More Fun Under The Lights
The top heats of both 1600s provided enough drama for the entire evening, even if the 3200s had produced nothing.
The girls 1600 ran about 10 minutes before the boys 1600 and fully set the stage for what would follow.
After staking out an early lead and doggedly fighting off all bids to wrest the lead out of her hands, Douglas County's Lina Corrales lost that lead on the final lap of the 1600. Michelle Renner of Dakota Ridge surged hard with 200 meters remaining and appeared to have the race in hand coming off the final turn.
Corrales, though, was not yet done and responded with a counter-surge of her own, retaking the lead and just hold off yet another charge from Devon Kroeker at the finish line.
Corrales, Kroker, and Renner would each finish under 5:12. All three landed serious PRs for their efforts.
But, again, the stage had just been set for what would follow in the top heat of the boys 1600.
The Pueblo Twilight has a history of some very competitive boys 1600s, and this will go down with the best of them.
The lead and early pace-setting duties fell to Douglas County's Brock Helvey. Air Academy's Ethan Powell and Cal Banta gave chase, with Rampart's Sadio Fenner joining the hunt a lap or so later, but Helvey was in control.
Powell never really left Helvey's outside shoulder, and he shot past Helvey at the beginning of the final lap.
As it soon turned out, though, Powell wasn't the only one with designs of domination on the final lap. With 300 meters remaining, Fenner swung wide and went by Powell as if Powell was running in sand. Up the back straight, Fenner fashioned a commanding lead.
It still wasn't over.
Fenner's move proved to come just a bit too soon. Powell regathered and closed the gap, then pulled the slingshot move coming of the final turn and dominated the dash to the finish, winning in 4:19.18. Fenner would cross a little more than a second in arrears.
Girls 1600 - Top Heat
Boys 1600 - Top Heat