Isabella Bowland leads a charge of Colorado distance runners into Saturday's finals at the Simplot Games.
The first day of the Simplot Games hosted mostly distance events and a few field events, though it was in the distance events that Colorado really came and impressed in the preliminary heats.
In the boys mile James Lee and Landon Rast ran the second and third fastest qualifiers, out of 291 entrants. No one ran faster than 4:24, giving the notion that it was a tactical sit and kick affair. Lee ran 4:24.22, while Rast was right behind in 4:24.67. Cal Banta was the third and final Colorado qualifier in 4:29.
On the girls side Fairview's Isabella Bowland led the way with a 5:10 qualifier, good for the sixth fastest time. Madi Kenyon wasn't far behind in 5:16, while Madeleine Burns ran 5:17. Additional qualifies included Lauren McKenna (5:25), Abigael Howard (5:27), and Hannah Mae Gigstad (5:30).
Brock Dykema was Colorado's top qualifier in the boys 3,200. Dykema ran 9:42.
Nick Shampoe was the final qualifier in the event, running 9:51. In the girls 3,200 Addi Iken opened up her 2018 season not far off her personal best in the 3,200. Iken ran 11:22 for the seventh fastest qualifier. Not far behind was Silver Creek's Lauren Zoe Baker, who 11:25 while Alexandra Emerson was the final qualifier in 11:35. Just missing out on the final was Caitlin McConnell, who was three seconds behind a qualifying time. All finals are scheduled to be run Saturday.
In the weight throw
Samuel Dirkes led Colordo, finishing 13th with a toss of 47-03.25, just ahead of
Isabella Bowland leads a charge of Colorado distance runners into Saturday's finals at the Simplot Games.
The first day of the Simplot Games hosted mostly distance events and a few field events, though it was in the distance events that Colorado really came and impressed in the preliminary heats.
