On Saturday, November 25, East senior Harrison Scudamore raced to a 7^th place finish at the Midwest Footlocker Championship in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His 15:08 finish earned him one of 10 spots from the region of thirteen Midwest states to qualify for the 39^th Footlocker Cross Country Championships in San Diego, California on December 9. Harrison will be one of only forty boys nationwide and the only Colorado athlete to compete in the championship race this year. Harrison moved up from 15^th place at the one mile mark to 11^th at the two mile mark, and finally kicked to a 7^th place finish in an extremely close battle as places 3^rd through 10^th were separated by only three seconds.

One week prior, Scudamore competed in the Nike National Cross Country Southwest Regional Championship in Casa Grande, Arizona. Under balmy conditions in the desert, Harrison ran to a 7^th place finish against the best runners from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. Over the flat, fast 5K course he ran to personal record of 15:05.9 and just one place shy of qualifying for that championship race.

Ticket sales close tonight at midnight. There will be no tickets available after that and no tickets will be available at the door. Tickets are available at https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com

If cost is a barrier to attending, please let Coach Kohuth or email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) and we will make arrangements so anyone who wants to attend can do so.

AUCTION: We are also looking for donations for the silent auction. We would be grateful for items or gift cards from restaurants, specialty stores, exercise studios, hotels, or anything else you can think of. (We can provide you with our non-profit ID so that contributions are tax deductible). Please let Jennifer know what  items you have by November 30th. 

SENIOR SHIRTS: There are a limited number of Senior t-shirts (“Stop E”- see below) still available for sale. They are $15. If you want one or want to reserve a particular size, please email Harry.Scudamore@gmail.com.

SNOW SHOE TRIP: Also note, there are limited spaces left on the Running Club Snow Shoe Trip. Although we will accept reservations until Dec 20, we have finite space reserved and will close it as soon as all 40 spots are claimed.

The trip leaves early on Saturday January 20 and return on the afternoon of Sunday January 21. The cost is $90 per athlete and includes room and three meals. If you need snow shoes, rentals are an additional $18.

You can make your reservation and payment online here for your trip and snow shoes, if you need them. If cost is a barrier to attending, please see Coach Kohuth or email jareich424@gmail.com. We want everyone who wants to come to attend.

Note we will also need some drivers and chaperones, so consider signing up for that too (at the same link).

All athletes on the trip must turn in a POA for XC 2017-18 school year if you haven’t turned one in yet.  Email POA forms to ruthspano@aol.com or turn in to Coach Kohuth.

Please email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) or Ruth (ruthspano@aol.com) if you have questions about any of these things!

We will be closing ticket sales to the banquet on Nov 22. No exceptions and no tickets will be available at the door since the venue needs our final count this week and we are not able to change it once submitted.

If cost is a barrier to attending, please let Coach Kohuth or email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) and we will make arrangements.

Tickets are available at https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com

We look forward to seeing you all Sunday, Dec 3.

Tickets: Our end of season banquet is Sunday Dec 3 from 9-11:30. You must buy tickets by Nov 20. There will be no tickets available later or at the door, so don’t delay. If cost is a barrier to getting your tickets, please see Coach Kohuth or email jareich424@gmail.com to make arrangements.

You can buy tickets here: https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com 

Auction: We will have auction items available at the banquet. Please consider getting donations– anything and everything helps to support to program. (Restaurants, stores, services, yoga, whatever.)

Swag: We will have some team merchandise available for purchase, including our brand new insulated travel mugs, pictured below (yes, we are trying to help you with your holiday shopping). So bring checks or cash to the auction for shopping.

Help: Our senior team parents are doing all the heavy lifting for the auction planning, but we could use help making a slide show. If you can help, please let Jennifer know.

See you soon!

For the first time in four years, Denver East sent a boys team to the Colorado State Meet. For the first time in more than 20 years, the Angels were represented by a girls team at the State Meet. So in 2017, for the first time ever, East had both a boys and girls team competing at the Colorado State Championship Meet.

When the boys took to the course, the temperature had just about reached 40 degrees. Despite these favorable running conditions, the pack of nearly 160 of Colorado’s best prep runners took out the pace fairly slowly despite what is a net downhill first mile. East senior Harrison Scudamore was in 8^th place at the mile in a relatively leisurely 5:17. The second mile brings most of the hills on the challenging Norris Penrose course, and the effort picked up precipitously over the hills with the lead pack running that mile in 5:16. Over the final 1.12 miles, including the notorious uphill finish out of the creek crossing, Harrison would average a 4:46 pace, but nonetheless was beat to the finish by four other runners, finishing 5^th overall for the second straight year. Meanwhile, sophomore Will Daley moved up from 99^th at the mile to 93^rd at 2 miles and then 76th at the finish. Fellow sophomore Asher Hoyt finished 106^th while senior Jackson Adams ran to a massive personal best, despite the difficult course, of 17:45 for 135^th place. Sophomore Riley Nickols finished off the scoring in 146^th place. Freshmen Ian Trautwein and Xander Pacini finished 153^rd and 159^th. When it was all over, the Angel boys had exceeded expectations with a 16^th place overall team finish.

Unlike the boys race, the 5A girls race went out blazing fast. The East girls, always closely packed, put themselves in good position over the first mile and did their best to hold on and move up over the next 2 miles. Leading the way through the finish line for the Angels for the first time all season was sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen with an 85^th place finish and an impressive time of 20:11. The rest of the East scoring pack would come through within 25 seconds, with senior Nell Salzman finishing 92^nd, freshman AlanaMarie Barros in 97^th, junior Lilly Cory in 109^th, and senior Laurel Kruger in 114^th. Freshman Abby Howard was 123^rd and sophomore Lindsey Weyant in 151^st. When the points had been totaled, the Angels had finished 16^th – quite possibly the best ever finish by an East girls team. Only ten other teams finished with both boys and girls teams in the top 16 in the State.

The Future Looks Bright

The boys and girls teams will each graduate two seniors this spring. A well balanced and deep girls team looks to be well positioned next year to improve on this year’s finish at State. A rapidly improving boys team that will likely feature exclusively sophomores and juniors, looks well positioned to make another run at qualifying for State if they put the work in over the summer. We encourage all of our cross country athletes to run track in the winter and spring.

We look forward to celebrating this season with everyone at the banquet next month. You can purchase tickets online: https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com

You can also sign up for the Running Club’s Snow Shoe Trip online as well. This is not an official activity of the cross country team, but is a great opportunity to play, train, and connect. https://snow-shoe-trip-jan-20-21-2018.cheddarup.com