Lily Jones Is Heating Up. Colleges Are Certainly Noticing.

At this point in the calendar, it seems safe to say that many of the nation's most prominent and elite track and field recruits are off the available Big Board. 

And yet, every now and then, an unsigned recruit rises to the top of the national leaderboard, capturing various coaches attentions as a potentially viable NCAA prospect.

And as we near the middle of February, the up-and-coming Lily Jones, a talent from Portland, Oregon, could be the next rising star. 

The Roosevelt High School senior is a rapidly rising sprinter who is now one of the top young women in the nation for the 60 meter dash.

This past weekend at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Washington, Jones ran a new overall PR of 7.37 in the 60m, which is now U.S. No. 6. 

Previously, she ran 7.43 back in January at the Spokane High School Invitational, which also would stand as a top 10 performance. However, her third best performance of 7.56 -- which came in the prelims of that same competition -- would have still been ranked in the top 25 in the event.

To put it simply, that means her times weren't a fluke.

However, as strong as her times may be, that might not be the most interesting aspect of her athletic resume. After all, Jones has been competing in three different sports throughout her high school career.

According to a profile on Jones for ScoreBook Live, Jones plays softball and runs track in the same spring season. She has also played volleyball in high school, although the Oregon native has since set aside her volleyball endeavors to focus on indoor track.

With that decision she has begun to see significant improvements, as evidenced by her aforementioned 7.43 mark for 60 meters.

In that same interview, Jones mentioned that when it comes to college, she is looking at "mostly west coast schools" and that she also "accepted a few official visits from some Pac-12 schools."

One of those schools was the University of Utah, the first team that she has taken an official visit to.The Utes would be a unique landing spot for someone like Jones.

The Salt Lake City-based program is mainly known for its prowess in the distance events, although that shouldn't stop the women's coaches from pursuing a talent like Jones.

Alternatively, one other realistic option could be the University of Oregon, a team that does follow Jones on Instagram. The Ducks would make sense.

They annually land some of the nation's most elite short-sprints talents in the country. But they sometimes take fliers on local talent, too. And Oregon is less than two hours away from Jones' hometown.

Photo Credit: Dan Brood/Scorebook Live

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Oregon would certainly appeal to an in-state talent like Jones, someone who has actually mentioned her admiration for Oregon alum Raevyn Rogers in the past.

Of course, if Oregon is going to be in the mix, then we have to assume that the USC Trojans could also be a major player. Not only does her short-sprints profile mesh with USC's roster structure, but her success in the classroom -- by carrying a 4.077 GPA -- would pair well with the Trojans' academic reputation.

And how could we forget about Stanford?

Not only does the Cardinal boast prestigious academics, but Coach J.J. Clark has been unafraid to pursue top-level non-distance runners as of late.

Recent sprint additions like Alaysia Oakes (VA) and Madison Romain (TN) would be two outstanding recruits to pair with Jones. Doing so would result in one of the most well-rounded, upper-echelon recruiting classes of the past decade. 

Regardless of where Jones ends up, the fact of the matter is that she has a high ceiling and she continues to develop as a track athlete.