Alexis Aguirre leads the Battle Mountain charge, and it's a charge that should easily take the step 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.
4A Region 1
The Evergreen boys are riding a serious crest of momentum heading into regional week. The Cougars have been on fire since Brandon Swenson moved up to varsity. Behind Evergreen, much is open in 4A Region 1, though Littleton and D'Evelyn seem like solid picks to advance to state. Green Mountain, Golden, and Valor battle it out for the remaining slot (each 4A region sends four teams to state). There's probably a hidden advantage here for Green Mountain as their schedule has been least studded (of the three) with speedway courses.
For the girls, Wheat Ridge, Valor, and Evergreen hold the upper hand. It's hard to imagine any of these three not advancing. D'Evelyn ranks ahead of Littleton for fourth in virtual meet scoring, but that can be deceptive on account of Littleton's propensity to run more difficult courses. D'Evelyn will have their hands full trying to hold off Littleton. And, neither are Conifer and Green Mountain so far "back" as to be beyond the pale of consideration.
4A Region 2
Due to living in this region, comment here will be few. And, I will opt out of commenting about my own team. Palmer Ridge ranks as a heavy favorite among the boys. Air Academy has been rising of late as well.
As big of a favorite as Palmer Ridge is with the boys, Air Academy could be an even bigger favorite with the girls--if they run their full varsity (which they've done all of twice this season, and once in Colorado). Palmer Ridge and Elizabeth have had several strong outings this fall as well.
4A Region 3
Erie's recent league meet outing speaks volumes of their readiness for this meet. If they can recapture that magic, they're in. Centaurus, too, enjoyed a solid league meet outing, though a week earlier than Erie did. Competition gets tight between Standley Lake, Niwot, and Holy Family for the remaining state berth. Depth goes much deeper for these three programs than for the rest of the regional.
As far as girls teams go, Niwot and Centaurus ran at the top of the region all season long. Standley Lake has also been solid all season, though perhaps half a step back of Niwot and Centaurus. Holy Family and Erie were very tight at the league meet this past week, and it figures to come down between these two for the last state berth.
4A Region 4
Thompson Valley didn't look like the top boys team of the region until the Northern League meet, but they did clear up a few issues there. Mountain View and Silver Creek are still to be reckoned with, and Silver Creek would love to get their early-season groove back. Fort Morgan ran well at their league meet and comes in as the odds-on favorite to claim the fourth and final qualifying position.
Thompson Valley also overturned a few applecarts with the league girls race. Suddenly, TV looks like regional favorites if they can keep the momentum going (and Matt Norton's teams have a nice history of that in the championship season). Though not the same team they were last year, Mountain View also seems safe to advance, and Silver Creek has been solid all season long. The fourth qualifying position figures to go to a team without a long and uninterrupted history of going to state. Whether that ends up being Mead, Fort Morgan, Windsor, Roosevelt, or someone else remains to be seen.
4A Region 5
The big question here among the boys is, "Which Cheyenne Mountain team shows up?" Will it be the Woodbridge Classic team or will it be one of the partial varsity teams CM has put on the course everywhere they've been in Colorado this fall? In a sense, it probably doesn't matter this week. Cheyenne Mountain figures to easily advance to state even with only a partial varsity. But it figures to matter next week. Widefield seems a lock to join Cheyenne Mountain as a state qualifier out of the region. On paper, Pueblo South and Pueblo West look like the other two qualifying teams, but Mesa Ridge might be coming on just in time to throw a little doubt into that equation.
Cheyenne Mountain brings no such questions along on the girls side. It's difficult to see anyone threatening CM for the regional crown. Woodland Park had a nice league meet showing and may end up as the #2 team out of the region, but the Canon City girls who didn't run at league may wage a battle for second. Pueblo South also looks like a strong candidate to advance,and Pueblo West's recent city meet performance suggests they aren't quite yet out of the hunt, either. . It will be a big surprise if four of these five are not the qualifying teams out of the region, but there's a reason why you run the race on a course and not on paper.
4A Region 6
The two top boys teams in the region are Durango and Battle Mountain. There's really nothing up for dispute about that. The young team of the year, though, is Glenwood Springs. The Demons should advance to state this year and build valuable experience for years down the road. Montrose, Eagle Valley, and Palisade will each try to stake a claim to the final qualifying position.
The hierarchy of teams seems just about as clear on the girls side as well. Nobody on the Western Slope has come close to heading off the Battle Mountain varsity this season. Behind Battle Mountain are Steamboat and Durango. Palisade is the next logical entry, but Summit is definitely close enough to be the source of some consternation there. Summit will need a strong showing at 3, 4, and 5 to get it done, though.