Though Fossil Ridge High School has lost some of their distance runners from their state team last year that won the Class 5A team title, they are still looking very strong especially in the sprinting events and in the jumping events!
The team is highlighted by Addyson Smith, who is currently the favorite to win the 100m and 200m based on the personal bests she has hit in those two events. So far this season, Smith has run 11.68 for the 100m and 23.82 in the 200m and on top of her quick times, she has some strong victories over the best sprinters in Colorado! She did finish runner-up in both events last season, and she will still have plenty of competition to push her, but she is definitely the one to chase based on her personal bests and how she has placed so far this season.
Smith has also started competing in the long jump for the first time this year and has proven that she is one of the top long jumpers in Class 5A. She has a wind-aided personal best mark of 19-4 and a legal mark of 18-9! That mark places her #2 in Class 5A, which gives her team additional points that she was not scoring in last season.
Finally, Smith is also ranked in the top 8 for Class 5A in the 400m, with a personal best time of 56.04! Fossil Ridge is ranked well in almost all of the relays, so they will have to decide what they will have Smith compete in, but considering the depth of their roster, they should be able to find some people to help with the relays. Speaking of the 400m, Lily Wale is ranked well in that event as well as the 800m. Currently, she has a personal best time of 57.14 in the 400m and 2:12 in the 800m. She is ranked #10 in the 400m and #2 in the 800m for Class 5A! She will definitely be a huge help for the individual events but also for the relays.
Moving on to the field events, Fossil Ridge has a strong brigade of jumpers that were very important last season at the state meet and are ranked very well so far this season. First, in the triple jump, Fossil Ridge has two athletes who are ranked in the top 8 currently. At the state meet last year, Maggie Hoyer placed 2nd in high jump, 6th in long jump, and 7th in the triple jump, making her a triple threat in terms of the jumping events. So far this season, Hoyer has personal best marks of 5-0 for the high jump, a wind-aided 17-9 in the long jump, and 37-10.5 in the triple jump. Her best ranking as of now is in the triple jump, where she is ranked #3 in Class 5A.
Also ranked quite well in the triple jump is Natasza Fortner, who hit a huge personal best mark in the event, getting out to 38-5.75! That mark was an improvement by almost two feet from her previous personal best and ranks her #2 in Class 5A! Fortner is also busy with many other events including bot the hurdles, high jump, and long jump, and though she is not currently ranked in the top 8 for those events, she has strong personal bests that could sneak her on the podium and score a handful of points for the team. She is ranked #11 in the 300m hurdles with a time of 45.90,
Continuing on with the jumpers, Ava Bassett is tied for #5 in Class 5A for the high jump, hitting a mark of 5-4! Though there are a lot of girls hitting the same marks in this event, meaning high jump can be a little unpredictable, Bassett has the opportunity to score big points for the team if she can have a great day.
One final area where Fossil Ridge has a chance to squeeze out of few more points is in some of the longer distance events. The team has always had a lot of strength in the longer events and though Avery Breitigam isn't currently ranked in the top 8, she still has a chance to help the team out.
She has competed at the state track and field meet before, where she finished 11th a year ago in the 3200m. Currently, she has run personal bests in all the distance events running 2:22 for the 800m, 5:03 for the 1600m, and 10:49 for the 3200m! Her best ranking is in the 3200m at #15, but with her showing improvement this season, she definitely has a shot at jumping on the podium considering she finished 10th at the cross country state meet in the fall. (Pictured above: Breitigam running at the 5A Cross Country State Championships, where she finished 10th overall, Photo Credit: Tim McDonald).
Overall, this team has a good balance on the track and on the field and will be relying heavily on Smith as well as the depth of their squad with the relays, where they are ranked in the top three for all of them except the 4x100m relay. However, as long as this team performs the way they have all season, they should be able to repeat as state champions once again!
