It wasn't a great day to stake out an early lead at the Pueblo Central Invitational, but we'll get to that in a moment. First, however, we need to do a little setting of the story.
Regrettably, the Pueblo Central Invitational is but a shadow of the meet it was 30 years ago. Pueblo is not the center of cross country that it was a generation or more ago. And, big meets have cropped up in Littleton, Lyons, and even Alamosa to nudge the Pueblo Central Invitational from its former privileged place among Colorado high school cross country invitationals.
But, if you put your ear to the ground, you might still hear echoes of great meets and great performances of years gone by. You may hear stories told of Adam Goucher and Melody Fairchild running to course records that would stand for many, many years as Colorado state cross country records.
The Pueblo Central Invitational is still an honored veteran among the roster of cross country meets across the state. Who knows, someday it may return to its place of glory. Until then, though, there's still good racing to be had.
Conditions were excellent this morning for spectating, probably a little less than excellent for racing. Temperatures were about what you'd expect for Pueblo this time of year and the sun beat down a little on racers pushing for every ounce their bodies could give.
Next: Pomona sweeps