This promises to be a vintage year for 3A girls.

About the only downside for competition is that Discovery Canyon has departed to 4A. Their absence, however, is nicely compensated for by the arrival of 2009 4A state champion Alamosa.

Brush and Estes Park are loaded. The Classical Academy returns a strong cast, but they also graduated three of their top four finishers from state last year.

Opportunity knocks for several teams.

Even on an individual level, things promise to be interesting.

With Alamosa's arrival come Jenny and Nicki DeSouchet. Either could easily contend for the state title. Sam Berggren of Middle Park didn't race until the league meet weekend last year but should be back healthy for her senior campaign. Shelby Stableford of The Classical Academy is the top returnee from last year's state meet. Brandi Krieg of Grand Valley and Kaiti Davis of Salida both return from top-ten finishes last year. And none of this takes into account the arrival of any freshman phenoms within the 3A classification. One colossal showdown looms on the horizon. Start staking out your positions near the finish chute now if you want to see how this one turns out.

Taking a quick look at the teams...

In addition to the DeSouchet sisters, Karlee Smith returns for the Mean Moose. Now a sophomore, Smith was the one who clinched Alamosa's title run last November. To all outward appearances, Alamosa currently has question marks at positions 4 and beyond, but 3A only requires four scoring runners. Figure on Alamosa being in the title mix.

The Classical Academy returns Shelby Stableford, Meredith Sloan, and Brittany Droogsma from last year's state champion lineup. None of the three finished worse than 13th at last year's state meet. Competition within the team for varsity slots at state could become intense. It could take a month or so into the season before the Titans really know what they have.

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