For the remainder of the Invitational season, East Angel Cross Country will likely go split squad to at least one meet each week – meaning that while the Varsity team and select JV runners may focus on a single race each week, it will be up to the remainder of the team to represent the Angels in both the varsity and JV divisions at smaller DPS hosted meets. So far, so good during this first week of splitting the team as the Angels demonstrated excellent team depth.

At the Denver West Cowboy Invitational on Tuesday, the Angels were well represented across all four races. In the Boys Open race, junior Ben Parish led the way for the Angels with a 7^th place finish in 20:26. Sophomore Thomas Cole was next, crossing in 21:35 followed by freshman Zivi Shiroff (21:49) in 25^th, junior Harper Gregory (22:43) in 37^th and sophomore Hutton Zimmerman (23:00) in 45^th. These scoring five totaled 117 points for 4^th place among 11 competing teams in the division.

In the Girls Open race, 9^th grader Alyson Frechette took 11^th place in 24:46. Senior Sophie DeBlasio was the second Angel to race across the line in 24:49 for 12^th place. A string of 9^th graders were hot on DeBlasio’s heals, as Pearl Bussard (24:52), Charlie Kissinger (25:03), and Grey Jensen (25:11) took 13^th, 15^th and 17^th, to complete the scoring for Angels at 48 points, good enough for 2^nd place of 9 scored teams. 

The Boys Varsity was led by sophomore Micah Gallantz, running 19:28 for 26^th place. Senior Linus Cole followed in 20:13 for 36^th and junior Donovan Aggeler 37^th in 20:17. The sophomore trio of Alexander Wilkerson (20:47), Caleb Smiles (21:13) and Jackson Gertge followed in 46^th, 55^th, and 64^th place, with freshman Wyatt Jackson completing the team with his 21:48 performance for 65^th place. Accounting for non-scoring runners in the varsity race, the Angels total 177 points which put them in 7^th of 12 teams. 

The Varsity Girls were the last to take to the course on this pleasant afternoon of racing at Garfield Park. Ninth-grader Abby Forsberg led the team with the best individual performance of the day, a 3^rd place finish in 21:30. Senior Anna Rothman-Haji (22:08) placed 9^th for the Angels followed by junior Abby Purvis (22:25) in 12^th. Sophomore Helen Love (23:10) crossed the line in 22^nd, juniors Frances Hebbard (23:33) and Yelena Konowal (23:48) were 26^th and 29^th, and ninth-grader Medea Gregory was 35^th in 24:39. With 67 points, the Angels were again a very solid 2^nd of 9 teams competing.

All East Angels will race at the St. Vrain Invitational on Saturday at Lyons High School – continue following the website for details.