The goals for the East Angel Cross Country Team center on the Championship Season, beginning with the City League Championships. The Angels came in with ambitious goals for the meet, which is the final meet for the season for the JV racers. This year’s championship was hosted on the Washington Park course the Angels raced back in August to open up the season.

The 4A/5A Girls race was the first to take to the course in the early afternoon on Thursday. Sophomore Fiona Jeong broke the tape with authority in 20:11 to cap her dominating win. She was followed in quick succession by ninth-grader Charlotte Clarke in 5th (21:01), ninth-grader Norah Dysart in 7th (21:11), junior Lola Kinsella in 8th (21:17), and ninth-grader Cate Carhart in 9th (21:21) to lock down the scoring five up front. Sophomore Imogen Nemitz kept the momentum going for the Angels with her 12th place finish in 22:16. In a typical meet, locking down five of the first nine places and six of the first twelve would be enough to win the meet, but it was all Northfield runners between the East runners, and with their 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th, and 10^th place finishes, Northfield’s 25 points was good enough to best East’s 30 points for the team title.

The Boys JV race individual title was won by one of the top 10 boys in all of Colorado, a boy who has been relegated to JV division competition this year by CHSA rules for transferring to Northfield from another Colorado school. In the true JV competition, it was East’s freshman Liam Gerber surging to the front of the pack to finish runner-up in 17:44. He was joined in the top 10 by sophomore Finley Knight in 9th (18:20) and freshman Noah Erwin right on his heels in 10th (18:24). Ninth-grader Evan Mucharsky-O’Boyle added another punch in 15th (18:58), junior Zach Smiles matched that energy in 16th (18:58), and seniors Abraham Morginsky and Alexandros Mays battled through for 20th (19:28) and 21st (19:55) respectively as a steady stream of Angels rounded out a deep JV effort that kept East’s colors prominent all race long. East finished 3^rd as a team with 52 points behind a dominant Northfield team with 25 points and South with 51 points.

The Girls Varsity Team Championship hinged on a handful of close battles between Denver East and Northfield runners. After Northfield’s freshman star crossed the line first, followed by South’s top runner, senior Julieta Ochoa set the tone up front for the Angels with a strong 3rd-place finish in 19:24. A single Northfield runner crossed prior to East putting the next three runners across the line. Junior Corrine Kennedy was next for the Angels in 5th (19:31), with senior Mary Clare Nussbaum coming from deep back in the field to take 6th (19:31), followed by senior Scout Chomas closing fast for 7th (19:32) – the three just 1.2 seconds or less ahead of Northfield’s next runner, a difference that proved critical. Even with four runners securing First Team All-League finishes, the team title was not yet secured. Following Northfield’s fourth runner, ninth-grader Tessa Fe Morris continued her rise as one of East’s top runners, taking 9^th in 19:51 as she out kicked two Northfield runners in the final stretch to close out the scoring for the Angels with 30 points and securing the team title for the Angels. Sophomore Lila Brown (12th, 20:12) and junior Lola Carhart (13^th, 20:19) added valuable depth for the Angels with the pair in front of the Nighthawks number six runner.

In the Boys Varsity race, senior Henry Bennett led the charge with a composed runner-up finish in 16:32, his top finish ever in the race and his second year as a First Team All-League performer. Senior Isaiah Springer followed in 10th (17:18), while senior Kyle Kojima (13th, 17:42) and junior Emery Wagner (15th, 17:45) formed a tight mid-race tandem. Sophomore Tre Even chipped in a solid 19th place finish (17:58), while senior Jackson Gertge held on to 20th (18:10), and senior Mason Harper closed out the seven in 27th (18:53). The seniors set the tone, a couple underclassmen matched the competitive urgency of the moment, and East came away with a balanced, competitive varsity effort. The point total of 56 was about what was expected, and the Angels finished a place better than last year, taking 2^nd place in the League.

The Angel varsity squads move on to the 5A Region 4 Championships on Thursday in Greeley, Colorado. The top 4 teams and top 15 individuals from that championship will extend their season to the Colorado State Meet the following week.