Thornton Invitational
The East Angels concluded the invitational portion of the cross country season with strong team finishes and some eye-popping individual performances at the Thornton Invitational on a seasonal Friday afternoon. This end of season meet, on a course that runs deceptively fast despite a couple hills, delivered some fast times once again as athletes reach their peak fitness.
The JV races got things going, with the JV Boys off and racing just 10 minutes before the JV Girls gave chase to their male counterparts. Senior Charlie Kruger moved up into the front group of boys by the end of the first mile and was running as high as 2nd place with 200m to go before getting caught by a few runners in the finishing kick to eventually finish 6th in a seasonal best 18:25. Senior Jack Kriekels held on to 12th place in 18:49, while junior Julio Dominguez-Perez paced himself to a personal best 19:09. Senior Allen Harder ran 19:44 for 34th place and freshmen Emmit Barros ran a personal best 19:57 for 44th and Oliver Gustavson 20:14 for 64th. Senior captain Marcus Burnett ran a seasonal best 20:43 for 76th. The top-5 combined for 119 points, good enough for 5th place of the 19 teams.
Anna Rothman-Haji led the JV girls with her personal best time of 22:37 for 13th place, followed by senior Gemma Haller in 19th for a seasonal best 22:55. Junior Evelyn Higgins place 22nd in 23:04, ninth grader Ella Terch 35th in 23:41, and juniors Clara Artley (23:45), Siena Berry (24:00) and Maya Williams (24:42) took 36th, 41st and 63rd respectively, the latter two with personal best times. With 108 points, the Angel JV Girls landed one of their better finishes of the season – 3rd of the 16 teams competing in the JV Girls division.
In the Varsity Boys race, the trio of senior Eamon Nussbaum and juniors Quinn Higgins and Ian Logan ran together for nearly all of the first 3 miles, all moving into the top-30 by the finish. Nussbaum (16:52) took 20th and Higgins (16:54) 24th, while Logan posted a massive personal best of 16:58 for 27th. Freshman Jonas Scudamore shaved a couple seconds off his personal best with a 17:22 for 41st, juniors Ben Hopper (58th) and Corbin Hobert (62nd) ran personal bests of 17:37 and 17:44, followed by senior David Anderson in 17:46 for 64th. Junior Charlie Keglovitz (87th) continued his breakthrough season with a personal best 18:08, as did sophomore Kai Luna (105th) in 18:21, just a few ticks and places behind senior Owen Congdon (18:19, 100th). The Boys Varsity totaled 166 points for 5th place of 32 teams, behind only nationally ranked Rocky Mountain High School (55 points), a couple top teams from Wyoming (Cheyenne Central with 58 and Sheridan with 154 points), and the seemingly ever-present team from Fossil Ridge with 148 points.
The best performances for the day were reserved for the final race of the day. In the Girls Varsity race, 9th grader Rosie Mucharsky took command early, extended her lead every mile, and easily won the invitational in 17:37, resetting the Denver East High School record for the 3rd time this season and setting the Thornton Invitational course record. At 19:40, sophomore Grace Todd crossed the line in 27th place – a 20 second personal best. Sophomore Sophia Shiroff held on for a 20:31 56th place finish while senior Ellison Mucharsky (63rd) ran a seasonal and altitude best 20:37. Sophomore Sasha Bull and junior Helen Miller finished in identical times of 21:03 for 76th and 77th respectively – personal bests for both. Junior Bri O’Meara ran a 21:31 personal best for 89th, followed by senior Annabel Filippini (103rd, 21:46). Also with personal bests, 9th grader Lila Cypers ran 22:03 for 110th and Ellie Goldstein 22:13 for 116th. The Varsity Girls were 5th of 27 teams, behind the aforementioned Fossil Ridge team (50 points), Cheyenne Central (82), Chatfield (92 points), and Sheridan (196 points).
Racing will pause for a week for East Angels as the teams prepare for Championship season, starting with the DPS League Championship hosted by East at City Park on Tuesday, October 12. For the JV runners, this will be their last race of the season. Both JV teams enter the League meet favored to defend their team titles – a streak that goes back about as far as anyone can remember. The Varsity Boys look to extend their championship streak to four years in a row and will be challenged by a Denver South team that looks to be getting better by the week. The Varsity Girls, looking to lock down a fifth consecutive championship, could be challenged by a Northfield High School team that features 3 girls who could all finish with All-League honors and a Denver South team with plenty of potential. George Washington, with outstanding front runners on both their Boys and Girls teams, could also be an outside threat in the championship races.
Parents, family members and East XC fans, If you want to volunteer to help out at the DPS League Championship, please click here to sign up: Volunteer sign up for DPS League Championships
Monday, Oct 4 is team photo day!
Individual photos will be taken in the Panek Lobby at 3:30pm.
Team photo will be taken at City Park at 4:00pm.
Plan on wearing your xc uniform for the photos.
Here is the link to order photos: Parent Link: https://my.photoday.io/flyer/9bcy8pno
Denver East High XC 