It was a busy weekend for the age groupers trying to find their way to the next round in Arizona.
It may have felt a little like Arizona at Sports Authority Stadium, but it's pretty much a sure thing that Arizona will bump up the misery factor another 10 - 20 degrees.
Several athletes appear to be starting to be just a shade off of their state meet best from back in April, but there were still some really nice performances to be found.
One of the best contests came in the 17-18 girls 400 hurdles. The promised showdown between Carly Lester and Mackenzie Howie materialized just as many thought it might, with Lester taking the win, 1:02.85 to 1:03.57.
Carly Paul and Rajon O'Quinn battled to 5-7 in the high jump. Paul took to win on misses. Damajahnee Birch took the 15-16 400 in 56.15. Tashay Brown scored two wind-legal sub-25s in the 200 at 24.83 and 24.91.
Among boys, the legend of Trevor Cook continues to grow with wind-legal wins of 10.94 and 22.38 in the sprints. Keep in mind that Cook just finished his freshman year at Longmont High School. In the 17-18 division, Jai'Shawn Thompson got a wind-legal 10.78 in prelims of the 100.
Corey Lewenkamp edged Michael Day and Ben Butler in the 15-16 boys 3000. The proximity of their finish suggests that this might have been one of the better races of the day. All three had times right around 9:28.
John Reynolds raised a few eyebrows with a 49-7.25 (+1.3) in the triple jump, bumping him up a few notches in the state and national rankings. That leap, as a matter of fact, currently has him at #12 in the national rankings. Not bad for somebody who essentially missed the CHSAA-sanctioned season.