At this point, only days before the opening of the official competitive season, it appears that 3A boys could be the tightest of all ten races for a state team title this spring.
Last year, Hurricane blew away the field in 3A boys, and the Tigers figure to be right back in the thick of things this year, but the main advantage they hold over the field at the moment is first-hand knowledge of what it takes to come up on top. That's something the other teams lack (or at least mostly lack).
Delta might qualify as a very slight preseason favorite, and the Rabbits hopes rest mostly with hurdler Weston Cropper and middle distance guys Tyler and Dane Nielson.
Hurricane returns three big contributors in sprinter Adam Thompson, thrower Brian Scott, and thrower Jake Nielson. It's likely, however, they'll need some individual point production beyond these three to repeat as champions this spring.
Desert Hills may have the greatest breadth of state scoring potential. led by high jumper Tyler Ott and hurdler Brad Wulfenstein.
Juab continues the Nielson family reunion theme by bringing Jake Nielson along as their biggest potential scoring threat to the state meet. Jake Nielson should be trouble in all three throwing events.
Wasatch looks for a big contribution by hurdler Cale Strong. But, like Desert Hills, Wasatch looks to be able to score a lot of state points in nickels and dimes. Eventually, the small change adds up.
Cedar's hopes hinge on the legs of middle distance runner Danny Stevenson. Ben Saarel's indoor season suggests he may be the one to put Park City over the hump of being a mid-tier team and into the company of top-tier teams.
Every last one of the above teams is in need of some bigger contributions from guys who made it to the state meet last year and didn't score, or maybe contributed one or two points at the state meet last spring. The team that does the best with these opportunities is likely to come out on top.
2011 UT HS M Outdoor Track Team Scores (Returners Only)
Calculated as of March 06, 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. | Delta | 48 |
| Dane Nielson (1600m 2 + 800m 5 = 7) | ||
| Logan Jones (D 2 = 2) | ||
| Ryan Petersen (J 10 = 10) | ||
| Tyler Nielson (1600m 5 + 800m 8 = 13) | ||
| Weston Cropper (110H 8 + 300H 8 = 16) | ||
| 2. | Hurricane | 44 |
| Adam Thompson (100m 8 + 200m 10 = 18) | ||
| Brain Scott (D 10 + S 10 = 20) | ||
| Jake Nielson (D 6 = 6) | ||
| 3. | Desert Hills High School | 43.25 |
| Brad Wulfenstein (110H 6 + 300H 5 = 11) | ||
| Dakota Elder (HJ 4.5 = 4.5) | ||
| Jordan Hardman (400m 5 = 5) | ||
| Porter Harris (HJ 0.75 + LJ 8 = 8.75) | ||
| Skyler Swaney (100m 3 + 200m 1 = 4) | ||
| Tyler Ott (HJ 10 = 10) | ||
| 4. | Juab | 43 |
| Cole Wright (300H 1 = 1) | ||
| Jacob Bunker (1600m 3 = 3) | ||
| Jake Morgan (400m 8 = 8) | ||
| Jake Nielson (D 8 + J 8 + S 5 = 21) | ||
| Jeff Rowley (J 6 = 6) | ||
| Wyatt Allen (400m 4 = 4) | ||
| 5. | Wasatch High School | 35.5 |
| Cale Strong (110H 10 + 300H 10 = 20) | ||
| Dallas Mcdavid (HJ 0.75 + LJ 1 = 1.75) | ||
| Jon Durrant (110H 2 = 2) | ||
| Nate Lee (HJ 0.75 + LJ 5 = 5.75) | ||
| Talem Franco (800m 6 = 6) | ||
| 6. | Cedar High School | 34 |
| Bryan Pearson (800m 4 = 4) | ||
| Danny Stevenson (1600m 6 + 800m 10 = 16) | ||
| Dillon Charter (HJ 4.5 = 4.5) | ||
| Shane Minor (110H 3 + 300H 2 = 5) | ||
| Ty Higbee (HJ 4.5 = 4.5) | ||
| 7. | Park City | 29 |
| Ben Saarel (1600m 10 + 3200m 6 + 800m 2 = 18) | ||
| Colter Merritt (1600m 4 + 3200m 4 = 8) | ||
| Paul Flake (300H 3 = 3) | ||
| 8. | Judge Memorial Catholic HS | 27 |
| Christian Weidle (100m 10 + 200m 8 = 18) | ||
| Jack Dailey (1600m 1 = 1) | ||
| Matt Lewis (D 3 + S 3 = 6) | ||
| Miles Ellis (S 2 = 2) | ||
| 9. | Pine View | 25.5 |
| Devin Gillespie (3200m 2 = 2) | ||
| Jason Gunter (S 6 = 6) | ||
| Prentiss Miller (100m 0.5 = 0.5) | ||
| Tyson Boyer (1600m 8 + 3200m 8 + 800m 1 = 17) | ||
| 10. | Canyon View | 22 |
| Kolton Knighton (100m 2 + LJ 6 = 8) | ||
| Scott Callister (400m 6 = 6) | ||
| Spencer Crankshaw (HJ 8 = 8) | ||
| 11. | Carbon | 21 |
| Dalton Nelson (LJ 10 = 10) | ||
| Garrett Marsing (3200m 5 = 5) | ||
| Luke Olsen (400m 2 = 2) | ||
| Tyler Johnson (300H 4 = 4) | ||
| 12. | Union | 20 |
| J j Morley (110H 5 + 300H 6 = 11) | ||
| Keith Powell (3200m 3 = 3) | ||
| Sioneofa Lapuaho (200m 6 = 6) | ||
| 13. | North Sanpete | 19.5 |
| Dakota Kleven (100m 6 + 200m 5 = 11) | ||
| Kyle Anderson (100m 0.5 = 0.5) | ||
| Rhett Bird (D 4 + S 4 = 8) | ||
| 13. | Ben Lomond | 19.5 |
| Ben Hyer (LJ 2 = 2) | ||
| Malcolm Shipmon (200m 2 + LJ 4 = 6) | ||
| Malik Doss (100m 4 = 4) | ||
| Sterling Brandley (800m 3 = 3) | ||
| Ty Fejerang (HJ 4.5 = 4.5) | ||
| 15. | Juan Diego Catholic | 19 |
| Alexander Gonce (J 3 = 3) | ||
| Ben Hicks (D 5 + S 8 = 13) | ||
| Billy Nipp (J 1 = 1) | ||
| David Alexander (J 2 = 2) | ||
| 16. | Stansbury High School | 15 |
| Brock Davies (J 5 = 5) | ||
| Ky Bender (100m 5 + 200m 4 = 9) | ||
| Roy Mulitalo (D 1 = 1) | ||
| 17. | Snow Canyon | 14 |
| Callie Stewart (400m 10 = 10) | ||
| Shandon Esplin (200m 3 = 3) | ||
| Tommy Ingalls (3200m 1 = 1) | ||
| 18. | Ogden | 10 |
| Jordan Cross (3200m 10 = 10) | ||
| 19. | Grantsville High School | 7 |
| Bren Durfee (400m 3 = 3) | ||
| Derrick Rasher (J 4 = 4) | ||
| 20. | Morgan | 4.75 |
| Gabe Davis (HJ 0.75 + LJ 3 = 3.75) | ||
| Kyle Stapley (S 1 = 1) | ||
| 21. | Uintah | 4 |
| Jonathan Wilson (110H 4 = 4) | ||
| 22. | Bear River | 1 |
| Dyllon Mercado (400m 1 = 1) | ||
| 22. | Dixie | 1 |
| Lukas Hildebrandt (110H 1 = 1) |