There are not breaks on this Denver East Cross Country schedule. While no meet is as deep from 1st to 20th as the Liberty Bell Invitational, there was no shortage of nationally ranked talent at the St. Vrain Invitational. No doubt, the winners of the races on Saturday have designs on winning state championships, if not being the outright favorites in their respective divisions (exhibits A-E: Addison Ritzenhein, Benji Anderson, Niwot Boys, Mountain Vista Boys, and Niwot Girls – look them up). It is not an easy thing to be even a little bit off when competing against this level of competition. Fortunately, the Angels largely brought their A-game against this top flight competition.
It was a picture-perfect day in Boulder County, with fair temperatures and a cloudless sky, to compete over the 3-loop Lyons High School course, which features a modest hill on each loop and great spectating for parents, fans, and coaches. The Girls Varsity were the first on the course and as usual the Angels would count on junior Rosie Mucharsky to lead the team, which she did with a 15th place 19:02 finish. Senior Grace Todd also broke into the top-20 with her 19th place finish in 19:26. Sophomores Scout Chomas and Julieta Ochoa came in nearly together for 36th and 37th in 20:16 and 20:17, while ninth-grader Avery Johnson held the gap behind that duo at just 7 seconds with her 20:24 for 42nd. Senior Sophia Shiroff held on for 64th in 21:11, while sophomore Mary Clare Nussbaum closed excellently to take 73rd in 21:24 and junior Lila Cypers finished 79th in 21:39. The Colorado 5A #6 ranked Angels finish 4th of 19 teams, behind only US #1 ranked Niwot, US #8 ranked Mountain Vista, and US “honorable mention” Fossil Ridge High School.
In the Boys Varsity race, junior Jonas Scudamore bided his time in the middle of the lead pack for most of the race before making an extended surge over the last half mile to take 2nd place in 16:00, behind only US top-20 Benji Anderson of Mountain Vista. Junior Connor Beardsley ran an aggressive race strategy to a 36th place finish in 17:04. Junior Ben Brown looked strong on his way to an 82nd place finish in 18:04, while freshman Emery Wagner and junior Beckett Nelson-Gardner, both in their first year in the sport, showed continued improvement in their 97th and 99th place finishes in 18:29 and 18:31. Sophomores Toby Penner and Abraham Morginsky took 107th and 113th in 18:40 and 18:46, followed by senior Finn Egan (19:19, 129th) and sophomore Kyle Kojima (19:35, 132nd). The Angels totaled 262 points to take 8th of 22 teams.
For the JV Girls, it was ninth-grader Lola Carhart leading the team, moving up smartly over the 5000m course to take 10th place in 21:34. Senior Avery Ash and sophomore Meara McBride also broke into the top-25 with 19th and 22nd place finishes of 21:59 and 22:11. Ninth-grader Abby Forsberg had her best race of the year thus far with a 31st place finish in 22:55 while junior Abby Purvis took 36th in 23:10. Sophomore Daniela Maldonado-Ramos held on to 42nd place in 23:30, and junior Rae Tatel had a fantastic return from injury with a 52nd place finish in 24:17. The Denver East JV girls also took 4th place, behind only the aforementioned nationally ranked programs.
Sophomore Micah Gallantz raced first across the line among the East JV Boys with a time of 20:03 for 48th place. Sophomore Alexandros Mays (20:39) followed in 20:39, with senior Linus Cole (20:45) in hot pursuit. Sophomores Mason Harper (20:49) and Alexander Wilkerson (20:52) were immediately behind in 69th and 70th, while senior Carson Lerner (20:58) and junior Donovan Aggeler (21:05) rounded out the top-7 for the Angels who took 8th of 21 teams.
The Denver East Varsity teams and many of the top-JV runners will focus their efforts this week on the Rim Rock Invitational in Lawrence, Kansas, where the Angels will face many of the best teams from the Heartland Region. The remainder of the JV team will take on one of the best cross-country courses in the area over the Willis-Case Golf Course on Tuesday at the North Viking Invitational and then compete again on Saturday at the Northfield Hawk Invitational on Saturday.
Reminders:
Don’t forget to share your meet photos with us (and to help with the recaps): https://albums.memento.com/EastXC2023
And of course, you can sign up to volunteer for the League Championship meet we are hosting on 10/10: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E48ACA92BA20-league#/
Denver East High XC 