Up until now, we've avoided the hurdle events. No longer. Let's dive in and see what we find!
Division 4
Sydney Sventek of Northland Preparatory is, hands down, your top hurdler in Division 4. She leads the standings for both the 100 and 300 hurdles by substantial margins. She is the only one--currently--below 17 and the only one below 50. There is no supporting cast for Sventek that is likely to score points at state, but Northland Prep just might end up with the most points out of the hurdle events, anyway, if Sventek pulls the expected 20 points.
And, the schools of choice more or less have a lock on the top spots in the hurdles right now. Sophia Byrd of Gilbert Classical ranks #2 in the 100 hurdles and #3 in the 300 hurdles. Lea Rosztoczy of Trivium Preparatory ranks #2 in the 300 hurdles and #7 in the 100 hurdles. Tatum McDonald of Chandler Preparatory ranks #4 in the 100 hurdles and #6 in the 300 hurdles.
Aubrie Sherwood and Ashlie Sherwood of Pima break up the party a little with a #3 in the 100s and a #5 in the 300s, respectively.
Right now, it looks for all the world like a small handful of girls will be walking away from state with nearly all of the hurdle points. We'll see if that changes any time soon, though there's not a lot of time remaining for the change to happen.
Division 3
Things are slightly more competitive in Division 3, but the same overall story still holds true. A relatively small handful of girls figures to be scoring the vast majority of the points.
Prescott's Emma Lloyd leads the 100 hurdles with an impressive 15.39. She's third, however, in the 300s. ALA Queen's Creek's (sorry about going a little crazy there with the apostrophes) Remy Romney is under 16 but only #4 in the 100s. She's at 46.25 a solidly leading the pack in the 300s, however.
It continues a lot like that.
Grace Schaeffer of Estrella Foothills holds down the #2 position in both events. She's close enough to the lead in both she could potentially win one or both, but right now she's #2 in both. There is, however, an old saying about #2 trying harder...
Eva Bruce of Sabino breaks the pattern by showing up at #3 in the 100 hurdles but without appearing on the 300 hurdles leader board.
Returning to the pattern, Kylee Dodge of Thatcher checks in at #7 in the 100 hurdles and #5 in the 300 hurdles. She's just a skosh back of the leaders, but she does show up on both boards in positions that should lead to state points.
In terms of team points, ALAQC's position is strengthened measurably by the appearance of the Tatum Matheny at #6 in the 300 hurdle rankings. That more or less makes ALAQC the Division 3 team to beat in the 300 hurdles.
Division 2
There are three girls atop both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles leader boards in Division 2. They are, in no particular order, Joy Moorer of North Canyon, Ella Escobar of North Canyon, and Saira Prince of Williams Field. They're each in the 14s in the 100s and at 45.51 or better in the 300s.
The fact, however, that both Moorer and Escobar are from North Canyon gives the Canyon crowd the upper hand when we look toward the possibilities of state scoring in the hurdle events.
Curiously, though, #4 on both lists belongs to the same person. That would be Beatriz Razon of Centennial.
And then, wouldn't you know, Williams Field shows up again with Jacklyn Trice at #5 in the 100s and #6 in the 300s. The battle is not yet won for North Canyon.
Then, as if to prove that hurdle performances correlate with coaching, Centennial's Kiya Pogue shows up at #6 in the 100 hurdles.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have solid evidence that it's going to take some serious advancement in the next few weeks to bump North Canyon, Williams Field, and Centennial out of the top three positions at state. What's left for the other teams may amount to mostly scraps unless some of the principals here opt out of a hurdle event for some other event(s) at state.
Division 1
Here we have a situation similar in many respects to what we find in Division 2. The top three 100 hurdlers on the board each show up in high positions, though not quite 1-2-3, on the 300 hurdles board.
Rahni Turner of Westwood leads the 100s at a sizzling 13.77. Kori Martin of Hamilton and Erykah Garrett of Chandler are at 2 and 3, both well into the lower half of the 14s.
When we move over the the 300s board, Garrett is slightly out in front with a 43.79. Neya Jamison (#5 in the 100 hurdles) of Chaparral lurks in second at 43.85--it should be a great state battle! Turner holds down the #3 position and Martin the #5 position. Clearly, Westwood, Hamilton, and Chandler figure to be reaping a few hurdle points at state.
Chandler's position at state is strengthened somewhat by the #7 placement of Monica Majak and the #9 placement of Drycaea Berry in the 300 hurdles. The Wolves run in a bit of a pack.
Kali McEuen of Highland also shows up on both lists with a #6 in the 100s and a #4 in the 300s. Highland could be in line for a few points as well.
Ena McMahon of Corona del Sol currently shows up at #4 on the 100 hurdles list, but doesn't make an appearance in the 300s. Pole vault may count as a legitimate reason to be avoiding the 300s there.
So, at this point, we have the promise of a few dominant teams and some blazing-fast times. It should be a great show.
Up until now, we've avoided the hurdle events. No longer. Let's dive in and see what we find!