The Denver East coaches get a little exhausted every year by the over-hype surrounding the Liberty Bell Invitational. After last year’s unseasonably cool weather produced even faster times than usual on this glorified road race with a net downhill profile, the hype reached new heights going into this year’s races. But as long as the meet continues to deliver the toughest competition of the season and lots of smiles on athletes’ faces after achieving personal best times, the Angels will keep returning to Heritage High School for this mid-season test. The 2023 edition delivered plenty of both for Denver East, so go ahead and pencil in this meet for 2024.

The East Boys competed in the Division 1 races at Liberty Bell this year – the division for large schools not invited to the Sweepstakes Division – the race in which every team, more or less, is ranked in the top-10 in Colorado in their respective division. This change in divisions from the last two years was actually a favorable development for our young team, allowing the Angels in the varsity race to run closer to the front against suitably strong competition. The East Boys took full advantage of this situation, with six of the seven boys running lifetime bests with an average improvement of nearly 50 seconds per runner for 5K. Junior Jonas Scudamore led the way for the Angels with a solid finishing kick to take 2^nd place overall in 15:31. Senior Conner Beardsley took 41 seconds off his personal best with a 16:29 20^th place finish followed by sophomore Toby Penner in 38^th in 16:59 and junior Ben Brown in 44^th in 17:07. Sophomore Isaiah Springer knocked 75 seconds off his previous best time, clocking a 17:54 for 82^nd place. Freshman Emery Wagner crossed in 18:22 for 106^th and senior Finn Egan 120^th in 18:47. The East boys finished 6^th of 22 scored teams in the division.

The Colorado 5A #9 ranked East Angel Girls toed the line in the Sweepstakes Division, along with all of the top thirteen ranked 5A teams in the state and six of the top seven ranked 4A teams in Colorado. As she has for more than two years now, junior Rosie Mucharsky led the way for the Angels, moving up for an 11^th place finish in 17:51. Senior Grace Todd has generally monopolized the #2 role for the Angels for the last three years, as she did again on Saturday, with a 18:33 performance for 37^th place and a 17-second personal best. Sophomore Scout Chomas ran 19:25 for 64^th place and a 66 second personal best. East’s Class of 2027 ticket of Kennedy-Johnson went 83^rd and 99^th, as Corrine Kennedy ran a 64 second personal best of 19:52 and Avery Johnson ran a 38 second personal best of 20:16. Seniors Sasha Bull and Sophia Shiroff took 109^th and 116^th in 20:25 and 20:36 respectively. The East girls finished an impressive 6^th of the 23 teams in the Sweepstakes division. Of the five teams ahead of the Angels, three are nationally ranked, including two in the top-10 (Air Academy, Mountain Vista, Cherry Creek) and a fourth has been part of the national conversation this year (Fossil Ridge).

The JV Boys were the next East team to take the course. Sophomores Kyle Kojima and Abraham Morginsky fully seized the opportunity, taking 13^th and 14^th place, in identical times of 18:17 (personal bests of 74 and 50 seconds respectively) – Kojima moved up nicely throughout the latter miles while Morginsky took a more aggressive early approach. Their classmate Alexandros Mays was the third Angel across the line in 56^th place with a time of 19:43 (a 53 second personal best) and senior Carson Lerner also broke 20 minutes with his 19:58 for 62^nd. Sophomore Mason Harper ran 20:08 for 68^th, giving the Angels a scoring total of 208 points for 9^th place of 18 scoring teams.

The East Angel Girls JV Team had the best team finish of the day for the program, taking 5^th place of 21 teams in the Sweepstakes JV Division – an impressive demonstration of the team’s depth and with a first to fifth runner difference of only 28 seconds. Sophomore Mary Clare Nussbaum led the way with a 24^th place finish in 20:53 – a 32 second personal best, followed by junior Lila Cypers who ran a 20:58 for 27^th place. Ninth grader Lola Carhart knocked more than 2 minutes off her previous 5k best, running 21:04 for 31^st. Seniors Avery Ash and Anna Rothman-Haji rounded out the scoring for the Angels finishing 34^th and 38^th respectively in 21:09 and 21:21.

Highlights from the Open races that followed included junior Beckett Nelson-Gardner winning the Division 1 Boys Open race in a 20 second personal best of 18:55, while senior Merle Hezel debuted his season with a 19:44 for 10^th place. In the Girls Sweepstakes Open race, sophomores Kairine Brown and Meara McBride took 8^th and 9^th place, both in 22:10.

The East Angels have two meets on the schedule in the week ahead. The Denver West Cowboy Invitational is a smaller meet on Tuesday to which East will send JV runners, some of whom will be tasked with racing at the varsity level. On Saturday the Angels head to the St. Vrain Invitational at Lyons High School – another meet at which there will be nationally ranked teams competing on a true cross country course (hills and dirt!) that is very spectator friendly. Continue following the website for meet details.

Monday is the big (burrito) day! From 4-8 pm we receive a portion of all the sales we bring in. You can order online for pick up– just be sure to use our promo code so we get credit: VPRXM26.

Please share this with everyone you know. See you there!

Directions on how to order online:

Just a reminder that the team potluck tonight will be hosted by the Rothman-Haji family (978 Cook St– between 9th and 10th) from 6-8 pm.

WHAT TO BRING:
frosh: main dish
soph: sides or salads
juniors: dessert
seniors: beverages

And of course, WE NEED TENT HELP this weekend.
You can sign up to bring it to OR from the meet here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16sD5bQV0C9aSMg4UhJ6rNpcTneX7KdZAJkqicFHsiIg/edit

We want all of our runners to feel comfortable and fast in their running shorts. Currently, our standard issue short for girls is the Nike short as pictured below:

 If you like this short, you can keep this short.

If you would prefer a different short, we will offer the following Nike v-notch short:

Please fill out the following form if you would like to exchange your shorts: Girls Short Exchange Form

If you decide to exchange, you can bring your current uniform shorts to practice to exchange for a v-notch pair on Thursday or Friday, 9/7 or 9/8.

If neither style appeals to you, you can wear any pair of red (JV) or black (varsity) shorts that have just one small brand logo or no logo on them. If you have questions, please ask a coach.

There were not going to be a lot of fast times run at Broomfield Commons Park on a 97-degree day. The finish banner is about the only shade you will find on that course. But run smart in challenging conditions and good things will happen, and a lot of good things happened for the East Angels on Friday.

Girls Varsity ran first at this meet. Senior Grace Todd came through the mile with a pack of about a half dozen competitors, with the pack trailing two runners who had already built a substantial lead. Todd easily pulled away from that chase pack in the latter half of the race to secure a third-place finish in 19:09. A strong pack of East runners trailed behind, making their way through the top-20. Sophomores Julieta Ochoa and Scout Chomas closed strong to finish 12^th and 13^th in 20:49 and 20:55, followed closely by senior Sophia Shiroff in 14^th (20:56) and ninth-graders Avery Johnson (21:03) and Corrine Kennedy (21:05) in 15^th and 17^th. Senior Sasha Bull (21:39) crossed the line 22^nd, despite being the victim of a pre-race wasp attack, while sophomore Mary Clare Nussbaum (21:42) placed 24^th, and seniors Avery Ash (21:45) and Anna Rothman-Haji (22:21) 27^th and 36th, the latter overcoming a hair-tie malfunction. While not all of the schools competing in the Girls or Boys varsity races were competing with their full varsity teams, it was a dominant performance by the East Angel Girls, placing six athletes in the top-17 for a mere 53 points to get the win against sixteen other teams. 

In the Boys Varsity race that followed, junior Jonas Scudamore and sophomore Henry Bennett cruised comfortably with the lead pack before taking the lead together in the third mile. The pair would put a fair amount of distance between themselves and third place over the final 600m downhill finish to take 1^st and 2^nd in 16:50 and 16:59 respectively. Despite the conditions, sophomores Toby Penner (19^th, 18:14) and Isaiah Springer (52^nd, 19:09) both ran faster than they had the week before, perhaps adapting to their new roles on varsity. Junior Ben Brown endured a rough final 200m to finish 32^nd in 18:43, and freshman Emery Wagner and sophomore Kyle Kojima also managed to improve on last week with a 19:21 for 57^th and 19:31 for 62^nd respectively. Senior Finn Egan finished 73^rd in 19:55, sophomore Abraham Morginsky survived a starting line wasp sting (yes, the team was victimized at least twice by nature) and a mid-race fall to finish 76^th in 20:04, and senior Carson Lerner placed 88^th in 20:26 in his varsity debut. This inexperienced Boys Varsity team made a lot of progress in a week, this week finishing 2^nd of 24 teams, behind only Jefferson Academy. 

The Boys JV took to the course immediately after the varsity races. Sophomore Alexandros Mays went out fast, going through the mile mark in 2^nd place; the heat and the pace would catch up to Mays, but he held on for 8^th place in 20:43. Sophomore Micah Gallantz managed a PR despite the heat with his 5^th place finish in 20:33. Sophomore Mason Harper was 10^th in 20:50, junior Donovan Aggeler was 16^th in 21:19, and sophomore Liam Taylor was 21^st in 21:28. Those scoring five runners totaled 60 points– good enough for 2^nd place, just 3 points shy of first place Golden View Classical Academy. 

In the Girls JV race, junior Lila Cypers came through the mile in 5^th place, with first and second place seeming to already have an insurmountable lead. But the heat took its toll on the leaders, and Cypers cruised past the pair with about a quarter-mile to run and came away with an impressive win in 22:30. The rest of the top-15 was dominated by East Angels, with sophomore Quinn Dunkin (23:22) racing to 4^th, ninth-grader Lola Carhart (23:25) moving up to 6^th, sophomore Daniela Maldonado-Ramos (23:28), 7^th, junior Abby Purvis (23:31) 8^th, sophomores Meara McBride (23:49, 10^th) and Liza Cathey (12^th, 23:52), and ninth-grader Abby Forsberg 15^th in 24:16. On their way to the JV team title, the East girls totaled a mere 26 points, good enough to have beaten the rest of the entire field of 11 other teams if they were combined into a single team. 

Things get much tougher in the weeks ahead. The Angels head to the Liberty Bell Invitational at Heritage High School on Saturday, September 8. Teams from around the state and region come to Liberty Bell to test themselves against the best programs in Colorado over a scorching fast course. Details of race division assignment and race times will be available at the beginning of the week.

Don’t forget to share your meet photos— at https://albums.memento.com/EastXC2023

You can also email them to EastXC2023@submit.memento.com (the subject will be the caption) or by following the QR below.

Varsity Runners for Legacy

Grace Todd                   Jonas Scudamore

Julieta Ochoa                Henry Bennett

Scout Chomas              Connor Beardsley

Avery Johnson               Toby Penner

Corrine Kennedy            Ben Brown

Sophia Shiroff                 Abraham Morginsky

Mary-Clare Nussbaum   Isaiah Springer

Sasha Bull                      Beckett Nelson-Gardner

Anna Rothman-Haji        Emery Wagner

Avery Ash                      Kyle Kojima

                                      Finn Egan 

                                      Carson Lerner 

Weekend Workouts