The 2026 spring track season is nearly upon us with the season officially starting on Monday, February 23rd and some of the first meets of the season kicking off the first weekend of March. Here are the biggest names to look out for going into the new season in Class 2A for the girls!
Sprints and Hurdles
One of the top returners on the sprints side for the girls is Mindy Griggs of Buena Vista High School, who has the top returning time in the 100m of 12.31, and she placed 3rd overall at the state meet. However, just behind Griggs is Mehlea Ritschard of Golden View Classical, who has a personal best time of 12.33, which she ran to win the individual state title! In the 200m, Griggs finished 2nd overall at the state meet and is the top returner in that specific event and is the top returner overall with a time of 25.49.
Griggs also finished on the podium in the 400m, where she placed 5th overall, showing a lot of range in her sprinting. However, the fastest returner for Class 2A is Sophia McCormick of Limon High School with a time of 58.67. McCormick finished 2nd in the 400m at the state meet, she is the top returner in the event, and she is only a sophomore going into this season! Another name not too far behind McCormick who is also still fairly young is Sheridan McArthur of Peyton High School, who as a sophomore last year finished 3rd overall in the event in a time of 58.97. It could be a very exciting battle between these two in the longer sprints!
For the hurdle events, Sara Christensen of Thomas MacLaren School has a strong shot at taking the victory in both hurdle events. She already won the 100m hurdles last season at the state meet and is the only girl in 2A to have a personal best time under 15 seconds running 14.93. In the 300m hurdles, she finished behind Jessica Black, running a time of 44.54 - almost two seconds ahead of third place! That is also about the margin Christensen has on the next best returner for Class 2A, making her a strong favorite for both of these events!
Distance
On the distance side, there will definitely be some changes going into this season with the graduation of Jessica Black and the improvement from some younger talent. Starting with the 800m, Austin Cook of Telluride High School is the reigning champion, winning the race in 2:19, which is the top returning time in Class 2A! There are still a handful of girls that could close on Cook including Mikaela Kendall of Heritage Christian Academy, Brooklyn Minihane of Colorado Springs Christian School, and Addison Jones of Wray. They all have personal best times of 2:22 or better.
For the 1600m and the 3200m, things start to get a little more interesting. In terms of the fastest returning times, Taya Wren of Rangely High School and Natasha Hessler of Ridgway both have run 5:16. They also both have state titles to their name in cross country with Wren winning in 2024 and Hessler winning last season. Not too far behind is Saskia Marlin of North Fork High School, who has a personal best time of 5:17. From the state meet results, Wren and Hessler battled it out behind Black with Wren just finishing ahead of Hessler for 2nd place. When considering the fall and also the youth of Hessler, it will definitely be interesting to see who will pull it out between these two ladies of if someone else can step in, which is very likely with how tight the girls' rankings are in 2A.
In the 3200m, Wren also won over Hessler, running 11:21 for the victory to Hessler's 11:28. Obviously these two will continue to battle in this event, but other names could pose a challenge, starting Kendall. Kendall has the track record of always being near the front in a handful of events. She has a personal best mark of 11:03, so she has the firepower to challenge for the state title. She did not race much during the fall, so there is a little uncertainty on where she is at fitness wise, but as mentioned before, she has the history and knows how to compete well. Another name that could do some damage is Kendall's teammate in Emma Lukens. Lukens had a strong fall season, finishing runner-up at the state cross country meet. She may be lower on the returners' list for the track season, but has the capability to run with the lead packs this season!
Field Events
One of the best throwers in Colorado currently on the girls' side is Brooke Schmidt of Wiggins High School. She easily won the state discus title and took the victory in the shot put, though by a much closer margin. Wiggins has personal best marks of 149-8 and 39-11 in the discus and shot put respectively and is the top returner in all of Colorado for the discus and 2nd for the shot put! She will be a tough one to beat, but Emma McNerney of Burlington High School is not too far off of Schimdt's shot put PR, finishing the season off with a mark of 38-4.5.
In the jumping events we may see another showdown between Braylee Foster of Hoehne High School and Kailey Pearson of Swallows Charter Academy. These two are the top returners in 2A for the high jump and finished 1st and 2nd at the state meet. Foster jumped 5-5 during the season and Pearson jumped 5-2 for her season's best. On top of that, Pearson won the state title in the long jump and is the top returner for the event. Her best mark of 17-4.5 that she jumped at the state meet will make her a tough competitor going into this season.