Nebraska's Top 10 most dominant girls track and field athletes for 2015

A terrific crop of young talent is expected to return to Burke Stadium next month in hopes of dominating their respective track and field events in Classes A, B, C and D.

Led by the horizontal jumpers and the sprinters, Nebraska's Top 10 girls track and field athletes have already collected 71 total state track and field meet medals throughout their careers collectively. Fifty-two of those medals have been earned in individual events.

In all, this spring's Top 10 owns 29 state meet gold medals, and only Kearney Catholic's Paige Hervert, Gothenburg's Tiani Reeves and Lincoln North Star's Jeralyn Poe are seniors. Four members of the Top 10 are just sophomores.

In order to be considered for this list, Nebraska's track and field athletes had to be a returning gold medalist from a year ago.


1. Chloe Akin-Otiko, Bellevue West, Junior
Only a junior, Akin-Otiko already owns Class A and All-Class state meet records in the 100 (11.74 seconds) and 200 meters (24.29). Now she has her sights set on improving those marks and adding to her already fine collection of eight overall medals, six of which are individual golds. Akin-Otiko's 11.73-second regular season clocking in the 100 places her seventh on Nebraska's all-time track and field charts. Akin-Otiko could overtake former Omaha Brownell Talbot sprint giant Sarah Lyons' 24.06-second clocking in the 200. Lyons sits atop the all-time chart, while Akin-Otiko owns the second-best time of 24.11 and is tied for third with former Omaha Marian leaper Candice Mills after registering a 2014 long jump mark of 19 feet, 9 1/4 inches.

2. Paige Hervert, Kearney Catholic, Senior
The Doane College track signee tore her anterior cruciate ligament during Kearney Catholic's state volleyball run last November. Regardless, Hervert will more than likely add to her staggering collection of state meet hardware. Hervert owns five gold medals and 12 total medals in the horizontal jumps and sprints. The future Tiger has won triple jump gold at the last three Class C state track and field meets. Hervert won both the Class C long jump (18-4 ¼) and the triple jump (38-8 ¾) a year ago.

3. Tiani Reeves, Gothenburg, Senior
Reeves will walk-on to play volleyball at Nebraska next fall. But before exiting the prep ranks, she hopes to add to her collection of 11 Class B state meet medals, which includes three golds. The Swede senior owns medals in the long jump, triple jump, 200 and 1600 relay. A year ago, Reeves swept the Class B long (18-6) and triple jump (38-11) events.

4. Erin Lee, York, Junior
While competing in the three longest running events at the state track and field meet the past two seasons, Lee has secured six gold medals in eight races. The junior hopes to add 800 gold this spring after securing silver and bronze medals in the event as a sophomore and freshman, respectively. Lee came up just one place short in her attempt to win the Class B 800 (2:14.16) a year ago. However, Lee did come up golden in the 1600 (5:12.53) and 3200 (11:14.41) as well as the 1600 relay (4:02.95).

5. Jeralyn Poe, North Star (Lincoln), Senior
Poe broke through and won Class A gold in the individual 1600 (5:00.06) and 3200 (10:49.47) runs a year ago to bring her state meet medal count to nine. Poe now owns five top-three finishes in the two events and has three medals in the 1600 relay.

6. Catherine Mick, Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (Bruning), Junior
Should her current trend continue, Mick could very well end up a four-time Class D pole vault champion at the conclusion of her prep track and field career. The junior also owns medals in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles as well as the 400 relay. A year ago, Mick garnered Class D gold in the pole vault (11-0 ½) for the second-straight year.

7. Amanda Young, Gretna, Junior
Gretna's sprint extraordinaire is in position to earn 15 Class B state track and field medals when she completes her high school career in May of 2016. Last spring, Young captured her first state meet gold when she garnered the champion's hardware in the 200 (25.17) in Nebraska's second-largest classification.

8. Madison Quist, Doniphan-Trumbull (Doniphan), Sophomore
As a freshman a year ago, Quist scored 23 of Doniphan-Trumbull's 25 points in helping her school to an eleventh-place team finish. Quist earned Class C gold in the 1600 (5:18.98) and finished second in 3200 (11:51.07). Quist also medaled in 800 a year ago and now hopes to sweep the three distance events come May.

9. Harlee Fischer, Stuart, Sophomore
Fischer crossed the finish line ahead of everybody else in the Class D 800 (2:20.25) a year ago and ran the first leg of the winning 1600 relay (4:13.87) to help lead Stuart to an eighth-place team finish. Fischer added a fourth-place finish in the 400 (1:00.90) to score all 25 Bronco points.

10. MacKenzie Brandl, Stanton, Sophomore
Without this talented sophomore manning the sprints and the second leg of the Mustang 400 relay, it is safe to say Stanton would not have finished tied for seventh with Oakland-Craig in last spring's Class C team standings. Brandl had a hand in scoring 22 of Stanton's 28 points a year ago after winning the 200 (25.92) and finishing second in the 100 (12.68). Stanton's 400 relay (51.78) crossed the finish line in fifth place a year ago.

Others to Watch: Regan Miller, Axtell, Sophomore; Mariah Willey, Pawnee City, Sophomore; Elizabeth Sindelar, Howells-Dodge (Howells), Sophomore.