If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, Fountain-Fort Carson and Cherokee Trail will be matching up relays at this weekend's Pomona Invitational. Blink and you'll miss it. Photo by Alan Versaw.
It's April now, and that means several things:
- On any given weekend, roughly one-fourth of the teams in the state have prom on the same weekend. If a team seems to be missing on a few cylinders, that might be the first explanation you look for.
- No matter where you go, there are big meets to be found. Last week's Pueblo Central, Legend, Mountain Range, Palmer, and Poudre meets become this week's John Tate, Mullen, Pomona, and TJ meets. There is no shortage of top-tier track and field action to be had.
- As a general rule, the weather is better than it was in March. Occasionally, there comes a notable exception to the rule, but this weekend does not appear to be shaping up as one of those exceptions.
| 04/08 |
A very busy week at Jeffco Stadium begins today. It's a small crowd of 4A Jeffco schools, but the fact that it's a rankings meet means that at least a few folks will be taking things very seriously.
Wheat Ridge High School
|
Lakewood, CO |
| 04/08 |
From Lamar to Lone Star, and from Haxtun to Heritage Christian they come. Pretty much the entire deck of pole vaulters from Saturday's Holyoke meet comes here again, ready to reshuffle the deck. You might be tempted to think of this as a small meet, but don't. Something on the order of 25 schools will be making the trip to Yuma. The weather forecast looks typically breezy, but otherwise a very nice day for a track meet.
Yuma High School
|
Yuma, CO |
| 04/09 |
Owing to difficulties with getting a FAT system into Cortez on the designated day, there will be no rankings-eligible performances coming out of this meet. The meet goes on, but the rankings not.
Montezuma-Cortez High School
|
Cortez, CO |
| 04/09 |
It's a little difficult to believe that the NC Golden Spike Series is drawing its final breath for 2014. Maybe it's out of exhaustion. They've been rolling meets onto and off of tracks in the city of Fort Collins at a prodigious rate the last couple of weeks.
Fossil Ridge High School
|
Fort Collins, CO |
| 04/09 |
This one involves a little more travel than Kersey, Greeley, and Johnstown, but what are you to do when you have a bigger roster than you can shoehorn into your weekend meet dates. The Weld County JV series marches on!
Weld Central High School
|
Keenesburg, CO |
| 04/10 |
Don Osse Lakewood Tiger Invitational 22 schools converge on Jeffco Stadium. Several of those are Jeffco schools, but this one draws well outside of the county as well, to include entries from Lewis-Palmer, Fruita Monument, Hinkley, Lutheran, and Horizon. Heat sheets are already posted for this one.
Lakewood High School
|
Lakewood, CO |
|
04/11 - 04/12 |
Yes, indeed, Colorado is sending a few of its finest to this meet again this year. It's a long weekend of non-stop heats, but somehow everyone seems to find and run their race. Given the recent discussion of the forum regarding the amount of time between sprint and hurdle heats, it might be instructive to put a stopwatch on the time between such heats at this meet.
Arcadia High School (SS)
|
Arcadia, CA |
| 04/11 |
20 western Colorado teams converge on New Castle for Friday Night Lights. And, why not? Track and field is the big show at Coal Ridge High School. Several of these teams will spend the night--the local chamber of commerce thanks you--and pick up where they left off at the Glenwood meet on Saturday. Colorado Track XC will be on-hand for coverage of this one. Colorado Track XC will be on-hand for coverage of this event.
Coal Ridge High School
|
New Castle, CO |
|
04/11 - 04/12 |
If you're looking for college action within our borders this weekend, there is only one place to look. Potts Field in Boulder is the place to be, but be warned that many of the top names will be sitting this weekend out.
University of Colorado
|
Boulder, CO |
| 04/11 |
Two divisions, two days, and about 30 teams. And it all takes place at venerable Dutch Clark Stadium. With the forecast for Pueblo pushing 80 for both Friday and Saturday, a couple of warnings are in order. One, this will turn the place into the Dutch Oven. Sprinters, throwers, and hurdlers will appreciate the extra heat, but it will take its toll on the unwary. And, wear sunscreen--there's a ton of reflected light to hit you from every direction at the DO. Distance types will look forward to Friday night's 3200s under the lights. Those making the longest trips for this meet include Del Norte and Gunnison. On the grand scheme of Gunnison's travel schedule, however, this is only a minor league trip. Colorado Track XC will be on-hand for coverage of this one.
Pueblo Centennial High School
|
Pueblo, CO |
|
04/11 - 04/12 |
40 teams get their previews of the state facility here. With 40 teams, they need all of two days to get everything done. One of the things they will get done will be a pair of under-the-lights featured 3200s on Friday evening. A quick glance at the teams coming suggests this could be a very good pair of 3200s. But, with 40 teams on hand, just about any event is bound to be a good event. Take special note that both Cherokee Trail and Fountain-Fort Carson are pointed at this meet. Pick your spot to watch wisely and enjoy the show. Colorado Track XC will be enjoying the show as well, with one mildly quirky reporter on hand.
Pomona High School
|
Lakewood, CO |
| 04/11 |
You might be tempted to think that the John Tate Challenge Cup would pump the well dry in this portion of the state. But, you'd be wrong about that. Close to 20 teams will converge on the sleepy little mountain community of Weston for track and field action. The meet draws heavily from the San Luis Valley, but also across southeastern Colorado as well.
Primero High School
|
Weston, CO |
| 04/11 |
All-City Stadium at Denver South High School sees it's biggest meet of the season to date on Friday night. It's mostly schools from Denver proper, but schools like Platte Canyon, ThunderRidge, and Pikes Peak Christian add to the non-local flavor of the meet.
Thomas Jefferson High School
|
Denver, CO |
| 04/11 |
Weld Central 6th Annual Rebel Round-Up The meet title leaves it a little ambiguous if this is the meet where the Rebels get rounded up or the Rebels round up unsuspecting visitors, but that might become more clear when we see the results. Weld Central is a 4A school, but they won't have a lot of 4A company at this meet. Skyview, Elizabeth, and Northridge round out the list of 4A entries. Prairie View is the lone 5A entry. But, if it's 1A and 2A entries you seek...
Weld Central High School
|
Keenesburg, CO |
| 04/12 |
The stadium at Bayfield High School does a lot of duty in the springtime. When you're the sweet spot to be in the entire San Juan Basin, that's kind of the way things work out. Nucla, Telluride, and Lake City come in from outside the Basin to lend a more exotic feel to this meet.
Ignacio High School
|
Bayfield, CO |
| 04/12 |
Woodland Park has never met a trip to Chaffee County that it didn't like. That would apply equally to track and cross country season. The Panthers will be the ranking large school at this meet. As meets go this weekend, this one is a little on the side of cozy, with only about 10 teams in attendance. Usually, however, that means more athletes from any given school get the chance to compete.
Salida High School
|
Salida, CO |
| 04/12 |
In recent years, this has become the local small school meet of choice. But, that trend may be reversing itself this year with some larger school entries from both El Paso and Douglas counties on the list of pariticipating schools. For those wondering about the whereabouts of the James Irwin sprinters, we may get a clue or two this weekend. JI is on the list of attending schools.
Air Academy High School
|
USAFA, CO |
| 04/12 |
If you've never attended a meet at Glenwood Springs High School, you're missing something. At no other venue in the state do runners disappear for 50 meters or so along the back straight. What happens behind the stands on the west side of the field stays behind the stands on the west side of the field, but places have been known to be exchanged back there.
Glenwood Springs High School
|
Glenwood Springs, CO |
| 04/12 |
Springfield. Your last chance before Oklahoma to get gas. It's also your last place before Oklahoma to find lodging unless you prefer pitching a tent on the national grasslands. The list of teams attending this meet is a veritable geography course of southeastern Colorado: Wiley, Granada, Plainview (be careful of this one as Plainview is a school name, but not a locality name), and, of course the Big Ks--Karval and Kim. If you can say you've been to each of these places and knew where you were at the time, you may count yourself as a Distinguished Colorado Traveler.
Springfield High School
|
Springfield, CO |
| 04/12 |
When you stop to think that this is the only I-25 corridor meet north of Longmont this weekend, you begin to understand why this meet is as big as it is. Berthoud plays host to Broomfield, Eaton, Liberty Common, Greeley West, Centaurus, and many more. Berthoud also ranks high on the list of mispronounced Colorado place names, joining elites like Saguache, Buena Vista, and Mount Shavano.
Berthoud High School
|
Berthoud, CO |
| 04/12 |
When you think of meets with name recognition, this meet probably takes top honors for this weekend. Everyone knows about the Mullen Runners Roost, and you can count on excellent competition in every event of this meet, even if the competition for athletes form other meets has grown more intense in recent years. Maybe best of all, the announcing at this meet is very good--and occasionally quite humorous. Take your earbuds out and listen for this little subtleties of humor emanating from the press box. It's worth your while. Colorado Track XC, to include the video crew, will be on-hand for this adventure in track and field.
Mullen High School
|
Denver, CO |
| 04/12 |
With Pomona and Mullen hosting big meets on the west side of the Denver metro area, Regis steps up to handle the east side big event. Meet size seems to be down slightly from last year, but we can still count on it being a competitive event.
Regis Jesuit
|
Aurora, CO |
| 04/12 |
And, at last, we come to the end of the list. Limon, Peyton, Strasburg, Bennett, Akron, etc. The list of schools attending reads like a who's who of eastern Colorado track and field.
Byers High School
|
Is anyone else noticing how competitive track and field has become here in Colorado the last couple of years?