What Does the Weekend Hold?

Sylvana Ross knows why it pays to be fast on the back straight of 400s at the Stutler Bowl. Photo by Alan Versaw.

The short answer to the title question is "Plenty!" But you probably came here expecting more detail than that.

So, detail you'll get.

We'll arbitrarily leapfrog the Wednesday/Thursday stuff, though some of it should be very good, and focus here on Friday and Saturday.

Just like last week, the weight of the meets taking place on Friday gets rather heavy.

Canon City hosts their Blossom Invite. Overall, it's mostly a crowd of smaller schools from southeastern Colorado. And it's a last home meet for a few Canon City seniors who've had some very nice high school careers. You can probably think of at least a couple of the names.

A little to the east, the Pueblo Twilight rolls into its first year at Dutch Clark. The idea of running distance under the lights in Pueblo late in the season is definitely catching on. Several runners will be making their best efforts at posting some sizzling qualifying times in the cool of the night. Look for photos and videos from this meet as soon as we can get them up (which is probably Saturday, and we'll aim for early on Saturday).

I'm pretty sure nobody has kept track of this sort of thing over the years, but my hunch is this year's Pueblo Twilight will host more athletes running 1600s and 3200s than any previous high school meet in state history.

North of Pueblo a couple of hours, Denver North sets up shop for their invitational at All-City Stadium. Last time they held a meet there, someone missed pulling the plug on the discus swamp. There is a possibility of afternoon thunderstorms on Friday, so that problem could rear it's ugly head again, but if everyone's ducking for cover from lightning, probably not too many folks care if they would have been standing in two inches of water at the discus ring. We'll hope all goes well and that weather does not become a factor.

Aside from Canon City, Denver North, and Pueblo Twilight, Friday's schedule is league meets. Akron hosts the Lower Platte. Greeley West hosts the Front Range. Grand Junction hosts the Western Slope Multi Leagues at Stocker Stadium. And Longmont hosts the Northern, Tri-Valley, and Mile High Leagues.

The Front Range Conference and Western Slope Multi League meets spill over into Saturday. Forming a break from the ranks, and running only a Saturday schedule, will be the Western Slope 1A/2A League in Rangely. Just speculating here, maybe the 1A/2A folks didn't feel like the overnight stay in Grand Junction was all that essential for them to get their league meet business done. Bonus points if you can name the pass between Grand Junction and Rangely many of the teams will be traveling.

Pagosa Springs has merged their Terry Alley Invitational with the IML League meet. That means two sets of scores for one meet, or twice the reason to check the results late on Saturday. We'll wait and see if Alamosa runs their Pueblo Twilight entries from Friday at the IML on Saturday. If so, those guys score some serious road warrior points.

The Patriot League convenes in Sterling, a new stop on the itinerary for many Patriot League schools as Sterling was, until recently, a 4A program.

Hosting conventional invitationals are Burlington, Cherry Creek/Grandview, Doherty, and Highlands Ranch. Cherry Creek/Grandview figures to weigh in with the largest draw of teams. If it seems to you like the Stutler Bowl has been hosting a lot more track and field action this spring, I have much the same feeling. It's a nice venue in a lot of respects, and nicely protected from north winds, but I can tell you it's tough shooting photos of the girls long/triple. And I have yet to figure out how to catch a bus to the throws venue.

As I recall, the coaches meal at Highlands Ranch was an A+ affair last year. Here's hoping for the same caterer this year.

And, lastly, what was once the unofficial 1A state championship but is now, in the presence of a real 1A state championship, simply the 1A Invitational takes place at 2A Limon High School. Limon has the virtue of a highly functional facility and a central location for most of the schools involved. If you haven't had a chance to check out the rising program out at Arickaree yet, this would be a good opportunity to go do that. Other 1A powers on the list of attending teams include Springfield, Baca County, and Shining Mountain. Heritage Christian Academy has other commitments for the weekend. The list of teams coming is surely impressive, but nobody is coming farther for this meet than Lake City.

It should be a great day for the Limon eateries.

The slate of on-site coverage for the weekend includes the Front Range Conference meet, the Doherty Spartan Invitational, the Pueblo Twilight, the Western Slope Multi Leagues, and the Highlands Ranch Memorial. Enjoy that when things start winding down on Sunday!