We begin the preseason rankings with Class 4A.
There's a little bit of fear that goes into track and field rankings. Track and field is a whole lot more of a chess match than cross country. It's much easier to play hide-and-go-seek with track than it is with cross country.
Nevertheless, we forge ahead. I'll take my best shot at ranking teams in each of the classifications both now before things get started, and then a couple more times during the season.
Unlike the cross country polls, these are not coaches polls. These are simply my best guesses at where the teams fall.
And, owing to my position as a coach at The Classical Academy, 4A will have a special provision that TCA will not be ranked. I don't want to spend valuable practice time answering questions about why I put us ahead of one team or behind another.
With that as our introduction, here we go with preseason rankings (please feel welcome to check me at the end of the season to see how well or how poorly these rankings fared):
4A Boys
1. Palmer Ridge - It's a new coaching regime and Kelly Christensen is primarily a distance type, but things seem to be going well with the explosive events nevertheless. I'm going with Palmer Ridge to repeat at 4A boys track and field champions and claim both running sport titles for the 2014-15 school year.
2. Mountain View - Like Palmer Ridge, Mountain View tends to be very strong in relays, and that will serve them well this spring. But, ultimately Mountain View needs the indicated parade of points in the pole vault to hold or improve this ranking.
3. Thompson Valley - Being next door to Mountain View probably helps both of these teams keep a sharp competitive edge, but it also holds the potential to wear down one or both teams before the state meet. Managing the season will be critical at both MV and TV.
4. Valor Christian - In sprints and, especially, sprint relays, Valor probably may have no peers this spring. But, to rise above fourth, they will need some strong showings from other event areas as well.
5. Canon City - The Tigers have the top-end talent to take them a long way in the hurdles and throws. Like Valor, though, they'll need more points of contribution to rise above this ranking.
6. Eagle Valley - Not only are the numbers of this program impressive, but they keep getting a little better each year. Look for this team to have a better state meet than they had last year.
7. Cheyenne Mountain - William Mayhew can't make a lot of good things happen. One person can't win a 4A title, but Mayhew probably won't need to be carrying the entire load.
8. Vista Ridge - The Wolfpack was a bit on the young side last year. Don't let that color your impressions heading into this year. This could be the most improved team in 4A this spring. If things go particularly well, this team will finish higher than 8th.
9. Falcon - The fountain of sprint talent has not run dry yet, nor does it appear destined to any time soon. This team will go as far as sprints, jumps, and relays can take them.
10. Palisade - Jay Shuman is the obvious big factor here, but there are other reasons to be optimistic about this team as well. If Jake Erickson finds his old distance self back, this team could easily rise above 10th.
4A Girls
1. Mountain View - The Mountain Lions have many serious weapons. But they are potentially vulnerable in the sprints and sprint relays. A weak showing in state relays could bump them from this lofty position.
2. Niwot - If anyone is prepared to take advantage of Mountain View on relays, it is Niwot. Even at the 4x800, where Mountain View should be strongest, Niwot is capable of keeping things very interesting with Mountain View. There is, however, no Elise Cranny this year, so it will take a collective stepping up from this team to make it three in a row.
3. Valor Christian - As with the Valor boys, you have to respect the sprints and sprint relays of this program. But, in this case, Valor has Lauren Ogg and Haley Showalter to bump up the point count outside of sprints and sprint relays. Though ranked #3 here, this is still a team with very serious #1 potential.
4. Thompson Valley - The taste of second from last year's state meet last spring lingers in the mouth of the Eagles. If that becomes a big motivator for this spring, this is a team that has the wherewithal to finish well above fourth. They will have to replace some points that graduated, but it's not difficult to see where that might come from.
5. Battle Mountain - The Huskies suffered through a disappointing state meet last spring. Don't count on that happening again.
6. Lewis-Palmer - Nicole Montgomery figures to score a bundle of points on her own at the state meet this spring. We wait to see what the rest of L-P produces.
7. Longmont - Yes, another Northern Conference team. Keely Parrish and Sydney Wetterstrom should be big-time contributors. Will there be others who step up?
8. Air Academy - It's a team without a great deal of depth, but distance and perhaps a relay or two figure to put enough points on the board to keep this team in the top ten.
9. Durango - There's some deep potential in jumps, relays, and middle distance. But, somehow, the Demons need to figure out how to bring the big show over the mountains.
10. Palmer Ridge - I admit that I might have this team seriously underrated. The Bears do have some big pieces to replace, but there's also a lot of talent in this program. Palmer Ridge will, however, have to figure a way to score points in large quantities. The twos, threes, and fours, figure to come, but it's the sevens, eights, and tens, that lift you in the team scoring at state.