Girls
Jumpers
It wasn't that long ago that Minnesota rarely ever saw a female jumper clear the 19-foot barrier, and 18 feet was achieved only by potential state champions. But last year alone, Minnesota saw three jumpers break 19 feet, including Minnesota's first-ever 20-foot jump by Anna Keefer. Indeed, like so many other events on the girls side, long jump has become much better and much more competetive accross the board in Minnesota, and who knows how much better it can get? St. Cloud Tech's Jodi Lipp and Cloquet's Kendra Kelley are Minnesota's returning 19-foot jumpers, and on the heels of Minnesota's most historic jump ever, it's possible that it could get replicated by one of those two stars this year (or ever next year in the case of the junior Kelley). Kinga Mozes of Rochester Century, Faith Robinson from Minnetonka, and Mia Sennes out of DeLaSalle are all juniors who have all achieved a jump of 18-5, and could also find themselves in that 19-foot company by the end of the year. But it was Rosemount's Shae Buchman that beat out all these athletes, including Lipp, to take runner-up honors behind Keefer at the State Championships last year with a jump of 18-0.5, while 4th place was claimed by Robinson's Minnetonka teammate Olivia O'Brien. Fellow seniors Danielle Pioske, Katelyn Tschida, and Allyson Weiss also own better-than 18-foot PRs, and could factor into the podium standings by the end of the year.
The triple jump may not be nearly as deep as the long jump, but it is also possibly the best collection of triple jumpers the state has ever had. Minnesota's four best returning jumpers all rank in Minnesota's all-time top 15 in the event, and two-time defending State Champion Allyson Weiss from East Ridge is one of six to ever to surpass 40 feet. Lipp, Burnsville's Miah Keller, and Moorhead's Ashley Warne all own PRs of 38-8.25 or better, while O'Brien has achieved a leap of 38-4.5. Nearly a foot separates that group of five and the next tier - Sennes owns a career-best of 37-7 while Bemidji senior Ciara Cermak pulled off an amazing leap of 37-5.5 at her section championships (an improvement of nearly four and a half feet!) only to finish a hard-luck third and miss State behind Lipp and Warne. Edina's Gracia Seeley and Burnsville's Sophie Nilson round the most-likely podium contenders our of Class AA.
As for Minnesota's high jumpers, if one word can describe the top returners, it would definitely be "young." None of the five jumpers with the best PRs are seniors, and the very best of them all (defending state champion Nyalaam Jok of Osseo) is just a freshman. But it was a shock when Jok took the title, as her best jump just one month prior was a mere 5-2 - she improved by six inches in that time frame. However, Mounds View junior Julia Fixsen is more experienced in the event, having been a Class AA runner-up in 2016, and matching Jok's winning jump of 5-8 earlier in the season. However, Fixsen had to scratch herself out of the competition at State due to a lingering injury that had hampered her nearly all season, so a battle between Jok and Fixsen never materialized. Instead, another fast riser, Madison Johnson of Benilde-St. Margaret, leaped 5-7 and took third behind Jok and the graduated Jenny Mosser. Johnson had competed in the high jump for three years, but her best prior to last season was only 4-8, so her achievement was nearly as remarkable as Jok's. Also impressive was 6th-place finisher Ellie Gamradt of Hermantown, who had only cleared 5 feet before last year, when she ultimately went 5-6. Madison Schmidt of Blaine, Lexy Berger or Rosemount, and especially Aliyah Dawkins of Mankato West all should be in the mix as well, as each had cleared 5-6 or better, and they all were extremely consistent from meet to meet (especially 4th-place finisher Dawkins, who has not failed to clear 5 feet in competition since she was a freshman).
Throwers
Alexandrea Hurst lost exactly one shot put competition in the past two years, and owns Minnesota's third-best throw of all time in the shot. With Hurst graduated, there will be a new Queen of the Circle, and it could be any number of athletes. The most likely place where she will come from is Alexandria, where Mya Lesnar and McKenzie Duwenhoegger own two of the four best returning PRs among Class AA. Lesnar, the daughter of wrestling and mixed martial arts legend Brock Lesnar, has possibly the brightest future of all, coming in third at State last year as just a freshman in her first year of high school track, and is the only thrower who has already tossed over 43 feet. Duwenhoegger owns a career-best throw of 41-10.25 has qualified for State each of the past two years, coming in 10th in 2016 and 11th last year. Between these two ladies and Bryce Ludwig, clearly Alexandria knows what they are doing when it comes to throwing. Coming in fourth with a toss of 41-11 in 2017 was Eastview's Andrea Abrams, who surely wouldn't hesitate to add an individual state championship to the one she just won with her Eastview teammates, who just went undefeated in girls basketball. Faribault's Meghan Gehrke (who own's the second-best returning toss in Class AA with 42-11.5) and Brainerd's Lilanna Charlier (who owns the fifth-best of 41-3.25) will certainly be in the mix for the top of the podium as well, and it wouldn't be hard to see the likes of Annie Farardeau, Maya Cochrane, Elizabeth Stanger, or Cayle Hovland throw themselves up the rankings.
Of course, Hovland has already accomplished that task in the discus. The Willmar senior comes in with a comfortable hold as the Class AA favorite in the event, both in being the highest-finishing returner from State last year and owning the best throw in the state of 139-8, which is over 8 feet further than her nearest competition. That competition includes the aformentioned Gehrke and Duwenhoegger, as well as Detroit Lake's Breanna Price and Mankato East's Carissa Shank. Remarkably, neither Duwenhoegger or Price qualified for State last year since both were in the same section as Hovland and eventual 7th-place finisher Lilanna Charlier, the second-highest finishing returner from State - clearly Section 8AA is a difficult one when it comes to throwing. All four will need to hit the qualifier of 130-5 if they all want a chance at the State Championship. Meanwhile, another hard-luck third-place finisher from lat year was Gehrke's teammate Lauren Isaacson, who finished behind Gehrke and Shank in Section 2AA. Big Lake's Annika Poe and White Bear Lake's Alexys Guidry also return from qualifying for State last year. The last big name to watch out for has to be Apple Valley's Madison Reed. Despite also not qualifying for State in 2017, the sophomore (who has competed in discus competitions since she was ten) had an excellent and amazingly consistent season as a freshman and owns a career-best throw of 125-9.
Vaulters
Exactly how much confidence does Julia Fixsen have in her pole vaulting abilities? Fixsen took exactly two vaults at the Class AA Championships last year thanks to lingering leg issues that forced her to scratch from the high jump. She missed her first attempt at 11-6, made her second one, and hobbled away as the state champion. She opted not to attempt any vaults at lower heights to ensure she would not no-height, and waited to attempt her first vault until just two other competitors remained. That is confidence.
Fixsen is back and quite healthy this season, as made obviously by her national runner-up performance at the New Balance Indoor Nationals two weeks ago. The state record is well within her reach, and she may just become the first Minnesota vaulter ever to clear 14 feet (and only the 11th high school girl ever to do so). But anything can happen in competition, and if Fixsen does happen to slip, one of the other 12 returners from last year's competition could fly in. Three girls in particular could be looking to take a big step up - Forest Lake's senior Jennifer Parent, Cambridge-Isanti's junior Charlene Morke, and Roseville's senior Allison Weiker. Parent in particular ought to be watched closely as she has already cleared nearly 11-5.75 in indoor competition this winter, bettering her top mark from last year. Morke and Weiker, meanwhile where the other girls remaining in the competition when Julia Fixsen took her only jumps at 11-6. Morke and Weiker had just cleared 11-3, which is the PR for both of them. It was Weiker's second trip to State, and Morke's first. Other skilled returners include Rosemount's Lexy Berger, Northfield's Karissa Ricks, Parent's teammate Sofia Dodge, Austin senior Sydney Marsh, and the talented Stillwater junior Corrine Hale. It is one of the deepest and best fields Minnesota has seen in a long time in the pole vault, and it could be an especially historic year.