Admittedly, it can be a little tough for a meet to compete on a weekend when Stutler Twilight is going on on Friday night and Liberty Bell on Friday and Saturday.
Evidently, though, there's enough talent to go around in the state, and the Ram Charger at Jeffco Stadium held its own nicely.
Despite a negative wind of consequence, Luc Andrada still dipped below 11 seconds for the 100. The wind was a bit more favorable for his 21.62 in the 200. Pueblo East also torched the 4x100 and 4x200 fields.
All that, however, was not enough for the Eagles.
Kain Medrano left the other Eagles to do their thing in the rings. Meanwhile, Medrano went 20-5 for second in the long jump. Only Jaden Johnson of Heritage Christian parked one farther out into the sand. Meanwhile, East's Zion Freeman scored a second in the discus.
Silver Creek's Samuel Dirkes, who also sat out the shot put, went a little over 165 feet to win the discus. Cameron Harris won the 300 hurdles in 38.64. And Standley Lake's Tyler Williams gave a brief clinic in running the 400, stopping the show at 47.83.
All that kind of took the crowd's breath away. But the girls had their turns as well.
DeBeque enjoyed some Front Range big meet competition and made the most of it. Faith Novess started things off with a third in the 100 hurdles. Railey and Jentry Largent backed that up with 6-7 finish in the 100. And the Dragons were on their way to a big day.
The big show, however, came when Novess won the 300 hurdles in 45.79. Honestly, that was a bigger show than her 5-2 win in the high jump, although the high jump show did last substantially longer.
Chatfield convincingly swept the short relays. And, the Chargers got a win in the 200 from freshman Emma Strom. It was a good day to be a Charger sprinter. Or should that be sprinter Charger?
Miranda Manfre of Bear Creek on the 400 in a nice time of 58.18. Harlie Medrano made sure the family didn't leave Jeffco Stadium without a personal first place, winning the shot put in 37-4.
From a competitive standpoint, however, the best event of the day may have been the girls 1600. The race started out as all Katie Flaherty of The Classical Academy. One girl, however, refused to fade. That was Kiran Green of Brighton. Green took over in the third lap and built a lead as emphatic as the one Flaherty had built earlier in the race. Green, however, may have calculated her surge just a bit too early as Flaherty came back with a furious charge in the final 150 meters, catching Green just before the finish line and winning 5:11.11 to 5:11.25.
The crowd was heard expressing some appreciation over that show. But, honestly, appreciation for the efforts was never in short supply on this day. And with good reason.