Last Saturday 13 teams from Colorado and Wyoming gathered to compete in the Foot of The Rockies invitational. Several of these schools were just coming off of spring break, so the number of great marks coming out of this storied meet was somewhat lower than tradition would lead us to expect.
Elizabeth Stover continued her spectacular run of success by winning three events including the long jump (16-6), the pole vault (12-6), and the 100 meter hurdles (15.45). The Longmont senior had three very good looks at a new all-classification state record of 13-0.5 in the pole vault, but ultimately could not clear the bar. Stover will be heavily relied upon as the Trojan women head into the Boulder County meet and, ultimately, state.
In the distance events, Kendra Gerk of Greeley West once again demonstrated why she is a state contender. Gerk ran away from the field with ease in the 1600, finishing in 5:14. The 3200 saw Sierra’s Samantha Thompson move up a distance or two from her 800 and 1600 specialties. Thompson was able to track down Rachel Viger of Fort Collins in the last two laps and win the 3200 in 11:30.
Despite these solid marks on the girls' side, one could still see the evidences that there might have been a little spring break hangover clinging to the performances.
The boys side of the meet was highlighted by Stephen Michel of Laramie (Wyoming) High School. Michel dominated the four events he entered, winning the 100 (10.94), 200 (21.80), triple jump (47-5), and high jump (6-4). Arguably, the race of the day for Michel was the 200, an event in which he edged defending Colorado 4A state champion Matt Butcher from Longmont. Michel’s victory in the triple jump was over five feet better then second place and would rank as the best effort of the year for Colorado if he lived a few miles south of Laramie.
Other meet highlights included the boys' discus was where Mark Sparks from Smoky Hill outhrew the competition by 20 feet, with a best throw for the day of 168-5.
Once again, this year's version of the Foot of the Rockies was a great meet. While refining and honing of skills in preparation for state qualifying marks took top precedence, several noteworthy marks were achieved.