The idea in this article is the same as the last one. I’m setting out here to catch the highlights in the various classifications of the distance events from April 16 (to include April 15 where meets were conducted over two days). I don’t know that I can finish this series in the time I have remaining to write this week, but I’ll cover what I can.
This time, we’ll start at 5A and work our way to 1A.
5A Girls – It was a smallish meet, but Emily Lamontagne didn’t care. Or, if she did care, she didn’t let it bother her—which would be even more of an accomplishment. In any case, Lamontagne clocked a 10:40 for 3200 meters. At altitude. Wow. Teammate Ava Escorcia ran 11:11. It’s maybe taken a little longer than some folks expected, but Arapahoe girls’ distance is coming around. Makenna Mazeski of Cherokee Trail ran 11:15 at Mountain Range. It’s debatable what that will do in this year’s field but, minimally, it keeps Majeski within striking distance of state points. Pomona? Well, yes, some damage was done at Pomona. Kinsey Christianson knocked down another nice time with a 2:11 in the 800. Teammate Addison Price ran 2:14. It’s getting to the point where it almost doesn’t matter if you can’t run sub-2:15 in 5A. Riley Stewart hammered a 4:48 1600 at Pomona. Teammate Shelby Balding and Pomona’s own Emma Stutzman ran 5-even. 5:05 is rapidly becoming the standard of relevance for state. At 3200 meters, Stutzman ran 10:47 for the win, but Keeghan Edwards of Valor was only three seconds behind. Ella Johns of Fort Collins ran 11:03. If high-end results were what you came in search of, Pomona had them all over the place. At Boulder County, Maelynn Higgins clocked a 2:14 800. It was that kind of weekend, folks.
5A Boys – Reuben Holness has been running the 1600 a few times already this season, but this time he clocked a 4:23 1600 at the Mountain Range Mustang. That throws another hat into the 5A 1600 ring. Teammate Brady Smith ran 4:29. Suddenly, then, Smith becomes a new name on the radar screen. CT ace Hunter Strand went 9:28 for the 3200. As it was with the girls at Pomona, so also was it with the boys. Camden Law (Chatfield) and Timothy Thompson (Rocky Mountain) tied at 1:55.07 in the 800. The camera broke the tie in favor of Law. Tyler Downs of Mountain Vista was just a hair’s breadth behind. A little over a second behind Downs was Corbin Hobert of Denver East. No time to catch your breath between finishers in that race (plus, see the 4A discussion, below)! Drew Costelow (Valor), Connor Kennedy (Heritage), and Christian Groendyk (Fort Collins) all finished under 4:20 for the 1600 but ended up with only a second, fourth, and fifth to show for it. More on that race later. On Friday night, Costelow ran 9:13 for 3200 and ended up with only a fourth to show for it. Teammates Ty Garrett and Dane Eike ran 9:32 and 9:33 for sixth and seventh. That’s about as stacked of a field as we’ve ever seen in Colorado outside of the state meet.
If you can stop shaking your head long enough, we’ll move now to 4A. Brace yourself, it gets even hotter at 4A…
4A Girls – We’ll start at Boulder Country, where Eva Klingbeil won the 1600 in 4:54, followed by Maggie McCleskey of Centaurus in 4:58. Klingbeil’s teammate Sarah Perkins ran 5:07 for third. At 800 meters, it was Mia Prok of Niwot in 2:13, with teammates Lex Bullen and Bella Nelson at 2:14 and 2:15. This time, McCleskey—perhaps still but a bit spent from a huge 1600 effort—ran 2:16. Tristian Spence of Central Grand Junction laid down an 11-flat for 3200 meters for the 4A Girls highlight at Pomona. Bethany Michalak of Air Academy, who seems to avoid doubling (at least in individual distance events) on meet days, ran a 5-even to win the 1600 at Fountain-Fort Carson.
4A Boys – It was nothing short of a banner weekend for 4A Boys. Connor McCormick and Zane Bergen put on two spectacular shows. In both cases, the guy who set the pace in the first 80% of the race paid for it in the last 20% of the race. McCormick beat Bergen in the 1600, 4:11 to 4:12. Then, Bergen beat McCormick in the 800, 1:52 to 1:53. I think it’s safe to say that no pecking order has yet been established between the two. Dominic Warner of Longmont finished third in the 1600 in 4:20. That seems like almost an afterthought after 4:11 and 4:12, but it may keep him in the hunt for state meet points. The doings—as I’ve already alluded—were big at Pomona as well. Erik LeRoux and Joseph Kirwan (heretofore known more for 400s than 800s) of Cheyenne Mountain ran 1:56 and 1:57 for 800 meters. At 1600 meters, Bryce Reeburgh of Golden ran 4:18, followed by Enzo Knapp of Cheyenne Mountain at 4:19. At 3200 meters, four of the top five places went to 4A, with Mountain View’s Jackson Shorten taking top honors at 9:12. Tyler Nord and Knox Exton of Cheyenne Mountain ran 9:16 and 9:17. Reeburgh clocked a 9:22. Not all that far back, Jackson Edwards of Central Grand Junction ran 9:38. It could become a bloodbath at state. After running his 9:12 3200 on Friday night at Pomona, Shorten shifted his venue to the Mountain Range Mustang on Saturday and ran a 1:54 800. That event, too, could become a 4A Boys bloodbath.
3A Boys – As I suggested in the throws article for April 16, it looks a little like a lot of 3A was out promming last weekend. Only one 3A Boys distance effort of the weekend made the cut. That was a 9:53 3200 for Cody Kelley of Manitou Springs. Please note that’s not the name we’ve typically been calling when mentioning Manitou Springs distance.
3A Girls – At Glenwood, a meet we haven’t mentioned much this week, Ava Lane of Basalt ran 2:19 for 800 meters, while Katelyn Maley ran 5:15 for 1600 meters. At the Mountain Range Mustang, Stargate’s Allison Pippert clocked a 5:09 for 1600 meters and an 11:13 for 3200 meters. That’s a nice pair of performances for one day—not sure if the 3200 came at the beginning or at the end of the meet. I kind of suspect the former. Nadhia Campos of Vanguard won the 800 at Fountain-Fort Carson with a 2:21. Two schools that probably didn’t have prom last weekend were Berthoud and Liberty Common. Berthoud’s Jaycee Williams and Olivia Krueger had a nice weekend at Pomona with Williams taking second in the 800 at 2:12 and Krueger taking seventh in the 1600 at 5:10. Also at Pomona, Isabel Allori of Liberty Common followed up her big weekend at Arcadia with a fourth in the 1600 at 5:01.
2A Boys – In a loaded field at the Boulder County Championships, Lyons’ Tyler Ball ran 4:31 in the 1600. Sage Wyjna, also of Lyons, ran 10:36 in the 3200. Jonathan Wiggins of Banning Lewis Prep just missed his best 800 of the season at two-hundredths of a second under two minutes at Fountain-Fort Carson.
2A Girls – Jessica Black added to her season’s resume with a 2:18 800 at Glenwood. At this point, she looks like a substantial state meet favorite in that event. Mayra Diaz of Wray ran her best 800 of the season at Terry Amundson with a 2:33. Elle Stevens of Colorado Springs Christian had a nice 11:54 for 3200 meters at Fountain-Fort Carson. Alexia Gonzales of Banning Lewis Prep slipped into the same set of results with a 12:45.
In all, it was a bit of a quiet Saturday for 2A distance.
1A Boys – Jacob Jefferson of Arickaree/Woodlin went to #5 on the 1A 800-meter charts with a 2:14 at Terry Amundson. Mylo Lovejoy of South Baca ran 11:03 in the 3200 to set his ranking at #6.
1A Girls – Cecilia Richarson of Simla won the Terry Amundson 3200 title with a time of 13:13. Ava Turner of Hi-Plains went to #8 in the 1600 with a 6:24 at the same meet. Anna Castro of Evangelical Christian Academy went to #5 in the 1A rankings with a 14:47. At the Tri League meet in Holly, Kenzi Bartholomew upset the order of a few things 1A by winning the 800 in 2:35. Brakelle Westphal of Springfield kept herself in the hunt with a 2:40. Rheali Rittgers, also of Springfield, shaved 22 seconds off her season-best mark with a 15:01 in the 3200.
That, I believe, wraps up the distance highlights for Saturday, though I’d be a fool to pretend it’s impossible that I missed anything along the way.
Coming up next will be a 2A Boys Deep Dive. We’ll take a detailed look at the 2A Boys state title race as things stand now. If things go well, that publishes Friday morning.
