettiger adds to Niwot's distance depth and figures to help out on at least one relay. All in all, Niwot looks like the early favorite to repeat. They have proven depth, high-end talent, and the knowledge of what it takes.
Don't whisper that news too often in Thompson Valley's ear, however. The Eagles have a history of being around when it's time to count points and determine a champion. The big three of Kendra Larson, Megan Irvine, and Lindsey Kroboth are all back in 2014. Injuries decimated (well, actually, they took out a lot more than every tenth Eagle) the TV relay corps this spring. Things could hardly go as badly again next spring, so looked for an enhanced contribution from the TV relays in 2014, assuming they get the bodies lost to injury back and healthy.
Sand Creek took a substantial hit from Hayley Gantt's graduation, but younger sister Bridgett returns, as do thrower Mariah Walker and jumper/hurdler Rebecca Harris. Bobby Tillman's teams have gotten better each year he's been at the helm at Sand Creek, so discounting the chances of the Scorpions is likely to get you stung.
Thompson Valley, Sand Creek, and Niwot would be the big three, but there is a long list of quality programs behind them. Schools like Broomfield, Valor, Air Academy, Montrose, and Lewis-Palmer might each be just one or two key contributors away from joining the title chase in a serious way.
Owing to the overall depth of quality teams in the 4A classification, it may not take a massive sum of points to win it all. Niwot's 70 points from this year seems like about the right number to be in serious contention for 2014.
2013 CO HS F Outdoor Track Team Scores (Returners Only)
Calculated as of June 06, 2013
These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We took the individual rankings only and scored them as a normal meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Athletes whose graduation years are unknown were left out of the list.