Get used to hearing the name Aryelle Wright.
In her first year of high school athletics, the Dolores freshman led the Lady Bears volleyball team in kills (111) and then led the basketball team in points (9.6 per game) and rebounds (5.9 per game).
More recently, the freshman phenom is making her mark on the track.
Wright excelled in her first year of high school track, placing third in the long jump (14-4 ½) at the San Juan Basin League meet and qualifying for state in the 100-meter dash, 200 and 400.
At the Class 2A Track and Field State Championships, Wright ran season-best times in the prelims of both the 100 and 200 and took the podium in both events, finishing ninth place in the 100 and sixth in the 200.
Then, in the 400-meter dash, Wright ran a 59.48 in the finals – breaking her own school record – to take fifth place.
Wright originally broke the Dolores 400 record of 1:01.32 – set by Tess Wallace in 2008 – by running a 1:00.99 at the Tiger Invitational in Grand Junction the week prior to the state meet.
She then broke her own record in the 400 prelims at state with a 59.85 before setting her best mark in the finals.
Head coach Nick Kohler said that while he doesn’t focus on breaking records or emphasize it to his athletes, that he likes to see it happen.
“I don’t really look at the records that much,” he explained. “I like it when they happen and I think it’s a good accomplishment, but my goal is just to have them get better every week and not to worry about things like that.”
“If you get better every week and you have the ability,” he continued, “Good things will happen by the end of the year. And that’s what happened here.”
Wright was also a hair away from setting new school records in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Lexi Atkinson set the school’s best 100 time of 12.64 in 2011 and Kyla McCracken holds the 200 record with a 26.34 run in 2005.
Wright ran a 13.08 in the 100 prelims at state and then a 26.58 in the 200 prelims.
And Kohler doesn’t see her ability limited to short-distance sprints.
“My guess is that if she ever desired, she would be a very good half-miler too,” he said. “But that’s something that she would have to want to do.”
There’s no telling what Wright can accomplish – especially after taking home three state medals and setting a new school record in just her first high school track season.
“You hope that she can keep it up,” said Kohler. “You hope that she just stays motivated and doesn’t get injured over the next few years, and if she can, she’ll get to spend a lot of time at the state meet and hopefully keep getting better each year.”
