What people may have overlooked with last year’s Whitefish girls team, which finished second to Laurel at the State A meet, was how young it was beyond senior standout Mikenna Ells.

So Laurel and Columbia Falls and everyone else had better look alive.

“Hands down the favorite is the Whitefish girls,” Columbia Falls coach Jamie Heinz said. “I thought they might have won last year, but they had some tough luck and things didn’t go their way.

“They return 90 percent of their team.”

The Bulldogs’ state champion short relay team is mostly intact; the anchor is Brooke Zetooney, who as a freshman sped to first in the 100 meters at state and was fourth in the 200.

Add in senior Erin Wilde in the jumps, sophomore Hailey Ells in the hurdles and 400, sophomore Isabelle Cooke in the 800 and senior sprinter/jumper Tommye Kelly and that’s a heck of a nucleus (sophomore hurdler Bailey Smith is recovering from knee surgery).

A strong freshman class, as the stories go, would give Whitefish an embarrassment of riches. Coach Kelliann Blackburn has 15 newbies out: “They are a bunch of hungry girls,” she said.

Meanwhile Heinz’ team surged to third.

“We didn’t have a lot of girls, but we scored,” Heinz said. “Things really went our way. We’re adding a little depth on top of that this year, and so I think we can make some noise.”

Last May, Lara Erickson provided two distance wins. She graduated, but it’s worth noting that the Wildkats, with senior Hannah Sempf leading the way, won their first State A cross country title in October.

Seniors Siri Erickson (second in the 1,600 and 3,200), Sempf and Julia Martin, along with junior Courtney Hoerner give Columbia Falls a deep distance crew to back up the efforts of Ally Sempf (sprints) and Alexis Green (jumps).

Don’t sleep on the Whitefish boys, who have a big three in defending shot put champion Talon Holmquist, defending triple jump champ Gabe Menicke and hurdler/jumper Bodie Smith.

The Columbia Falls boys are led by vaulter Lane Clark and Jace Duval, who placed in the 200 at state.

“He’ll make more noise than just the 200,” Heinz noted of Duval. “So I’m very excited about him.”

Around the Northwest A, Libby’s Trey Andersen is a threat in the high jump, as is Cy Stevenson in the shot; Polson sprinter Dawson Dumont helps the Pirates short relay, along with Jarrett Wilson and Lucas Targerson. Ronan has leaders in high jumper Payton Cates and hurdler Colter Cornwell.

Ronan also has two top girls in javelin thrower Rylie Lindquist and triple jumper Leina Ulutoa.

Bigfork’s boys were sixth at the State B meet a year ago, but the Vikings might just be moving on up.

The return of sprinters Joseph Farrier and George Bucklin, hurdlers Isak Epperly, Wyatt Johnson and Jordan Betts and Levi Peterson in the jumps gets Bigfork off to a great start.

There’s also Maddox Mater in the 400, Levi Taylor and Braeden Guse in the shot put and a distance crew of Jack Jensen, Elliott Sanford, Ryder Nollan, North Nollan and Bo Moderman. If the names sound familiar, it’s because they helped Bigfork win a cross country title in October.

Jensen was the long Viking to score in the distances at last year’s state track.

“I think that might be a little different this year,” coach Sue Loeffler said. “Because some of them have put in the time.”

The Valkyries also are aiming high, with Chloe Ratts, Afton Lambrecht and Carolyn Shillam filling up the relay teams and sprint crews.

Madison Chappuis and Zoey Albert in the javelin, hurdler Ashlyn Savik, Scout Nadeau in the discus and shot and Inga Turner in the high jump are threats, Bigfork also picked up a couple transfers in 800 runner Hannah Harris (Seeley-Swan) and hurdler Lily Tinkle (Flathead).

Area athletes to watch include Eureka’s Remmi Stanger, who was third in the high jump a year ago, and teammate Maya Carvey in the long jump; the Lion boys have distance standout Taylor Lancaster, hurdler Jacob Buckingham and Caleb Utter in the sprints and jumps.

Thompson Falls sprinter Jesse Claridge could score big, as could distance man William Hyatt.