Mark Simmons has enjoyed an outstanding senior season at Middle Park. It gets better if he can help his team advance to state. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Continuing with this piece, we'll take a quick look at each of the regionals around the state. Each regional summary has a link to virtual meets for the region. By clicking on the virtual meet link, you are taken to a page where you can view to virtual meet of the season best times for all runners in the region. A nice feature of these virtual meets is that you can hover your mouse over any athletes you believe won't be running in the regional, click on the X that appears at the left end of the line, and remove that runner from the virtual meet. Note that virtual meets require Insider status to view.
3A Region 1
3A Region 1 covers the mountain and Western Slope programs. Gunnison looks like the top boys team of the region, with Moffat County and Middle Park taking the next two positions. If Middle Park turns up missing either of their top two runners, however, their chances take a big hit. Five teams will qualify out of this (and every) region, leaving Pagosa Springs and Olathe in favored positions to advance to state.
Moffat County and Pagosa Springs look ready to dominate the girls side of the region. Bumping either of these two would be a major undertaking. Gunnison's position is strong, but not as strong as either Moffat County or Pagosa. Basalt, Aspen, and Middle Park hold the top hopes for the remaining positions. Bayfield took this last week off. If that means they were holding back for an all-out regional effort, they might be on your list of teams to watch as well.
3A Region 2
The one, ladies and gentlemen, is the power region of 3A boys cross country. It stinks to be a bubble team in the region with Lamar, Alamosa, Vanguard, and Salida. Barring some sort of total collapse on the part of these four teams, there is one remaining team qualifier (and very possibly no individual qualifiers) to state. Gutting it out for the final position are St. Mary's and La Junta. Anyone else's chances are remote, at best.
The power structure for boys teams little resembles what we see for girls teams within the region. Salida and Alamosa figure to take the top two positions. Then, it gets wild. Any three of James Irwin, Buena Vista, Vanguard, Manitou, St. Mary's, and CSCS could be the advancing teams. The one is simply way too close to call.
3A Region 3
SkyView Academy figures to dominate the boys version of this region. At a respectful distance, look for Peak to Peak, Faith Christian, Colorado Academy, Platte Canyon, and Kent Denver. In all probability, exactly one of these last five teams doesn't make it. And that should be all the motivation these teams require. Kent Denver and Platte Canyon stand to benefit most from improvement at their #5 positions.
For the girls, Peak to Peak figures to dominate. They have everywhere else they've gone this season--at least within the ranks of 3A. Behind them are very solid programs in SkyView Academy, Kent Denver, and Colorado Academy. That would appear to lock up four of the five positions. St. Mary's Academy and Faith Christian lock up to battle for the fifth, and final, slot, in all probability.
3A Region 4
Frontier Academy won the Patriot League with their top three runners watching. This region is essentially the Patriot League, and that makes the Wolverines heavy favorites. Most likely, Estes Park, University, Jefferson Academy, and Liberty Common round out the advancing five, but Liberty Common's virtual meet times are coming essentially from Wiggins. That could make them a lot more vulnerable than they look. If that turns out to be the case, Eaton sees big opportunity.
There is no singularly dominant girls team in this region, but Frontier Academy and Eaton have had the advantage over the course of the season. Expect that to repeat itself at the regional meet. The biggest battle will be to advance to state. Jefferson Academy, Brush, University, and Estes Park figure for a very competitive battle over the last three state qualifying positions. The #5 scoring position becomes important in all sorts of ways in this region.