All eyes will be on Bayfield pole vaulting this weekend
Senior John Arnold is the top seed in the event, coming off a season-best 14'3.
Junior Michael Voss and senior Ty Meyers were also to represent Bayfield in that contest, with Voss checking in as the #3 seed behind only Arnold and Eaton senior David Jones. Competition started yesterday as the Times went to press.
Another focal point will be senior Eva-Lou Edwards, looking to repeat as queen of the 3,200-meter run (she is seeded #1) as well as conquer the 1,600 (she's the #3 going in). Like Arnold, her work-an 11:50.46 in the former, a 5:25.81 in the latter-in both at last weekend's Intermountain League Championships in Alamosa hinted at the possibility of something special.
Edwards' top competition in the shorter run will come from 1-seed Lauren Hamilton, a senior from the Classical Academy in Colorado Springs. The two-seed is Kelsi Lasota (senior, Estes Park), with respective qualifying times of 5:07.79 and 5:16.57 ahead of her season-best 5:21.14. In the longer of the lopes, however, only Lasota's best of 11:25.53 comes near Edwards' 11:20.61.
Pole vaulters Morgan Allred, Katie Hawkins and Brittany Hunter are also off to the Metro Area after having owned the specialty at the IML meet. Hunter's 8'9" won, Hawkins' 8'3" took second and Allred's 7'3" brought home third.
Conner Kennedy qualified in both the boys' high jump and long jump, and primed himself for each with, respectively, a 5'10" and a 19'11" in Alamosa-placing him second in both at league.
Also competing twice as an individual, Jessica Cusick will run the 400 and 800, in which she'll be the 14-seed in the former and the #8 in the latter with current respective bests of 1:00.88 and 2:25.55.
Junior Aubry Brown, the Intermountain's boys' discus king with a 149'9", will let it fly at state in the always-competitive second flight. Freshman sprinter Brian Mashak's IML-best 24.03 in the 200 (he also won the IML's 100 in 11.99, but did not qualify for state) locked him in for Lakewood, and highly-rated junior Jessie Roukema will take on the girls' high jump.
Roukema also will run a leg of the 800m medley relay, joining Hunter, IML 100-winning Amy Roach and senior Ashlyn Schulder. The quartet clocked a 1:56.93 in Alamosa, landing them in second place.
The boys' 4x200 (Preston Hardy, Gabe Kaufmann, Mashak, and Nate Tate) snagged second at league with a 1:34.03, and will run at state with their peak time close to the fastest [New Castle Coal Ridge's 1:30.51] included in their preliminary heat. Manitou Springs' 1:29.17 is the desired target.
Finally, Bayfield's boys' 4x100 is in with a 2014-best 44.96, and will go off in the second of two heats with only two schools having qualified faster.
