The long-anticipated return of Kara Skattum to action should come on Friday in Boulder. Photo by Renee Haip.
This article will link to start lists for this weekend's meets as they are sent to me or, in a couple of cases, as I can glean them. The easiest thing is always for the meet director to send those to me if they'd like the start lists made visible.
New Balance Valmont Invitational (start lists linked on meet page)
Thompson Valley is on the list of teams, but they appear to be sending a second team here and a first team to the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede. One of the items to watch for closely at this meet is the strength of the Broomfield girls team. I've picked them high in the 5A field, and for what I think is good reason. Recall that after a strong opener last fall, Kara Skattum took a season-ending injury. She wasn't back for track, but she is back and listed among the entries for this meet. It should also be very instructive to see what the Lyons boys come up with. Paul Roberts and Joel Such we know well, not so much so the rest of the team. Dakota Ridge, Green Mountain, and Centaurus are just a few more of the intriguing teams showing up here.
Aurora City Championships (start lists linked on meet page)
Although a couple of teams appear to have either not entered at all or entered something less than full varsity rosters, there is still a long list of bona fide varsity athletes who have been entered for this race. The anticipated top entries of Spencer Bradshaw (Smoky Hill) and George Rykovich (Eaglecrest) are among the entries. Julie Vitella of Regis Jesuit does not show on the list of entries, but Cherokee Trail's Amy McConnell does. So, there is still plenty of interest left in this meet.
Cheyenne Mountain Stampede (start lists linked on meet page)
The start lists linked here are complete except for a very small handful of teams that, for one reason or another, didn't have entries in by Monday. As you might expect, these entries are deep in varsity-level athletes. The athletes you want most to see the state course are those you most expect to be toeing the line on October 31. Probably close to every team entered will find a surprise athlete or two between now and then, but this meet should give us a reasonably true read on where each attending team is at this point in the season.
Holy Family Tiger Invitational (start lists linked on meet page)
It's a surprisingly large meet of 17 teams, and a fair number of 4A and 5A teams are included in the mix. This should prove to be a nice opportunity for the Jefferson Academy boys and both genders of the Heritage Christian Academy teams to showcase what they have against some larger school competition.
Central Warrior Invitational (start lists linked on meet page)
With all the Western Slope teams heading to either the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede or the Basalt Longhorn Invitational, Central got a fairly nice draw at this one. Watch for Paonia at this one to see if they're giving indications of being ready to step up a level in 2A. All four Grand Junction area schools are pointed at this one, so we should get a nice early indication if the locus of power around Grand Junction has shifted any since track season.
Vista Nation XC 2-Mile Invitational (start lists linked on meet page)
Of course we want to see how good Mountain Vista is. But, we'll have to temper judgment just a little as they open on a two-mile course.
We also get to see several more quality programs at this one. Many eyes will be cast toward the strength of the performances by teams such as Palmer Ridge, SkyView Academy, Frontier Academy, and Erie.
For a meet of seven teams, they will be throwing a very large number of runners of the course. Here's hoping the new Mountain Vista course built in the capacity to handle all that!