Park City, Judge Memorial and Ogden had a spirited battle in 3A a year ago, and could again. Katelyn Jensen and Wanda Dalton lead the Tigers, along with high jumpers Maren Crane and Laurren Goff. Park City will count on runners Elli Reed and Rosie Brennan, and Judge is always tough in distances, led by the Sams' Club — Samantha Gaffney and Samantha McMillan, along with Hailey Knettles and Maggie Nichols. Cedar's Monica Faucett is a top high jumper, and the Redmen have runners Celeste Miller and Maddie Wolf as well.

The 2A and 1A schools are harder to handicap, but Wasatch has outstanding distance runners in Kaylee Collins and Madalyn Olpin, Stephanie Flinders and Sylvia Bedford return for North Sanpete, and Brooke Blackburn leads an always strong distance team from Wayne. Kastin Frostel, Alyson Ptacek, Theah Stoddard and Katie Turnerdrown will lead Juan Diego's efforts at improving last year's third place finish in 2A, and Panguitch looks to defend in 1A.

Boys preview

The boy's title chases shape up like this: In 5A, defending champ Davis looks strong again, led by field star Bryce Hall (shot put, discus), javelin star Alex Hill (also a sprinter); distance runners Seth Frischknecht, Jared Ward and Patrick Hall, and outstanding relay teams. Viewmont relies on distance standout Kyle McKenna, high jumper Ryker Morgan, pole vaulter Sam Hunt, discus thrower Zack Farrell and hurdler Zach Nyborg (any team with two guys named Zack or Zach have to be strong A to Z).

Bingham will also be strong, with Zack Cook and Rich Hansen among the state's top long jumpers. Timpanogos, up from 4A, has top athletes in Tyler Ashworth, Silar Pimentel, Chris Bringhurst, Steve Hart and Jon Oliver. Austin Christensen and Ryan Jones of Fremont, Allen Beck of Lone Peak, Eric Goldhardt of Riverton, Mikey Payne of Cottonwood, Adam McDonald of Mountain View, and Alta's Sausan Shakerin, Braden Hansen, Dave Adams and Kevin Fortin are also 5A standouts.

In 4A, Box Elder always fields a strong team, despite heavy graduation losses. With Timpanogos and Mountain View now in 5A, the Bees could be in a good position to win, along with Provo. Matt Perry and Wade Miles will lead the Bees' distance team, while Provo will turn to Adam Smith, Austin Olsen, Christopher McKinney and Taylor Killian, who led the Bulldogs to the 4A cross country title last October. If Jared Rohatinsky can return for the Bulldogs, they'll be tough to beat at state.

Other top 4A athletes include Bountiful's Jake Magalei in the weights, Bountiful discus thrower Brent Jenkins, distance runners Jeremiah Johnson of Cyprus, Rex Shields of Springville, Justin Hedin of Mountain Crest, and Mike Budge of East; and Box Elder's Jared Beukaers.