Heather Bates, shown here at the state track meet, won a Great Southwest title in the 3200 meters. Photo by Alan Versaw.

 

It was not a year to impresss folks with numbers. The Colorado contingent competing at Great Southwest was as small as it has been in recent memory. Particularly in the field events, Colorado had only a tiny handful of representatives at the meet in Albuquerque.

 

The only outright titles earned by Colorado competitors came from Eleanor Fulton with a meet record of 6:55.38 in the 2000 Meter Steeplechase and Heather Bates with an 11:18.49 in the 3200.

 

Elsewhere, Colorado got high podium finishes from Brittany Lewis in the heptathlon (3rd), Kenny Chambers in the elite 200 (3rd), Nolan Mayhew with a nice 47.92 in the 400 (2nd), Eleanor Fulton in the 800 (2nd), and GinAsia Hamilton in the non-elite 200 (1st--Hamilton's time, incidentally, would have been easily good enough for third in the "elite" 200 race).

 

The only other game, in town or out, for Colorado tracksters this past week was the Colorado Flyers Invitational at Aurora Public Schools Stadium. There, athletes were greeted by somewhat more favorable conditions than the wind and heat of Albuquerque.

 

Even so, times were generally a little off from those recorded at the state meet two weeks ago--as might be expected.