Raymond Bozmans and Jordan Rand are the inaugural Boulder Running Company/Colorado Track XC Track and Field athletes of the week on the basis of their Saturday performances. Photos by Thomas Waido and Alan Versaw.
Special to Colorado Track XC by Dan Betz
The inaugural week of track and field for the 2011 season dawned bright and clear for most of the meets along the Front Range. As the day progressed, however, the conditions worsened to what we have come to expect--wind and cold. But the fickle March weather did not deter a multitude of athletes from running, jumping, and throwing to the best of their early season abilities.
Among all of those performances were two that merit special recognition as our first track and field Athlete of Week winners, Jordan Rand and Raymond Bozmans.
Jordan Rand of Doherty High School is no novice among the ranks of the best that Colorado has to offer. The returning 5A state runner-up (long jump) and champion (triple jump) picked up where her season left off last May. Rand’s marks of 18-8.5 and 38-2 in the long and triple jumps place her at the top of the rankings after week one. In fact, she could have won state in both events last year with those marks. The 18-8.5 mark shattered the Doherty school record.
There was definitely no rust for Jordan to shake off this early season. Jordan attributes much of her success to pre-season weight sessions. Rand states that her motivations this year are, “to beat the state record in triple jump, and jump 19 feet in the long jump.”
So far, she has put herself on the path to meet those goals. Rand will also be taking her considerable athletic and academic talents to Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York, next year.
At the other end of the I-25 corridor, Ray Bozmans of Fort Collins High School was lighting up the track at the Boathouse Traditional Invitational. Bozmans’ marks of 10.65 (+1.9) in the 100m dash and 21.70 (+0.6) in the 200m serve notice that he is a legitimate contender for the gold in May.
In addition to his sprint victories, Ray ran legs on two of the Lambkins' winning relays. Running four events only eleven practice days from the beginning of the season is a feat in itself, yet Ray accomplished it with a very high degree of quality. When asked about his goals for the season Ray said, “My goals are to stay healthy, break the school’s 100m record, and try to win a state title individually and as a team.”
With Ray’s dedication to both team and personal excellence, and accompanied by his race-day lucky green and yellow t-shirt, the Lambkins are looking forward to a successful season on the oval.
Surely these two terrific athletes still have greater performances to accomplish this season but kudos to Jordan Rand and Ray Bozmans for kicking off the 2011 track and field season with excellence and style. The Colorado Track and Cross Country community look forward to many more inspiring performances over the next ten weeks.
Congratulations to both, and good luck!