Goodbye Heat, Hello Soggy!

You'll see more of this than dust this weekend. Colorado Track XC file photo.

Another exciting weekend of cross country action is about to descend upon us. In place of last weekend's heat, we will have rain this weekend--and, in some places, probably plenty of it.

We've already talked about the Liberty Bell Invitational, so let's take a tour of the meets around the rest of the state.

Curiously, there are no Thursday meets this weekend, so we just move straight into Friday. Staking their claim on teams that a) couldn't get in to Liberty Bell, b) didn't want to go to Liberty Bell, or c) didn't want to send sub-varsity teams to Liberty Bell is a very nice collection of meets.

Out on the eastern plains, Fort Morgan hosts their annual affair along the banks of the South Platte. This one tends to run fairly fast. Closer in to heart of Colorado's population, Mountain Range hosts at the Adams County Fairgrounds. These two meets figure to compete against each other just a little for the available teams. 

An hour south of Denver is the Air Academy Kadet Invitational. This meet is no stranger to wet conditions. In fact, this one seems to alternate between puddle jumping and hot-and-dusty. It looks like puddle jumping wins out this year. If you're into matters of speculation, you can ponder whether Katie Rainsberger has any shot of breaking Allie McLaughlin's course record at this one. as an historical observation, McLaughlin's course record was set on one of those cool, wet days at this course.

Grand Junction hosts for the western slope teams that decided to stay on their own side of the Continental Divide. Canyon View Park, where hills are in short supply, is the place. 

Platte Canyon hosts at their Rosalie Property--a course that is as hilly and untamed as Canyon View Park is flat and civilized. It's always a slim count of schools at Platte Canyon, but those that do come keep coming back. 

On Saturday, there's a scattering of meets across the state. This weekend is the one weekend all season that Gunnison parents have their kids home during daylight hours on meet days. That's a slight exaggeration, but not so far-fetched as you might think. In any case, it's fairly easy for the Gunnison kids to make it to this meet in time without a pre-dawn departure or a hotel stay. Not so much so for the other schools attending the meet. I vividly recall sharing a hotel with three or four other schools when we ran in this meet in 2004.

Down in the San Juan National Forest just outside of Bayfield, it's a challenging course. In the San Juan Basin, they believe in truth in advertising and the meet has been renamed the Southwest Challenge. A little rain would only add to the challenge. Bayfield and Durango High Schools are joining forces to oversee the carnage. Expect all of SW Colorado, and a little of NW New Mexico at this one. Occasionally, Arizona and Utah send a school over as well.

Sheridan hosts a small-school affair on the south side of Denver. It's called the Ram Charger, but you can't use a credit card to enter the meets. Still only checks payable to Sheridan High School. Then again, maybe I've been looking for all the wrong clues in the meet name. Maybe whoever named this meet really liked their Dodge vehicles?

Standley Lake hosts a meet at the Westminster Community Center. I know very little about this meet, but we do show it on the schedule.

Eagle Valley hosts a very nice meet on the Gypsum Creek Golf Course. Even as golf course settings go, this one is upscale. The grass is pristine and a very deep green, the views are dramatic, and the meet is run in ship-shape fashion. If this one wasn't planted on the western slope, it much be in much higher demand. Between the grass and the rolling hills, however, this course will work you over a little. By the way, it's been rumored that there is an entry fee discount for this meet if your school colors include black or red, and a double discount if you have both. We'll check the results on this meet on Saturday to see if there's any mounting evidence to support that rumor.

And, speaking of golf course settings, how could we forget the Pueblo Central Invitational? The venerable old state site returns to its most important use (cross country) on Saturday. Expect 15 - 20 teams, mostly--but not exclusively--out of southeast Colorado for a ramble on the Elmwood Short Nine. If you know this course at all, you know it's a little on the side of fast but not quite a screamer. A little cool air hanging in on Saturday morning, however, could turn this one into a very fast race.