10 CLASS 2A GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES TO WATCH IN 2024
 

EMILY BAINTER, HOXIE 

Bainter was the javelin state runner-up last year as a sophomore. Her throw of 124 feet, 4 inches was about 5 feet short of the winning mark from Berean Academy’s Lillie Veer, who was a senior. Bainter won four meets in javelin last year including regionals. Her personal record is 130-7. She also took 10th at state in the long jump. Bainter helped Hoxie’s volleyball team to a runner-up finish last fall before playing a key role on the Indians’ basketball team that reached state for a second straight season.
 

LILY BROWN, ST. MARY'S COLGAN
 
Brown won her first state championship by winning the triple jump event as a sophomore in 2022, but nearly had a few more with her state runner-up finishes in the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump. She closed the gap in those other two events as she took home the triple gold last spring. If she follows that pattern, Brown might bring home the quad gold after taking third in the 300-meter hurdles last year. In addition to those performances, Brown has three more state medals after earning third in the triple jump and a pair of fifth-place finishes in 100 hurdles and high jump as a freshman.
 

MADILYN HEFLIN, INMAN
 
Heflin was pretty much unbeatable in the hurdles last season right up until the 2A state meet, when some tough luck cost her a chance at victory in the 100 hurdles, then she was edged by Sublette’s Clarysa Webber by .01 in the 300 hurdles. Heflin finished seventh in the 100s, losing her lead after she tripped over the eighth hurdle. Still, the Teuton senior claimed the fourth and fifth state hurdles medals of her career, setting a PR with her 46.05 run in the 300s. A three-time Heart of America champion in the 100s and two-time winner of the 300s, Heflin holds school records in the 100 hurdles (15.03) and as part of a 1,600 relay (4:11.93). She has been nursing an injury during the off-season.
 

EVA HILGENFELD, REMINGTON
 
Hilgenfeld not only advanced to the 2A finals for the first time in the high jump last May, she contended for the title. The Bronco senior settled for a personal-best clearance of 5 feet, 4 inches and second place, losing a tiebreaker on misses to Pittsburg Colgan’s Lily Brown. The finish still marked significant strides for Hilgenfeld, a three-time state qualifier. The two-time Heart of America champion set a school record with her performance, giving her a big boost heading into her final season. Hilgenfeld also set her long jump PR of 16-1.25 at last year’s Marion regional, and pushed her top mark in the triple jump out to 32-0.75 with a victory in her 2024 season opener at Bennington.
 

KENZIE JACKSON, NORTHEAST ARMA
 
Jackson returns from a junior campaign where she took state runner-up in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet, 2 inches. She set her PR earlier in the year at her team’s home meet, throwing for 38 feet, 10 inches. Jackson had previously finished fifth as a sophomore and sixth as a freshman in that event. She also took fourth in the discus last season. 
 

JULIA KILGORE, STERLING
 
Kilgore punctuated her first state track meet by teaming with Faith Ekart, Makayla Sant and Bella Browlee for a victory in the 2A 1,600 relay, giving the Black Bears freshman her third gold medal. She also won the 400 with a personal-best time of 57.86, and led a tightly contested 200 field across the finish line in 26.42. The performances highlighted Kilgore’s versatility, coming seven months after she cracked the 20-minute barrier for the first time to finish third at the 2A state cross country championship. Kilgore has since added another top-15 state finish in cross country, and will try to help Sterling win its first girls track title since 1991.
 

MAKHILA MAUPIN, OXFORD
 
Maupin shook off a false-start disqualification on the state’s biggest track stage to come back and win the 2A 200 title last spring, crossing the line in 26.42 to edge Hanover’s Anna Jueneman by .38. Maupin’s DQ in the 100 cost her a chance at the sprint double, but she nonetheless took a step forward after finishing eighth at state in the 100 and 200 as a freshman. The Wildcat junior didn’t lose in the 200 over the final six weeks of the season, and set a PR of 26.26 in the state prelims. Maupin was the South Central Border League and Kiowa County regional champion in both events.


 

NATALEE NORTH, ELLIS

North is the defending discus champion. Her winning throw last year went 125 feet, 11 inches, a personal record for the junior. North won the event by a comfortable margin, beating the second-place throw from Rawlins County’s Kayte Shively by more than 25 feet. She also took third in the shot put with a 36-3.75. North was a regional champion in discus and won seven different meets in the event as a junior. She also won two meets in shot put. Her shot put personal record is 37-4.
 

HAIDYN THOMPSON, GARDEN PLAIN
 
Garden Plain started its current streak of four 2A girls titles when Thompson was a seventh grader. But the Friends track signee has made significant contributions to the Owls’ run since she came on board. Last May, Thompson delivered a breakthrough performance with three gold medals, including individual victories in the 100 and long jump. Thompson earned the sprint title with a personal-best 12.61 and won the long jump with a leap of 16-8.75. She also anchored the Owls’ 400-meter relay team to a win in 50.80. Thompson completed a four-medal haul with a third-place finish in the 200, setting a PR of 26.25 in the prelims. It was a bit of redemption for Thompson, a state runner-up in the 100 and 200 as a freshman. Thompson dropped to eighth in the 100 as a sophomore, later learning she was battling mononucleosis that season.
 

PAYTON WURTZ, WABAUNSEE

For the first two seasons of her prep career, Wurtz has played second fiddle to arguably the top distance runner the state has ever produced – Stanton County’s Chesney Peterson. After taking second at the Class 2A state meet to Peterson in the 400, 1,600 and 3,200 and fourth in the 800 as a freshman in 2022, Wurtz had remarkably identical results last year. She took second to Peterson in the 1,600 and 3,200 and was third in the 800. She took second in the 400 again as well, finishing behind Sterling freshman Julia Kilgore after Peterson opted not to go for the distance quad again last year. Wurtz set school records in all four events as a freshman and then broke all but the 3,200 mark last year as a sophomore. She’s swept the Mid-East League titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 both seasons and already has tied the school record for career state medals with eight.