A month into the prep sports season, it appears we’re a little lighter and no, it has nothing to do with weight loss.
Actually, it’s a hard truth — we’re down some this year throughout Colorado in terms of talent. But don’t panic, or take offense. These things go in cycles.
Look around Colorado. It’s the same in Denver as it is in Idalia. Limon is no different from Colorado Springs. Nor is Grand Junction from Lamar.
On the heels of an outstanding senior class last year, the current group is still evolving, yet to prove itself.
Consider football. There’s no need to overanalyze last weekend, but Valor Christian and Cherry Creek, two of our state’s top teams, were handled by stronger groups from Arizona and Utah, respectively, on Rocky Mountain turf. In both cases, the out-of-staters were superior both at the skill positions and up front, where Coloradans usually excel.
It’s the same thing virtually across our prep sports board for 2014-15.
Boys and girls basketballers must follow a class that had Denver East’s Dom Collier and Ronnie Harrell and Regis Jesuit’s Diani Akigbogun and Justine Hall. Baseball had a 2014 group including Regis Jesuit’s Max George and Rocky Mountain’s Carl Stajduhar.
Want more? Having the next race behind Niwot’s superlative Elise Cranny, now at Stanford, is challenging.
Softball and volleyball also are playing catch-up. And as for football? Valor’s Christian McCaffrey, The Denver Post 2013 Gold Helmet winner, is scoring for Stanford. The Eagles’ stellar linemen have moved on to Division I, as have the other elite signees of last year’s class that numbered nearly four dozen.
Touch acts to follow? You bet.
However, this is not unusual. Up one year, down the next. The good news is that more teams this fall feel good about challenging for state supremacy.
Parity can be good.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@ or neildevlin
