Looking ahead to Saturday's quasi-annual Fastest Coach in the State race, this year's iteration poses no less intrigue than in previous years.
If the primary question high school teams must answer in the August and September is who was putting in their time over the summer, the biggest question the Coaches race must answer is who has enjoyed the off season from coaching the most.
"Enjoy," though, is a flexible term. For some the word enjoy means slaying countless miles without any sophomore boys dabbing in your proximity. For others the word enjoy means crushing seasons five and six of Lost on Netflix and catching up on gravy consumption. Nothing says "off-season" like a giant glass of gravy, unless it's a Chubby Bunnies tournament with eggnog chasers.
In December, weather is always a factor, but as of now, the forecast calls for the temps to be in between 34 and 38 degrees at 9:30 when the gun goes off. It probably won't be enough, though, to thaw the ground.
So far, none of the winners of the previous year's women's individual titles have registered for the race. Rumors have been swirling for weeks in the email-o-sphere that the legendary Emily Hanenburg may just throw on her spikes and catch a ride up to Lyons on Saturday to make things interesting. As of now the race for the women's title has a lot of unknowns.
The Men's individual title carries a bit of intrigue. After several years of absolute domination by Kelly Christensen now of Niwot, James Vance from Thompson Valley showed up in 2014 and won the race title and set the meet record, but without Christensen present. Robert Young from Rampart made things pretty salty in 2014 as well.
Thus far, Christensen has not registered for the race, but Vance has. Will Christensen make the short drive up Highway 34 to create the race of the century in a showdown with Vance, or will a dark horse contender emerge? Candidates for dark horse include the Legend of Kettle Morraine, Wisconsin: Jefferson Academy coach Terry Witkowski. Witkowski sports a mean 15:12 PR. Jake Link from Centaurus has been known to make things interesting at times as well.
As far as the team race right now, things seem pretty tight. For those who are uninitiated to the rules of the coaches race, the team element is scored co-ed, classification versus classification. Right now, based off of sheer numbers, 3A seems to have the edge. All four high school classifications appear to have at least one athlete capable of finishing in the top five. The tale of which team wins seems to be a question of who is able to pack in the most depth with their fellow classification mates. In 2014, team 5A edged team 4A by a scant one point.
If you want in, it is absolutely not too late to register.
Here is what you need to know:
Date: 12/10/16
Time: 9:30 Gun Time
Lyons High School (Directions)
$5 to throw in to the prize pot
Donuts and Coffee will be served
Foot Locker Nationals Watch Party to follow