Meets have been coming at us the last few days almost as fast as Melanie Doty and Shea Zeman. Photo by Ben Hershelman.
The pace of meets the last couple of days has been such that it's been very difficult to keep pace. This article represents my best effort at trying to keep pace. Mostly, it will be a collection of first impressions gleaned from the results.
Western Slope 4A JV Championships - The 100s were swept by a pair of freshmen we could be hearing more of down the road--Eddey Suarez of Battle Mountain and Haley Carver of Palisade. Both were in a league of their own. Nice horizontal jumps were added by Palisade's Stephen Leonard and Miguel Quintana. If you hadn't noticed, jumps are a happening thing at Palisade.
Highland Twilight - Another thing you may have noticed is that Twilight meets tend to come in the twilight of the season. It would appear that a number of coaches were being a bit choosy with athlete slots, but we still saw some nice performances out of Allee Beach (200), Erica Elpers (horizontal jumps), LeeAnn Wagner (1600), Levi Kilian (1600), Cooper Ward (100, 200), Andrew King (3200), Corbin Mayes (PV), Jordan Cherin (800), Anton Watson (discus), and Drew Ellis (triple jump).
Holy Family Tiger Tornado - Fortunately for me, Ben Hershelman already did a nice job of covering this one.
Liberty Freshman-Sophomore - Although this was not a rankings meet, you wouldn't necessarily have known that by a quick glance of some of the athletes participating. Fountain-Fort Carson's Zaria Joseph went 33-5.5 to win the triple jump. We'll never know about the wind on that one. Rampart's Jacob Pavlica won the 400 in a noteworthy 53.03. If that doesn't make the Rampart 4x400, they have a better mile relay than I realized. Another Jacob of Rampart (Dewey, this time) ran 10:38 for the 3200. Not bad at all.
San Juan Basin League - They allowed up to eight entries per individual event at this one but couldn't find any takers. But, nobody got left out. The girls distance events boiled down to dual meets between Telluride and Mancos, which Telluride won handily. The triple jump ended up more or less the same way. Jack Plantz and Ro Paschal traded wins in the 1600 and 3200, but Paschal may have earned the final edge by winning the 400 and 800. Whatever Paschal had for dinner that night, he earned it. The boys triple jump reverted to dual meet form, with Mancos taking a big edge over Telluride this time around. Andrew Plunkett took a convincing win there.
Santa Fe League Meet - The results from this one took an extra day to arrive because the throws had to be hosted at a different venue and on a different day. Something about too much mud in Rye... Anyhow, Evan Gonzales of John Mall put up a very convincing 100. Garrett Quintana and Andrew Vigil threw the discus a combined total of over 330 feet, but got relegated to third and fourth in the shot put courtesy of Matt Stevenson and Garett Gribble. This is a rough place to break in throwers. It's even rather rough on the girls side as well--Jordan Trujillo won the girls shot at 37-11.5. And, John Mall also got a nice win out of Santos Reyna in the triple.
YW Invitational - You might say that the Wray girls flexed a little muscle at this one. Paonia, be warned, Wray doesn't aim to go down easily in another two weeks. But, the girls mark of the meet goes to Yuma's Tara Traphagen, who takes the shot put at 36-8. Evidently, the boys 1600 is a freshman event on the Eastern Plains. Haxtun's Braden Anderson edges Akron's Isaiah Herder in that showdown. Arickaree showed a little something going 1-2-3 in the 200, all under 24 seconds. It's worth noting when a school that small can pull that off. Erick Enriquez-Acosta seems to be pointed toward an 800 meter showdown with Jordan Cherin in two weeks. That one should be fun. Chad Mikelson made his usual haul of event titles.
Continental League FR/SO - Do not be misled by the meet title into thinking this was not a rankings meet. It was, and there was some considerable talent on hand to justify that standing. Rock Canyon has a couple of rising stars in Devin Cadena and Parker Garrison. Three different guys dipped below 10 minutes in the 3200. Four different guys over 20 feet in the long jump, all wind legal. Tama Tuitele all over the throws. And the beat goes on... Among the girls, Mountain Vista frosh Julia Chambers clocks a 5:27. Rock Canyon freshman Tanner Riker runs 26.09 (-2.8) to send a 200-meter message. Proving that it's not just Leilah Vigil in the Highlands Ranch throws department, Elena Opp spun the platter to 112 for a win there.
EMAC League Championships - The final day of this meet comes today, so I'll hold comment until later on this one.
Front Range League Meet - Your comprehensive summary of Day One action was provided by Brock Laue.
Jeffco Qualifier #3 - Three's a charm. They got a very large field for this one, and a nice set of results to go along with a sizable field. Lexi Reed seriously threatened five minutes in the 1600. London Evans snared a couple sprint titles. Destiny Grimes was queen of the hurdles for a day. I'm hoping this is a typo but fearing it isn't--Valor at 1:41.87 in the 4x200. Wow. Kaysha Kacanda over 35 feet to win the triple. And, that's just a sampler. Among the boys, Max Borghi was very quick over both 100 and 200 meters. Alec Hornecker showed something, dropping a 4:23 1600. Chase McLean pounded the 300 hurdles. Colin Cannon edged Vincent Workman in the 800, both at 1:55-and-change. Again, check back and look at the results for more--it will give your eyebrows a workout.
PPAC - Well, for those who were hoping to the contrary, Caleb Ojennes got his long-awaited 400 qualifier in. Suffice it to say he will be in the state field at 400 meters (among other places). Teammate Garrett Obermeyer just might be there, too. Palmer Ridge dominated boys distance, but mostly without game-changing kind of marks. Palmer Ridge throws went nicely, too. And Anthony Peters took his usual quota of event titles. They found a way to stop Lauren Gale--a timing failure in the 200 meter finals. Evidently, that's what it takes. Palmer Ridge distance domination extended to the girls as well, though the Air Academy and Cheyenne Mountain top tiers were conspicuously absent. Jenny Hall went a little over 36-8 to show up the triple jump field.
Centennial League FR/SO - Everything we said above about the Continental League FR/SO meet applies here as well. Only a few names have changed. Mason Brown at 4:30 for the 1600 is impressive, but maybe not quite as much so as three guys under 23 for 200 meters. The winner goes by the handle of Blaize. I think I see what the parents did there. And, holy cow, freshman Dillon Andrews at 40.96 to win the 300H? Aaron Harris wins the long jump at 21-5 and fractions, plus the triple at 42-3. Girls? They just wanted to have fun, too. Jaiden Paris, 14.73 for the 100H and 45.01 for the 300H. Taylor Watson, 12.18 in the 100 and 25.32 for the 200. Overland's girls at 1:43.19 for the 4x200. And there was more. Ouch.
Elizabeth JV Invitational - As this week's meets have gone, this one was lightly attended. The boys MOM was seem to be Elizabeth's own Mason Anthony at 54.43 for 400 meters. The girls MOM was indisputably Gina Coleman at 38-10 for the shot put. And, no, that does not count as a qualifying mark.
Frontier League Meet Bennett - I think I'll go with Bennett's own Joanna Delfin at 32-5.5 for the girls MOM. Among the boys, that distinction goes to Keenan Moseley, winner of the discus at 140-6.
Meets have been coming at us the last few days almost as fast as Melanie Doty and Shea Zeman. Photo by Ben Hershelman.
The pace of meets the last couple of days has been such that it's been very difficult to keep pace. This article represents my best effort at trying to keep pace. Mostly, it will be a collection of first impressions gleaned from the results.