If you compared the entire season to a lap around the track, we'd be on the final strides of the backstretch right now, getting ready to round the corner.

The front runners already set the pace and established themselves as contenders in the early going, but there's still enough time for some late surprises along the way.

I've seen a ton of track the past two weeks. Good track at that. As we enter the thick of conference season, I thought I'd take a couple moments to recap some of the best subplots and goings-on from around the area.

- Like I said, I've been fortunate to see some of the best matchups the region has to offer. Atchison's Andre Harris and Camron Leupold of Hiawatha shattered the 11-second barrier for the first time this year in a thrilling 100-meter dash. Alexis Bates engineered one of the most spectacular comebacks in the 4x100 relay at Platte County. Seriously, she looked Maurice Mitchell-esque when she overcame a deficit of more than 20 meters.

None of those showdowns even compared to the drama that Jordan Stiens and Tiffani McReynolds provided at the Pirate Relays, though.

The familiar rivals faced off for the second time this season - roughly a week after meeting up at the Kansas Relays. Like in Lawrence, McReynolds toasted Stiens in the 100 hurdles. She now owns that race. Expect her to break the Class 3 record later this month.

But Stiens nearly ended her losing streak in the 300s and led by the slimmest of margins as she came down the homestretch. She decreased her turnover just a little too much, though, and McReynolds picked up another win in one of the state's most heated - and enjoyable - rivalries. I think Stiens now knows that the 300s are going to be her ticket to a state title. If she hones her strategy between now and the end of the month, she could very well get it done in Jefferson City.

- With Stiens leading the pack, the hurdlers of Northwest Missouri have been turning in medal-worthy times all season long.

Without putting in extensive research, I think it's safe to say that - top to bottom - this is one of the finest crops of hurdlers Northwest Missouri ever has produced. Look at this list of likely medalists:

Justin Love. Lindsay Vollmer. Kyler Hiatt. Lindsay Laderoute, Zach Dixon. MacKenzie Evans. Calvin Cooksey. Sindy Chavez. Canaan Fairley. Craig Mattson.

The list goes on from there. Ridiculous, if you ask me.

While we're here, Hiatt officially has reached De'Andre Vandevender territory. Kids that big aren't supposed to move this fast and jump this high. In Vandevender's case, he cleared 6-foot-9 in the high jump last year. Hiatt, the defending champ in both Class 1 hurdle events, also is going to be a contender in the open 100 and 200 with the kinds of times he's turning in now.

With all the muscle he's added since last year, you wouldn't think he still has that kind of explosiveness. He's just that good of an athlete. It seems like the Worth County senior has sort of fallen off the radar, but I promise you, you'll be hearing about him plenty in the near future.

- Speaking of outstanding specialists, this area also has produced an amazing batch of record-breaking pole vaulters.

If they perform up to their standards - Get it? Standards? Little pole vault humor there for you - Jessica Borey (Worth County) and Will Haer (Craig) are going to rewrite the record books by the end of the month. In fact, Haer twice has cleared 15 feet. The Class 1 record is 14 feet. If he goes over 15, you'll see that mark stand for a long, long time.

- I know this is a little out of the area, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention Grandview's James White in this space.

I thought I saw something special when I watched Andre McDonald of Park Hill leap over 7-feet in the high jump. White is making that feat look like child's play.

The Grandview junior set a national high school record when he cleared 7-5 3/4 last month at Winnetonka, one week after he set a KU Relays record. If you get a chance, go and watch him at Staley High School this Tuesday. You'll be able to say you saw a legend back when.