A lot of track-oriented folks are spending an unexpected day at home (or, in some cases, in hotels) today. And maybe another tomorrow.

So, what can we expect from here?

One thing is for certain, the pause in the action provides some extra time to look at what happened on Thursday and see how that impacts the prospects going forward. In the paragraphs that follow, I’ll do exactly that.

5A Boys

Perhaps the biggest winner in Class 5A boys on Thursday was Valor Christian. The Eagles were seeded 1-7-8 in the 5A Boys 3200, but came away with a 1-2-5. What was on schedule to be 15 points turned out to be 23 points. Valor was a longshot to win a state title prior to that, but a little less of a longshot after. Grandview remains the favorite and Cherokee Trail the most likely rival to the throne, but you have to think a little longer and harder about Valor than you did before.

Valor did give away a few points from their seed in the 4×800, replacing a No. 1 seed with a sixth-place finish. That wasn’t entirely unexpected, however, as it wasn’t clear that Valor was going to be able to produce a big effort from Costelow, Eike, and Garrett in that event following on the heels of their big races earlier in the day in the 3200.

On the other end up the projections, Grandview lost one seed in the 100. Instead of advancing three to finals as the seeds indicated in the 100, the Wolves advanced only two. Grandview, however, got that missing entry to finals back in the 200, advancing two instead of the one indicated by seed marks. So, the net result is that Grandview remains on track in the 100 and 200.

Elsewhere, Grandview advanced the expected two in the 110 hurdles and the expected one in the 400. Mateo Munoz matched his No. 2 seed in the pole vault but slipped out of points in the long jump. Rylen Lippelt turned up with close to his expected cache of points in the pole vault.

In short, Grandview had a solid day one. They lost a small number of points from pre-meet projections, but nothing that appears to cast any great doubt on their state title hopes.

Cherokee Trail and Cherry Creek mirrored Grandview’s loss of points in the long jump with one-point losses of their own. Despite having three competitors in the event, Cherry Creek was not expected to advance anyone to finals in the 400, and results matched that expectation. Peyton Summers of CT was expected to advance to finals in the 200 and 400 and did exactly that.

In the 100, Cherry Creek got a bit ahead of schedule when Ky Oday advanced to finals out of lane 2 in a three-heat prelim. Keegan Holles also advanced to 100 finals, as expected, for the Bruins. PJ Robinson advanced easily, as expected, in the 110 hurdles. Cherry Creek’s eighth in the 4×800 came in slightly ahead of schedule.

In the 3200, Hunter Strand’s seed projected five points for CT, but the actual race turned up four. On the other hand, CT’s 4×800 came in with a No. 5 seed and proceeded to stand atop the podium. So, at least for day one, the distance events yielded a net positive for the Cougars.

There remains room for shuffling, but Grandview still stands as the team to beat.

4A Girls

Niwot’s 12 points on Thursday aren’t necessarily what you’d expect, given their status as prohibitive favorites, but a closer look reveals that the Cougars are very much on schedule. And, it’s a schedule that allows for considerable bleeding of points along the way. Assuredly, bleeding points is not the plan for Niwot, but they have that kind of margin.

Mountain View enjoyed a superlative day one—with four points in the triple jump and 14 points in the high jump. That’s enormously ahead of where their seed marks had them, but it’s still tough to see where Mountain View could piece together nearly enough points to chase Niwot.

For their part, Niwot advanced all five expected athletes in the 400, their one expected in the 100 hurdles, advanced two sprint relays on schedule, won the 4×800, and captured two points in the triple jump courtesy of Kathryn Carroll. Carroll was projected to finish slightly higher in the triple jump, but there is no cause for alarm emerging out of that result.

3A Boys

If you score the seeds, TCA comes out on top, but this one is far from over. The five teams most clearly in the hunt are TCA, Holy Family, Lutheran, Liberty Common, and Frontier Academy.

TCA’s 4×800 gave up one point, finishing fourth off a No. 3 seed, but the rest of the Titans’ day turned out as a small net positive. Jordan Wenger and Noah Osterloh finished 1-9, exactly what the seeds said they would, in the triple jump. Chandler Wilburn parlayed a No. 4 seed in the 3200 to a No. 2 finish. Logan Goettsch was the first person out of finals in the 110 hurdles, but Aaron Johnson defied the odds a little to make finals in the 100. AJ Braeger advanced to finals in the 200 and 400. TCA’s 4×200, as expected, advanced easily.

For Holy Family, all eyes were on the sprints. Well, at least most eyes. Grayson Arnold advanced to 100 and 200 finals. The rest of the Tigers were eliminated in prelims. All that went according to seeds. Luke Hixson advanced, on schedule, to finals in the 400. Holy Family missed points in the 4×800, but advanced in the 4×200. The seeds turned out to be excellent predictors for the Tigers.

Lutheran got Joe and Trey Ciccio to finals in the 100. The seeds said they would. Joe Ciccio and Jonah Beard advanced to finals in the 200, also according to schedule. The same applies to Beard’s advancement in the 400. Trey Ciccio was expected to advance to finals in the 110 hurdles and did not disappoint. Getting slightly ahead of schedule for the Lions, however, was Mason Kelley, who also made his way into finals in the 110 hurdles.

Lutheran’s 4×200 advanced with the top seed out of prelims. The 4×800 finished fifth off a #2 seed, leaving the Lions three points behind schedule there. Lutheran was not expected to score points in the triple jump. Casey Luttrell, however, moved from outside of points in the seeds to a sixth-place finish, and four points, in the discus.

The net result is that Lutheran is ever-so-slightly ahead of schedule out of day one.

For Frontier Academy, the 4×200 advanced to finals as expected, and the 4×800 held their No. 1 seed, keeping the relays firmly on track. Temesgen Fanning held his No. 2 seed in the triple jump. Parker Gentry advanced one place on his No. 3 seed in the pole vault. The Wolverines took a hit, though, when Garrett Yackey, a No. 4-seed in the discus threw to 10th place. The discus has a very long tradition of being a difficult event at state to accurately predict.

For Liberty Common, things went very well. The Eagles turned a #4 seed in the 4×800 into a second-place finish. Justin Bate turned his No. 2 seed in the pole vault into first place. King Midas would be proud. Brandon Bate and Maclean Majeski advanced out of 400 prelims. Merek Ranstrom advanced in the 110 hurdles.

2A Girls

Cedaredge came into the state meet with an enormous status as favorites. They did nothing to diminish that status. The 4×800 entered with a No. 7 seed and didn’t place, but everything else turned out nicely for the Bruins.

Hadassah Payne high jumped to fifth off a No. 7 seed. Kylee Terry advanced in the 100, 200, and 400. Megan Jenkins and Lily Sinkay advanced to finals in the 100 hurdles. The 4×200 and SMR8 advanced easily.

Gaining ground on Cedaredge is proving as tough as everyone suspected it might be.

We’ll keep an eye on Dayspring Christian and Banning Lewis Prep, however. Both had nice days on Thursday with expected nice performances.

For Dayspring, Odone Omofoma went directly to finals in the 100 and 200, while Ebosolulu Omofoma did the same in the 110 hurdles. Points came from Eboselulu Omofoma and Aliya McClanahan in the high jump.

For Banning Lewis, points came from a second-place 4×800 and a fourth place for Jaysa Even in the high jump.

1A Boys

Heritage Christian Academy came in as huge favorites. They showed a little of the why of that in the 3200, earning places 1-2-7-8-9. Jack Nauman led the way on that effort. HCA added an eighth in the long jump from Luke Hermsen. It doesn’t sound like all that much right now, but they’re well on their way.

Cheyenne Wells had a nice first day with Evan Worley taking second in the long jump and Wyatt Ball third in the shot put. That’s ahead of schedule for the Tigers, but they need a lot more ahead of schedule going forward to keep pace.

5A Girls

It was always going to take a lot to knock off Cherry Creek. And, it’s still going to take a lot. But maybe not quite as much as it was going to take before state started.

The Bruins dominated the 4×800, as expected, and got a 1-7-8 from Riley Stewart, Addison Price, and Shelby Balding in the 3200. That was slightly behind their seeds, but—by itself—not a cause for any undue concern. Savannah Jorgens came out of the discus without the points that would have attached to her seed mark. Once again, the discus rears its head as perhaps state’s most fickle event.

Kel McDavid advanced in the 200 and 400. Kinsey Christianson advanced easily in the 400.

The rest of what we expect from Cherry Creek is still en route. And, it’s still very difficult to envision Cherry Creek as anything other than the favorite.

Cherokee Trail endured a bumpy opening day. In the long jump, Natalie Rue, Sky Thompson, and Kaeli Powe went 5-6-7. It was a topsy-turvy day at the long jump pit, and 5-6-7 didn’t pull even with seed mark expectations for CT. The triple jump still looms for CT, however, and much ground might be regained there.

Relays went according to form for CT, which means that the 4×200 and SMR8 moved to the finals round.

So, both Cherry Creek and CT come out of day one with some bruises. The team that could step forward and take advantage of those bruises, however, isn’t clearly visible yet on the horizon.

There is, however, a shade of purple starting to come into focus on the horizon, and that bit of color belongs to Fort Collins. Brooke Naughton pulled off a big win, and a bit of an upset, with a winning long jump of 18-9.75. Elsewhere, the Lambkins collected points from Ella Johns (sixth in the 3200), the 4×800 (fifth), and Laura Davis and Emily Johnson (second and seventh, respectively) in the discus. Naughton advanced to finals in the 100 hurdles. The net result for Fort Collins was a day well ahead of schedule.

4A Boys

Niwot and Cheyenne Mountain shared favorite status going in, but some of Niwot’s status hinged on their No. 2 seed in the 4×800. The Cougars took a calculated risk and unloaded that 4×800 a little, saving Zane Bergen’s legs for other events. 4A Boys, as it turns out, is an unforgiving place to go in with a less-than-fully-loaded 4×800. Niwot fell out of the points in the 4×800. Cheyenne Mountain, however, came out with their expected 10 points from the 4×800.

At this point, it looks like advantage Cheyenne Mountain, but there’s a lot of track and field left to be contested.

Meanwhile, Longmont took a calculated risk of their own and ran Connor McCormick as their 4×800 anchor. That helped the Trojans to a second-place finish and eight points. The risk looks all the better now with the weather delay at state meaning that McCormick has all sorts of time now to rest up after a big effort to help Longmont to that finish.

Cheyenne Mountain also got a first-place from Antoni Smith in the high jump. The Red-Tailed Hawks took one on the chin, however, when their 4×200 just missed advancing to finals.

Longmont also finished ahead of schedule when Caleb Johnson took the triple jump with a combined leap of 46-9. Longmont needs a big state meet to stay in contention, but they scarcely could have asked for a better first day.

Meanwhile, Niwot quietly moved forward, aside from the 4×800. Ben Classen advanced in the 400. Eric Walker advanced in the 110 hurdles. The 4×200 advanced. There’s more to come from the Cougars. This one is far from over.

Northfield appeared to be a sleeper with a decent shot going in, but the Nighthawks’ hopes were dealt a major blow when Isaak Easley missed making finals in the 100. Easley and teammate Zach Ryan combined for three advancements later in the day in the 200 and 400, and Northfield advances with the top seed in the 4×200, but Easley’s absence in the 100 finals means a substantial loss of point potential.

3A Girls

The favorites going in were Liberty Common and Coal Ridge. And probably in that order, though we could debate that. Of the two, Coal Ridge had the better opening day.

Not to be slighted, however, Liberty Common advanced several individuals and relays to finals.

Katie Wrona and Gigi Jurgens advanced to 100 finals. Grace Williams missed making final. Williams was a likely candidate to advance, but it didn’t happen this time. In the 200, Wrona, Lily Morrison, and Jurgens advanced. Once again, Williams got left on the outside looking in. Williams, however, will have her chances in upcoming relays. Morrison moved forward in the 400. Logan Haugestuen advanced, on schedule, to finals in the 110 hurdles.

Isabel Allori had the highlight of the day for the Eagles, winning the 3200 with a 10:55. Though Allori had only the No. 2 seed, there were a lot of folks (rightly) figuring she would take the win.

In relays, LC advanced their 4×200 easily, didn’t have an entry in the SMR8, and finished eighth in the 4×800. That eighth dropped them five places from their seed.

Coal Ridge saw their showtime sprinter Peyton Garrison easily win prelims in the 100, 200, and 400. For good measure, she set a 3A state meet record in the 400. Mikayla Cheney matched her seed with a sixth-place finish in the 3200.

Sprint relays, however, may be the bread and butter for Coal Ridge. And, in that department, the Titans advanced both their 4×200 and SMR8.

Coal Ridge didn’t put a lot of points on the board on Thursday, but those points figure to be coming.

Conceivably, teams like Holy Family, Berthoud, and The Classical Academy are threats to catch Coal Ridge and Liberty Common if either of the latter two falter in a serious way, but that kind of faltering wasn’t in evidence on Thursday.

2A Boys

This one is likely the best team title race in the entire state meet, with Centauri, Banning Lewis Prep, Yuma, and Ouray all very much in the fray. All four teams had some give-and-take on Thursday but remain in the fight..

Banning Lewis saw several nice efforts—Nate Early advancing to 110 meter hurdles finals and pulling Kaden Phillips along with him. Jonathan Wiggins advanced to 400 finals. The 4×800, without Wiggins, finished way ahead of schedule in fifth. The Stallions’ 4×200 missed making finals. It was a final the relay figured to make.

Ouray collected first place in the 4×800, matching their seed. Elsewhere, the Trojans advanced Paton Edwards to 400 finals, while Canyon Ishikawa missed that opportunity. The 4×200 advanced to finals.

Centauri, too, mixed some disappointment with their successes. Mason Claunch advanced in the 100, while Deven Brady missed. Brady, however, got some redemption by advancing to finals in the 200. Claunch advanced in the 400 in the next-to-last heat of the day. The Falcons moved their 4×200 forward into finals. Ben Tailleur came up big with a ninth in the long jump to move Centauri a point ahead of schedule in that event.

Yuma’s day was highlighted by Clay Richardson setting a 2A state meet record in the 200 with a time of 21.90. While state records, and especially ones set in prelims, don’t count for points, it was still a nice exclamation point on the day. Robinson also advanced to finals with a first in the 100 prelims, a first in the 400 prelims, and he claimed a first in the long jump. Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson!

Nash Richardson and Beau Tate made it to 110 hurdles finals. That kept The Tribe on schedule in that event. Kevin Hermosillo claimed sixth in the shot put, moving up one place from his seed.

The lone setback in terms of likely point potential lost for Yuma came when Daman Thornton missed finals of the 400.

We’ll see where this one goes from here.

1A Girls

Heritage Christian was a prohibitive favorite going in. And they’re still prohibitive favorites.

The Eagles highlighted their day with a winning effort in the SMR8 and a 1-4-5-9 in the 3200. Ainsley Stanton led the latter parade. They’re ever-so-slightly behind schedule after four events but still on pace to accumulate well in excess of 100 team points.

Meanwhile, however, Idalia tallied 29 points of their own on opening day. A 2-4 in the discus from Alma Cordova and Jaylyn Kechter provided the biggest part of the punch for the Wolves. Merino, a team very much in the hunt for second place, quietly accumulated 14 points, highlighted by a third in the 3200 by Tobi Erickson.