Alex Paul, Ashi Guiles (partially obscured), Alex Dillenbeck, and Ryder Tam figure to be among the contestants at Saturday's Mullen Runners Roost Invitational. Photo by Mark Oveson.
When the weather cooperates, high school track and field doesn't get much better than the Mullen Runners Roost Invitational.
Even when the weather doesn't cooperate--as in the steady, cold wind blowing up the finish straight all afternoon last year--it's still a great meet.
This year's edition of the Mullen Runners Roost begins at 8 AM with the long jump and isn't scheduled to finish until about 6 PM with the last heat of the 4x400. There's barely time to catch your breath between events--the track stays busy all through the day and field events are in constant motion. And the weather forecast, for once, is promising.
Although most programs tend to emphasize individual events when making their entries for the MRR, the relays can be spectacular as well. Relays early in the day tend to be more lightly contested with intensity building as the day goes on.
A lot depends on what teams show up and which athletes they bring, but fans can hope for a sneak preview of a spectacular match-up of 4A boys teams including Sierra, Longmont, Mullen, Silver Creek, and Valor Christian. Lewis-Palmer, another likely 4A contender, is sending its top-tier entries to the Arcadia Invitational in California.
Regardless, arrive early, stay late, and expect to see some of the best talent in Colorado in each of Saturday's events. Colorado Track XC will have an event photographer on hand. Look for an album of the meet highlights appearing shortly after the meet.
Other meets taking place across the state include the John Tate Challenge Cup in Pueblo, the Glenn Peterson and Palmer Terror Invitationals in Colorado Springs, the Frank Woodburn Invitational in Grand Junction, the Warren Mitchell Invitational in Limon, the PIne River Invitational in Bayfield, the Regis Jesuit Invitational in Aurora, and several more. Think of this as the first big weekend of high school track and field for the 2010 season.