This week, East Angel Cross Country split the squad between two meets: the inaugural Northfield Nighthawk Invitational and the Arvada West Cross Country Invitational.

At Northfield, high temperatures, wind, and a course not quite as flat as anticipated kept most Angels from running their fastest times of the season. Nonetheless, there were some great performances. The team highlight was the second place finish for the girls in the Varsity division, despite running a team primarily composed of East’s top JV runners. AlanaMarie Barros ran with the lead runners for the first half of the race and held on for a 6^th place finish overall in a time of 21:16. Fellow 9^th grader Grace Burnett was the next across the finish for the East (12^th, 22:34) followed closely by sophomore Lindsey Weyant (15^th, 22:40). Freshmen Grace O’Meara (17^th, 22:50) and Lilia Scudamore (18^th, 22:50) came across the line together to make up the rest of the scoring five.

The JV-1 Boys, also running in the Varsity division, finished a solid 6^th of 13 teams. Freshman Xander Pacini led the way with a 24^th place finish in 19:50.  Sophomore Kristian Laird (32^nd, 20:12), freshman Ben Hill (36^th, 20:26), senior Jack Thompson (37^th, 20:39), and freshman Gus Trautwein (44^th, 20:57) rounded out the scoring for the Angels.

In the JV races, senior Audrey McGlothlen turned in a 4^th place finish in 23:45 to lead the team to a second place finish in the JV division. Ellie McWhirter (9^th, 25:35), Maya Winfield (10^th, 25:37), Isabella Garcia (12^th, 26:10), MacKenzie Whitehead-Bust (14^th, 26:35), and Jane Port (16^th, 26:53) also all had top 20 finishes in the Girls JV division. Freshman Cyrus Jenkins-Nieto was the top East finisher in the Boys JV division with an 18^th place finish in 21:54, helping the team to a 4^th place finish.

The following day, most of the rest of the East’s cross country runners took to the generally fast course at the Stenger Soccer complex in Arvada against strong competition. Behind the ever steady running of Lauren Kruger’s 20:02 for 11^th place, the East Girls finished 4^th of 17 teams. Junior Lilly Cory had another outstanding race for 21^st in 20:52, followed not far behind by senior Nell Salzman (24^th, 21:07), sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen (25^th, 21:13), and sophomore Elena Thoman who ran to a personal best of 21:20 for 28^th place.

In the Boys Varsity race, Asher Hoyt nearly broke 17:00 for the second time in as many weeks, leading the boys to an 8^th place finish with his individual 8^th place finish. Fellow sophomore Will Daley crossed the line in 18:05 for 32^nd place followed by senior Jackson Adams (46^th, 18:39), freshman Ian Trautwein (58^th, 18:52), and sophomore Elijah Bruggeman (61^st, 18:54).

JV highlights included Riley Nickols 8^th place finish as the JV Boys finished 10^th as a team, and the ninth place finish of ninth grader Christina Doolan and sixteenth place finish of tenth grader Serene Mather for the JV Girls who finished 4^th as a team.

Our next to last week of invitational competition will be another busy one. Most runners will compete at the North Viking Invitational at the Case Willis Golf Course on Tuesday and at the Pat Patten Invitational in Boulder on Saturday – a couple of great meets across grassy and hilly courses offering a true cross country experience. A small number of athletes will be heading to the Rim Rock Invitational at the University of Kansas to take on top regional competition from the Midwest.

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Full results of all of our meets are available at co.milesplit.com.

AND SEE YOU ALL AT PATXI’S ON MONDAY!