The East Angels took to two large meets this week, traveling to the Washington Park Invitational on Thursday and the Centaurus Invitational in Lafayette on Saturday. Seasonal bests were run by a majority of Angels who raced.

With most of the Varsity and JV-1 runners heading to Centaurus, it was up to the JV-2 to step up against varsity competition at Washington Park. In the Girls Varsity race the Angels were up to the task, finishing 5^th of 16 teams. Juniors Elena Thoman and Ellie McWhirter led the way with 10^th (22:35) and 18^th (23:10) place finishes. Ninth grade Annabel Fillipini (23:14) came in close behind in 19^th, followed by junior Maisie Moskowitz in 33^rd (23:40) and sophomore Kerra Hendrickson in 43^rd (24:21). The boys representing East in the varsity race at Washington Park found themselves a bit overmatched, finishing 19^th of 20 teams. The Angels were led by senior Diego Quintos de Peterson in 100^th (21:50), followed by junior Adam Schwartz (102^nd, 22:18), ninth grader Josh Bruggeman (103^rd, 22:23), sophomore Nicholas Virnich (104^th, 22:31), and ninth grader Paul Buffington (106^th, 22:38).

The Girls JV team fared very well at Washington Park, finishing 2^nd only to thee varsity squad from George Washington. Over the 2-mile course, ninth graders Amelia Brogden (14:16), Grace Chambers (14:17) and Alia Quinby (15:13) led the way, placing 3^rd, 4^th and 14^th. Sophomore Isabella Garcia (16^th, 15:27) and ninth grader Gemma Haller (17^th, 15:28) made up the remainder of the five scoring runners. The JV boys finished a very respectable 6^th place. Junior Kristian Laird covered the 2-miles in 12:24 for 11^th place, followed by ninth grader Jack Kriekels (12:53) and Allan Harder (13:37) in 26^th and 54^th. Sophomore Jacob Silverman (64^th, 13:48) and junior Theodor Hopfer (71^st, 13:58) were the final scorers for East.

It was a near perfect morning for racing and spectating in Boulder County at the Centaurus Invitation at Waneka Lake Park on Saturday where the Varsity Girls were the first to take on the fierce competition. Abby Howard ran across the finish line first of all the Angels, moving up nicely in the last mile to finish in 19^th place in a time of 20:25 for 5K. Junior Anna Lucy Buddenhagen and senior Lilly Cory also ran smart and had seasonal bests of 20:39 and 20:53 for 28^th and 38^th place. A series of East sophomores, Alana Marie Barros (21:37), Lilia Scudamore (21:58), Julia Schor (22:20), and Maya Nussbaumer (22:31) finished 52^nd, 60^th, 69^th, and 76^th, helping to secure an outstanding 4^th place finish of 29 schools, behind only host Centaurus High School and top-10 ranked teams Broomfield and Monarch.

The Boys Varsity team finished 11^th of 29 teams, hot on the heels of new regional rivals Broomfield and Legacy. Juniors Will Daley and Asher Hoyt led the way for the Angels with 9^th and 16^th place finishes in 16:35 and 16:57. For the second meet in a row, sophomore Xander Pacini (19:02) and junior Elijah Bruggeman (19:03) finished together, placing 97^th and 98^th on Saturday. First year student Eamon Nussbaum finished 102^nd in 19:14, and juniors Ballard Kauffman 125^th in 19:41 and Riley Nickols 134^th in 19:52, to round out the finishes of the varsity seven.

The Girls JV at Centaurus matched the best team finish of the week for the Angels with their second place finish. Running her first race for East, sophomore Laura Romero fought for the win for the full 5K, eventually finishing 2^nd in 21:21. Junior Lindsey Weyant, running her first race of the season, ran to a strong 4^th place finish in 21:49. The tightly packed trio of sophomores Grace O’Meara (23:05) and Claire Ely (23:14) and senior Emily Turner (23:21) finished 21^st, 23^rd, and 25^th to round out the scoring for the Angels.

The JV Boys were the last to race for the weekend. Similar to the JV Girls race, the East Boys were well represented in the lead packs. Senior, and four-year high altitude camp attendee, Sam Crippen rallied in the third mile for a 5^th place finish in 18:52 in what was his first official cross country race. Junior Jack Beardshear and sophomores Ian Trautwein and Cyrus Jenkins-Nieto finished 11^th, 12^th and 29^th, in 19:01, 19:06, and 19:43 respectively. Senior Eden Scott, another altitude camp alum running his first career cross country race, grinded out a 20:05 for 43^rd place as the 5^th scorer. Junior Taylor Lucas (21:27) and senior Jack Thompson (21:29) were the final finishers for East in 91^st and 92^nd place.

Next Saturday features two of the biggest meets in the Colorado invitational schedule, and East will be represented at both. The team will split up again between the always fast Liberty Bell Invitational at Heritage High School in Littleton and the super competitive St. Vrain Invitational at Lyons High School, which will be run over the same course to which East will return for State Meet qualifying (5A Region 3 Championship) in October.

Finally, this week’s alumni report: East graduates Rafael Marmalejo-Daher (UC-Colorado Springs) and Nikita Cordier (Metro State) finished 14^th and 33^rd respectively at the UCCS Rust Buster XC Jamboree over an 8000m course in Colorado Springs.