This time, the Colorado School of Mines added a triple jump. Big problem? No problem!
Getting all the field events completed added all of 15 minutes to the stellar meet completion time from last week. And, the track events were actually completed sooner than last week despite subbing in a pair of 3000s for a pair of miles.
If you like your track and field meets done ahead of schedule, go hug an engineer.
Crammed into those 160 minutes were a lot of nice performances, perhaps just a few less than last week, but nothing that anyone should be complaining about.
Maya Evans (file photo, above) popped a 20-3.5 in the long jump to move to #2 in the nation. And, if you go check the national rankings, you'll find that you recognize the name of the athlete she's still behind. I promise.
I spend a lot of time down on the competition floor at track meets and I recall overhearing a coach remark earlier this indoor season about Evans, "She's not getting the height she used to." Evidently, Evans has that issue resolved now--you don't get to 20-3.5 without some height.
While Evans' long jump was the headliner of the meet, there were other nifty marks to be found as well.
Mason Anthony clipped off a 53.82 to win the 400. Keep in mind that any other place than Steinhauer or Balch Field Houses those turns would be called hairpins.
Brock Helvey ran a very nice 2:01.48 to win the 800. There's still only one sub-2 on the season, but this mark sends a message even so.
Ben Kelley made the trip over from Routt County to win the 3000 in an impressive 9:22, leaving the guys from Palmer Ridge blinking is disbelief.
Chase McLean missed a PR in the 60 hurdles at 8.63, but he did get the win this time around, a smidgin ahead of Mason Anthony.
The back-and-forth between Max Manson and Corbin Mayes went to Mayes this time. But Mayes had to go to a PR of 15-3 to get it done. There may be more of that tango at the Cadet Field House this weekend; we'll have to wait and see.
Valor's Titan Birkholz got just a hair (well, a fat hair) over 21 feet to win the long jump. Had he not done that, Maya Evans would have won the boys long jump as well. Birkholz later doubled back to win the triple jump at a fat hair over 42 feet.
Over among the girls, Kallaway Wood--heretofore better known for her long jumping that for her straightaway speed--posted the lone sub-8 mark to win the 60 in 7.96. Mia Manson, giving her brother a break from the pole vault competition for the evening, got her first of two seconds on the evening at 8.04.
The second of Manson's seconds came in the high jump at an even 5-0. Sarah Cerrone went on to clear a few more heights, taking the win at 5-4. We may have an early favorite in the 3A girls high jump for this spring...
Speaking of 3A favorites and clearing bars, Erika Willis was above the bar at 12-3, cutting short of cycle of 11-somethings that had characterized her efforts early in the season.
Cerrone and Willis weren't the only early 3A favorites on display. Tarynn Sieg sent the shot put to 43-5.5 in her first competitive effort of 2017. We should note that Maya Evans also qualifies as an early 3A favorite.
And, let's make a quick note of the 800 winner, Sonja Morin. The best information I have places Morin as an 8th grader at D'Evelyn Middle School. All I have to say to that is 2:26.45 is a pretty nice mark for an 8th-grade girl on an outdoor track. It's mind-boggling at Steinhauer. Better still, she did it in the third heat, running 19 seconds ahead of her closest competition.
Maybe Morin is a 3A favorite for next year, but Quinn McConnell might have a thought or two to offer about that possibility.