Previewing 4A Boys Track and Field

Phillip Decoud of Lewis-Palmer returns with the fastest 4A time in the 200 and the third-fastest time in the 100. Colorado Track XC file photo.

One way of estimating the relative strength of teams coming into the track season is to simulate a meet by taking the best performances of returning athletes from 2009 and placing them into a mock meet. We just did that for 4A boys and, based on those results, you quickly realize that it's going to be very hard for anyone to break the stranglehold of power the Northern Conference currently holds over 4A track and field. The top four teams (Longmont, Broomfield, Greeley West, and Silver Creek--once you take Alex Paul out of Niwot's points and add him into Silver Creek's points) all come from the Northern Conference. It should be noted that the marks that rank Longmont's Tevan McIntire second in the long jump and third in the triple jump were earned before an injury suffered before the midpoint of the season last year.

Of course, virtual meets contested nearly three full months before state provide no guarantee of anything that happens in May, but they are a decent starting point for a conversation. Here's what the team scores for 4A boys (assuming all individuals stayed with the same school, participate in track this spring, etc.) break down as:

Calculated as of February 28, 2010

These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We took the individual rankings and scored them as a normal meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. No relay events are calculated into team scores due to the difficulties inherent in identifying and "replacing" graduated relay legs. Based on the expected strength of their sprint relays, the expectations for Silver Creek could rise still further. Athletes whose graduation years are unknown were left out of the list.

Athletes whose graduation years are unknown were left out of the list.