There was a lot of success to be spread out among the Colorado distance runners at the Great Southwest Classic on Saturday. And nobody's smiles were bigger those worn by Dey Tuach and Eleanor Fulton.
For Tuach, at left, it was likely the closing chapter in a brilliant high school career. For the freshman Fulton, she could remark, "This is kind of it [for this season]," but who can tell what lies ahead for this talented young lady.
The highlights of the day for Colorado distance were the 1-2-3 finishes for the boys in both the 800 and 3200.
In the 800, Andrew Berberick, at right, laid down a very quick 55 first lap and dropped most of the field from serious contention. The one person he couldn't drop, however, was Dey Tuach. Tuach took over with just over 200 meters to go and brought it home in 1:53.12. The time was close to a personal record but just off his state meet time. Not a bad performance for someone who says, "I like the 15 better, but the coaches wanted me to run the 8." Actually, it was two 8s on the day as Tuach's 4 X 800 leg was instrumental for putting Colorado into contention in that event.
Berberick ended up second in the 800 at 1:55.00, and Fairview's Alex Weinheimer came in third at 1:57.23.
Even more convincing was the show put on in the boys 3200. For the first mile, Kevin Williams, Evan Appel, and Bobby Nicolls set the pace at the front. All others had dropped out of contact by the half-way mark. It was at that point, however, that Williams separated from both Appel and Nicolls as well. Appel would end up making up some ground in the last two laps, but Nicolls was unable to sustain his early pace on the warm Albuquerque evening. Eventually, Andrew Roberts of Lyons would make a move, culminating with a strong move on the final straight to finish third in a personal best of 9:36.47. In all, Colorado would claim seven of the top 10 spots in the 3200.
Due in no small part to Tuach's absence in the 1500, Colorado would struggle a little in that event. Joe Bosshard of Crested Butte Academy was the top Colorado finisher in sixth with a time of 4:13.58
While the girls would put together no 1-2-3 finishes, they would manage to place three runners in the top six of each of the three distance events.
The 1500 started out as a tactical race, with Texas's Amanda Russell taking the lead over the first two laps. In the final half of the race, however, the girls from higher altitude took over. On the third lap, it appeared as if New Mexico's Rachel Velarde would put the field away, but Laura Tremblay, at right,
maintained just enough contact to keep that from happening. Tremblay took over on the final lap and appeared to have things under control until a remarkably strong kick from Eleanor Fulton down the final straight gave Colorado a 1-2 1500 finish.
Nobody from Colorado, or anywhere else, threatened Utah's Nachelle Stewart in the 800 meters. But it ended up being a very nice finish for Colorado neverthless. Trishawn Battiste of George Washington finished second in 2:16.84, Sierra's Samantha Thompson fifth, and Crested Butte's Emma Coburn sixth in the top-seeded heat. But .jpg)
Kelsey Brown's 2:18.09 from the first heat was good enough to catapult her into fourth place in the overall standings. Brown, at left, was one of a very small number of distance runners to establish a new season-best mark on day.
Once again, Colorado failed to capture an individual title in the 3200 meters. Kendra Gerk set the pace on the first lap, but Natalie Haws of Utah took over on the second lap and never looked back. If she had, she would have seen the Dakota Ridge duo of Natosha Rogers and Paige Lillo finishing third and sixth, behind Gerk.
Outside of distance events, Colorado's performances were a little more spotty, as many of the registered athletes ending up not making the trip down.
Mason Finley continued his dominance of the throwing events winning both the discus and shot put. His shot put mark of 64-11.5 was close to his season best, but his discus throw of 204-8, while nine feet better than the rest of the field was well behind his best throws of the season. Of the day's persistent cross winds, Finley remarked, "You had to adjust. It was okay. At least it wasn't a tailwind knocking the discus down."
Roman Holmes broke the 25-foot barrier with a wind-aided jump to finish second in the long jump. Kelli Ehardt finished second in the pole vault to national leader Rachel Laurent. Karly Marshall finished in a tie for third in that event. Elliott Beski went 15-11 to claim a share of the boys' pole vault title. Michael Hancock had a very solid return to the track, finishing second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.60w. Kelby Dias finished fourth in 13.93w. Patrick Richards, Matt Butcher, and Dominick Roberts all withdrew from the 400 meters, leaving all to wonder what could have been in that event. Richards would end up fifth in the 200 meters.