Prestige is a hard thing to measure and mostly a matter of subjective interpretation, so I won't try to measure it here. But, it's probaby safe to say that the John Martin Invitational at Fort Collins HS brings together the most intriguing set of teams of all the meets this weekend.
The John Martin Invitational is run at Fort Collins HS and has two divisions, Divisions I and II. Okay, zero points for name creativity, but it's still a good meet. Teams from as far away as Antonito and Green River, Wyoming, will be competing.
The Division I race features a very solid collection of girls teams. For the first time this year, Thompson Valley and Fort Collins will be banging heads directly. Also in the field are Cherry Creek, Rocky Mountain, and Green Mountain. The Green Mountain Rams will be looking to add some street credentials to an increasingly impressive resume built through dominating some mid-sized meets. This meet will give Green Mountain an opportunity to objectively assess how they stack up against some of Colorado's most tradition-rich programs. The Rams are led by Andi Carpenter, shown here on her way to winning Tuesday's Chatfield Challenge meet (photo contributed by Clint Boston).
The Division I boys race holds the potential to add some much-needed clarity to the 5A boys picture. Established contenders Cherry Creek, Fort Collins, and Loveland will be on the course at the same time. Fruita-Monument, which has been running up the score (oops, it doesn't work that way in cross country) on the competition over in Grand Junction the last two weekends, comes over the mountain to face some of the best competition on the Front Range. If the Monarch boys are to make a serious run at being a contender, this would be a great meet to serve notice that they are a team to be taken seriously.
Interestingly, the Division II boys race reprises a matchup between the top four Division 3 team finishers at last week's Liberty Bell meet. Falcon, Laramie, Niwot, and D'Evelyn reunite to settle old scores, or something like that. It seems reasonable to guess, though, that one or more of these teams may not be running at full strength this week.
The Divsion II girls race lacks some of the marquee appeal of the boys race, but is definitely not without its elements of interest on the statewide level. Greeley West appears to have the top team coming in and would very much like to see their number 4 and 5 runners step up with big supporting roles at this meet. Niwot appears to be bringing the Spartans' strongest competition into the field.
The John Martin course is historically fast. It's worth noting that Allie McLaughlin's fastest time all season last year was posted at this meet. She won't be there this year.
Complete results of this meet will be posted as quickly as possible this weekend.
Prestige is a hard thing to measure and mostly a matter of subjective interpretation, so I won't try to measure it here. But, it's probaby safe to say that the John Martin Invitational at Fort Collins HS brings together the most intriguing set of teams of all the meets this weekend.
The John Martin Invitational is run at Fort Collins HS and has two divisions, Divisions I and II. Okay, zero points for name creativity, but it's still a good meet. Teams from as far away as Antonito and Green River, Wyoming, will be competing.
The Division I race features a very solid collection of girls teams. For the first time this year, Thompson Valley and Fort Collins will be banging heads directly. Also in the field are Cherry Creek, Rocky Mountain, and Green Mountain. The Green Mountain Rams will be looking to add some street credentials to an increasingly impressive resume built through dominating some mid-sized meets. This meet will give Green Mountain an opportunity to objectively assess how they stack up against some of Colorado's most tradition-rich programs. The Rams are led by Andi Carpenter, shown here on her way to winning Tuesday's Chatfield Challenge meet (photo contributed by Clint Boston).