There is no shortage of intrigue in any of team races in the boys classifications this year. And, perhaps none can match the intrigue of the 3A boys race.
When the season opened, it looked like a two-team race between Lyons and The Classical Academy. Since then, the Lions and the Titans have accumulated a lot of company. Colorado Academy was the first team to assert themselves with solid performances at the Poudre SD Pre-State meet and then again at the St. Vrain Invitational. Bayfield, camping out in the natural cover of the southwest corner of the state, escaped serious notice until they came close to Durango one week and then thumped a somewhat short-handed Durango team the next week at Durango's own invitational. Then Faith Christian arrived on the scene with a stunning string of triumphs at Liberty Bell, Prairie View, Holy Family, and Dakota Ridge.
At the moment, Faith Christian qualifies as the hottest thing in flats, but things are scarcely settled.
Lyons reminded everyone not to forget about them with an eye-popping performance in the large school division of the Dave Sanders Invitational.
Bayfield rested their regulars at the Cortez meet this weekend, but they have to be weary of running against the same competition every week and can be expected to arrive on the Front Range on October 25 aiming to show some other folks that what they've been doing in their own neighborhood they can do elsewhere. The scenery at least changes a little for Bayfield in the next couple of weeks as they make their season's first trip over Wolf Creek Pass.
Lest anyone forget, The Classical Academy and Colorado Academy still have pretty good teams. Both teams have run most of the last several meets with partial varsity squads, perhaps to hide a little of what they have and perhaps the keep the regulars fresh. In any case, don't expect the practice to end until the week of regional meets, if that soon.
What will it take to win the big trophy? It's pretty much beyond question that any team with a scorer coming in over 18 minutes is out of the picture. There will be no covering for a sub-standard performance from the #4 runner. The strength of the field is such that nobody can put this one away on the strength of just three runners. Faith Christian put four runners in under 17:00 at Liberty Bell. Don't count on that happening again at state, but it does help to illustrate what it's going to take to win this thing.
It's probably just a little too early to count two Tigers out of the picture--Erie and La Junta. Both teams have run solidly but need to put complete, solid performances together to keep hopes alive.
Look for a field of 15 - 20 teams at state. For any region to advance five teams to state requires that at least 12 schools in their region have complete (four or more finishers) teams. That much is seriously in question for most regions.
The smaller field will diminish somewhat the score of the fourth runner but, as mentioned above, not enough so to let any team imagine that #4 is anything less than critical on October 25.
Few people are giving Andrew Roberts much of a chance to lose the individual title, but the 3A ranks are anything but short of solid individual talent. Besides Roberts, look for Joseph DeMoor (Buena Vista), Sam Feldotto (The Classical Academy), Amos Bowen (Brush), Melake Getabecha (Colorado Academy), and Ryan Poland (Denver Christian) to have solid shots at bringing home medals from state. But, don't be too quick to discount the chances for Bayfield's top two and Pagosa's Jackson Walsh. Running on hilly terrain at altitudes over 7000 feet has a way of hiding your capabilities in a way that running at Liberty Bell does not.
The 3A state meet should mark the return of a very familiar coaching face at the state meet. Greg Weich, architect of the Smoky Hill dynasty earlier this decade, has been coaching Roberts the last several months under the overview of Mark Roberts, Lyons head coach and father of Andrew.