Steamboat Springs — The state track meet starts bright and early Thursday morning in Lakewood, and it’s Steamboat that gets the first crack at glory. Austin Kerbs will be the lone competitor representing the Sailors, and he’ll try to fly high in his opportunity Thursday morning in the Class 4A high jump competition.

Soroco and Hayden athletes will then fill in the rest of the weekend starting Thursday afternoon and running through Saturday afternoon.

Seven different Soroco athletes — Hayley Johnson, Cassie Constine, Kali Constine, Charlee Veilleux, Mattie Rossi, Jessica Rossi and Micah Gibbons — will compete in four events each, a number bolstered big time by the five relays that qualified on the girls side and the three on the boys side.

Who’s got the best chance of finishing in the top nine and bringing home medal? We break down those with the best chances:

Austin Kerbs, Steamboat, senior

High jump

Kerbs is still brand new to the sport. He’s gone from clearing nothing to clearing 6 feet, 2 inches in a matter of weeks. At that rate, he’s on pace to win an Olympic medal by 2016, not to mention a state medal this week.

Ok, that’s a bit of a stretch. With a season best of 6-2, he’s in the midst of a huge pack of jumpers. If he can improve that a little, the podium is a real possibility.

Ben Kelley, Soroco, freshman

800-meter run

Kelley will cap a remarkable freshman year with three performances at the state meet. He has a shot to medal in all three of his races, the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. The 800 may be his best chance, though. He’s the No. 8 seed there. His best time is within 1.4 seconds of fourth place and 7 seconds of first. It’s a tight field, top to bottom, and anything can happen in a race like that.

Kali Constine, Soroco, junior

High jump

Constine hasn’t been elite at high jump this year. Her season-best of 4 feet, 10 inches was actually only just good enough to get her to state and has her at the bottom of the pack. But, this isn’t her first rodeo. She cleared 5-1 at state a year ago and claimed third place. She’ll probably need to do better than that to get back in the top three this year, but she’s shown she can get it done on the big stage.

Jessica Rossi, Soroco, senior

Pole vault

Rossi comes in with one of the four best vaults in the state, which puts her in perfect position to defend her second-place finish in the event at state a year ago. Soroco’s strong pole vaulters are a testament not only to their athletes, but also to their coaches. The Rams don’t even have a vaulting pit and haven’t worked on the one in Steamboat Springs at all this season. It’s all about form, and they have it. Look for at least one medal, and, with Kali Constine in the mix, likely two.

Mattie Rossi, Soroco, freshman

100 hurdles, 300 hurdles

It didn’t take Rossi long to make her presence known on the track stage. In her first season, she’s got a great chance at two individual medals in both of the hurdle events. Her best result may come in the 300 hurdles, where she’s the seventh-seeded athlete and a little more than a second off the overall leader. Whichever event it is, Rossi seems destined for a breakout performance at the big show.

Soroco

Girls 1,600-meter relay

Relays have been a strong source of medals for the Soroco girls track team in recent seasons, and that’s not likely to change this season. Relays are a huge point of emphasis for the program, getting kids involved and getting them to the state meet. 
The program’s shot at success this season may be its 1,600 relay team, with Charlee Veilleux, Jessica Rossi, Cassie Constine and Kali Constine. The foursome has come on strong late this season and jumped ahead of many teams, thanks to a fast result from the season’s last regular season meet.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see multiple medals come from the Rams eight qualified boys and girls relay teams. Other top chances will come from the boys 1,600 relay team and the girls 400 relay team.

Jack Redmond, Hayden, senior

Long jump, triple jump

Redmond is one of the top challengers in both of his events. He has the fourth-best jump in the state in long jump. He — along with the rest of the field — is well behind the leader, John Broadhead, of Telluride, but a good day could put Redmond in the fight for third, or even second, place.

He’s not quite as well positioned in triple jump, with the seventh-best seed, but he still should factor into the medals and could jump, jump, jump his way to a premier spot on the podium.

Thomas Rauch, Hayden, senior

High jump

Rauch is back at state after finishing 11th there a year ago in high jump. He’s got the seventh-best jump going into this weekend’s meet, having cleared 6-feet, 0.5 inches. High jump can be a finicky business, as Rauch found out a year ago when he didn’t jump up to his seed. With that experience, though, he’s poised to take a leap.