The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs, Colorado — Tyler Hutson, John Cutter, Peter Daley and Charlie Stoddard have trained six months for one day.

As part of Steamboat Springs High School’s 3,200-meter relay team, they’ve realized they have a very real possibility of qualifying for state during this weekend’s regional track meet at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction.

Running without Hutson at last weekend’s Tiger Invitational in Grand Junction, the relay team clocked a time of 8 minutes, 44 seconds and finished eighth.

“We want around an 8:20,” Cutter said. “We think we can run an 8:20.”

It’s certainly a possibility.

The time at the Tiger Invitational was the team’s best of the year. Add Hutson to the mix — probably the team’s best 800-meter runner — and the chance to go lower and possibly qualify for state remains a distinct possibility.

“We started tapering halfway through last week,” Cutter said. “Judging by what we did last week, we’re excited to see what we can do this weekend.”

Of course, anything can happen at the regional track meet. Steamboat coach Luke DeWolfe has seen it all when it comes to regionals and said it’s never an easy competition to predict.

“Like I told the kids the other day, you just never know,” DeWolfe said. “I’ve seen kids who have no business qualify, and kids who thought they were going to qualify not make it. It’s always hard to put guesses out there.”

Besides the 3,200-meter relay, maybe the surest bet out there is junior distance runner Brittany Long.

Long — who will compete in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs — ran her personal best in the 3,200 last week and finished second.

“I want to place top five in the mile and second or third in the two mile,” Long said. “I don’t know about making state in the mile, there’s like five girls who run it in 5:15. But the two mile for sure. Last week was the best time I’ve ever run, and I know I can run faster than that.”

DeWolfe also pointed to Hutson in the 200- and 400-meter dashes as well as Daley in the 800-meter run.

With Jaime Winter already qualified for state in the pole vault, DeWolfe said he’s hoping the rest of the Sailors can follow suit.

“I don’t know, but realistically I hope we get a bunch more to state,” he said. “I think that can happen. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

— To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229

or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com