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State Meet Recap | Oct 30, 2021

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East Boys 11th at State

 Kruger wins Unified State Race

 Mucharsky and Todd among top-12 Girls in East State Meet History

Beautiful conditions rose over the Norris-Penrose Event Center for the Colorado State Meet on Saturday morning. For the East Angels, represented in three races, the day started well, got even better, and crescendoed in a championship as the sun reached its zenith.

The 5A Girls were the first race of the day, and East was represented by underclassmen stars Rosie Mucharsky and Grace Todd. Mucharsky, the DPS League champion and Region 3 runner-up, positioned herself well for a top-10 finish, coming through the first mile in 5:49 and the second mile in 12:06. The ninth grader would hang on for a 14th place finish (and 3rd among all freshman) in 18:45. Mucarsky’s finish is the 2nd best finish by an East Girl in school history, only behind Lillie Toaspern’s 12th place finish in 2007. Sophomore Todd bided her time through the first mile, coming through in 6:34 and 104th. The Norris-Penrose course will generally award such patience, as the hills come in the 2nd mile; Todd’s patience paid off as she moved up to 84th by the 2-mile mark and finished a strong 69th place in 20:22 – this ties her for 12th among the top finishes at State Meet for East Girls all time. (The team archivist is pretty sure, if not certain, about these records.)

A year ago, the East Boys finished a distant 7th at the regional meet and did not have a single boy who broke 17 minutes for 5K for the season and only three runners who broke 18 minutes. But the 2021 version of East Boys Cross Country was a team that had shown State Meet aspirations beginning at the opening time trial of the season and now showcases three boys who have broken 17 minutes and an additional six who have broken 18 minutes. The Angel Boys Team that toed the line at this year’s State Meet featured exactly zero boys with any State Meet experience but proved to be ready for the moment. “This race rewards runners who run the first mile smartly” had been the coaches’ mantra prior to the meet, and the East Boys proved to be one of the smartest teams on the course. At the mile mark, East was in 18th place with 432 points with senior Eamon Nussbaum (89th, 5:34) and juniors Quinn Higgins (93rd, 5:35) Ian Logan (98th, 5:38) leading the way, followed closely by freshman Jonas Scudamore (5:40, 103rd), sophomore Ben Hopper (5:41, 105th), and seniors David Anderson (5:42, 11th) and Jack Kriekels (5:46, 119th).  By the 2-mile mark Higgins had moved to 46th (11:16), Nussbaum to 50th (11:17), Logan to 73rd (11:28), Anderson to 102nd (11:44), Scudamore to 103rd (11:44), Kriekels 108th (11:47) and Hopper to 114th (11:50), putting the Angels in 15th, having shed nearly 100 points over the second mile. But the Angels were far from done moving their way up the field as Higgins, Nussbaum, Logan, Anderson, Kriekels, Hopper and Scudamore eventually stormed into the rodeo stadium to claim 35th, 41st, 71st, 92nd, 105th, 108th, and 110th respectively to claim an 11th place team finish with 301 points. Only twice in the last 20 years has an East Cross Country team finished better (2012 – 5th place Boys; 2017 – 8th place Girls). Individually, only two East boys have finished better than Higgins and Nussbaum in the last eight years, while Scudamore’s finish was 6th of all freshman boys in 5A.. 

Over the last four years, senior Charlie Kruger has been a constant pillar on Denver East Cross Country. Nobody had been to more practices, gone on more runs, or competed in more races. If you have been around the team the last four years and failed to learn something about running and being a teammate from Kruger, you haven’t been paying attention. In 2020, Kruger’s 11th place (18:22) finish at the DPS League Varsity Championship was key to East securing the team title, and in 2021 his 9th place finish in the JV race was crucial to securing that team title. For most of 2021, Kruger was just outside the Varsity 7, but he would get his chance at the 2021 State Meet his senior year in the Unified Championship, the third and final race in which East would be represented. In front of a frenzied crowd of teammates, coaches, family and friends, Kruger ran to a decisive win in the 1.7 mile race with a winning time of 10:50 and a 17 second margin of victory. It was a fitting highlight on top of a fantastic day and season for Angel Cross Country. 

In order for us to provide uniforms for next year’s team, we must receive every uniform back.  If you haven’t already, please return your uniform after school today (2:10pm) in the counseling center.  We received two uniforms yesterday that were dropped off without names and we have no idea who checked them out.  Even if you give your uniform to Kohuth, you must pin your name on it with a safety pin so we can check it in properly.  Thank you! 

Todd & Mucharsky

Higgins, Kriekels, Logan, Scudamore, Nussbaum, Hopper & Anderson

Kruger after winning the Unified State Race

Kruger on the podium with teammates and coaches

Uniform Return

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Varsity Runners!

Please turn in your uniform on Wednesday (11/3) or Thursday (11/4) after school in the counseling center. If you don’t return your uniform, you will be charged $100. We would prefer to have the uniform instead of your money.

All Runners!

If you haven’t returned your uniform yet, please do it on Wednesday or Thursday this week.

Mark your calendars! The East XC Banquet will be on 12/5/21 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (ish). Please look for more details to follow!

Nike Cross Regional Championship | November 20, 2021

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Hello All,

This email contains information regarding the Nike Cross Regional Championship that is going to be held on November 20th in Mesa Arizona. We are encouraging all runners who are interested to look into this opportunity, as it would be great to see as many East Runners as possible to compete.  NXR is an amazing opportunity  to have another chance to PR and race with the team.

This trip is not sponsored by East, and athletes and their parents will have to travel to Arizona to compete. In the past, parents have taken some athletes who’s parents can’t come along with them, this is encouraged.

If parents or athletes are looking for flight and hotel information, East athletes who have already signed up are taking flight UA716 that is leaving Denver for Phoenix Arizona on Thursday November 18th at 8:30pm and are staying at the Residence Inn Phoenix Mesa at 941 W. Grove Avenue Mesa Arizona 85210 USA.

If your athlete is interested in attending, please let Coach Kohuth know immediately as race/jersey entrees will need to be placed soon. If enough people express intrest, a meeting will be organized over zoom next week. In the meantime, please email Kohuth at steven_kohuth@dpsk12.org with any questions.

Looking forward to seeing many of you in Arizona!

Steven Kohuth
Counselor and Cross Country Coach
East High School
720.423.8357

Uniform Return | Tuesday, 10/26 & Wednesday 10/27

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Hi Runners!

It is time to turn in your uniforms. If your season is over, please bring your uniform to room 225 (the counseling center) after school on Tuesday or Wednesday and give it to Coach Spano or one of our uniform volunteers.

We need EVERY uniform back so runners will have uniforms next year. We prefer clean uniforms, but we would much rather have an unwashed uniform than an unreturned uniform. Just let us know if it is clean or not.

Thank you for helping us achieve our goal of getting every uniform back! Stay tuned for more info on the end of season xc banquet!

If you are running at State this Saturday, we will collect your uniforms next week.

Regional Meet Recap

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Sweet and Bittersweet Results at 5A Region 3 Championships

The path to qualifying for the Colorado State Cross Country Championship runs through one of five regional qualifying meets where only the top-4 teams and top-15 individuals from each regional championship move on to the state meet. 

5A Region 3, which predominantly includes schools from Boulder and Broomfield Counties, is one of the deepest regions in the state, particularly on the Girls side of the competition. The East Angels arrived at Broomfield Commons Park knowing they had their work cut out for them to make it to the State meet. After what had been a cool morning, the clouds drifted away and temperatures warmed to the mid-60’s – ideal for spectating, but a bit warmer than ideal for 5k racing.

The Boys race went off first taking on the dry course of predominantly hard packed dirt and crushed grinders paths but for a 200m stretch of grass fields at the start and finish. As is typical at this championship, a handful of runners capable of running sub-16:30 took off from the start, trailed by a pack of 20 or so runners hoping to find their way into the top-15 by the finish.  Among this pack were East’s trio of junior Quinn Higgins, senior Eamon Nussbaum and junior Ian Logan. Trailing a bit farther back were freshman Jonas Scudamore, senior David Anderson and junior Ben Hopper. By the 2-mile mark a group of red clad runners was dominating the top-15, with the top 3 East runners mixed amongst the top 7 runners from heavily Fairview High School (also in red), with East’s 4th, 5th and 6th runners not far behind. It was clear to those spectating for all of the final mile that the Angel Boys were on their way to State meet, and it was just a matter of whether they were going to finish 2nd or 3rd in the team competition. Higgins and Nussbaum each ran strong second halves of the race and stormed through in personal bests of 16:32 and 16:41 respectively for 6th and 7th place.  Logan (17:06) held on for 16th place while Scudamore (17:24), Hopper (17:33) and Anderson (17:39) moved their way past many of the runners who had gone out too aggressively in the opening mile, eventually securing 21st, 26th and 27th. Senior Jack Kriekels, continuing to get stronger by the week, ran a personal best 17:59 for 33rd, classmate Owen Congdon was 36th in 18:03, and junior Charlie Keglovitz ran a personal best 18:13 for 41st.  Once the dust settle, the East Boys had secured third place and their first trip to the State meet in four years with 74 points, behind just Fairview (33 points) and Boulder (73 points) and well ahead of fourth place Ralston Valley (111) and fifth place Legacy (152).

There was little time to celebrate before the Girls race was off and going. Like the race before, a handful of the top girls from the region were far out front while a large pack gave chase through the first mile. East ninth grader Rosie Mucharsky, as expected, was among the early leaders.  Sophomores Grace Todd and Sophia Shiroff were near the back of the first chase pack while the quartet of seniors Ellison Mucharsky and Annabel Filippini, and junior Helen Miller and sophomore Sasha Bull were a fair amount further back. In this early stage, it might not have looked as if the Angels would be competitive at all, but this early race patience would payoff in the second mile as Rosie Mucharsky secured a hold on 2nd place while Todd moved up into the top-15 with Shiroff not far behind. Ellison Mucharsky would put some distance between herself and her teammates as she made her way up the field, but all of East’s top-7 runners were seemingly passing more runners. Before the meet, the athletes and coaches knew they would need to tally a score under 110 point to have a chance at State, and it looked as if the Angels were close to that goal as they kicked through the finish, with Rosie Mucharsky 2nd (18:03), Grace Todd 12th (19:40), Sophia Shiroff 24th (20:15), Ellison Mucharsky 31st (20:24 – personal best), Helen Miller 37th (20:45 – personal best), Annabel Filippini 45th (21:01 – seasonal best), Sasha Bull 48th (21:09), Bri O’Meara 55th (21:58) and Ellie Goldstein 58th (22:22).  The Angels totaled 106 points with nearly all of the athletes running near or better than their seasonal bests, but on this day that was not quite good enough to go on to State meet as a team. The Angels finished a mere one point behind a deep Monarch High School Team (105) for fourth place, while Fairview placed first with 58, Boulder second with 87 and Broomfield High School third with 88 points. It was a heartbreaking outcome for a team that raced hard and competed well. With their top-15 finishes, Rosie Mucharsky and Grace Todd will go on to compete at the State Meet as individuals.

The Colorado State Meet is on Saturday, October 30th at the Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs. The 5A Girls race is at 9:00am and the 5A Boys race is at 10:20am.  We really encourage all of our teammates and fans to come down for this great event.