Arria Minor takes her two best races--the 200 and 400--to Sacramento, California, for Junior Nationals this weekend.
If you're still looking for more track and field to see or to compete in, there are still opportunities. In fact, this weekend is kind of heavy in opportunities.
Before we get to the weekend, however, there's the Valor Twilight #3 in Highlands Ranch on Wednesday evening. I'm not sure what the turnout will be like, given that a bigger meet is also scheduled for Valor on Thursday through Saturday, but Twilight #3 is definitely on the schedule for Wednesday evening.
Then, this weekend, Colorado high school age athletes will be scattering to three different meets.
The highest level of those three meets is the USATF Junior Championships in Sacramento. Pointed that direction are Arria Minor (200, 400), Brie Oakley (5000), Anna Hall (HJ, Heptathlon), and Adam Dawson (Discus). There are also a couple of Colorado high school alumni set to compete at that meet as well.
As an aside, both of the girls who beat Anna Hall in a heptathlon competition this spring are also entered, so Hall--who never seems to lack for motivation--should be highly motivated this time around. And, as you put the pieces of a heptathlon last week and another this week together, you begin to understand why Hall bypassed the Great Southwest heptathlon at the beginning of the month.
Adam Dawson's throwing appearances have been limited since early May due to a nagging injury, but evidently it's pretty hard to turn down an opportunity to throw the discus at Junior Nationals.
Brie Oakley tries to carry over the momentum from her record-smashing effort at Brooks PR this past weekend into this weekend. It will be considerably warmer in Sacramento.
It's nice to see Minor running more 400s lately. It certainly looks to my untrained eye like that's where her greatest opportunities lie.
Right here at home, both AAU and USATF have qualifying meets this weekend. The AAU District 20 qualifier is where every AAU meet in Colorado is--at Brighton High School. Currently, entries for that meet are very light.
A lot more of Colorado's high school (and under) track and field delegation with be headed to Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for the USATF-Colorado Junior Olympic Championships.
I don't have a tap into the entries for that meet, but you can reasonably expect it to be what previous years' versions of the same meet have been--rather large and inclusive of the vast majority of athletes who are still training this deep into the summer season.
Colorado Track XC will be on-hand for the Saturday action. Photo coverage will happen, and there is a decent chance I'll be able to arrange for video coverage of the track events as well.
Both the AAU District 20 meet and the USATF-Colorado meet are qualifiers for the next round of competition in those circuits. This year, however, there are a few USATF-Colorado meets still available later in the summer for athletes who don't make the cut into the Region X round. USATF Junior Olympic Nationals are in Kansas later this summer, making participation at nationals more attractive this year than it has been for several years for the Colorado delegation. That, in turn, should help to boost participation at this weekend's meet.
Arria Minor takes her two best races--the 200 and 400--to Sacramento, California, for Junior Nationals this weekend.
If you're still looking for more track and field to see or to compete in, there are still opportunities. In fact, this weekend is kind of heavy in opportunities.
Before we get to the weekend, however, there's the Valor Twilight #3 in Highlands Ranch on Wednesday evening. I'm not sure what the turnout will be like, given that a bigger meet is also scheduled for Valor on Thursday through Saturday, but Twilight #3 is definitely on the schedule for Wednesday evening.
