Chandler Rotary Invitational

Sorry I wasn't present in person for this one. I hear it didn't snow in Phoenix either of the last two weeks. Article with more detailed meet information linked below.

This meet was part two of Emily LaValley's big week and also part of a big week for several other Colorado athletes, most notably Hannah Krumreich, Kat Robinson, and Kayla Fisher-Taylor.

Florence Husky Invitational

While Friday's storm that lasted in Saturday morning didn't take this meet out, it did eliminate about half of the schools from attending. Too bad, too, because it ended up as a decently pleasant day in Canon City.

Best bumper sticker seen en route to meet: My son is inmate of the month.

Okay back to track and field... When a meet gets down to seven teams, the competition sometimes gets a little thin. Such was the case here. The best takeaway from this meet is the observation that Salida will be heard from in distance events this spring. The little cross country team that roared is back for track season and it shows. Lauren Policky missed this meet but will be running track in place of playing soccer this spring. I don't know if she's better at track or soccer, but she'd have to be very, very good at soccer to make it close. Josh Noriega and Kaiti Davis are ready to prequal something. It should happen roughly the next time they show up at a meet with a timing system.

Hotchkiss Invitational

Okay, this one is another little featurette on 3A track and field...

Somebody throw a lasso around the Cedaredge Bruins. This is a team on the rise with all sorts of strength in the sprint and hurdle events. The jumps aren't bad either, as Danny Martinez's 6-4 mark will attest.

Also arriving on the Versaw Radar of 3A Contending Teams are Coal Ridge and Olathe. Both teams are competing at a very high level for this point in the season.

I'm looking for a very special 2A showdown between Kat Robinson (Nederland, not at this meet) and Paonia's Johanna Reed at the state meet. Currently, these two are tearing things up at distances at or near one mile.

This has every indication of being a vintage year for small school track and field on the western slope. As a rule, it appears that almost every team except Gunnison is running stronger than last year. And, while Gunnison graduated some serious talent last spring, it's way too early to relegate them to "rebuilding year" status. The Cowboys are a perenially good team.

Mickey Dunn Invitational

The western slope's larger schools got things underway in a bigger way this weekend. A handful of smaller schools showed up as well, however, and turned in some nice performances on the day.

Brian Ivy of Moffat County, Gus Barnes of Durango, and the Glenwood Springs girls relays are up to old tricks. Eric Shellhorn of Montrose picked up a couple of nice middle distance triumphs.

Among the smaller schools, Grand Valley's Brandi Krieg appears to have her three events selected. In two of those events (the 800 and 1600), the 3A girls state races promise to be meat grinders and Krieg should have a say in the outcomes. Dolores's girls are definitely on the rise. And, experience at big meets like this should pay big dividends at state. While it looks as if the Bears were short a couple hands (spring break, perhaps), they still acquitted themselves nicely at a meet of mostly larger schools.

Yuma Early Qualifier

At most venues, the weather would have done in this meet. But, the folks out in Yuma are a little weather-hardened. Live in Yuma long enough and there will be days you don't even notice the wind blowing.

Other non-surprises coming out of this meet were 1) Ashley Atkin won the 100, 400, and 800, 2) Akron won all the girls' relays, and 3) Bryar DeSanti of Merino is as fast as we thought.