With the conclusion of the 2025 spring track and field season, it’s time to crown one girls track and field athlete as the reader’s choice and Daily News’ choice athlete of the year.
Vote now through Friday, June 20, for the reader’s choice girls track athlete of the year. The voting poll will be monitored for foreign IP addresses. The poll closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 15. Readers can vote multiple times a day.
The Hillsdale Daily News has chosen one of these four athletes to be our official choice for 2025 Girls Track Athlete of the Year. Our pick will be announced at the conclusion of the voting poll. Only one athlete per school was chosen. Athletes had to be state qualifiers for this track postseason in order to be nominated.
Nominees
Abby Affholter – Reading
The Grace College signee went to the Division 4 state finals for discus and took 15th overall in a competitive field with a throw of 94-feet, 3 inches. Affholter also won both the discus and shot put Hillsdale Area Best titles with respective throws of 104-feet, 4 inches and 31-feet, 4 inches. The senior thrower earned five total wins. She also earned nine runner-up finishes.
She earned all-conference placements in the Big 8, took third in shot put at regionals and took runner-up in discus at regionals to qualify for the state finals. She hit a career PR discus throw of 105-feet, 6 inches this year.
Choe Fowler – Pittsford
The senior earned all-state honors in Division 4 pole vault with a clearance height of 9-feet, 6 inches, taking sixth place. The all-state honoree finished her pole vault career earning 11 wins this season, including Hillsdale Area Best, MITCA Team State, conference and regional titles.
She won both the SCAA divisional title and the SCAA conference titles. The senior set a career PR height of 10-feet, 2 inches to win the Area Best Meet. She was also a member of the 4×100 relay team that took runner-up at the divisional meet and third place at the Area Best meet.
Megan Kast – Hillsdale
The sprint specialist helped lead Hillsdale girls track to two conference titles in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays. The senior anchored both teams to championships. The 4×200 team earned three wins this season. She led the 4×100 team to six wins, including Hillsdale Area Best and conference championships. They won the Area Best title with a time of 52.01 seconds. The team also qualified for the state finals with a runner-up finish at regionals.
They took 32nd at the state finals. Kast won seven events between the 100 and 200-meter dashes. This included an Area Best title in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13 seconds. The senior finished runner-up in both events at the LCAA conference championship, setting a PR time of 27.39 in the 200. She finished third in the 100 at regionals, just outside state qualification.
Caroline Roberts – Hillsdale Academy
The senior ended her career anchoring both the 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams to Division 4 state titles. The 4×400 relay team won the title with a time of 4:10.95. The 4×800 team won with a time of 9:54.94. The senior set several records her final season for the Colts, including a new MITCA D4 Team State 800-meter run record time of 2:18.65, beating her older sister Megan’s record time. Roberts took third and individual all-state honors in the 800-meter run, earning a time of 2:21.44. Roberts’ PR time of 2:17.78 that won the regional 800-meter title is second all-time in school history (also fifth in the 400).
The senior won five of those races this season, including a MITCA Team State title. The senior also won the Area Best title in the 400-meter, setting a new PR time of 1:00.71. She won three events in the 1,600, earning a PR time of 5:16.78 to win a conference title. She anchored the 4×400 team to 11 wins, including the state title and conference, regional and Hillsdale Area Best titles. She anchored the 4×800 team to titles including state, MITCA team state and regional titles. The six-time state champion will run at Hillsdale College with older sisters Megan and Anna.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Vote for the 2025 Reader’s Choice Girls Track Athlete of the Year
Reporting by Joseph Flaherty, Hillsdale Daily News / Hillsdale Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
