Who Took Care of Business? Distance Edition
When the dust settled on Friday night, nine of the top eighteen girls 3200m times in the state had been run at the Pomona Invite. Such is what happens when a perfect storm of great race conditions merge with great weather. For much of the day on Saturday, the theme was the same as the wind cooperated during the distance events and the temps never grew uncomfortable.
One benefit of hosting the 3200 the previous day is that the 1600 can be run a bit earlier in the day. The ten o'clock hour is an excellent time for a distance race. With 100 meters to go, there were still at least three boys capable of winning. In the end, it was Faith Christian freshman Cole Sprout who outkicked Bailey Timmons from Rock Canyon and won, 4:24.18 to 4:24.20.
Just about any time Brie Oakley steps on to the track this spring, you can't help but wonder if history is about to be made. Oakley's seed time of 4:45 is just a second off of Katie Rainsberger's state record. Oakley ran an excellent race, winning in 4:52. No all-time state record, but an impressive effort nonetheless.
Taryn Ceglowski drove up from Salida and introduced Jeffco Stadium to the rigors of 3A distance in the 800. Ceglowski dropped a season best 2:15.59 to win the 800 in a fairly loaded field. Ceglowski took command midway through the second lap and nobody was able to hang on as she won by just a little more than a second over Kaitlyn Mercer from Grandview.