Fort Collins – Incessant rain could not deny the annual Runners Roost of Fort Collins boys and girls track and field meet. At least for a while.
And, no, rowing was not added to the schedule of events despite the river that formed in the discus area.
After more than six hours of competition Saturday in the cold and rain, which alternated between drizzle and downpour, Fort Collins coach Pat Busteed called off the meet at French Field with six events left to be contested.
“The weather report said it would clear up by 11, but they lied to us,” Busteed said. “We hate to pull the plug on it, but it’s gotten bad enough that you start worrying about kids getting hurt.”
Of course, the rain stopped and the clouds broke half an hour later.
Many athletes and parents were soaking wet and looking miserable, and a number of teams left early. Still, there were plenty of people having a fine time.
Mullen’s Jimmy Miller placed third in the shot put, finishing behind a duo from Cheyenne Central in Wyoming.
The throwing pit morphed into a mud bog, with a small brown lake covering the entire left side. One athlete tried in vain to keep his shot dry with a sopping paper towel, and another had the shot slip between his fingers and splash into a puddle.
But Miller shrugged off the weather and recorded a personal best with a throw of 47 feet, 4 inches.
“I didn’t even think we were going to throw, and then we come out here and the pit is covered by water,” said Miller, a junior. “But once I was in the circle, I didn’t think about it and it was the best I’ve ever thrown.”
It was no surprise that only two meet records fell, and both occurred in distance running events.
Fairview’s Sarah Cocco set a new mark in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5 minutes, 8.79 seconds. She also finished first in the 3,200.
New York product and new Cherry Creek Bruin Charles White, a national champion in the indoor mile, held off Evan Appel of Dakota Ridge in the boys 3,200 as both runners broke the old record. White’s winning time was 9:34.44, and Appel finished four seconds behind.
Cheyenne Central won the girls and boys team championships with ease, and the Arapahoe boys and Fairview girls placed second.
Joe Harris of George Washington joined Cocco as the only athletes to win two events. Harris earned blue ribbons in the long jump (21-4) and triple jump (44-½).
The jumping events proved to be quite an adventure. The landing in the long jump and triple jump may have been a wet, sandy affair, but it was nothing compared with the high jumpers’ splashdown. Each landing on the padded, plastic mat was like taking a dip in the kiddie pool.
As for the pole vault, forget about it. That event smartly was canceled from the start.
