Track and field launched into a higher gear all around the state last weekend. With spring break mostly—not entirely—in the books, it was time to launch into a more serious mode of action this past weekend. And we have the receipts right here.
I’m taking a slightly different direction with this article. Rather than trying to visit every meet around the state over the weekend just past, I’ll focus first on standout individual performances and then on what we learned about the team races.
Individuals
It’s a little difficult to discern which individual performances count as standout performances, and all the more so once we allow that a standout performance in one classification may not count as the same level of performance in another classification. I’m also somewhat reluctant to keep mentioning all the same names over and over again with each week of these articles. So, please extend to me a little grace as I try to navigate and balance all those concerns.
However you slice it, dice it, or fry it, we have a new leader in the statewide 100 meter dash rankings. Casia Provencal ran a wind-aided 12.14 at the Jeffco Qualifier #1 on March 30 (admittedly, a bit early to count for the weekend), and Symone Adams ran a wind-legal 12.15 at the Aurora City Championships on Saturday. Ladies and gentlemen, we have competition. The state 5A girls 100 could be extremely close.
Katie Wrona (Liberty Common) and Peyton Garrison (Coal Ridge) are warming up to another battle royale in the 3A 100. Wrona pulled a little closer with a wind-legal 12.64 at the University Bulldog on Saturday.
We saw very little movement in the 200 meter rankings this past week, so we’ll move on without comment there.
At 400 meters, Cherry Creek’s Kinsey Christianson took over the top position with a 56.69. Her times this season suggest the strong likelihood of a 400/800 double for her when state comes around. Niwot’s Stella Vieth went directly to the top of the 4A rankings with a 57.64. For now, at least, Lily Meskers represents the top 4A threat to Vieth at 58.24. Given their geographic proximity, there’s a strong likelihood the two will square off a time or two before state.
Lily Morrison of Liberty Common owns the 3A rankings with a new best time of 58.76. Thus far, we have nobody south of one minute in either 2A or 1A. It will come.
Riley Stewart dropped the hammer with a 2:10 800 at the Altitude Invitational on Saturday. We knew this was coming; it was only a matter of when. Maelynn Higgins (Broomfield) and Ella Johns (Ft. Collins) both improved their position over the weekend, but it’s hard to miss the two Cherry Creek runners at the top of the order right now. And, don’t look now, but Shelby Balding of Creek is also very much in the hunt after this weekend’s action. For the record, Creek currently has five (!) under 2:19. Offhand, I’d say there might be a run at the state 4×800 record before all is said and done.
Kennedy McDonald (TCA) and Olivia Krueger (Berthoud) stirred the 3A 800 order up a bit this past weekend with a pair of 2:20s.
Isabel Case still holds down the top 2A time, but we’re about due for a changing of the guard there.
Moving up to 1600 meters, Eva Klingbeil has owned the top time from the start of the season. Teammate Mia Prok, however, just posted the second sub-5 time of the season at the Altitude Invitational. What Cherry Creek is to 800 meters, Niwot may soon become to 1600 meters. And, Ella Johns and Emily Montagne (Arapahoe) left themselves with top-five rankings on the heels of solid efforts this past weekend.
Jessica Black (Cedaredge) blew the 2A rankings apart with a 5:16 on her home track this past weekend. I hope Black is really, really good at soccer (where she splits her time), because she’s at least that good in track.
Sarah De La Cerda didn’t exactly step to the top of the 3A rankings with her 5:24 over the weekend, but it should be duly noted that she logged that effort at Bayfield, which checks in as a little over 7000 feet of elevation. Give this girl some oxygen, and she might stun a few folks.
The biggest move of the weekend at 3200 meters saw Shelby Balding go to 11:03. Hope Ahnfeldt of TCA added some interest to the 3A rankings by going 11:28 in her first high school track meet of, well, ever.
We’re still looking for big 1A and 2A moves at 3200 meters. They have not yet arrived. Maybe it’s a supply chain probem.
Kendall McCoy (Vista Peak) pushed her way all the way to #3 in the statewide 100 meter hurdle rankings. She did that with a wind-legal 14.76. It’s starting to get crowded under 15 seconds…
Possibly the best hurdle race of the entire weekend went to Leyah Martinez of Pueblo East, who just edged Pine Creek’s Regan Thorne at the Hornet Invitational a little east of Pueblo. The win for Martinez added her name to the sub-15 list with a 14.89.
Ebi Omofoma (Dayspring Christian) went way out in front of the 2A crowd with a 15.60. It was kind of expected, but it’s impressive even so. Skylar Hawk (Holy Family) and Kourtney Rathke (Peak to Peak) solidified their positions in the 3A rankings with improvements over the weekend.
And, hello Emilee Harding! Harding, of Jefferson Academy, had something of a hurdle breakthrough over the weekend. This means JA is loaded in the two hurdle events. The Jaguars probably aren’t a big threat to win either 3A hurdle title, but they are a substantial threat to rake in a lot of points between the two races.
In the 300 hurdles, Skylar Hawk launched herself into the #2 position in the state, all classifications, with a 45.19. Megan Jenkins (Cedaredge) improved her postion in 2A with a 47.32. Kali Siemers of Heritage Christian Academy moved solidly into #2 in the 1A rankings with a 50.02. The 1A state 300 hurdles race could still end up as a very interesting affair. In fact, I’d label that one as a likely.
We’ll visit the field events before sliding into the relays (which are largely an exercise in guessing at names)…
Starting with the high jump, Sarah Collins of Broomfield moved into a statewide tie for #5 with 5-3 in the high jump. Collins has been very consistent this season, suggesting this particular bit of movement doesn’t count as anything like a fluke. In 3A, Leia Ellenberger of North Fork made a substantial move by clearing 5-2, an improvement of two inches over her previous best. Not at all a bad first season of track and field for Ms. Ellenberger! We’re not sure where she’s been all this time, but she’s found a home in track.
Kourtney Rathke, who apparently has yet to find a field event she doesn’t like, added some intrigue to the 3A pole vault battle by clearing 12-4 over the weekend. To give you the bigger picture, four of the top six and five of the top nine ranked pole vaulters in the state come from the 3A classification. That’s the pole vault competition at state you don’t want to miss.
Over the weekend, Fabiola Belibi of Regis Jesuit became the first one in the state over 19 feet this season. She recorded a wind-legal 19-1 at the Aurora City Championships. Agur Dwol of Mullen moved to #3 in the statewide rankings with an 18-6.5 at the Altitude Invitational. Amelia Moore of Grand Junction got the whole Western Slope past 17 feet with a 17-1.25 at the Mickey Dunn Invitational on Friday.
Of 2A note, Hannah Turpin (St. Mary’s) jumped 17-0.25, but without a wind gauge. The Pirate Invitational on Wednesday was not a rankings meet. Alas and alack!
The aforementioned Agur Dwol also went 41-0.25 in the triple jump at the Altitude Invitational on Saturday. I won’t try to suggest what her limits are, but I hope she nails a really big one at state for all to see!
Kourtney Rathke upped the 3A standard to 36-5 on Friday at the Erie Tiger. And, of huge 1A news, Taysa Conger (that surname has some history in 1A track and field) of Merino went to Wiggins and went big to the tune of 35-3.75. And it was wind legal. The wind-legal part is especially noteworthy in that a whole lot of marks at the same meet were not.
In the shot put, we have good evidence that somebody got overlooked in one of last week’s articles and took it out at the shot put ring in Wiggins on Friday. Correy Koellner of Holyoke went downtown (does Wiggins have a downtown?) with a pitch of 39-2. Yikes. Teammate Lauren Herman went 38-8. Double yikes. Um, Elizabeth Brooks of Cedaredge, who upped her game to 37-9 over the weekend, is no longer the presumptive favorite in the 2A shot put. But, wow, what a contest this could turn out to be at state! Currently, three of the statewide top five come from the ranks of 2A. Oof.
I’ll say more about Holyoke and the 2A team race in the team section of this article.
Kasja Borrman of Loveland set a new statewide standard for the discus with a heave of 142-5 at the University Bulldog on Saturday. That gives her some cushion on the rest of the state. And, Borrman can take some comfort in the fact that the statewide #2 comes from the ranks of 1A. That would be Zadie Mackey of Elbert, who threw 135-0 at the Kiowa Klassic on Saturday. I hope they announced that one over the PA system—it definitely merited some spotlight.
I purposely held Mackey out of the shot put discussion so I could highlight the discus throw just a bit more. Now, however, I will tell you she also holds the 1A lead in the shot put after a throw of 35-6.75 at the same meet. A nice weekend for Mackey.
And, guess what, we need to talk about Holyoke again. Lauren Herman threw 127-5 on Friday. Never mind that Elizabeth Brooks set her own new season standard at 120-2. Herman owns the 2A lead for the time being. Correy Koellner sits at 115-4. This intra-classification squabble should get better as the weeks go on—all three throws are within potential range of a state title.
Melita Ferchau of Gunnison nicely provided Alexandria Tice a little 3A company with a throw of 118-6 at the Pueblo County Hornet on Saturday. Cassidy Goddard of Haxtun took over the 1A #2 spot at 113-even.
Now to the relays…
Cherokee Trail added to a growing list of sub-50 4x100s with a clocking of 49.88.
The real 4×100 news of the weekend, however, may come from 3A. Liberty Common was already sub-50 before this weekend, but Holy Family ran 50.39 and Coal Ridge 50.61 over the weekend. We could have a showdown brewing. Fleming pushed the 1A standard to 54.53 at Wiggins on Friday.
Coal Ridge’s 1:45.82 stands out as the effort of the weekend in the 4×200. It also currently tops the 3A rankings. At issue here, however, is what’s at issue in almost every other relay around the state. Who runs the relay at state? I don’t have the answer to that, but I do know that Peyton Garrison is limited to four events at state.
All those teams with the ace sprinter have some choices to make when it comes to state meet events. For now, it’s qualifying season for relays. In six more weeks, it will be decision time.
North Fork and TCA dropped their names into the 3A fray with sub-1:50 efforts.
In the 4×400, Niwot posted the first sub-4 of the season with a 3:59.50 at the Altitude Invitational. Mountain View kept up the 4A chase with a 4:06.
The Classical Academy set the 3A standard with a 4:08 at the University Bulldog, but Coal Ridge was barely a second behind at 4:09 (if I had to make a guess, I’d say Garrison does the 100, 200, 400, and 4×400 at state, which would duplicate what she did last year).
And, whaddya know, Merino knocked another one out of the park to tighten their death grip on the 1A 4×400. If I had to guess, I’d say Merino has four girls aiming at bringing home first-place medals in this event from state. 4:23 is a mere 18 seconds ahead of the second-place 1A team right now, which is well over the length of the finish straight. Limon claimed the 2A standard at 4:24. Both relays were run in Wiggins on Friday, so they had each other for help.
Moving up to 4×800 meters, Fossil Ridge had the big effort of the weekend with a 9:46. That moves them to the 5A #2.
We’re still waiting for 4×800 breakthrough efforts in 1A and 2A. Typically, those tend to come later in the season as teams begin to approach a critical mass of runners who’ve figured out how to run quick 800s. Lots of people can run 800s, but most people take a while to figure out how to run it well.
Finally, we have the relay that is dearly loved by a few (mostly from the small-school crowd) and loathed by a few more. But, as long as there are points attached, pretty much everyone is going to compete it. That would be the SMR8.
Coal Ridge went to the top of the 3A pile with a 1:50.25 at Cedaredge. Not at all far behind was Cedaredge at 1:51.84, which puts them squarely atop the 2A pile. If I had to wager a guess, I’m thinking it’s likely Jessica Black ran the 400 leg for Cedaredge. I have a hunch somebody will tell me the truth of that matter soon. There’s a reasonably good pipeline of information coming out of Delta County.
For what it’s worth, North Fork ran third in that same relay at 1:52.92. A lot of big schools would dearly love to run as fast as those three small schools just did.
Fleming currently owns the 1A standard in the SMR8 at two-hundredths of a second over two minutes. That effort came from the Wiggins meet on Friday.
Teams
Let’s go directly to the point about Holyoke. They barely showed up at the Yuma Early Qualifier on March 26, but they were out in force at Wiggins on Friday. And, being out in force evidently meant living up to the name of their mascot.
Please add Holyoke to your list of contenders for the 2A Girls crown. That message has been received, loud and clear. The Dragons have earned it, and I confess to an oversight.
In addition to the throwing duo of Herman and Koellner, Holyoke has some nice talent in the persons of sprinters Linda Esser and Tayla Martin. Esser doubles as a very capable long jumper. It’s a tiny bit of a reach with what we’ve seen so far, but the potential of going 1-2 in both throws makes a lot of team dreams a bit more possible. If there’s another high card or two up Holyoke’s sleeve, this could get very interesting in a hurry.
On the other hand, until and unless Wray sees Karly Godsey competing on the track, the Eagles probably take a step back from being contenders for a 2A team title. Godsey did not appear, at least not as an individual, in this past weekend’s results.
Moving around the state, the Altitude Invitational pitted several of the state’s best teams. Cherry Creek ended up with the girls’ team title with 110, followed by Niwot in second with 90.5, and Fossil Ridge in third with 87. While these point totals shouldn’t be thought of as absolute measures of the relative strength of these three teams, they do tell us something. Cherry Creek and Fossil Ridge will be 5A contenders. So far as we know now, Niwot is still the favorite—and decidedly so—in 4A.
Similarly, Cherokee Trail’s girls fared very well at the Aurora City Championships, beating out Grandview for first by a relatively solid margin, 158.5 to 130. While we already knew CT was loaded, at least across the explosive events, this helps to confirm they are a dangerous team at the state level.
For the second week in a row, Cedaredge beat out Coal Ridge, this time by a score a 148 to 133. Cedaredge, of course, is 2A, while Coal Ridge is 3A. Both are excellent teams, but Cedaredge goes across the spectrum of events a bit better than Coal Ridge. Coal Ridge is a bit deeper in their areas of strength. And, despite losing back-to-back weekends to 2A Cedaredge, Coal Ridge is still very much a 3A state title contender, but they will have to score very well at state in their best events and hope nobody can overtake them in the other events. Cedaredge, of course, remains the team to beat in 2A.
No team scored well enough at the Kiowa Klassic to establish themselves as a state title contender. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, only that it didn’t happen at this meet.
Mountain Vista looked good at the LPS Spring Break Duals, but yet not the kind of good that would mark them as a state title contender.
The Classical Academy had their best outing of the season-to-date, with 128.5 points at the University Bulldog. That was well ahead of Liberty Common’s 92 in second. LC is a definite contender for the 3A title, but it’s not clear to me that either team is clearly better than the other at this point. Obviously, both teams can put points on the board, and that’s about all that you want to take away from a meet like this. There’s more to be told during the season.
Several teams dropped scattered good performances, but none dropped a KO performance at the Erie Tiger. Each of the teams will have opportunity to show more, but nothing definitive was shown at this meet. Holy Family’s 63, which tied them for second, was probably the most telling number in the team point column. It’s not that we didn’t know yet that HF was a 3A title contender, but holding up well against mostly larger-school competition portends well for the Tigers.
Pagosa Springs showed well at the Mancos Bluejay, but they’ll need to show well in meets with a stiffer slate of competition to be taken as certified 3A contenders. For now, we keep Pagos on the watch list.
It’s tough to infer much from a meet as small as the Meeker Invitational. Rangely edged Meeker and Soroco for the team title, but the roster of teams was so slim that it’s difficult to extrapolate from this meet to larger meets. Mostly, this served as a convenient weekend for the northwest Colorado schools to have a track meet without a four or five-hour bus ride.
Fruita Monument cleaned house at the Mickey Dunn. That’s a worthwhile feather in their cap, but they’ll need to be able to show more when the level of competition ratchets upward a notch or two. 5A is a tough world to live in. Fruita Monument may well be the best team on the Western Slope, but the level of competition goes up a couple of notches when you cross the Continental Divide.
Fleming put together some nice relays out at Wiggins. They’ll need more than just relays to be in the 1A title hunt (and, of course, Heritage Christian Academy is the elephant in the room where 1A Girls are concerned), but relays are a great place to start.
Aside from Fleming, Holyoke was the main story emerging out of Wiggins. We’ve already discussed Holyoke at the beginning of this section.
Elizabeth dominated at Weld Central. It was a good sign for the Cardinals, but none of 3A’s top contenders were there. Elizabeth, though, is a team worth watching if they can stay on the steep portion improvement curve.
Jefferson Academy performed above expectations, even while finishing second to 5A Ralston Valley, at the Arvada City Championships. It’s a long road, with plenty of obstacles, to the top of 3A, but the Jaguars demonstrated a readiness to take that road on at Saturday’s meet.
Come back tomorrow for a look at what we learned about the state of Colorado boys’ track and field last weekend!
