If you don't know the name Yasin Sado yet, you soon will. The KIPP Denver junior just ran the No. 13 mile in the nation in Seattle.
The snow may have stranded some in Wyoming and Utah, but the weather cleared just in time for the University of Washington High School Invitational Saturday at Dempsey Indoor Stadium. The storied track played host to some of the top athletes from the Pacific Northwest as well as many from Colorado as well.
Colorado Springs Track Club, Exceler8, FAST (Frontier Academy), Kokopelli, and Peak Performance all sent several athletes to rainy Seattle for the highly touted meet.
UW put on a Last Chance meet on Friday night and several former Colorado athletes were in attendance. 2016 and 2017 Gatorade Cross Country athletes of the year Katie Rainsberger and Brie Oakley faced off in the mile, with Rainsberger taking the win in 4:35.15. Cheyenne Mountain sprinter Michaela Moore ran a personal best of 7.82 for Seattle University. Monarch grad Isaac Green also got in on the action running the 3000m unattached from the Huskies. The former Colorado stars set the expectations high for their young counter parts and in many places they stepped up to the challenge.
Exceler8, FAST, and Kokopelli brought a sizable group of distance runners to duke it out with the best in the Northwest and they did not disappoint. Durango junior Madeleine Burns, Palmer Ridge junior Riley Colby, and Frontier Academy junior Julia Brown threw down in the 800m.
Burns took the win in 2:21.56, but Colby and Brown were not far behind finishing in 2:22.25 and 2:22.72 respectively.
If you take a closer look Brown has already dropped over 6 seconds off her outdoor PR from last year and Colby who is a 58.82 in the 400m could be setting up to bust onto the mid-distance scene for the Bears.
Burns came back later in the day to throw down in the mile as well and this time she was shadowed by Discovery Canyon senior and Arizona State commit Liberty Ricca. Burns and Ricca finished just north of the 5 minute barrier, 5:00.19 for Burns and 5:01.89 for Ricca.
KIPP Denver junior Yasin Sado created possibly the biggest buzz of the meet for the Colorado contingent as he went head to head with Daniel Maton and Joe Waskom in the mile.
Maton and Waskom led Sado to a 12 second PR - Yes, you read that correctly.
Sado came into the meet with an outdoor best of 4:25.75 (4:32.57 indoors) and walked away with a third-place finish and a new PR of 4:13.57 in the mile - that is No. 13 in the nation.
Air Academy senior and Colorado State commit Cal Banta finished a few seconds back in 4:20.02.
The boys 800m was led by Palmer Ridge senior Andrew Bluemel who got caught right at the last second but came away with a third-place finish and a shiny new 1:55.70 PR.
Right behind him Frontier Academy senior Jesse Hayward made possibly the second biggest jump of the meet when he ripped nearly 10 seconds off of his outdoor PR and finished in 1:59.95. Sado and Hayward both return as top-10 3A athletes in the 800m.
The University of Washington promised a stellar meet, but they stepped their game up by adding an elite invitational mile to the afternoon. Spectators saw seven, yes SEVEN, different runners break 4 minutes in the mile. University of Arizona runner Carlos Villareal led the charge winning the event in 3:57.27 and ranking him #3 in the NCAA. Every team brought mainly distance runners except Colorado Springs Track Club who brought a smattering of sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers, and mid-distance athletes. CSTC started the day for the Colorado contingent with Cheyenne Mountain senior and Binghamton University commit Gabby Hyatt running a PR of 8.00 (7.992) in the 60m and qualifying for the final. Sand Creek junior Marcus Daniels was the first man out of the 60m final after running 7.26. Cheyenne Mountain senior and Montana State commit Ashlyn Ventimiglia headlined the 400m for Colorado with a new indoor PR of 1:00.29.
Palmer Ridge junior Braeden Holcombe led the Colorado long jumpers adding nearly a foot to his PR with a shiny new 21'3.5" jump. Holcombe also added a few inches to his best indoor triple jump mark with his 41'4" jump later in the day.
Discovery Canyon senior Ryan Blake had a little trouble getting into a groove as he had to bounce back and forth between triple jump and high jump, which were run simultaneously. Blake finished just shy of 40 feet in triple and bowed out after three near misses at 6'3.5" (1.92m).
The big finish of the night for Colorado came in the 3000 where Ricca took on Evergreen Freshman standout Lanie Szuch in what could shape up to be the match to watch for the 4A 2- mile title come May.
The early round went to Szuch who finished in 10:08.99, just ahead of Ricca in 10:11.72.
Take that how you will, but both athletes ran nearly three miles in the meet and both threw down some massive times in the mile and 3k.
Air Academy senior Dillon Powell saw what Szuch and Ricca did and decided to step it up a notch. Powell came away with the only event victory for Colorado in the 3k with a winning time of 8:44.97 - that's currently the No. 15 time in the country. Powell led Palmer junior Gus McIntyre and Palmer Ridge senior Brandon Hippe under 9 minutes. McIntyre finished in 8:51.06 and Hippe in 8:56.79.
I think it is safe to say that Colorado is ready to take the gloves off, and get the spring season going with a bang!