Pam Yu gives the Falcons good reason to hope for state points in both horizontal jumps. Photos by Paul Jaeger.
As 5A girls track and field depth goes, Highlands Ranch ranks on the thin side of the ledger. Whatever noise the Falcons make will either have to be made by a handful of talented individuals or as an all-out recruiting assault on the hallways of HRHS by the coaching staff.
It's safe to say Eleanor Fulton is a known quantity. Fulton grabbed state titles at 1600 and 3200 meters last spring and missed by the thinnest of margins making it 3-for-3 in the 800 meters. Fulton's back for one more season of track, but it doesn't figure to get any easier for her this spring.
Kelsey Lakowske didn't run track due to an injury last spring, but figures to be competing this spring. Clearly, her presence gives Fulton a little more to think about in the 3200. And, although, Fort Collins typically runs better in cross country and track, Erin Hooker's cross country season would indicate she's ready to mix it up with the best of them in the 3200 as well. All that said, Eleanor Fulton may still win the 3200 on May 19, but it looks like the race will be decided a little closer to the finish line than it was last year. Liberty's Hannah Everson and Loveland's Kailie Hartman could easily figure into this mess as well.
Fulton probably has a clearer edge over both Lakowske and Hooker at 1600 meters, but don't count on anything going according to form on the last day of the state track meet. Winning the 1600 on Saturday is all about managing your resources properly on Thursday and Friday.
Although the upper echelons of 5A girls distance is an extremely tough sorority to break into, Fulton just might be seeing some familiar uniforms in that group this spring. Kristen Kientz had, by her standards, a sub-par track season last spring. Kientz was back in the groove, however, for cross country in the fall and definitely holds potential for scoring state points at 1600 and 3200 meters. Sophomore Kristi Oslund, who had her race go south on her at the state cross country meet, figures to be back scoring points in track this spring as well. Oslund probably offers a bit more of an 8/16 take on things whereas Kientz seems to fit the 16/32 mold a little better.
Simply stated, in track and field--where top-end talent carries a higher premium than it does in cross country--Highlands Ranch ranks at the top of girls distance coming into the season. But check back about mid-April or so to see if early projections are holding true.
Ranch's big contributor outside of the distance events is jumper Pam Yu. Yu ranks among the top six returners in 5A girls in both the long and triple jumps. For Ranch to make a serious bid for a state title, Yu will need to climb a notch or two or three on both totem poles, but that scenario isn't so far-fetched as to be unthinkable.
Beyond Yu, the prospects get a little fuzzier. Sprinter Tierra Shumpert ranks among the top 10 returners in the 100 meter dash, but just barely. Erika Kemman is a talented multi who appeared in some USATF meets over the summer and should be ready to make a bigger impact on the Highlands Ranch roster this spring. Danielle Burns has a decent little bit of speed. Beyond that, however, last spring's statistics don't provide much in the way of clues.
Relays could be a little problematic for Highlands Ranch. Without a little extra infusion of talent, the Falcons may not go four-deep well enough at any of the relay distances to make it work the expenditure of energy for a state relay.