Jordyn Colter rolls off the final turn of the 800 ahead of Arapahoe's Devan Foster. Photo by Alan Versaw.
If you didn't understand track and field, you'd never know how significant one small baton skittering away toward the inside curb of the track can be. For Fort Carson, it was likely the difference between ten points in the 4x200 and one point.
And, on account of the errant baton, the 5A boys race enters Saturday's finals looking a lot different that it might otherwise have looked. Fountain-Fort Carson, though loaded with entries for today's events, comes into the day with only five points on the board. Cherry Creek and Coronado will be the big obstacles to overcome at 36 and 28.5 points, respectively.
Fountain-Fort Carson figures to outpoint them all, but it will take a major surge.
Cherry Creek, after coming up big in the 800 with Daniel Book winning and Shane Rhodes scoring, still has a few scoring opportunities remaining in today's finals. Creek will need big production from their 4x100 and 4x400 relays to stay on top, and even that may not be enough. The pressure figures to be on Book and Rhodes to produce once again in the 1600.
Cherokee Trail, which rolled to victory in the 4x200 on Friday, has Jaylyn Mars and Brandon Singleton both lined up for a pair of sprint finals on Saturday. And the Cougar 4x100 and 4x400 relays are well positioned going into the finals of those events.
Fountain-Fort Carson will need all they can get from their sprint and hurdle finalists today, plus big finishes in both relays.
The key may turn out to come in the 200 meter dash late in the day. F-FC, Cherokee Trail, and Cherry Creek each of two entries in the nine-man field. A big swing in points one way or the other could be telling in the final point total.
For the girls, Cherry Creek enters the last day of the meet in a better position than the rest. Jordyn Colter set her world straight again with a dominating win in Friday's 800, crossing the line in 2:10.51. She comes back today to try to make it the best two out of three in the 1600.
Creek is loaded with entries today, in fact. Ashley Miller goes strong into both hurdle finals. Emily Romo is in the 100 and 200 finals. Both remaining relays are well positioned.
Most of Creek's competition on the girls side faces a double challenge. In addition to already trailing Creek in the team scoring, their entries for today's finals are more limited than Cherry Creek's. Only Cherokee Trail comes close to Cherry Creek's count of entries, and they aren't really close--or as well positioned overall.