For much of the past half decade, teams have tried and tried
to keep up with Valley Heights' girls at the state track and field
championships. And only once have they been successful.
Valley Heights again enters the class 2A state championships
as the prohibitive favorite, having won state titles in three of the past four
seasons and returning a powerful core of athletes with names very familiar to
the state's track and field scene.
Tops on that list is senior Kayla Smith, who has won 10
state medals during her high school career, including three straight state
titles in the triple jump. Smith added the long jump title last year, and is a
top-three contender in the 100- and 200-meter runs. She won all four of those events at her regional meet.
In three years at the state meet, Smith has scored 67 points
- or an average of 22.3 points per year.
She'll be joined this year by a couple other standouts in
senior Sk...