Wes Rickman and Kevin Johnson finished second in the prestigious NIN 2 Mile Race. Photo by Cam Magnall.
A special report from Nike Indoor Nationals and the National Scholastic Indoor Championships by Cam Magnall.
The indoor season for track and field athletes in Colorado came to a close this past weekend with the two big nationals meets, Nike Indoor Nationals and NSIC being held on the east coast.
The contingent of Colorado runners attending the meets, though small in number, made some serious noise at both locations.
Headlining the results from the NSIC held in New York City was sprinting superstar Jeremy Rankin of Overland. Fully recovered from the hamstring injury that kept him out of outdoor season last spring, Rankin breezed through the preliminary rounds and held off the final field to win the 60m dash in 6.71.
In the 60m hurdles, Tashaun and Tarique Hill of Eaglecrest split between the two meets, with Tashaun taking 4th at NIN in 7.96 and Tarique took 3rd at NSIC in 8.00.
Rankin teammate, junior, Roblet Muhudin finished 8th in the mile run with a time of 4:17.96. He also competed in the 800m and finished in 1:57.8.
A mere 200 miles to the northeast, another group of Colorado athletes showed that they could compete with the best the nation has to offer.
Chase Cooper of Smoky Hill, ranked #2 in the country during the indoor season, pulled of the victory in the pole vault competition clearing 16’, almost 4” clear of 2nd place.
On the track, the distance events followed tradition as a strength for Colorado runners.
In the 2 mile run, Falcon teammates Wes Rickman and Kevin Johnson continued their strong indoor seasons. For Rickman who finished 2ndand ran a 9:01.92, it shows that he, like Rankin has returned to form after hamstring issues hampered him the past year. Johnson, who was in 7th at the bell lap, used a strong finish to edge out mile champion Andrew Springer by .01 for 4th. His 9:06.24 time caps off an indoor campaign that saw him shave off over 35 seconds off of his 2008 outdoor PR. Bobby Nicolls of Regis Jesuit was hoping to add to the medal count for Colorado, but had to pull out of the competition after suffering a minor injury skiing.
Alex Weinheimer of Fairview kept the ball rolling in the 800m. Staying with the lead pack of 6 that broke away from the field at the 400m mark, Weinheimer’s strong kick earned him a 5th place finish in a time of 1:54.23.
Other athletes that also made the cross-country trip to Boston to compete were: Jordan Edwards, Littleton(60m); Seth Kisselman, Littleton (60m, 200m); Danny Nicolls, Regis Jesuit (2 Mile); Michael Tasker, Cherokee Trail (60m Hurdles).