Weekday Rankings Meets, March 22 - 24

Golden's Trevor Evanson cleared 6-6 on his way to winning the high jump at Thursday's Jeffco 4A Qualifier. Photo by Alan Versaw.

 

Think of this as an early bonus edition of this weekend's Week in Review article. By covering the weekday meets now, I have less to do on Sunday and Monday when I'll have less time available for putting thoughts into writing. Spring break has been nice, but good things do come to an end.

 

 

 

 

 

Bulldog Early Season Qualifier

 

Coach Dan Betz at University long ago learned he couldn't control the weather. So, he did the next best thing--he adopted a policy of flexible meet scheduling. This year, with big winds in the forecast for Tuesday, he shifted the meet to Wednesday and got small winds. All things considered, a pretty nice trade.

 

He also got Fort Collins to come to the meet and break a few stadium records. The previous stadium records are found in the meet results and you'll probably notice a few names you recognize among those records. University has managed to pull in a few pretty decent athletes to their meets in recent years.

 

Between the 300 hurdles and the high jump, Monica Franco had a nice day of it for the Lambkins. Platte Valley's Rachael Moralez is giving the 3A opposition a few more things to think about by expanding her repertoire to the 400 meters. Kayla Taplin of Dayspring Christian appears to be the next hurdle phenom in line at that tiny school.

 

The most event-appropriate name honors go to Eaton's Mel Herl. Mel throws the shot and disc--pretty well, in fact. I believe Mel is more likely short for Melanie or Melissa than for Melvin. Look for her in the girls' throwing results.

 

Meet Results

Girls Highlights


Jeffco 4A Qualifier

 

As the Jefferson County School District closes in on spring break this one was a last (and, for many, a first) chance to post rankings marks before everyone scattered to recreational destinations of choice.

 

The relay exchanges looked a lot like first-meet exchanges for many teams, but there were some definite standout performances in individual events. Tops among those were a 6-6 in the high jump for Trevor Evanson of Golden and a 50-3.5 in the shot put for Arvada's Adam Williams. Bringing brooms to the meet and picking up a few sweeps were Green Mountain's Mackenzie Comstock (200 and triple jump), Wheat Ridge's Mike Ortega (100, 200), D'Evelyn's Alec Comito (110 and 300 Hurdles--this is something of a new thing for the guys in green to be winning hurdle events), and Evergreen's Andre Lane (long jump and triple jump).

 

You couldn't help but get the feeling that this one was a little bit like old times for the D'Evelyn boys. Not only did they win the meet, but there was just a hint of that old distance swagger in place as the Jaguars won the boys 4x800 and 1600, and had seconds in the 800, 1600, and 3200.

 

Jeffco 5A Qualifier

 

This one was scheduled for Tuesday but, unlike Dan Betz, the 5A folks didn't have the luxury of scheduling flexibility at Jeffco Stadium. So, they dealt with wind--and lots of it.

 

The meet, wind and all, ended up being a little bit of a showcase for the Lakewood girls. McKenzie Brogan took the 100 and 200. Haley Brogan, who I take to be a twin sister, won the 100 and 300 Hurdles. Elle Brunsdale was unstoppable in the 400, long jump, and triple jump. The long jump was most impressive of all at 18-1.75, -1.4. Maddie Ivy took honors in the 1600 and 3200. Ewelina Pena won the high jump. Valleria Miranda won the shot and discus.

 

If you're keeping track, that left two individual events to be won by representatives from all other schools combined. Take a bow, Danni Thenell and Kristina Fischer. Just wondering, but would Danni Thenell be any relation to former CSU quarterback Tom Thenell?

 

They managed to spread things around a bit better in the boys events, with only Jesse Dunn of Pomona (100, 200) and Jake Williams of Bear Creek (110 Hurdles, 300 Hurdles) managing to double up event titles.

 

Meet Results

Girls Highlights

 

Yuma Early Qualifier

 

This one is always a good early look at who has what in the northeastern Colorado counties. The biggest question coming out of the meet, however, may be one of who doesn't have what. Conspicuously absent from the Otis roster for this meet was Alexis Seifert. If this omission continues, it puts a serious dent in the Otis state title hopes and opens up some possibilities for a lot of other teams. But, it's early in the season, so we won't jump to too many conclusions.

 

It's already apparent that Ashley Atkin, Heather Duester, and Sydney Clarkson are names you're going to be hearing a lot of this spring. All had good season openers in the sprint events. Akron's girls' relays appear to be as dominant as ever. Wray's Jarret Cure and the Eagle sprint relays have their seasons off to a nice start. Shane Terrell has performed well in both meets to date for Yuma.