Hunter Potrykus went an even 5.00 meters for a new personal record, and easily the best high school mark of the year in Colorado.
It's August. Outdoor track and field is supposed to be winding down. Well, maybe it is winding down--to a grand finale.
We saw--or at least heard about--a number of exceptional marks in the last few days.
On Saturday, it was iteration #6 of the ATB Churchyard meet. They keep getting better.
Hunter Potrykus stole the headlines with a 5.00m clearance. That's better than 16-4. But the show didn't begin with Potrykus.
Anna Willis, the youngest of the pole vaulting Willis sisters, won the 13-14 girls competition at 3.41m (roughly 11-2). TJ Rowan won the 13-14 boys with a PR of his own at 2.81m (roughly 9-2). Jackson Wray won the 15-16 boys with a PR of his own at 4.01m.
Behind Potrykus in the 17-18 division, but still well over 14 feet, were Will Chiang at 4.46m (a PR) and Mason Adams at 4.41m.
On Friday, a small handful of Colorado girls were out in California at the US HS-MS Club Pole Vault Championships (or something like that--I've fielded a couple different versions of the meet name over the last couple of days). Kourtney Rathke and Lilly Nichols both cleared 12-1.5. Rathke won the middle school championship on misses.
Meanwhile, Sophie Pierce went 11-1.75 to claim third in the high school B division. Megan Kelleghan cleared 12-1.5 for eighth in the high school A division.
Rathke and Pierce posted new PR marks for their trip to sunny California.
Then, clear back as far as Thursday, a few local Colorado Springs track clubs were getting after it at the Vanguard track. After everyone got accustomed to the blue infield, things settled down for a very nice meet. The official name of the event was the Colorado Springs Track Club Team Scrimmage 2. Somebody forgot to tell folks, though, that scrimmages are usually mostly about perfunctory efforts.
Carsen Bruns of LIFT won the 400 with a 50.94. Kelsey Montague soloed an 800 and very nearly broke two minutes. Brian McCarthy was over 49 and over 160 to win the shot and discus, respectively. They were wind-aided marks, but Mia Dantzler and Jahzara Davis ran 12.50 and 14.55 to win the 100 and 100 hurdles, respectively.
So, if you're complaining about there not being any decent track this year, you clearly haven't been paying close enough attention.
RESULTS