Liberty Bell--the state's most crowded start line. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
It is the week that requires no introduction. It's the week that ends with Liberty Bell on Friday and St. Vrain on Saturday.
It's a ridiculously easy week to plan for coverage. You send someone to Liberty Bell (two someones this year, actually) and you ship yourself off to St. Vrain (with a sidekick videographer). Easy.
It's not quite that everyone is going to St. Vrain or Liberty Bell, but it sure does seem that way sometimes.
Other meets this weekend include the Standley Lake Gator Invitational on Thursday, the Grand Junction Invitational on Friday for mostly larger schools confined to the Western Slope, the Hotchkiss Invitational for mostly smaller schools confined to the Western Slope, and the Joe Vigil Invitational in Alamosa.
St. Mary's Academy holds their typically small meet at Denver's Bible Park on Wednesday.
Realistically, that leaves the Standley Lake meet is the only Front Range meet taking on Liberty Bell and St. Vrain. And, actually, the Standley Lake appears to be doing pretty well with that distinction. At this point, it appears they have 30 teams aiming buses at Stony Creek Golf Course. Granted, some of those teams may be sending over JV squads who didn't quite fit at Liberty Bell, but it's a nice collection of teams just the same.
Grand Junction and Hotchkiss figure to divide the bulk of the Western Slope teams between them. Their courses couldn't be more different. Grand Junction boasts the grass and sidewalks of Canyon View Park. There probably isn't more than five feet over vertical delta over the entire course. Hotchkiss boasts the dobies out behind the school. They measure the vertical deltas there in units much larger than five feet. Both courses have the potential to be pretty stinkin' hot, though it doesn't always work out that way.
The Joe Vigil moved from their traditional spot on Labor Day weekend to one week later. It was a gamble, but right now it appears the Mean Moose and Adams State made the right decision. Lots of southern Colorado schools from either side of Alamosa are making their way to Cattails Golf Course. Traffic should be heavy over both La Veta and Wolf Creek Passes, though Wolf Creek is about five times as much fun to drive (barring the moment you get stuck behind a flatlander doing 30 mph on the straights). For the record, it's probably the fastest course in the nation at 7500 feet. In case you've never been down that direction, Alamosa does flat very well.
That leaves Liberty Bell at over 90 teams this year and St. Vrain at 60 teams. Both meets are pulling teams from across the Colorado borders in those mixes of teams.
Showdowns? They're everywhere you look.
At St. Vrain, Mountain Vista takes on all comers, boys or girls, and those comers include Boulder, Silver Creek, Niwot, Palmer Ridge, Monarch, Coronado, Peak to Peak, Air Academy, and Battle Mountain. Rio Rancho brings a highly-touted girls team from New Mexico (and their boys aren't bad, either). And, you will drop your jaw when you see the assembled start list for the 4A/5A girls race.
At Liberty Bell, you get Arapahoe, Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge, Grandview, Pine Creek, Fossil Ridge, and Cherokee Trail. Then you get out-of-state teams like Rock Springs and Albuquerque Academy.
Either way, you get wall-to-wall cross country excitement. Either way, your head spins at the possibilities. And, perhaps you can figure out a way to take in both?
One team I don't yet have a destination for for the weekend in Broomfield. Assuming the Eagles run, somebody gets a prize there. I have a hunch they're ending up at Liberty Bell and just haven't done their registration yet.
Suffice it to say that rankings will be a lot better informed after the dust settles on this weekend. Fasten your seatbelts, because high school cross country doesn't get much better than this.
