Colorado rich in girls high jumping talent
It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best and only contingency plan Kylee Harr had. It was the week before last year’s state track meet, and an injured ankle forced Harr to change her high jump approach, using her left foot to plant instead of her right.
But the plan worked to perfection, as Harr went out and jumped 5-8 — setting a personal best by a whopping 4 inches — to win the Class 5A state title in her first full year participating in track and field.
The ease with which Harr slid into the sport is mirrored by her main challenger again this season, Rock Canyon sophomore Riley Masten, whose 5-6 jump earned her 2017 state runner-up honors. Masten, like Harr, started high jumping shortly before last season began.
Both girls thought their athletic calling was in a different sport — Harr volleyball, Masten gymnastics — before being introduced to track, where it didn’t take long for each to shine.
“They’re very ‘Type 2’ athletes because they’ve got so much fast-twitch muscle,” explained Nick Vinson, trainer at Elite Speed Sports Performance, where both girls train. “Kylee squats 275 pounds, while she only weighs 130 and she has a 30½-inch standing vertical, while Riley’s getting up there with her strength and explosiveness as well — so for as little as they are, they’re super dense.”
Harr, a Colorado commit who also had scholarship offers from Oregon and Colorado State, lengthened her jumping approach from eight to 10 steps this season in an effort to get more speed heading into her takeoff.
“I’m hoping to jump 6 feet this year, and I’ve been doing a lot of vertical work and lifting in the hopes it will help me out,” Harr said. “In the end, I just have to trust the approach that’s gotten me this far in this amount of time.”
Meanwhile, Masten continued to progress during the indoor season this win- ter and believes she’s going to see her efforts rewarded this spring.
“Last year, I realized I could have a future in track, and that motivated me to dedicate myself to the sport and start getting involved in club,” Masten said. “Now, it’s about increasing my consistency in my marks and my jumps to get the job done at state.”
But Harr and Masten won’t be the only notables to watch May 17-19 at Jeffco Stadium, because Class 4A features a pair of nationally elite high jumpers as well. Silver Creek senior Rylee Anderson, a Kansas commit, is the three-time defending 4A champion and tied the top mark in the nation with an eye-popping 5-11 jump at the Simplot Games in February.
Right on her tail is Valor Christian junior Anna Hall, last season’s high jump runner-up and the 2015 5A champion while at Arapahoe. Hall stole the show at the New Balance National Indoor Championships a few weeks ago, setting a junior national record in the pentathlon while winning her second straight title in the event. She also won the high jump competition with a 5-8¾ performance.
With Harr, Masten, Anderson and Hall, there’s a realistic chance the 1978 state record of 6-1 held by Kennedy’s Sharon Burril could get challenged in May amid a field of bigschool programs that may very well feature additional sleepers.
“Right now it looks like it’s going to be Kylee and Riley battling in 5A, but you never know — there could be girls coming out from anywhere who can challenge, including Kylee’s teammate Alisha Davis (fourth last year at 5-2),” Grandview high jump coach Dylan Baumgarten said. “And obviously in 4A, with Rylee and Anna, there’s no shortage of exciting talent there, either. It’s a really good time for girls high jump in Colorado.”