Elco Garcia ran cross for Bayfield since Ignacio doesn't have a program, but he's posted several nice years of track for Ignacio.
This past weekend would have been the state meet. The ugly weather that came late in the weekend wouldn't have impacted anything. It would have been glorious.
The sting will eventually subside, but for most only slowly so. That's how this sort of thing goes.
We take a look now at the 2A senior boys who might well have pushed their team to a trophy this past weekend. The criteria for making the cut into this article are being an individual who was likely to have scored in the state meet and as part of a team that could be reasonably be assumed to be in the trophy hunt.
We'll go alphabetical order through the teams. And here we go...
Burlington - After an absence of a few years from the podium, Burlington had a shot at getting back this year on the strength of field events. There was thrower Taylor Scott and jumpers Jesus Hernandez and Andrew Burton.
Holyoke - The Dragons have been a perpetually good track and field program. It's no surprise to find them on this list, though the contributions this year from seniors would likely have been limited to pole vaulter Luis Chafino and discus thrower Michael Ramos.
Ignacio - It's been a while since the Bobcats were in a state trophy hunt, but they could reasonably have been this year. That owes largely to the distance presence of Jonas Nanaeto and Elco Garcia. Ignacio distance was setting up as a force to be reckoned with this spring. Jason Hampton-Foutz was also within striking distance of being a scorer in the pole vault.
Lyons - It seems Lyons is always in the title hunt. And this year would have been no different. Leading that charge, of course, would be distance runner Isaac Roberts. Roberts figured to close out a nice high school career with yet another big state meet. Simon Stone and Jordan Shackelford gave the Lions more depth in the distance events than any small school ever ought to be able to dream of having (at least since Lyons had the trio of Roberts, Such, and Such). Lyons probably wouldn't have gotten any senior scoring help at state in any other individual events, though.
Mancos - It's been a long time since the Blue Jays won a state title in track and field, but this could have been the year. Mancos was loaded, and a lot of that came by way of seniors. There was, of course, thrower Caden Showalter. It's not at all a reach to think he may have won two state titles. But Showalter was not alone. Sprinter/jumper Anthony Medina might well have been in the hunt for three state titles. And Breccen Morelli would have added his legs to the 400 chase.
Sedgwick County - Wait a minute, was Sedgwick County supposed to be done with the graduation of Chad Mikelson? And wasn't that a few years ago already? Evidently memos sent to Julesburg never get there. This year, the Cougars would have been leaning hard on the skills of sprinter Trevor Barowsky, jumper Liston Dalton, high jumper Gavin Thode, and pole vaulter Isaiah Martinez. The dynasty takes a hit by not having a state meet this spring, but something tells me we haven't heard the last of Sedgwick County.
If you noticed a disproportionate number of teams from northeast Colorado, you've picked up on something. Track and field seems to be a serious thing between Burlington and Julesburg.