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Jenny DeSouchet headlines a formidable Alamosa lineup this spring. Photo by Alan Versaw.
That exhaling you heard last year when Alamosa dropped from 4A to 3A was a collective activity on the part of 4A coaches across the state. Whatever anxieties the 4A coaches exhaled, however, were inhaled moments later by the 3A coaches. One way or another, Alamosa must be dealt with. It's now 3A's turn to deal with the girls in maroon.
While the 800 meters may not be the first event where Alamosa's presence is felt this spring, it is likely to be the event where Alamosa's presence is felt most acutely. With Emily LaValley graduating last spring, this event looked like Sam Berggren's to take over. But, if there's one thing Sam Berggren can count on, it's that nothing (outside of the 400, perhaps) is ever going to be easy. Pencil in Jenny DeSouchet vs. Sam Berggren as one of this year's top matchups. One year after the 3A 800 meter record dropped like a rock, it just might drop again.
Jenny DeSouchet will likely figure into the mix at 1600 meters as well. Sister Nicki DeSouchet, assuming she is fully healed from her injury in cross country season, will add a little lustre to the 3A 1600 and 3200. You can run, but you can't hide, from the DeSouchet sisters.
If you were figuring the 3A distance events would drop off after the graduations of Kaitlin Hanenburg and Kara Slavoski, you may find your figuring was a bit premature.
For a few years running, Alamosa has fielded an extremely competitive 4x800 team. It's not immediately clear if that will happen or not this spring. 400 meter specialist Karlee Smith figures as a potential 800 meter leg, but the fourth leg isn't in view at this time. The graduations of Shelby Rushing and Lauren Martin will be felt most acutely in this event. It may well be that Alamosa takes the DeSouchets down to 400 (where both have performed well in the past) and loads a 4x400 this year. All this, of course, is simply shameless speculation. Don't let the state meet arrive without having checked in a time or two regarding what Alamosa is doing in relays.
Though a little on the outside looking in at the 4A state meet, Karlee Smith figures to make her presence known in the 3A 400 meters this year. Smith runs cross country in the fall, but appears to be best suited to the rigors of the 400. At this early stage, she looks like to decent bet (all references to gambling are, of course, metaphorical 
) to be on the starting line for the 3A 400 finals in May.
Heather Sowards looks like a lock to confound the order of things in the 3A pole vault. Sowards has the potential to win this thing, but we all know the PV is a fickle event. If Sowards has a great year, that could go a long way toward fueling a serious run by the Mean Moose.
And what would it be like if Alamosa didn't have a serious threat in the throwing ring? This will not be the year that we discover the answer to that question.
Joanna Martinez figures as a possible state placer in the discus and a somewhat more likely state placer in the shot put. A great season for Martinez and she, like Sowards, could find herself making a serious contribution toward a state run.
Putting together the potential points from the aforementioned athletes would appear to leave Alamosa coming up a bit short. The Mean Moose will most likely need to find and develop some additional talent. But, I would remind everyone that back about the first of August of 2010, nobody was picking Alamosa's boys to have one of the best cross country teams--in any classification--in the state. Larry Zaragoza hasn't forgotten how to put a great team together.