Random Thoughts on the Indoor Season Behind Us


Check out this article for some perspective on Arria Minor's 200 time this winter--and a few other things. Photo by Alan Versaw.

For all but perhaps as many as 10 or so athletes who will head to New Balance Nationals Indoor in three weeks, the 2016 indoor season is now behind us. 

In another eight days, official practice for the outdoor season begins, and that's plenty of time to digest a few thoughts on the indoor season.

Here's what's bubbling to the surface in my own mind:

Boys 400 and 800: The obvious standards with these two events are 50 and 2:00. Nobody from Colorado broke either mark this winter, not even in an out-of-state meet. Since 2008, when Colorado Track XC began covering track here in Colorado, this is the first time that has happened. It's difficult to say what, if anything, this portends for the outdoor season ahead, but it is remarkable on its own merits.

Pole Vault: If you still require any evidence that this event continues on its upward march, you can find it in this winter's results. Three boys cleared at least 15 feet at least once during the indoor season. Andrea Willis set a new Colorado girls high school record three times during the season, most recently at 13-7.25. Taylor Alexander had a remarkable season, topping out at 12-8. And, Erika Willis also came within a whisper of 12 feet. The event continues to trend better and better. And, let's not forget our little glimpse into the future with Max Manson going 14-11. 

High School Athletes at College Meets: I can remember when it used to seem a little on the down-low when a high school athlete made it into a college meet here in Colorado. That's not at all the case any longer. Open meets at Colorado School of Mines and the Air Force Academy regularly accept high school athletes these days. Each year, there seems to be a few more high schoolers entering these meets. In fact, it's probably becoming a fairly decent generator of revenue for these two programs. At this point, the main limiting factors to high school entry seem to be the opening heights for high jump and pole vault, plus the college standards in men's shot put and 60 meter hurdles. Thus far, however, Adams State and Western State have not embraced the trend of opening college meets to high school athletes.

The diverging fortunes of club versus non-club meets: Participation at USATF-Colorado meets is by no means in danger of drying up, but numbers were down in a significant sort of way this winter. We've already mentioned rising participation in college meets. In addition, the Air Force High School Indoor Open, the Western State High School Indoor Open, and the Great Southwest Classic Indoor were each up sharply in terms of participation by Colorado athletes. A group in Alamosa played with the idea of hosting an indoor meet at the ASU Bubble this winter, but it didn't end up happening. I doubt, however, that means the idea is dead in any permanent sort of way.

What was the University of Colorado thinking? Well, it's probably safe to say they were thinking about football, and track was just a bit of an afterthought. With essentially zero seating above or outside of their new 300-meter track, the new CU indoor facility will be of very limited utility for track and field competition. Further complicating the issue is the fact that field event runways occupy much the same real estate as the track. In short, this means that any meets held at the facility will likely have to be two-day events--one day for field events and another day for track events. Unless, that is, CU invests in movable runways and pits such as the Air Force Academy and University of New Mexico use. Barring that, I'm guessing this puts a dagger through the heart of the idea of using the facility for hosting high school meets, unless it's a specialty kind of meet like an indoor distance carnival. Honestly, though, parking was going to be a nightmare, anyway...

Indoor Throws: The high school weight throw has never seen more than a trickle of participation here in Colorado, but there was a day when the shot put attracted a lot more in the way of winter participation than it did this year. The girls shot put, in particular, hit upon hard times. But for a 42+ heave by Tarynn Sieg at yesterday's Joe Davies Open, the indoor season would have had only one throw over 35 feet and only three competitors over 30 feet for the entire season. A grand total of 12 girls recorded shot put marks during the indoor season this year.

Girls 200 Meters: Let's acknowledge right here that a 24.07 (Arria Minor) and a 24.44 (Lauren Gale) are dazzling indoor 200 times. Yes, it's Colorado, and those marks were achieved in less-dense air at altitude. But, those marks are a serious kind of special any way you look at them. Ana Holland set the Colorado outdoor high school record at 23.29 just three years ago, seemingly putting it out of reach for a good, long time. It could turn out to be not much of a long time at all if all this continues. For reference, Minor's 24.07 is the fastest girls indoor 200 in Colorado since Colorado Track XC started archiving marks in 2008. Ally Watt ran 24.08 indoor last year. Gale's mark ties for third best in Colorado over the same time period.

Where will Colorado's next indoor track and field facility be built? I admit, the question seems a bit presumptive. Do we really need more? But, if you were going to build a state-of-the-art indoor track and field facility, what better place than CSU-Pueblo?! All the rest of our state's collegiate institutions are more or less landlocked. CSU-Pueblo is a glaring exception to that condition Plus, CSU-Pueblo would have a lot more drawing power than other facilities in the state due to its lower elevation. Conceivably, they could even put in a bid for DII Indoor Nationals at such a facility.

Simplot Relays: Add my name to the list of those duly impressed by the 3:28 (4x400) and 8:07 (4x800) relays posted at Simplot by the Mountain View boys. Pretty much everyone has signed on to the idea of Mountain View being a serious 4A title contender this spring, but those relay times on an indoor track leave a lot of us just a little slack-jawed. It is three months until the outdoor state meet, and a lot can happen in three months, but these are great places to be at the start of your season. And, while we're at it, a nod in the direction of Arapahoe's sub-4 girls 4x400 at Simplot is in order as well. And, no, Julia Hall isn't running two legs on the Arapahoe relay--it's just that Julia and Anna happen to look a lot alike--perhaps especially so when they're running: