Ernie Franssen leads Pomona into Thornton for this weekend's biggest meet. Photo by Alan Versaw.
As you get excited about some of the top 2A and 3A programs squaring off against much larger schools, take care not to lose sight of how good the middle school part of this meet will be.
Denver South and Denver East both come into this meet with some momentum, but everyone might want to keep an eye on 3A Colorado Academy. The Mustangs have the potential to ruin the party here.
This meet seems to get bigger every year, this year hitting just over 40 teams. It's nice to have a parking lot, a course, and a start line that handles all that. Laramie and another program or two come down from Wyoming. All lot of the Colorado teams look to be running B teams, but that list doesn't seem to include Pomona, Arvada West, Fort Morgan, Fairview, Eaglecrest, or Montrose. So, there should be plenty up at the front of the races to keep you entertained--and some nice team battles to keep things mysterious until the score sheets get posted.
After battling out a city title on Wednesday, all Greeley schools--save Frontier Academy--are back at it this weekend at the new-and-improved Andy Myers course (course map linked on meet page). Joining the Greeley crowd are programs like Loveland, Rapid City, Conifer, Platte Valley, plus a few more. Lest you be tempted to think Rapid City has the longest travel date to get here, I'm pretty sure that distinction falls to Montrose. The Indians are making a busy Front Range weekend of it.
It's a strong set of teams coming, but at this time of year an overarching question is always, "But, who's actually running?" We know who is entered, but expect teams to play it safe with athletes who might be a little nicked up. No matter who is (and is not) running, though, this one promises to be fun on an authentic cross country course. A course map and a parking map can be downloaded from the meet page. Only school buses will be allowed to park on site, so make sure you understand where to park, then catch the shuttle.
