It would be easy to conclude that the 2A girls contest comes down to a single team, but that kind of conclusion too often proves to be premature.
By all outward appearances, the defending 2A girls champion North Summit Braves have everything aligned for another tour of conquest this spring. But, every so often you meet up with a team that has a sense of being snubbed in preseason thoughts and carries that sense through the season as a flashpoint of motivation. So, we should be hesitant to be inscribing team names on the first-place trophy.
That said, it's going to take a spectacular bit of stepping up for anyone to close the gap on North Summit.
A big part of the reason North Summit is so good is spelled E-r-i-c-a. As in Birk the distance runner and Richins the hurdler. Add in sprinter/long jumper Samantha Nicholes and you could easily be staring down as many as 80 points at the state meet on the legs of these three alone. That's tough for anyone to overcome. But, North Summit has others who figure to contribute as well. The Braves should also have big expectations for McCall Richins in the 400 and Kaitlyn Rowser in the shot and disc. Generally speaking, the Braves are loaded across the board. That distinction bodes well for North Summit's potential to score relay points. North Summit is as complete of a team as you're likely to ever see in 2A.
San Juan, Kanab, and Parowan figure to field solid teams from the southern regions of the state, perhaps even staking claim to an individual title or two, but whether they can assemble enough firepower to make a serious run at North Summit is a question waiting for an answer. An incoming freshman or two at any of these schools could make an enormous difference, so we'll play the game of wait-and-see.
In the meanwhile, the table below shows what a virtual meet between all 2A schools, based on last year's performances, might look like in terms of team scoring. It's no guarantee of how things shake out this spring, but it is suggestive of which teams hold the best hands and who the top contenders in each event are likely to be.
2011 UT HS F Outdoor Track Team Scores (Returners Only)
Calculated as of March 02, 2012
These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet.We took the individual rankings only and scored them as a normal meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Athletes whose graduation years are unknown were left out of the list.
| 1. | North Summit | 118 |
| Dentry Mcqueen (J 3 = 3) | ||
| Elle Wardrop (J 4 = 4) | ||
| Erica Birk (1600m 10 + 3200m 10 + 800m 10 = 30) | ||
| Erica Richins (100H 10 + 300H 10 + LJ 4 = 24) | ||
| Kaitlyn Rowser (D 8 + S 8 = 16) | ||
| Mccall Richins (100m 1 + 400m 8 = 9) | ||
| Mckenna Vernon (200m 2 = 2) | ||
| Samantha Nicholes (100m 10 + 200m 10 + LJ 10 = 30) | ||
| 2. | San Juan | 55 |
| Cortney Macdonald (100H 3 + 300H 3 = 6) | ||
| Kelli Meyer (400m 5 + 800m 6 = 11) | ||
| Lindsey Christensen (J 8 = 8) | ||
| Sade Kyles (100m 6 + 200m 6 = 12) | ||
| Samantha Giddings (S 5 = 5) | ||
| Simone Shumway (100m 8 + 200m 5 = 13) | ||
| 3. | Kanab | 45.4 |
| Ashleigh Cserepes (100m 3 + 200m 3 = 6) | ||
| Calli Jackson (S 6 = 6) | ||
| Devin Brown (HJ 1.2 = 1.2) | ||
| Mariah Clayson (100H 5 + 300H 8 + HJ 1.2 = 14.2) | ||
| Marina Tueller (HJ 9 = 9) | ||
| Whitni Johnson (400m 4 + HJ 5 = 9) | ||
| 4. | Parowan | 38 |
| Brittan Labrum (J 5 + S 3 = 8) | ||
| Chennin Benson (1600m 3 + HJ 9 = 12) | ||
| Haley Mineer (800m 2 = 2) | ||
| Kylie Price (100H 6 = 6) | ||
| Mckenzie Smith (D 2 = 2) | ||
| Stefanie Curtis (800m 8 = 8) | ||
| 5. | Grand County | 35.2 |
| Brianna Ballard (LJ 2 = 2) | ||
| Jessie Sorenson (100H 1 + HJ 1.2 = 2.2) | ||
| Kayeley Wells (D 1 = 1) | ||
| Madi Stocks (D 4 = 4) | ||
| Mercedes James (3200m 1 + 800m 1 = 2) | ||
| Nikita Nelson (S 2 = 2) | ||
| Rachel Garrett (D 10 + J 2 + S 10 = 22) | ||
| 6. | Emery | 27.5 |
| Blayr Jeffs (100m 2 + 400m 2.5 + LJ 8 = 12.5) | ||
| Hailee Rogers (LJ 5 = 5) | ||
| Jessica Guymon (400m 1 + HJ 5 = 6) | ||
| Whitney Withers (D 3 + S 1 = 4) | ||
| 7. | Beaver | 26.5 |
| Kellie Macdonald (100m 5 + LJ 3 = 8) | ||
| Marissa Smith (3200m 3 = 3) | ||
| Schyler Jordan (300H 4.5 + 400m 6 + HJ 5 = 15.5) | ||
| 8. | Rowland Hall-St. Marks | 25.5 |
| Cari Sanyer (400m 2.5 = 2.5) | ||
| Charis Benjamin (300H 1 = 1) | ||
| Emily Sundquist (1600m 8 + 3200m 8 = 16) | ||
| Kellyn Maves (1600m 1 + 3200m 2 = 3) | ||
| Sydney Maves (800m 3 = 3) | ||
| 9. | Wasatch Academy | 25 |
| Daisy Tuwei (1600m 5 + 3200m 4 = 9) | ||
| Kadi Samake (100m 4 + 200m 4 = 8) | ||
| Mckeil Ostergaard (200m 8 = 8) | ||
| 10. | Richfield | 19.2 |
| Alethia Munoz (HJ 1.2 + LJ 1 = 2.2) | ||
| Ashlee Madsen (LJ 6 = 6) | ||
| Kaitlyn Eyre (800m 4 = 4) | ||
| Sammi Beck (D 5 = 5) | ||
| Shelby Bagley (300H 2 = 2) | ||
| 11. | Enterprise | 17 |
| Anden Lyman (J 10 = 10) | ||
| Olivia Moyle (1600m 2 + 3200m 5 = 7) | ||
| 11. | South Summit | 17 |
| Grace Shultz (1600m 6 + 3200m 6 + 800m 5 = 17) | ||
| 13. | Manti | 16 |
| Kelsie Meacham (S 4 = 4) | ||
| Mandee Christensen (J 6 = 6) | ||
| Rachel Nielson (1600m 4 = 4) | ||
| Shalisa Shelley (100H 2 = 2) | ||
| 14. | South Sevier | 15 |
| Bailey Newby (400m 10 = 10) | ||
| Shantae Dustin (200m 1 = 1) | ||
| Shelby Sorenson (100H 4 = 4) | ||
| 15. | Gunnison Valley | 14 |
| Sarah Nilsson (100H 8 + 300H 6 = 14) | ||
| 16. | North Sevier | 11.5 |
| Bailey Sorenson (300H 4.5 = 4.5) | ||
| Morgan Miller (D 6 + J 1 = 7) | ||
| 17. | Millard | 1.2 |
| Taylor Carson (HJ 1.2 = 1.2) |