In the 100m, the top returner both for time and from the state meet is Zach Statz of Haxtun High School. He has a PR of 11.34 and finished 2nd overall at the state meet. Not too far behind him is Tyler Troudt of Prairie High School, who has a personal best time of 11.40, though Troudt did only finish 7th overall at the state meet.
For the 200m, the top three finishers at the state meet graduated, leaving an opening for the title. The fastest returning time is held by Avery Bell of Caliche High School, running 23.05. He is also the top returner from the state meet, where he finished 4th overall! Then Statz is second on the returners list with a PR of 23.24 and the next best returner from the state meet, finishing 6th overall.
Finally, in the 400m, Brady Terrell of Idalia High School has the best time, coming in with a mark of 51.47. He ran that time to earn 3rd overall at the state meet, finishing behind two seniors making him the top returner from the championship.
In the hurdles, the podium was filled with underclassmen, so we may see some similar match-ups from last year. The top time in the 110m hurdles is held by Tuff Kelley of McClave High School, who ran 15.40, earning him 1st place at the state meet. Not too far behind him was Anderson Weathers of Lone Star High School, who ran 15.45 to finish 2ndoverall at the championship race. However, Weathers ended up on top in the 300m hurdles, running 41.90 to win the title and is the top returner in the event. Weathers is busy on the field as well, where he won the state title in the pole vault getting over the bar at 13-11. He could be one of the only names that vaults over 14 feet this season for Class 1A and will look to defend his title!
Distance
Last year, Parker Arbuthnot of Springfield High School pulled off the triple title by winning the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m! En route to those titles, Arbuthnot ran 2:01 in the 800m (the top returning time), 4:39 in the 1600m, winning by 11 seconds, and 10:19 in the 3200m, winning by 21 seconds. For his PRs, he has run 4:29 and 10:03 for the season, all as a sophomore, so he definitely has a lot of room for growth going into the 2026 season. He will be incredibly tough to beat considering the wide margin he has on the rest of Class 1A.
In terms of who may have the best chance of catching up to Arbuthnot and has the most room for growth may be Myles Northrup of McClave High School. He was only a freshman last year and learning how to race in his first outdoor season. He finished the year with personal best times of 2:05, 4:52, and 10:56. Though those marks are off of Arbuthnot's, Northrup has a lot of room to grow. He only raced the 1600m twice last season, with one of them being at the state meet, and Northrup still finished on the podium in all three events, including a 3rd place in the 3200m!
Field Events
The jumping events are dominated by Javin Summers of Swink High School. He comes in with the top returning marks in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump. Starting with the horizontals, Summers won both state titles and has the top marks in both of the events. Summers' PRs include 21-7 in the long jump and 44-6 in the triple jump. He has a lead of over a foot on the next best returner in the long jump and a lead of almost three feet in the triple!
For high jump, Summers ended up 2nd overall at the state meet jumping 6-2, though his PR is 6-5.25. He lost to Ethan Tesman of Elbert High School, who is the 2nd best returner with a PR of 6-4, but has the state title under his belt. These two will compete again as Summers tries to win three state titles in the jumping events.
Similar to the girls, the Class 1A throwers are unmatched even though they are at smaller schools. The top returner in shot put is Jett Konkel of Springfield High School with a throw of 48-7.5. He is the reigning state champion and the one to beat for that title! In discus, Carl Hughett of Elbert High School has a PR of 154-5, topping the returners' list, though he did only finish 4th overall. The reigning state champion graduated, so the next best returner from the state meet goes to Austin Wright of Arickaree High School, who threw 148-5 and is 2nd on the returners' list. Konkel also placed 3rd at the state meet in discus, so he has the potential to place well in both throwing disciplines.