Girls
Jumpers
Like in the pole vault, the horizontal jumps graduated major star power last spring. Standouts Mara Quam (1st in long jump, 3rd in triple jump) and Jenna Kes (1st in triple jump, 2nd in long jump) have left a hole that many will aim to fill this season. In the triple jump, a senior heavy class will attempt to take down Ailsa Gilbert of Watertown-Mayer, the preseason favorite. Gilbert took runner up honors in 2017 and has finished no worse than 4th at any of the previous three editions of the State meet. Her junior season appears to be her best chance of finally standing alone atop Class A. The class of 2018 will be looking to unseat her, as Kaly Banks of Cannon Falls, Emma Weatherly of Byron, Hope Howell of Mesabi East, and Addie Hubbard of Pequot lakes all own PBs between 36'8" and 37'1". With such a close range of best jumps, the competition for top five positions will be unpredictable. A few young studs could have a breakout season, in particular Maple Lake's Maggie Larson. Larson had a huge showing last postseason, jumping over 36 feet at both Section 5A and State to take 7th. Ashlyn Olson of New London-Spicer and Shaily Hakamaki of Cromwell-Wright are two other young talents that could make a leap. Don't sleep on Crosby-Ironton's Kylie Monson, who has hit 36 feet and joins the deep senior class.
In the long jump, 400m star Robbie Grace will look to earn her first State title (and potentially earn a double win). After jumping just a half an inch short in 2017, Grace looks like a near lock to jump 18 feet this season. Molly Reeves of Montevideo comes in as a wild card. Her PR of 17'6 ¼ " places her second among returners, but at State she jumped roughly 2 feet less than that. A strong performance places her as the top challenger to Grace for a State title. Kamryn D'Heilly of Annandale took 5th at last year's State meet, and she stands as the second highest placing returner, albeit with a shorter PB (17-0.5) than Reeves and sophomore star Molly Schultz of Rockford (17'2"). Another sophomore, Taytum Klink of Mora, has also hit 17 feet and could contend for a top five position. A multitude of athletes sit in the high 16s, creating a dogfight for State places, and even qualifying positions. In that group, a few names to watch out for are Michelle Neece of Pipestone, Stephanie Pickthorn of Lakeview, and Emma Weatherly of Byron, all of whom have PBs within a couple of inches of breaking 17 feet. And keep an eye out for CJ Adamson of Rochester Lourdes, who jumped 16'6 ¾ " as just a 7th grader. With a year of competitive track under her belt, along with some growth, she could be in line to make a huge leap in the near future.
In high jump, the story is a little different. Defending champion Arika Robinson of Concordia Academy comes back after a consistently dominant season. She did not jump below 5 feet all year, on her way to victory in 5'6". With some improvement, the Class A record of 5'9" could be within reach for Robinson in her senior season. The battle for second will likely come down to Madi Schirmer of Maple River, who finished in 3rd and just 3 inches off of Robinson's mark at State, and Hannah Ehlinger of Eden Valley-Watkins, who owns a 5'4" PR. A plethora of top ten State finishers will also be back, including Brynn Paumen of Maple Lake, Claire Nuessmeier of St. Peter, and Britt Kratochvil of Pequot Lakes. Chelsie Kurtz of Pierz holds the 3rd highest PR in the field, with a jump of 5'3", but did not qualify out of sections after an off day. If she has a repeat performance of her best mark, she is instantly placed into the conversation of one of the top few vertical jumpers in the state. In terms of depth, there are too many names to list: a total of 29 returning athletes hit 5 feet in 2017, creating a bottleneck for the next tier of jumpers. Qualifying to State will be incredibly hard in its own right, because a slight off day is enough of an opportunity for others to move up into the top two (as seen with Kurtz). With a qualifying standard of 5'2", we may see a relatively large field at State, as 25 have PBs between 5'0" and 5'2". And in a field that big, there's a decent chance for some surprises.
Throwers
The Class A shot put competition may become one of the best event battles of the whole year, especially considering that not a single girl from last year's Class A podium at State has graduated. Hailing from the far reaches of Northern Minnesota, defending State Champion Emma Gilbert out of International Falls was undefeated in the event last year save for a fourth-place finish in the Hamline Elite Meet, and her best toss of 46-4.5 is the 8th-best in Minnesota history. Under normal circumstances, Gilbert would be the heavy favorite to defend, but she'll first have to deal with Pierz star Beth-el Algarin. Algarin was amazingly consistent the last two seasons, finishing 3rd in 2016 and 4th in 2017 in the shot put, throwing between 40 and 42 feet virtually every meet. But she turned a corner last summer, and by August, she had improved her best toss to over 45 feet, which is well within reach of Gilbert. Both ladies are seniors, and both have a comfortable cushion over Fairmont's Allison Lardy's best toss of 42-11.25, so it looks like the title will belong to either one of Gilbert or Algarin. Of course, if Lardy (last year's runner up behind Gilbert) is able to throw her hat in the ring too, the battle could get even more interesting. The remaining girls from last year's podium include Byron's Ayoka Lee (3rd place with a toss of 41-0.25), 5th-place Kourtney Rozeboom from Hills-Beaver Creek (who remarkably improved by over seven feet over the course of last season), Park Rapids' 6th-place finisher Jaiden Mccollum (who owns a career-best toss of 41-9 and was also 4th in 2016), 7th-place Zoe Christensen of Glencoe-Silver Lake (who missed the entire 2016 season after her second knee surgery, but was also 7th in 2015), 8th-place finisher and Ayoka Lee's teammate Hailey Bahr (who didn't win a single outdoor shot put competition thanks to Lee, coming in 2nd place 8 times), and finally 9th-place out of Wadena-Deer Creek, Ellie Miron.
The discus, on the other hand, could hardly have a more different story than the shot put. The top five places at State last year, and six of the top nine, have all graduated, which means the reigns are free for the taking. Miron is one of those girls who could take them, as she finished 8th last year (the third-highest finisher) and owns the 6th-best PR of 121-0.5. But chances are, it will come down to either Pierz's Algarin or Johanna Johnson of St. Croix Lutheran. Algarin's best throw from competition last year was 125-6, but she has thrown distances up to 140 feet in practice, which could put her in the same league as Class AA favorite Cayle Hovland. But the best throw on record in our database is Johnson's 126-4, and she also happens to be the top returning finisher at State. That margin is quite slim, however - Maple Lake's Catie Fobbe, Lac qui Parle Valley's Julie Overton, and Hayfield's Katrina Thoe all have PRs within 5 feet of Johnson's, as do the aforementioned Algarin and Miron. Unless one of those girls (or maybe even someone from the next tier) is able to really grab the disc by the rims and separate themselves (maybe Algarin?), this competition looks to be up for the grabs.
Pole Vault
At the 2017 State meet, Millie Klefsaas rewrote her own Class A record with a monster 12'3" effort. With the two time defending Class A champion graduating last spring, the door is open for a new top pole vaulter to emerge. Two returning members of the 11-feet club appear set to take over the reins from Klefsaas. The first is Ashley Hokanson of Perham, the highest returner State after placing 3rd in 2017. Sophomore star Alayna Schloeder actually owns the better PB, after an incredible 11'5" jump at her sections meet. On paper, these two stand well ahead of the field. In fact, Schloeder and Hokanson rank 2nd and 4th in all of Minnesota, so expect them to take down some of the top Class AA names at the Hamline Elite Meet in about a month. No other athlete in Class A has come within half a foot of this duo. However, a handful of vaulters have crossed the 10 feet plateau. Concordia Academy's Rachel TerHaar's mark of 10'6" ranks as the third best in the field, and she finished 6th at the 2017 State meet. As for dark horses, a freshman may be in line for huge improvements. Katie Borowicz of Roseau might not exactly be a sleeper, since she has the 3rd best PB (10'6"), but her age indicates immense upside nonetheless. That height would be impressive as a senior, but having been earned as an 8th grader, the future of pole vault (adding Schloeder into the picture too) appears very bright. Sophomore Sophie Johnson of Hendricks is yet another young talent, hitting 10 feet as just a freshman last season. Nicole Lium of Blue Earth and teammates of Emily Martinson and Sydney Bahls of Perham have also each crossed the 10 feet barrier.