The idea of this article is to take a look at how a virtual meet of returning athletes from the 2015 season compares with the state meet results of the 2016 season.
All sorts of things factor into this. This is about improvement, but it's not only about improvement. Besides improvement, things that can impact a team's standing from one year to the next are move-ins, move-outs, injuries, incoming freshmen (a bigger factor with girls than with boys), and athletes who decide not to come out the next year.
Still, it's interesting to take a look at how things shift from one year to the next. The first table you see below lists the top 20 3A Girls teams at the end of 2015 based on a virtual meet of top marks. Note that this virtual meet only scores eight deep and does not include relays. As such it's not going to provide a perfect comparison to the 2016 state meet results, but it does provide a window:
Girls - Team Rankings - 14 Events Scored
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1) Eaton High School 61 2) Moffat County High Schoo 36
3) Sterling High School 35 4) Faith Christian Academy 34
5) James Irwin Charter High 34 6) Estes Park High School 33
7) Platte Valley High Schoo 33 8) Salida High School 29
9) Manitou Springs High Sch 29 10) Lamar High School 27
11) Coal Ridge High School 22 12) University High School 22
13) Lutheran High School 20 14) Alamosa High School 19
15) Kent Denver School 17 16) Colorado Springs Christi 16
17) SkyView Academy 13 18) Pagosa Springs High Scho 10
19) Buena Vista High School 10 20) Peak to Peak Charter Sch 8
Women - 3A - Team Rankings - 19 Events Scored =============================================================================== 1) Eaton 107.50 2) Moffat County 88 3) Peak to Peak 70 4) Sterling 50.50 5) University 47 6) Coal Ridge 46 7) Platte Valley 45 8) Faith Christian 42 9) Lutheran 34 10) Estes Park 33 11) James Irwin 32 12) Colorado Springs Christia 28 13) Lamar 26 14) Alamosa 25 15) Manitou Springs 23 15) Kent Denver 23 17) Bayfield 17 18) Buena Vista 16 19) Grand Valley 15 20) Salida 13