There's something about driving extended stretches of I-76. It makes people want to run fast.
Wiggins cross country coach Mario Garcia has been banking on that very notion for several years now. A few teams bring their varsity regulars. More teams bring JV types for an end-of-season finale that all but promises a massive PR. Regardless, the Wiggins Invitational has carved out a solid niche for itself in the Colorado high school cross country season.
It doesn't really matter who comes and doesn't come if you have a highly successful meet year after year after year. Wiggins has that.
Never mind that the meet's only claim to cross country status is that it's listed on the cross country calendar. Everyone already knows that the only dirt you're ever going to find on this course is if you wander off the course (road) and into the ditch or corn field. The meet about as cross country as a penalty kick, but it's a still great place to take a whack at your existing 5K PR.
And that's exactly what a few hundred kids did today.
Addi Iken might be your poster child for all this race has come to mean here in Colorado. She wasn't here with any teammates. Iken, after running more than her share of grinder courses during her high school career, has enjoyed the likes of Liberty Bell, Windjammer, and Wiggins this fall. Doubtless she came here to shave a few seconds off her PR, but the spirits of the corn fields weren't in a cooperative mood today. Iken got the win, but came up 10 seconds shy of her Liberty Bell PR, set earlier this season.
Iken's 18:31, though, did have her almost a minute in front of Denver North's Laura Romero in second. Iken had no peers in this race.
Like Denver North, Greeley West brought their varsity squad to Wiggins. And, at least a couple of Spartans did come home with PRs. Together, however, they all came home with something bigger--meet title. In the hallowed annals of Wiggins Invitational lore, Greeley West is your 2017 girls team champion.
Rocky Ford's Cody Danley met a fate similar to Addi Iken's. Danley ran 16:06 and missed a PR by a small handful of seconds. In Danley's case it did turn out as a season-best time, just not the crown jewel of his high school career.
Danley was chased, though at a respectful distance, by Niwot's Kenny Lang and Kamran Elahi. Altogether, Niwot claimed four of the top six places and easily disposed of Conifer's bid to win a team title. Niwot's 30 team points were 38 points better than the Conifer tally.
Conifer senior Ryan Roberts did, however, earn a 17:04 PR and fourth place, thereby splitting up Niwot's 2 and 3 runners.
If you've followed me this far, I can already detect a building sense of disappointment here. Yes, these are fast times, but these don't bear much resemblance to the legendary fast times for which Wiggins is justly famous. So, what gives?
At this moment and from my distance, it would appear that "what gives" is something else Wiggins (along with pretty much all of the Eastern Plains) is famous for--wind.
Temperatures were comfortably cool this morning and barometric pressure was at least adequate to the task of setting up for a sizzling set of times. But, at 10 AM this morning, I'm seeing that Wiggins was experiencing sustained winds of 25 mph. Those winds were directly out of the north.
Interpreted, that means runners went out with the wind, did a little out-and-back with a crosswind, and then came back most of the last mile into the teeth of a stiff 25 mph wind that was occasionally gusting even higher. Even Mario Garcia can't keep his hair in place into a gale like that.
And, if you've ever run at or been an innocent bystander at the Wiggins Invitational, you know there's not so much as a corn silk coming between you and whatever wind is blowing on race day. So, what we learned today includes the fact that Wiggins may be among your very best PR courses in Colorado, but it is not a done deal just for showing up.