Led by Gordon Gianniny and Nicholas Turco, Durango will be seeking to advance to state on the strength of a regional title. Colorado Track XC file photos.
It's something of a disappointment to me personally to come to the realization I don't have the time to write regional previews for all the regions, so I'll endeavor to cover those I can today and call it good. As I looked at the list of tomorrow's regional meets, 4A Region 6 bubbled to the surface first for me.
It's an interesting region in many respects--partly on account of the number of unknowns in play--but we'll start our preview in the usual place, with a quick glance out how the virtual meets score for this one:
On paper, the Durango boys figure to dominate the region, but there's an important little fact that the paper story isn't telling you. Durango's top times were logged at the Desert Twilight meet on a scorching fast course at 1200 feet of elevation. And that gives the Demon Dudes a bigger advantage in a virtual meet than is probably their due. Mind you, Durango is a solid team--and probably the favorite to win the region, but there's still good reason for, say, Eagle Valley to show up at the start line. Like a lot of other regions, there's good reason to believe that at least one pretty good team won't be qualifying for state out of this year. Figure on a lot of teams arriving in Delta with adrenaline flowing at maximum volume.
For the girls, give Battle Mountain the nod as favorites. As was the case with the boys, the Durango girls show up in a virtual meet with Arizona times wheres the rest of the region shows up with Colorado times. At this point, the top four girls teams out of the region appear to be clearly defined, but there's a reason we show up and run the races.
Individually, there's a lot of folks watching to see how Greta Van Calcar will run here. If she's on top of her race, there may not be anyone in this region who can threaten her. But, we won't know that until after the race begins. A flat course like Delta should tend to favor a speed merchant like Shannon Maloney of Delta. Nobody with any common sense counts Valerie Constien out of any race before it begins. Durango's Hannah Peterson also comes in with sub-19 credentials.
For the boys, Jake Erickson and Liam Meirow share the burden of favorite. Both have been enjoying very solid seasons. It might be a reach for anyone else in the region to run with this pair, but there are plenty of other guys in the region with ample reason to lay their best races on the line in the interest of their teams.
Led by Gordon Gianniny and Nicholas Turco, Durango will be seeking to advance to state on the strength of a regional title. Colorado Track XC file photos.
It's something of a disappointment to me personally to come to the realization I don't have the time to write regional previews for all the regions, so I'll endeavor to cover those I can today and call it good. As I looked at the list of tomorrow's regional meets, 4A Region 6 bubbled to the surface first for me.