The day was busy, that much was true. And for as many stellar performances there were, here a few highlights...
Maya Provencal downed a star-studded field in the girl's 100, and she got a personal best for her efforts. The recent Duke-commit cracked 12 for the first time, crossing the line in 11.96 for the No. 3 time in the state. Hot on her heels was Monarch's Mia Manson, who finished second in 12.10.
Provencal also won the 200 in 25.16.
Moving up in distance, Abby Glynn continued to rage over the season, picking up two big wins. The Mead senior ran 57.17 in the 400, and carried Regan Aurich and Lilly Lavier under 58 seconds. Aurich and Lavier ran 57.88.
Glynn doubled back to win the 300 hurdles in the final strides, running a state-leading 45.06 to Claira Gilchrist's 45.43. Kilah Freelon finished third in 46.28.
Meanwhile the name in the 100 hurdles was Zion Smith. The Northfield senior cleared the field with the lone sub-15 clocking, running 14.94.
In the mid-distance events Farivew's Marlena Preigh reigned supreme.
Peak to Peak's Quinn McConnell set a modest early pace through the opening laps of the Invite 1,600, though Preigh sat way, way in the back in ninth through the first 1,000 meters. The Fairview senior dropped an insane final 600, however. With the real estate shrinking Preigh opened up her stride and ate up precious amounts of blue track. She blew by packs of twos and threes before finding herself lassoing McConnell in on the backstretch. Rather than save this one for the final 100 Preigh cruised on by and telescoped away for a state-leading 5:00.43. When the clock stopped it was revealed that her final lap was a staggering 68 seconds.
Sarah O'Sullivan charged late as well as finished second in 5:04, while McConnell held on for third in 5:08.
A few hours later Preigh returned to the track in her signature event - the 800 - and once again paced her way through the first half of the race. When the bell rang out she struck once more, only this time Lavier tagged along for much of the final lap. Preigh crossed the finish line without any shadows in 2:14.07. Lavier was 2:16.33, and Kasey Klocek was just a few seconds back in 2:18.65.
The theme of pacing your way through the early stages of the race extended on upwards to the 3,200, where Tiya Chamberlin sat back for much of the opening mile before pressing the pace. Chamberlin was running nearly 10 to 20 meters ahead of the field, which included Lanie Szuch and Elizabeth Schweiker, though the final lap was where the race was decided. Szuch kicked hard over the final quarter and caught Chamberlin with more than enough real estate to spare. The Evergreen freshmen nabbed the win in 11:08, just ahead of Chamberlin's 11:10. Schweiker finished third in 11:18.
In the throws Gya'ni Sami had a big day. The Sierra senior came away with a big personal best in the discus to win the event in a state-leading 136-2. Behind her Logan DeRock took the runner-up spot in 130-9, and Hannah Perry was third in 128-2.
Likewise, Broomfield's Joy Fifita was the victor in the shot put, tossing 38-10. Amaya Atencio cracked 38 feet as well to finish second in 38-0. DeRock was third in 37-7.
The triple jump was an event that went down to the inches. Boulder's Lily Margolis took down Roosevelt's Grace Lange 36-5 to 36-3 for the win. The win came with a personal best for Margolis.
Manson's second place finish in the 100 was accompanied by two wins in the field events. The Monarch junior won the long jump in 17-11, and a hotly contested pole vault.
Six went over 10-6, and three over 11 feet. Logan Kuskie was the third place finisher at 11-0, leaving Kristina Willis and Manson to battle beyond. Both cleared 12 feet, before the two-battle went down only to come back up again. Currently they're tied on top of the state rankings as 12-0.