Highly ranked teams converge in Utah

By Ryan Waite for DyeStat

UTAH STATE MEET

The reaction to Rob "Watchout" Monroe's recent national team rankings -- that included seven boys teams from Utah in the top 30 -- left many wondering aloud: "Is Utah really that good? Do they deserve to have that many teams ranked?"

Monroe backed up his selections on the Message Board. 

"This will be the second year in a row where Utah is, by a significant amount, the best state per capita," he wrote.

Here's a quick primer on the top teams and individuals as they head into Wednesday's state meet at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City.

5A Boys

There is no doubt which team is the tops in the state is this year. American Fork has dominated every race that the varsity has run and sits No. 3 in the DyeStat rankings. The real question in the team battle is who is going to be the runner up. Lone Peak is ranked 16th but has lost twice to No. 17 Bingham.

Neither of them are a sure bet to take second. There's Davis, a consistent force at the national level. The Darts beat Lone Peak at the BYU Autumn Classic and coach Corbin Talley always has his team ready for state. Other teams to watch out for are Westlake and Riverton. Both have been in the Top 40 during the year and believe they can be that No. 2 team.

In the individual battle, Kramer Morton of Alta returns as the defending champion. Morton was a Foot Locker finalist last year and dominated the state meet, but in his last head-to-head matchup against American Fork's Connor McMillan, it was McMillan who came out on top. Both Morton and McMillan are coming off of course-record breaking performances in their respective region meets and could be near Ben Saarel's time from last year, the second-fastest ever on the course.

Others to watch for are McMillan's teammate Zac Jacklin, Bingham's Andrew Brewer, Lone Peak's Clayson Shumway (runner-up in the Colorado Class 5A meet in 2012) and Riverton's Brady Earley.

Here is where the craziness begins. Jacklin has beaten Brewer and is 2-1 versus Shumway. Shumway has a win and a loss against Earley, but lost to Brewer. Brewer has lost to Earley, but has beaten Shumway. Earley has beaten Brewer, but lost to all of the others. While Morton and McMillan are probably the top two, any one of the other guys could knock them off.

5A Girls

The team situation for the 5A girls is a little less complicated than the boys. Davis girls are the No. 1 team in the country and American Fork is in the top 40 as well. Davis will run away with this one. At the BYU Autumn Classic, one of the bigger regular season meets in the state, Davis put five girls in the top 10. The Darts also ran away with the team title at the Bob Firman invite in Boise against some of the nation's best.

American Fork should be the runner-up, but will have a few teams trying to track them down. Bingham and Jordan have had some great performances this season, and have both defeated the other at some point. However, neither has beat American Fork during the year, and will have their work cut out for them if they want to do it on Wednesday.

In the individual race, junior Lucy Biles of Herriman is the Class of the field. Biles won the Bob Firman invite by 13 seconds over Ogden's Sarah Feeny, a 2012 Foot Locker Finalist. Biles recently ran 16:53 on a three mile course at 4,350 feet altitude. She would be on a lot of good varsity boys teams.

Second place will likely come from Jordan's Tavia Dutson, the runner-up the past two seasons, Bingham's Marlee Mitchell, who ran 17:07 on the same three mile course that Biles flew on, or Davis' freshman phenom Aubrey Argyle.

4A Boys and Girls

The 4A races seem a bit less complicated. For the boys, Ogden and Orem will duke it out for the team title and 2012 Foot Locker Finalist Conner Mantz should run away with the individual title. Sam Sorenson of Mountain View, a 1:53 800-meter runner, is having a great season, but is not in the same class as Mantz when it comes to the longer distances.

For the girls, Ogden looks like the top team. And Feeny knows how to run the big races, as a multiple time state champion, a Foot Locker Finalist and a Dream Mile Competitor, she is the hands-down favorite.

It's safe to say that Utah is for real in 2013.