Lilly Lavier built a formidable lead on the first lap and crushed the field on the second.
The Pueblo Twilight has enjoyed a reputation for being the go-to meet for big distance performances for a few years now. Last night did nothing to tarnish that reputation. If the reputation changed, it was by growth and not deletion.
The party most responsible for that would be Alamosa's Lilly Lavier. Folks in the know around the state, and especially 3A folks in the know, are quite aware of what Lavier has been doing in the 800 (not to mention the 400 and 4x400) this season. Even so, she took it up a notch with a 2:12.18 exercise in domination.
Lavier led early and led late. She has no peers in the field, nor anyone close. She embodied the Mean Moose spirit from start to finish.
Nor was Lavier the only Alamosa athlete coming up big at middle distances. Sister Emily Lavier was fourth in the 800 at just a hair over 2:23. Chad Jackson won the 800 in 1:58.59 with Cole Schweizer in fourth. Allyssa Romero won the 400 in 58.99 with teammates Emily Lavier and Bailee del Tondo taking second and third. Ian Jackson was second in the 400 at 49.47.
And, in a closing point of emphasis, Alamosa's girls won the 4x400 in 4:00.44. A soul-crushing anchor leg from Lilly Lavier had much to do with that win as well.
Again, if you've been following Alamosa's season, none of this comes as a huge surprise.
Other not-very-big surprises of the meet included Luc Andrada and Keyanda Bolton executing sweeps of the the 100 and 200, Kain Medrano winning the shot put and discus, Montezuma-Cortez posting some monster girls sprint relays, Fountain-Fort Carson coming through with a meet record in the boys 4x100, Treveon Collins winning the 400 in just over 49 seconds, Jordan Lanning (short) and Jasmine Charles (long) splitting the hurdle events, and Amaya Atencio winning the shot put.
But, the big draw of the Pueblo Twilight is the distance events. And, as usual, the distance events sizzled under the cool evening air.
Tiana Bradfield and Anna Shults went out hard early and hung on for a 1-2 in the girls 1600. Cal Banta ran an inspired race to take down Yasin Sado in the boys 1600. Madison Reed broke the will of the assembled field to craft a win in the 3200. And, in the final event of the night, Dillon Powell and Mason Norman battled for eight laps before Powell took the win in the 3200.
Lots of folks left the Dutch Clark Stadium with newly-minted state-qualifying marks. And that's why people keep coming back to the Twilight. It delivers on its promise of speedy distance races.