A big part of the reason SkyView Academy is so good is the depth provided by guys like Joseph Pippin. Photo by Alan Versaw.
It's still the 3A Metro League, but it's a long time and a far piece from when the league consisted of schools like Mapleton, Denver Lutheran, Holy Family, Denver Christian, Silver State (though I don't think they ever had cross country), and Sheridan.
This year, the favorites for both boys and girls appear to be among the very newest members of the league--SkyView Academy and Peak to Peak.
The point of moving a league meet earlier in the schedule is to allow the teams participating to ramp up their rosters and go all-out for the title without worrying about compromising efforts down the road of the championship season. So, I'm writing this article on the assumption that pretty much everyone will be loading for bear tomorrow.
If so, SkyView Academy will be very difficult to beat on the boys side. Ben Butler is as close as there is to a lock for the individual crown, and the Hawks pack in very nicely behind him. And, we'll note that SVA's advantage may be even greater than a virtual meet would suggest, since the Hawks skipped Liberty Bell--a meet most schools in the league ran.
We will note, however, that SkyView Academy was running their younger guys in the Pat Amato FR/SO race on Tuesday. A Tuesday-Thursday turnaround (assuming the same guys are slated for the league meet--and SVA's advantage evaporates if they aren't) isn't always easy.
The contest for second place, in any case, should be very interesting between Faith Christian, Jefferson Academy, and Peak to Peak. Each of the three has been showing some nice things of late. And, probably each of the three would like to build a little confidence heading into regional qualification.
Further adding to the muddle is the show of strength the Colorado Academy boys put on last week at the Abraham Lincoln Lance. Are the Mustangs now ready to mix it up with the top half of teams in the league? If so, this should be the time to show it.
James Giltner of Kent Denver has had several nice outings this season and projects as the #2 finisher behind Ben Butler. Beyond that, projections mean less and less the deeper you go.
Below is a link to a 3A Metro League virtual meet. You need to be a MileSplit Insider to view the link, but it shows a virtual meet scoring for the league meet based on best times for the season. Team scoring is at the bottom. One of the cool things about a MileSplit virtual meet, though, is that you can X out individuals you know won't be running and let the whole thing rescore. Simply hover your mouse over the line of the individual you want to remove and click on the X at the left end of the line. You can even hover over the times and edit to change those if you think a listed time is out of line for some reason.
3A Metro League Boys Virtual Meet
On the girls side, Peak to Peak is at least as big of a favorite as SkyView Academy is on the boys. The freshman class at P2P has changed a lot of things in a hurry.
And, it will surprise almost nobody if Quinn McConnell and Anna Shults extended their 1-2 tradition to this meet.
Peak to Peak's times in the virtual meet reflect at least mostly times earned at the Stanford Invitational. Being at low elevation, that meet tends to run faster than meets in Colorado, but Peak to Peak's position as favorite is no less real on account of that. They've run very well in Colorado, too, and nobody from this league has threatened the Pumas at any point in this season.
Oh, and three of P2P's top four are freshmen, so try not to get too many ideas about this changing much in the near future.
Colorado Academy, Kent Denver, and SkyView Academy, however, are each in nice position to battle for second. And, all three of these teams could use a little momentum heading into regionals.
Jefferson Academy needs a monster effort to bridge up with this group, but it's not out of the question that it happens.
Below is a link to the 3A Metro League girls virtual meet. All the same understandings and options apply here as did with the boys.
3A Metro League Girls Virtual Meet
I do not yet have a schedule for this meet, but it will take place at Anthem Park in Broomfield.