The first races are about learning – learning about our fitness, discovering 5000m for the first time for our new athletes, and at this year’s opening meet, learning about the course and competition the varsity teams will face in two months at the regional meet to qualify for the Colorado State Meet. (There was a lot of discussion about racing shoe choices after the races, which truth be told, was a discovery that by itself was probably worth the long trip up to Fort Collins).

Congratulations to all the Angels for getting the season off to a strong start and for enduring what seems to be somewhat of a tradition – a bus break down (at least it was on the way home this time)!

The Spring Canyon Park course in Fort Collins offered up plenty of challenges with a route over about an equal amount of thick park grass and crushed grinder trail with a couple short hills, looping around favorably for good coach/parent spectating. As we have come to expect for the first half of the season, temperatures were warm, even at 9am for the first race of the day.

The Boys Varsity raced first. A pack of East boys insinuated themselves in the top-25 of the 12-team field from the early going. The trio of Ben Brown, Isaiah Springer and Emery Wagner stayed competitive with one of several chase packs, limiting gaps between runners until the final mile. The senior captain Brown led the team through the finish line in 18^th in 17:39, followed by the junior Springer (20^th, 17:44) and then the sophomore Wagner (25^th, 17:59). Junior Abraham Morginsky had a solid opener completing the 5k in 18:55 for 37^th and senior Toby Penner held down 42^nd in 19:27 to close out the scoring. Juniors Mason Harper (19:28, 43^rd) and Jackson Gertge (19:48, 48^th) were solid in their varsity debuts. In the team battle, Colorado #5 Fossil Ridge High School edged out #8 Fort Collins High School 52-53, with Denver East taking 5^th with 142 points.

In the Girls Varsity race, the East Angels got off the line nicely with the pack of sophomores Corrine Kennedy and Avery Johnson and juniors Julieta Ochoa and Scout Chomas picking up right where they had left off last season. That quartet established themselves in the top-20 from the start and would hold on to those positions through the finish, with Kennedy leading the group with her 9^th place 20:32 performance, followed by Johnson (10^th, 20:42), Ochoa (13^th, 20:43), and Chomas (17^th, 21:06). Sophomore Lola Carhart closed well to grab 24^th in 21:55, followed by ninth grader Paola Ochoa running 22:08 in her debut for 25^th place and junior Mary Clare Nussbaum finishing strong for 27^th in 22:11. The East Girls took 3^rd of 11 teams with 73 points, behind a dominating performance from nationally ranked Fossil Ridge with 23 points and a surprisingly strong performance from the host Rocky Mountain High School with 49 points.

There is always a lot of curiosity among the coaches regarding what will be discovered in the JV races early in the season, and there more than a few promising performances discovered, from underclassmen in particular, in both races. The boys were led by sophomore Zach Smiles in 20:55, followed by junior Alex Wilkerson in 21:08. A trio of freshmen were the next across the line for the Angels with Weston Dodson (21:09) leading the way in front of classmates Vincent Newland (21:15) and Rodney Even (21:25). Sophomores Jackson Ruedi (22:08) and Zivi Shiroff (22:41) were the 6^th and 7^th runners for East, who totaled 116 points for 5^th place among 8 scored teams.

The Girls JV were led by ninth grader Emma Maldonado-Ramos (24:43). Sophomore Pearl Bussard (25:08) was next across the line, followed by the near simultaneous finishes of junior Meara McBride (25:35), sophomore Grey Jensen (25:35) and junior Daniela Maldonado-Ramos (25:36). Sophomore Addy Everhart (27:01) and ninth grader Audrey Hinshaw (27:05) completed the top-7 finishers for East, who as a team finished 3^rd of 9 teams with 77 points.

The East Angels race again on Friday, August 30^th, at the Arapahoe Warrior Invitational at deKoevend Park; this meet will offer similar challenges with a combination of grass and crushed grinder surfaces, a couple small hills, nationally and state ranked competition, a pair of water crossings, and likely some afternoon heat. Varsity lineups, race times and transportation information will be posted in the next couple of days.