UIL 5A Girls State Meet Preview

The UIL 5A Girls State Meet promises to be one for the record books with eight former State champions in the field.

Lucas Lovejoy's Kailey Littlefield and Killeen Chaparral's Madaleine Fey are each attempting to record a fourth straight title in the 800m for Littlefield and the discus for Fey. Meanwhile, it appears that Lancaster is set up to be the favorite for the team title as they go for a 14^th overall title.

Lancaster will be relying upon their three relay teams which each enter the meet ranked first overall. All three of their relay teams could threaten the State meet records.

They had times of 45.69 in the 4x100m, 1:37.17 in the 4x200m and 3:42.24 in the 4x400m this year. In addition, they have Saniyah Miller running the 200m which she enters as the third seed and Justice Armstrong who is entered in the 300H.

Lucas Lovejoy and Red Oak could factor into the team title should Lancaster falter. Lovejoy has two entries in the 1600m and 3200m, Littlefield in the 800m and a strong 4x400m relay team. McKinney North is expected to score in five events and two relays and could be a contender.

Last year's champion, Smithson Valley, would likely be in the title chase again this year but Alyssa Jones moved to Lamar Fulshear where she is expected to score in three individual events and is the reigning 200m champion.

Region 4-5A girls at their Regional Championships

Jones is entered in the 100m, 200m and long jump this year. She enters the meet with the second-best time in the 200m and third best time in the 100m. She has jumped 19-7 in the long jump and will be in the State finals for a third straight year.

Boerne Champion's Elizabeth Leachman and Burleson Centennial's London Tucker are both entered in three individual events.

Leachman was the 1600m champion a year ago and qualified in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m this year. She is heavily favored to not only win the mile and two-mile, but also shatter the State meet records.

She boasts times of 4:37.17 in the 1600m and 9:43.74 in the 3200m. She ran 2:09.90 in the 800m but finished second in Region IV.

Tucker owns the top marks in the 100m (11.38), 200m (23.59) and long jump (20-3) and is poised to be the top individual point-scorer in the meet.

The 200m figures to be one of the events of the meet with Tucker, Alyssa Jones, Saniyah Miller, LaMaiya Henderson of Hallsville and Aaliyah Barnes of Killeen owning times under 24-seconds heading into the meet.

Alyssa Jones (1111) and Aaliyah Barnes (1060) compete at 2024 Region 3-5A 100m finals

Layni Kaase of College Station is the only athlete who will be competing in four individual events. She plans to run both hurdle events where she is expected to score big points and she is in the triple jump and high jump.

Littlefield is the State meet record holder in the 800m, but she will be challenged by a deep group of quality half-milers. Cedar Park's Isabel Conde De Frankenberg missed last year's meet with an injury but ran the fastest time in 5A at the Regional meet, 2:09.56 and was runner-up in 2022 to Littlefield.

Littlefield, Leachman and Hailey Johnson of Lake Creek have all run faster than 2:10 this year while Taylor Brown of Frisco Lebanon Trail owns a top time of 2:10.89.

Fey will also be challenged going for her fourth title in the discus. She has the top throw in the State this year at 176-5 but Aledo's Lauren St. Peters has thrown over 170-feet and Denton Ryan's Olamide Ayeni has thrown over 165-feet.

Fey owns the State meet record of 175-8 from last year. Fey will also be in a battle with St. Peters for the shot put title since they are the only two athletes who have thrown at least 49-0.

Each hurdle event features the returning State champion. In the 100mH, Kaylah Braxton of Frisco Heritage was the champion last year and enters as a slight favorite over Denton Ryan's Kailyn Head.

Kailyn Head (Denton Ryan) wins 100H prelims at 2023 Region 1-5A

Kaase and Laila Payne of Houston Carnegie Vanguard also own times under 14.00 this year. Head is favored to go back-to-back in the 300mH and has a season best of 41.74. both Kaase and Payne are the only other athletes who have broke 43-seconds this year.

One athlete who will be attempting something unique is Pieper's Caroline Peterson. Two years ago, she won the 4A State title in the high jump and this year she is the only 5A girl who has cleared 5-9 this year. She will have her hands full with four other girls who have cleared at least 5-7.

The 400m might end up being the most closely contested race in the meet.

There are a total of six athletes who enter the meet with season bests in the 54-second range. Angel Brefo of Midlothian Heritage has the top individual time of 54.14 and will be going for a unique double since she is ranked second in the 100m as well. Smithson Valley's Jazmyn Singh is a four-time State qualifier and is another one to watch.

Lily Muzzy won the 2024 Region 3-5A triple jump title

The long jump should be up for grabs with eight of the nine athletes owning season bests of at least 19-feet. London Tucker and Ryhan Balous of McKinney North are the only two who have eclipsed 20-feet this season. Tucker, Alyssa Jones, Lily Muzzy of Georgetown and Daisha Shular of Seguin all return from last year's final.

Muzzy headlines the triple jump competition after jumping 41-8 this season. Alleah Krote of Arlington Heights is the only returner from last year's field and is the solid second seed with a top mark of 40-8.

The pole vault is another event that features four returners from last year's meet, but it is a newcomer, Madison Snody of Gregory-Portland, who is the favorite. Snody has cleared 13-7.5 this year and won Region IV with a height of 13-0 as she defeated Smithson Valley's Ella Pickron based on fewer misses. They are the only two in the field who have cleared 13-0 this year.