Makin' a list, checkin' it twice, gonna find out who's running in ice...
A coaching friend of mine once referred to Foot Locker Midwest as spending a breezy winter day underdressed in sub-arctic, coastal Wisconsin. Or something close to that.
Technically, it's not winter, but if you're thinking late November on the shores of Lake Michigan doesn't qualify as winter, you are failing to understand why, when people from the Upper Midwest come into money, they buy a condo in Florida and flock there until the sun starts slipping southward in the sky. Of course, there's also good reason why they come back when the sun moves back northward.
Conditions can vary from nearly balmy, to muddier than anyone has ever seen a cross country course in Colorado, to frozen as hard as concrete. And all that is part of the adventure called Foot Locker Midwest. I've been there for two of the three aformentioned conditions (and I bet you can't guess which condition I've missed 
).
This year, I mean to keep close track of how the Colorado delegation does at this year's FLMW championship. Toward that end, I'm building a list of participants. I'm hoping that, by putting this into article form, more people will notice and start funneling information this direction. It's hard to root for someone you don't even know is running...
Thus far, I have confirmation that the following will be running at FLMW:
Girls:
Heather Bates, Pine Creek
Kaitlyn Biever, Heritage
Eleanor Fulton, Highlands Ranch
Sydney Harris, St. Mary's
Emily Husted, Discovery Canyon
Erin Kelly, Crested Butte Community
Kelsey Lakowske, Boulder
Sam Lewis, Boulder
Allie Morgan, Discovery Canyon
Melanie Nun, Legacy
Kristi Oslund, Highlands Ranch
Ellie Parker, Aspen
Jenna Pinto, Heritage
Molly Rosenstein, Aspen
Phoebe Schneider, Rock Canyon
Valerie Stark, Custer County
Boys:
Austin Appel, Dakota Ridge
Zach Cohen, Heritage
Lamont Gross, Aspen
Will (Woody) Kincaid, Columbine
Kellan Kremer, Aspen
Garret Lee, Heritage
Kyle Lewis, Boulder
Garrett Lieb, Heritage
Christian Martin, Heritage
Chandler Reid, Centaurus
Luke Smith, Aspen
Christian Turnock, Denver East
Keagan Vargo, Chaparral
Spencer Wilson, Heritage
Matt Zitzmann, Heritage
Colorado boasts a long and proud tradition of sending far more than its share of athletes to Foot Locker Nationals. Will this year continue the trend? Time will tell, but the list of entries to this point looks promising. Memo to all planning to compete: Bring multiple lengths of spikes along with you. Have one set that is at least 3/8 of an inch. If it's muddy, 3/8 of an inch is barely enough (1/2" is better). Take a picture or two of your backside after the race.
Please send notification of entries to me at aversaw@milesplit.us.