Finally, some fair weather for fast running greeted the Angels at the Altitude Invitational in Fort Collins on Saturday. While the team was somewhat depleted in numbers due to spring break, those who made the trip north got a much deserved chance to demonstrate some early season fitness.

This is a decent size meet with 50-70 athletes typically entered in each event from medium and large schools primarily from northern Colorado and Wyoming. The Altitude Invitational is one of only a handful of invitational meets to run prelims and finals, in this case for the 100/110h, 100 and 200, so these athletes were on the track early and often as the meet kicked off. 

For the Angels, Amelia Holloway made it through to the finals 100m hurdles where she finished 5^th in a PR of 17.33; she would go on for a 29^th place finish in the 300m hurdles. Trinity Andrew opened up her season with the 15^th fastest time of the meet in the prelim of the 100m hurdles followed in the afternoon by a 21^st place time in the 300m hurdles. In the boys 110m hurdles, Nigel James ran a PR of 14.77 to take 2^nd in the final behind a very swift hurdler from Wyoming; James’s 110m hurdle time is #4 in Colorado and #1 in 5A.  In the afternoon, James would race to another 2^nd place finish in the 300m hurdles in 39.77. Makai Wilson ran a PR 19.71 for 24^th in the 110m hurdles and finished 35^th in the 300m hurdles. In the 100m, Alexis Powell opened up her season with a 13.08 to make the final where she finished 8^th. She finished just one place outside the final in the 200m, in 9^th place, posting a 26.98. Ligia Thortvedt finished 30^th in the 100 and 36^th in the 200 with a PR of 28.61. In the boys 100m, Josh Kao finished 11^th, and followed that up with a 10^th place finish in the 200 in a PR of 22.76. Sean Donelson (11.58) made his first appearance in a 100m with a 24^th place finish, followed by a 19^th place finish in the 400m, and ninth grader Jackson Llewellyn took 52^nd in the 100m and 47^th in the 200m. Rounding out the sprints, Sawyer Voas and Ava Turner ran to a 27^th and 32^nd place finish in the 400 respectively, and Aidan Logan and Zach Sabga ran to 26^th and 52^nd place finishes in the same event for the boys. Mulyndwa Kafuuma opened up his high school career with a 25.22 200m for 55^th place.

Out on the field, Thortvedt leaped over 13-06 to take 26^th in the long jump. In the girls triple jump, Leah Maina went over 29-02 for 23^rd. For the boys, JaiVyence Winston went 19-04 for 16^th in the long jump and Giacomo Belli cleared 5-05 for 12^th in the high jump. 

Distance events were highlighted by Corbin Hobert’s final lap in the 1600m of 59 seconds to take first in a current 5A #1 time of 4:23.27. Jonas Scudamore (9:44.8, 5A #11) and Quinn Higgins (9:48.8, 5A #18) had big personal bests in their 4^th and 8^th place finishes in the 3200m, and ninth graders Henry Bennett (2:03) and Abraham Morginsky (2:23) went 10^th and 48^th in the 800m. Sophia Shiroff ran season bests in both the 1600m (5:55) and 3200m (12:38) for 24^th and 16^th, while Avery Ash ( 34^th, 6:03) and Evelyn Higgins (38^th, 6:09) each set pr’s in the 1600m.

Good conditions are currently in the forecast for Saturday’s Northfield Nighthawk Invitational on Saturday, so expect the Angels to be in full force to put up some good times and marks as we near the half-way point of the invitational season.