Joey Uhle and Rachel Herald are two of the athletes fans will be hoping to see in action at Saturday's Air Force meet. Photos by Alan Versaw.
It's with no small amount of happiness that this writer greets the resumption of weekends with multiple meets taking place. It can become a bit challenging around here coming up with things to write about when there is very little going on in terms of competition.
But, there are three meets of particular interest to Colorado fans of track and field/cross country going on this weekend. In anticipation of tomorrow, the sun shines a little brighter today.
The first of those meets tomorrow may be over and done before many of Colorado's fans have crawled out of bed. That would be the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country meet. As the name advertises, it takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Being curious, I looked up the latitude of Edinburgh. It's nearly 56 degrees north latitude. To put that into terms we can better relate to, that is farther north than Edmonton, Alberta, but not as far north as Anchorage, Alaska. And, did we mention this is January? Let's just say nobody is going to be suffering from heat stroke out there.
And why should Colorado be interested? Chiefly because Grand Junction and University of Colorado alum Richard Medina will be wearing USA colors. To be sure, USA colors are generally distinguishable from UK colors, but the imprinting on warm-ups and singlets should provide some helpful clues. A handful of other Colorado-based elties will also be competing.
Closer to home, the Fort Collins Track Club is hosting the second meet in the USATF-Colorado indoor series at Balch Field House on Saturday. Action begins at 8:30 AM, with high school age events rolling out at 12:30 PM. With travel weather looking a whole lot better than it did last weekend, we may see a spike in participation over last weekend.
Another Balch bonus could be an uptick in ambient light over a week ago. The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies in Boulder on Saturday, which doesn't sound all that favorable until you consider the battleship gray skies that dominated the Front Range last Saturday. Any glimmers of brightness that slither in through Balch's windows are always welcome.
100 or so miles south along I-25, the Air Force Academy opens up collegiate action for 2014 with the Air Force All Comers Open at the Cadet Field House. Participating in the meet will be an assortment of club and open entries, Colorado State, Colorado, Colorado Mesa, and Hastings. None of the schools, however, are likely to be bringing in full squads this soon off of the holiday break.
The Air Force Academy athletics web site hints, however, that we might be seeing nationally-ranked pole vaulters Dylan Bell and Joey Uhle in action, plus nationally-ranked high jumper Rachel Herald.
The CSU athletics web site suggests that Colorado high school alums Trevor Brown and Kiah Hicks will be in action close to their high school homes. As of this writing, however, CU, CMU, and Hastings, however, are sticking with the mum's-the-word policy about who might be competing on Saturday. So, show up and be surprised! At the very least, Hastings figures to bring in several Colorado alums on their roster for some close-to-home action.
Action gets underway at the Cadet Field House at 9 AM with the women's weight throw.