Best high school athletes of 2022-23: Meet the national girls track and field athletes of the year

SBLive Sports will soon turn to previewing the 2023 fall season, but before that we're taking a look back at some of the best high school athletes of 2022-23.

Over the past month we've been highlighting some of the players of the year in volleyball, football, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys wrestling, girls wrestling, boys soccer, girls soccer, baseball and softball.

Next up is girls track and field, with boys track and field and lacrosse still to come.

Here are 20 high school girls track and field athletes who had a 2022-23 season worthy of national recognition.

Sophia Beckmon, sr., Oregon City (Oregon)

Beckmon uncorked one of the best long jumps ever by a high school girl in April, leaping 22 feet, 4 inches, in ideal conditions to improve to No. 2 all-time, just an inch off the national record set by Kate Hall of Casco, Maine, in 2015. A month later she won her third state championship in the event, and the Illinois signee was the second-best sprinter in the state behind her best friend, Mia Brahe-Pedersen.

Camden Bentley, sr., Gahanna Lincoln (Ohio)

After finishing a high school career full of medals with state championships in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles earlier this month, Bentley followed that up by beating a loaded field in the 100-meter hurdles at the New Balance Nationals over the weekend. She'll be competing for Kentucky next season.

Mia Brahe-Pedersen, jr., Lake Oswego (Oregon)

Brahe-Pedersen won her second consecutive OSAA 6A state championship in the 100 meters by running 11 seconds flat — which at the time was the fastest time ever at a high school meet and No. 3 on the all-time list for high school runners. She also ran a meet-record 22.65 to win the 200 — just four-hundredths off the state record she set earlier in May.

MacKenzie Browne, sr., JW North (California)

Browne's biggest moment in 2023 came in April at the Arcadia Invitational, where she shattered the meet record with a time of 2 minutes, 3.07 seconds in the 800. It held up as the top time in the nation in the event.

Tatum David, sr., Richland County (Illinois)

Also a cross country star, David set the all-time state meet record in the 3,200 meters, blazing to a time of 9:53.9 in May. A month earlier she was even faster, running a national-best 9:48.94 at the Herrin Girls Invite. She'll be running track and cross country next season for the University of Virginia.

Morgan Davis, sr., Saraland (Alabama)

Davis became the first Alabama high school girl to clear 6 feet in the high jump, breaking a 38-year-old state record. A day earlier she set the state record for all classes with a 20-foot, 8.25-inch long jump, and the Kentucky commit also won state championships in the 100 and 200.

Llyric Driscoll, sr., Western Branch (Virginia)

Driscoll won a gold medal in the triple jump at the Class 6 state championships with a mark of 42-7.5 — the top all-conditions jump in the country this season. The multitalented athlete also excelled as a long jumper, hurdler and discus thrower. She'll be competing for Illinois next year.

Sadie Engelhardt, soph., Ventura (California)

Engelhardt broke the CIF state meet record by winning the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 33.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 4:33.82 set in 2008. It was the fastest 1,600 time in the nation in 2023 and just off her PR of 4:33.29 set at the 2022 Arcadia Invitational, the state overall record.

Akala Garrett, sr., Albemarle (North Carolina)

Garrett shattered her PR in the 100 hurdles at the Brooks PR Invitational, winning with a nation-leading time of 13.13. The senior also took first in the 100 hurdles (13.37) and 400 hurdles (57.51) at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Texas commit won state titles last month in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200-meter dash.

JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, soph., Emerald Ridge (Washington)

Gero-Holt won the heptathlon last week at the Nike Outdoor Nationals with 5,481 points. The sophomore’s performance included a high jump of 6-0.5, the top mark in the country this season. She excelled individually as a hurdler, high jumper and long jumper.

Adaejah Hodge, sr., Montverde Academy (Florida)

Hodge won the 200-meter title at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a meet record of 22.64 seconds, just off her 22.60 earlier this month that's good for second-fastest in the nation this year. She also had the third-fastest 100 time in the nation this year with an 11.11.

Heidi Hudson, sr., Sumrall (Mississippi)

Hudson had a state meet for the ages despite competing while battling a cold. She won the high jump with a state-record 6-0, then won the long jump with a Class 4A record 20-0.25 to close out her high school career with six state championships. She also excelled in the pentathlon and heptathlon.

Shawnti Jackson, sr., South Granville (North Carolina)

Jackson broke the high school record in the 100 with a time of 10.89 seconds while racing in a field full of pros at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville. The Arkansas commit beat a field that included Melissa Jefferson, the 2022 USATF champion who placed eighth in the World Championships.

Avery Lewis, jr., Friends' Central (Pennsylvania)

Lewis broke the state record in the long jump that had stood since 1994 when she hit 20-9.75 at the New Balance Nationals. It's the second-longest jump in the nation this year, and she also was tied for ninth in the nation in the 100 with a time of 11.41.

Lauren Lewis, sr., Prosper (Texas)

Lewis broke the state record in winning gold in the 400 at the state meet with a time of 51.45, then beat that mark with a national-best 51.17 earlier this month at the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Texas signee also won the 200 at the Great Southwest Classic with a 22.94, seventh-fastest in the nation in 2023.

Hana Moll, sr., Capital (Washington)

After placing second to her twin sister as a junior, Hana Moll won her first state championship in the pole vault with a WIAA Class 3A state meet record 14-7, earning her the 3A individual title by more than 2 feet. She soared to the best mark in the nation in 2023 at the Arcadia Invitational by clearing 15-0.

Michelle Smith, jr., Montverde Academy (Florida)

Smith won the 400-meter hurdles at the New Balance Nationals this month with a time of 58.28 seconds. She has the top time in the nation in that event with a 56.66 in April. Smith frequently competes for the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 800 meters and 400 hurdles.

Emma Sralla, sr., Flower Mound Marcus (Texas)

Stanford signee recorded the best discus mark in Texas this spring by more than 11 feet — a 193-8 at the Jesuit-Shaener Relays in March — and capped her high school career with a 6A state title in the discus, winning at the 6A meet by more than 25 feet.

Mensi Stiff, sr., Brentwood Academy (Tennessee)

Stiff cruised to a third state championship in the shot put with a mark of 50-2.5, also winning her third state title in the discus with a throw of 155-6, about 10 feet off her state record of 165-7. She'll be competing for Ole Miss next season.

Carlie Weiser, sr., Giddings (Texas)

Weiser has the top shot put mark in the nation in 2023, beating Stiff by a few inches with a 53-2.25 in March. The Texas A&M signee swept the 4A discus and shot put titles to complete a three-year first place state sweep in both events.