Andrew Barlow clears the bar at 16-4.75, locking him firmly into the driver's seat for the Colorado pole vault season. Photo by Ashley Green.
It's a good day for track and field when the weather gets skunked. Not only did Colorado's three rankings meets on Wednesday beat back the forecast of rain, they also lost only a tiny count of marks to overachieving wind.
It doesn't get much better than we've had it--for meets, at least--in March.
It's not very difficult to single out the mark of the day. Andrew Barlow's 16-4.75 (5.00m) vault mark stands tall above all other marks on the day, in more ways than one. That mark also serves as a qualifier for USATF Junior Nationals this summer. So, in effect, this one vault in March extends Barlow's season by a bit, as well as assuring him of a top-18 slot for the state meet. And, for good measure, Barlow also won the discus throw at the Boulder/Fairview/Monarch Tri with a heave of 93-4
But, Barlow was scarcely alone in having a nice afternoon or evening on Wednesday. Also from the BFM Tri, two Fairview horizontal jumpers--Sarah Hopkins and Tatiana Follett--found some major extra distance at the far end of their PRs to win the long and triple jump, respectively. Calvin Munson captured the sprint trifecta. And Isaac Green countered with a trifecta of his own--800, 1600, and high jump. Yes, high jump. Green is now the proud owner of a shiny new 6-2 PR in the high jump. Not only that, but he was a whole lot less winded after the high jump than after either of his other two wins.
A little bit south and west, Adams District 12 was getting things settled among their member schools so that each team could move on to bigger meets in their season. There, Mia Coats shaved a few hundredths off her 100 meter PR, Zoe Gilbertson blew the doors off a few events, and Andrew Black and Patrick Byerly extended a couple of PRs in the long jump and shot put, respectively.
A few miles south on I-25, the DPS schools, plus a few extras were at it with their own examples of excellence. Alexis Groce opened her season with a 12.22 100. Kayla Young kept her hat in the 4A 1600 ring with a 5:15.26, then doubled back for an easy win in the 3200. Victoria Coombe was 15.58 smooth over the 100 hurdles. South's Malcolm Wright entered sub-23 territory in the 200. East's Joseph Abiakam found a place on the 110 hurdles radar screen with a 15.25. And Eaglecrest's Matthew Lally logged a nice sweep of the horizontal jumps.
Altogether, it was a day well worth beating the weather.