Everything about the 4A boys' state track meet points to a colossal showdown between four teams--Sierra, Longmont, Mullen, and Cherokee Trail.
Each of the four teams has a powerful presence on the track and a spotty presence in field events. All four teams have solid relays, with Sierra probably having the strongest set of relays. All four teams are a threat to win at least one or two events.
Sierra has leaned heavily all season on Mark Sterling, Kelby Dias, and a lights-out set of relays at 4 X 2, 4 X 4, and 4 X 8. Mullen can hurt you with Andrew Berberick in the distance events, Elliott Beski in the hurdles and pole vault, Jonathan Gaye in the short sprints, and BJ Burton in the 110 hurdles. Cherokee Trail's strengths lie in the relays. To win as a team, their many state qualifiers in the track events will need to score a little above their seeds--don't count them out, however, as they are a team on the rise. For Longmont, it's an outstanding 4 X 400 team, Matt Butcher and Daniel Berry in the sprints, Aaron Praska in the hurdles, and a handful of jumpers and pole vaulters.
Kelby Dias enters the state meet with the top seeds in the 110 and 300 hurdles. Jonathan Gaye has the #2 seed at 100 meters. Matt Butcher owns the #3 seed at 100 meters, the #2 seed at 200 meters, and the #1 seed at 400 meters. Daniel Berry sits in the #3 seed at 400 meters. Andrew Berberick, at left, owns the #1 seed at 800 meters and the #2 seeds at 1600 and 3200 meters. BJ Burton has the #2 seed in the 110 hurdles, and Elliot Beski is the top seed in the pole vault. All that to suggest that these four teams will, between them, take a huge chunk of points off the board on Friday and Saturday.
While the team race hints at being the best in any classification, intriguing individual matchups abound. The much anticipated duel between D'Evelyn's Kevin Williams and Falcon's Wes Rickman in the 3200 should take place on Saturday. Temperatures look to be somewhat higher than ideal for this race, but it nevertheless holds the potential to be the state's best distance showdown since Brent Vaughn and Ian Burrell battled each other all the way to the finish line in state cross country about five years ago. Both Rickman and Williams are also entered in Friday's 1600, but don't be surprised if both scratch that event. Rickman has not run any big races since Nike Indoor Nationals. Since that time, Williams has traveled to the World Junior Men's cross country championships, ran at the Mullen Invitational, and traveled again to the Kansas Relays.
Alamosa's Jordan Reeves and Glenwood's Donnie Jennert have both cleared 6-8 in the high jump this season. If both jumpers are on this weekend, this should turn into another spectacular event. Elsewhere, Mesa Ridge will look to defend their sweep of the horizontal jump titles from last year. Patrick Richards of Widefield has run quietly in the shadow of Matt Butcher's publicity all season, but remains a credible threat to win both the 200 and 400.
On the girls' side, Mullen, Thompson Valley, Greeley Central, and Glenwood Springs are each bringing heavy artillery to the state meet. This battle for a state title could become every bit as interesting as the boys' race if things go well for each team.
Mullen has recovered nicely from last year's losses to graduation. Laura Palmere (100, 200, 400) figures heavily in the Mustangs hopes, but Madison Riggins (hurdles), a mean set of 800 runners, and a couple of strong relays will help to keep Mullen in the title hunt as well.
For Thompson Valley, the Tremblay twins, Liz, at left (200, 400), and Laura (800, 1600) will key the Eagles' hopes. Look for support coming from high jumpers Olivia True and Justine Boddy. The bottom line for Thompson Valley, however, is that their three big relays, 4 X 2, 4 X 4, and 4 X 8, must come through.
Glenwood Springs and Greeley Central will likely spread their points over more events than Thompson Valley and Mullen. The question will be whether or not they can match the high-end points Mullen and Thompson Valley will look to put up. Hurdler Laura Young represents Glenwood's top hope for high-end points, but the Demons, like Thompson Valley, will need their relays to shine. Greeley Central looks to bring in enough points from individual events that relays may not be as critical for them. Still, having your relays step up to the occasion is never a bad thing.
Apart from these four teams, there are still individual standouts aplenty. Among them, Mountain View's Amy Medina and Brianne Beemer, Widefield's Joy Warrington, Greeley West's Kendra Gerk, Conifer's Emily Blok, Broomfield's Ashley Miknis and Kayla Wein, Moffat County's Erin Urbanoski and Alicia Nelson, and pole vault record-holder Elilzabeth Stover of Longmont. Because of the depth of talent in this year's field, they will not all end up state champions, but the meet will be better for their efforts nevertheless.