The epic finale of Colorado's indoor track & field season is on tap for Saturday at the Let's Get REAL Invitational Championship!
After scanning the entry list, we've come up with six events you won't want to miss Saturday.
Editor's Note: Entry lists as of Friday at 8:30 a.m.
For those of you who can't make the trip to UCCS, MileSplit Colorado has you covered - we'll be on-site providing full-coverage, taking photos, writing recaps, AND - we'll be streaming the meet LIVE!
February 18, 2023 9 a.m. |
Girls 60
Colorado's top-two sprinters will toe the line in the girl's 60.
Symone Adams and Gabriella Cunningham have raced each other multiple times this season, and each time Adams has had the edge.
Adams heads to Colorado Springs hot off her 7.61 PR from the Great Southwest Indoor Classic last week. She's been impressively consistent all indoor season, running between 7.61 and 7.79 all 10 times she's raced.
Cunningham has run 7.66 this season, and broken 7.80 four times. She's coming in off a 7.83 victory at the USATF Colorado Indoor Championships last week.
The girls 60 final is scheduled to run at 11 a.m.
Boys 200
Colorado's No. 1 sprinter this indoor season - Tavon Underwood - heads (back) to Colorado Springs coming in hot off his Colorado indoor 200 state record of 21.56 from the Air Force HS Open.
What makes the 200 an event you won't want to miss is the fact that Underwood has cracked 22-seconds in the 200 four-consecutive times, with an improvement of at least a tenth-of-a-second each time. Clearly, he's finding his stride.
The Mead senior currently leads the state in the 200, and the 400.
Underwood is also entered in the 400, and the 60.
The boys 200 final is scheduled to run at 2:30 p.m.
Girls 800
Anna Prok has only raced once this season, but she appears to be the favorite in the girls 800.
The Niwot freshman is coming in off a stellar 5:01 1,600 at last week's PEAK Pre-Season #1 polar bear meet. That's the fastest 1,600 run by a Coloradan indoor our out this winter.
What makes the performance all the more impressive is the fact that it was a Colorado personal best for Prok. In the 800 she's run 2:23 as an eighth-grader, so we'll get to see how her recent 5:01 translates down in distance.
She'll likely have competition in the form of Gabrielle Shepston, who has run 2:19 at lower elevations this season. Shepston has raced multiple times this indoor season, ranging from the 60 all the way up to the 800. Her 57-second quarter-mile speed could be a threat here.
Brooklyn Ewert is another runner to keep an eye on. She's raced twice this indoor season, which includes a 2:21 PR in the 800, and a 1:01 400.
Linda Weigang hasn't raced this indoor season, though she heads to Colorado Springs with a 2:20.67 PR from last spring.
Avery Marr could be a wildcard in this race. She hasn't raced this indoor season, though she owns the fastest 800 PR in the field with a 2:13.74 down low at the Music City Track Carnival last spring. In Colorado she's run 2:13.97.
Nadhia Campos was a late entry to the 800. She's coming off a 5:08 1,600 from last week's PEAK Pre-Season #1, which was outdoors. The two-time 2A defending state cross country champ has run 2:20 in the 800.
The girls 800 final is schedule to run at 12:45 p.m.
Boys Mile
Jacob Bach has already come out of the gates of 2023 swinging. And he'll toe the line as the favorite in the mile Saturday. Bach is coming in off a state-leading 4:18.29 from last week's PEAK Pre-Season #1 - which was outdoors. That was a two-second personal best for Bach in his first race of the season.
In terms of indoor performances, Ryan Olree has been one of the more active distance runners this indoor season. He's run a 4:31 personal best - that's an all-around PR for Olree, who ran 4:33 last spring.
Olree has also run 1:59.10 in the 800 this indoor season.
Meanwhile Brogan Collins hasn't raced since the cross country season. While he owns a 1,600 PR of 4:42 from last spring, his 2022 cross country season hinted that he's likely to make a big jump this season - finished ninth at the 4A state cross country championships.
Will Brunner was a late entry to the meet. He's run a couple of indoor meets this season, with a big highlight coming just a few weeks ago at the Boston University Scarlet and White Invite, where he ran 8:35 in the 3,000. He's run 4:19 outdoors, and 4:36 indoors this season.
Another late entry is Jackson Neppl. He's run several indoor meets this season, which included a 1:57/4:34 800-1,600 double down low at the Washburn University High School Series #1 in Topeka, Kan.
The mile is scheduled to run at 10 a.m.
Girls 400
There's are two favorites, and there's a tight race.
Gabrielle Shepston and Aani Hardesty are the only two in the field who've already cracked 60-seconds in the 400 this indoor season.
Shepston has run 58.75, which is the fastest indoor 400 by a Coloradan this season. What's additionally impressive is that she's broken 60-seconds three-out-of-the-four times she's raced the event this season.
Hardesty has raced the 400 just once this indoor season, and it was a 59.76 clocking at the Air Force High School Indoor Open.
Shepston was in that race and one-place (and one-second) ahead.
After Shepston and Hardesty, this race looks tight.
Lily Krob, Harper Bradley, Eliana Henriques, and Catherine Stava have all run between 1:00.26, and 1:00.74 this indoor season.
The girls 400 is scheduled to run at 4 p.m.
Boys 3200
The boys 3200 might not be a high-quantity race, but it's high-quality.
Kaden Levings will open up his 2023 track season here. While he didn't run outdoor last year due to injury, the past two cross country seasons hint that if healthy, he'll be a threat here - his 14:41 5k PR from RunningLane shows that much.
Chandler Wilburn owns a PR of 9:40 in this event. Like Levings, he hasn't raced indoor this season, though based on top-returners in the 3,200 for 2023, he is the fastest on this entry list.
Carter Bayer has run 9:46 at lower-elevations, and 9:49 in Colorado. He's raced sparingly this indoor season - a 400, and a mile.
Jackson Parrill and Cody Kelley have both cracked 10-minutes in the 3,200 outdoors. Neither have run indoors this season, though, like Levings, their cross country season shows evidence that they'll be in the mix Saturday.
What makes the 3,200 a race you won't want to miss - beyond the fact that it's a high-quality affair - is that it'll show who's done some work over the winter break, as Colorado's distance stars are coming out of hibernation.
The boys 3200 is schedule to run at 3:40 p.m.
BONUS: Girls Mile
Addison Ritzenhein soloed a 10:54 3,200 at last week's PEAK Pre-Season #1 outdoors. The Niwot freshman's official PR in this event is 5:50, but her 10:54 is 5:28 pace, and she's run 17:38 in the 5k, which is 5:41 pace, so clearly she's on tap for a massive PR.
Ava Mitchell has raced just once this in recent weeks, and like Ritzenhein, it was at last week's PEAK Pre-Season #1. Mitchell ran 2:23 in the 800. Last spring she ran 4:59 in the 1,600.
The girls 1,600 is scheduled to run at 9 a.m.