Class 5A
Can Addyson Smith (Fossil Ridge High School) win both the 100m and the 200m? So far this season, Smith has been dominant in the 100m and 200m, continuing to get faster and faster in each meet. Currently, her personal best times of 11.63 and 23.82 are some of the top times in all of Colorado, so it seems she is the easy favorite. However, returning state champion in both the 100m and the 200m in Zona Welling of Heritage High School is also slated to compete. Though Welling has not run as fast as Smith, the story was very similar last season and Welling still pulled off the two victories, so she knows how to win when it matters. Nevertheless, Smith definitely has a chip on her shoulder and considering how much faster she has gotten this season, she may be too quick to overcome.
Zenobia Witt's (Eaglecrest High School) quest for three titles in the long jump: Witt has not been able to compete much this spring season, but when she has, she has produced some very impressive marks. After a very strong indoor campaign, Witt's first long jump mark of the season was 19-11.5! She was incredibly close to the 20 foot mark, but then did not compete in the long jump again until this past weekend, where she still jumped 19-.75! Witt also knows how to win when it counts, considering she has won the state title in the long jump even as an underclassmen and when she was not the favorite at all. Even with a tougher build for this spring season, Witt still looks primed and ready to win that third straight title! On top of that, she also will be competing in the 100m hurdles, where she was able to get her time down to 14.10, which puts her in the mix with some of the best hurdlers in Colorado this season.
Alexa Queen (Fountain-Fort Carson High School) vs. Amber Calender (Northfield High School) in the hurdles: Speaking of hurdles, Queen and Calender have gone against each other quite a bit this season, and though Calender has gotten the upper hand on Queen, she has slowly closed the gap on Calender. So far this season, Queen's personal best in the 100m hurdles is 13.98 - a time she ran to finish 2nd to Calender, who ran 13.76 to win at the Liberty Bell Invitational. Though Calender came out victorious, she did pull Queen to a new personal best and was definitely pushed by her. Calender also has a personal best time of 13.75 and has been under 14 seconds the most in the races, but she will still be pushed by Queen for that individual title.
When it comes to the 300m hurdles, Queen is the favorite and this event has always been Queen's speciality. Queen has a PR of 42.29 and has the fastest time in the event for all of Colorado! She won the title last season and definitely is the favorite for this year, though she may still be pushed by Ruby Snyder of Valor Christian High School, who has a personal best time of 43.02. Snyder is also improving at the right time, running some of her fastest times in the 300m hurdles, so she should be up there at least in the beginning of the race.
The wide-openness of the distance events: In the distance events, there are a lot of different names that could take any of the titles in the longer events. Starting with the 800m, the top seed is Calia Vaughn of Boulder High School, who recently ran 2:10 in the race. Not too far behind is Jenna Winn of Eaglecrest High School, who ran 2:11 earlier in the season, also hitting a big personal best in the event. Following these two is a huge list of girls who are within two seconds of Vaughn and Winn, so the title really could go to anyone in the 800m, though Vaughn may have some of the most momentum going into the state meet.
Vaughn also ran 4:55 in the 1600m, winning the event at the Stutler Twilight. That time ranks her #3 in Class 5A and within a few seconds of the top seeds. At the top is Payton Meineke of Riverdale Ridge High School, who ran 4:53 recently at the HOKA St. Vrain Invitational, finishing 4th overall. Meineke will be fairly busy as she is slated to race the 800m, 1600m, and the 3200m, which may make it difficult to win multiple state titles, but she does have the personal bests to give herself a chance.
Some other names to look out for in the 1600m is Emry Schwalm of Heritage High School, Emily Cohen of Cherry Creek High School, and Madison Lange of Cherokee Trail High School. For Schwalm, she ran 4:54 earlier in the season and recently ran 4:55 at the HOKA St. Vrain Invitational, finishing behind Meineke, but did earn a big win at the Pueblo Twilight. Cohen did win both the 1600m and the 3200m at the state meet last year, so she knows how to win when it matters, and she is sitting right in the mix of the 1600m rankings with a season best time of 4:55. Finally, Lange does not have as fast of a Colorado PR, but she did run 4:47 at sea level, so she definitely has the potential to put herself in the mix for the 1600m title even if she is only a freshman.
Lange also holds the top time in the 3200m this season, running 10:33. Times are very close in that race as well with Schwalm running 10:34, Claire Guiberson of Mountain Vista High School running 10:39, and a huge list of girls running in the 10:40s. For Schwalm, she did run 10:00 at Arcadia in the event, so she has a lot of potential to run a little faster than her seed time and could be the favorite for this title.
All in all, the competition is very tight in all three distance events with a lot of the girls doing multiple events, so it will be exciting to see who will come out on top in these races, where anyone has a chance to win.
Who will pull out the 400m individual title? The 400m title is somewhat open this season, but the names who could challenge for the title have been the fastest 400m runners in all of Colorado. Payton Mathelier of Mountain Vista High School, Lillian Graves of Fairview High School, Alexis Fischer of Grandview High School, and Abigail Trapp of Golden High School all have run under 55 seconds and have very close personal bests. For Mathelier, she has consistently sat at the top of the rankings with a personal best time of 54.29! Trapp finished 2nd overall in this event a year ago, so she has some of the most experience when it comes to the state championship. Fischer may be riding the most momentum though, running her personal best of 54.82 this past weekend. Graves is riding some good momentum too but more so in the 100m and the 200m, where she ran 11.96 and finished 3rd overall at the HOKA St. Vrain Invitational and ran 24.50 in the 200m to finish 4th overall.
Can Renata Bergstrom (Cherry Creek High School) continue to improve in the pole vault? Bergstrom recently hit a mark of 13-5 over the past weekend, solidifying herself as the top pole vaulter in Colorado! She does have a decent lead over the next best pole vaulter in 5A by almost a foot, so it seems she has a pretty good chance of winning the state title. The real question will be how much she can push the height and if she can hit another personal best and inch closer to the Class 5A state meet record of 14-0.