Date: Tuesday, Sept 14, 21

Class dismissal: 1:15

Arrive at City Park: 1:30pm

Schedule:

2:00  Coaches Meeting

2:30  Girls open race (unlimited entries)

3:15  Boys open race (unlimited entries)

4:00  Girls Varsity 5K (limited to 10 entries, top five score)

4:30  Boys Varsity 5K (limited to 10 entries, top five score)

5:00  Awards Ceremony at Start Line

Course: Angel Invite Course Map

Tent Camp: Our tent will be northwest of the starting area, between the course and the road.

Volunteers: We still need volunteers and would really appreciate having two more volunteers on mountain bikes to lead and/or sweep each race. Please click here if you can help: East Angel Invitational Volunteer Sign Up This includes parents and families of athletes, alumni athletes and parents, current athletes who cannot race and fans of East XC!

All volunteers should check in with Ruth or the volunteers at the check in table. Those volunteers are: Sara S, Lisa O or Jim O. If you have an official pink EA t-shirt, please wear it. If you don’t, we will give one to you.

Runner unavailability: If you cannot run at the Angel Invite, please fill out this form for your coaches. Runner unavailability form

Kona Ice Fundraiser It’s true! The Kona Ice truck will be at the Angel Invite. Our team will receive a portion of the sales made at the meet. Remember to bring some money if you want a Kona Ice and want to support the team!

Races Heat Up at Liberty Bell Invitational

How hot were things at the Liberty Bell Invitational? Well, both the Girls and Boys Sweepstakes races featured the top-12 ranked teams in 5A in Colorado and 2 of the top-5 teams from each of 4A and 3A divisions; six of these teams (2 boys teams and 4 girls teams) are ranked in the top-25 in the nation. Also, it was nearing 80 degrees when the varsity races took to the course, in the high 80’s when the B division (JV-1) raced, and a blistering 90 degrees under cloudless skies when the C division (JV-2) finally hit the traditionally fast road/hard packed dirt course circling the neighborhood around Heritage High School. So, it was pretty hot.

The Varsity Boys were the first to line up shoulder to shoulder, literally and figuratively, with the stiffest competition they will face until the Colorado State meet. With all 7 runners buried deep in the pack, it can be hard to decipher how well or poorly the team was running. Senior co-captain Eamon Nussbaum moved up over the last 2 miles to finish in 65^th in 16:48, shaving a few seconds off his personal best. Junior Quinn Higgins joined the sub-17 club with a 16:53 personal best for 75^th, also moving up substantially in the last 2 miles.  Senior David Anderson and freshman Jonas Scudamore sprinted together to personal bests by over 20 seconds of 17:24, for 110^th and 111^th respectively.  Junior Ian Logan (17:34) and senior Owen Congdon (17:48) each ran personal bests for 124^th and 131^st and junior Ben Hopper ran a seasonal best 18:08 to finish 140^th.  East finished with a total of 477 points for 18^th place of 23 teams.

The Varsity Girls gave chase to the boys’ race 3 minutes later.  Super frosh Rosie Mucharsky came through the mile just outside the top-10 and was able to hold on to 12^th place in 18:02. Sophomore Sophia Shiroff ran under 20 minutes for the first time with a 19:56 for 74^th place, while classmate Grace Todd ran 20:08 for 87^th.  Senior co-captain Ellison Mucharsky ran a seasonal best (and altitude pb) 20:54 while her co-captain Annabel Filippini ran a seasonal best 21:04. Sophomore Sasha Bull ran 21:30 for 138^th and junior Bri O’Meara 21:39 for 141^st.  The Angels totaled 387 points for 17^th place of 22 teams.

As temperatures continued to rise, personal best times became more elusive. None the less, the Angels continued to compete with the best teams gamely in the JV divisions. In the Boys Sweepstakes B race, juniors Charlie Keglovitz and Garrett Johnson managed 45^th and 55^th place finishes respectively in personal bests of 18:31 and 18:45.  Sophomore Kai Luna and senior Charlie Kruger finished soon after in 18:50 and 18:51 for 57^th and 58^th.  Junior Julio Dominguez-Perez (71^st, 19:12) and freshman Finley Steed (77^th, 19:21) each ran personal bests and sophomore Devin Morse was the 7^th runner for East in 19:59 for 95^th.  The East Angel boys totaled 281 points for 10^th of 19 teams in the Sweepstakes B race.

The JV-1 girls were led by juniors Helen Miller and Eleanor Goldstein who ran 22:28 for 44^th place and 22:56 for 50^th place respectively. 9^th grader Ella Tersch managed a personal best 23:08 for 49^th while sophomore Anna Rothman-Haji ran 23:28 for 60^th, junior Clara Artley a personal best 23:32 for 63^rd, 9^th grader Lila Cypers 23:49 for 70^th, and senior co-captain Gemma Haller 73^rd in 23:58.  In the Girls Sweepstakes B race, the East Angels totaled 251 points for 10^th of 17 teams. 

Probably the most impressive performance coming out of the Open Sweepstakes race (unscored, JV-2) was turned in by junior Corbin Hobert who ran a personal best by nearly a minute of 19:12 despite the sizzling heat. Sophomore Finn Egan also ran a personal best 20:56, followed closely by senior co-captain Marcus Burnett in an identical time. Running her first official high school race at a 5K distance, sophomore Avery Ash ran 24:24. 9^th grader Franny Hebbard ran 25:05 and junior Siena Berry 25:36.  

Click here for complete results: Liberty Bell Results

On Tuesday the Angels will race with a jaunt around the home course at the Angel Invite, which is shaping up to be a smaller meet in 2021. (Volunteers still needed for this preview of hosting DPS League Championships next month). Click here to volunteer. Saturday brings the St. Vrain Invitational, the second in a series of three very competitive weekend meets that will test the Angels against the best teams in East’s State Qualifying region. 

The East Angels have qualified to be in all of the sweepstakes divisions. Here is where you will run:

Sweepstakes A:

Eamon Rosie

Quinn Grace

David Sophia

Jonas Ellision

Ian Sasha B

Owen Bri

Ben H Annabel

Sweepstakes B:

Kai Helen

Garret Lila

Charlie Ke Evelyn

Charlie Kr Anna

Julio Clara

Finley Gemma

Devin Ella

Sweepstakes C:

Everyone else.

If you can’t run this race, please let us know by clicking here: Runner Unavailability Form

If you have questions, please ask one of the coaches. Remember to bring water and a snack to eat after your race.

Go Angels!

As you know, we are hosting a meet at City Park on Tuesday, Sept 14. We are expecting about a dozen teams to join us. To make this a success, we need volunteers!

Please consider signing up for something. Some jobs start earlier, others start when the meet ends. You can see jobs at this link. Feel free to reach out with questions.

Go Angels!

Please meet in the back of the auditorium today at 3:45pm. Remember to wear your mask while indoors.

Legacy Lightening Invitational

East Cross Country kicked off the Labor Day weekend with strong performances at the Legacy Lightening Invitational at Broomfield Commons Park on Friday. The meet featured 37 entered teams and was run at the same park, though different course, that will host State Qualifying Regionals in fewer than seven weeks. Conditions were warm and dry, with some overcast skies later in the meet providing some relief from the heat. The course was primary on hard packed dirt with a bit of concrete sidewalks, and flat for the first 2 miles before a long steady hill followed by a long downhill to the finish.

Boys Varsity got things started, getting off the crowded starting line smartly without getting out too fast. By the mile mark, senior Eamon Nussbaum and junior Quinn Higgins were running together around 20^thplace overall, while most of the rest of the East pack came through between 35^thand 40^th. Eamon moved up over the next 2 miles to finish 10^thin a time of 17:10, while Quinn held on to 19^thplace in 17:27. The East pack that followed was led by senior David Anderson who clocked a 17:48 personal best by over a minute, followed by freshman Jonas Scudamore (17:51), junior Ian Logan (17:59), and senior Owen Congdon (18:00, personal best) who all moved up throughout the last 2 miles to grab places 26, 28, 31 and 34 respectively.  Juniors Ben Hopper (18:16) and Charlie Keglovitz (18:43, pb) and sophomore Kai Luna (19:01) finished 40^th, 56^th, and 65 respectively.  East’s total of 109 points was good enough for 3^rdplace behind Fossil Ridge (53 points) and Mead High School (67 points) and well ahead of Region 3 rivals Legacy High School (207 points) and Ralston Valley (161 points) and 17 other teams. 

As the cloud cover mercifully floated over the park, the Girls Varsity race got going. The Angels were led by 9^th-grader Rosie Mucharsky. Similar to the week prior, Rosie sat in 2^ndplace for most of the first 2 miles before launching a decisive surge to win the 5000m race in an attention grabbing 18:00 personal best and 23 seconds ahead of the next runner.  Sophomores Sophia Sheriff and Grace Todd came through the mile inside the top-20. Grace (20:00, personal best) moved up to grab an 11^thplace finish and Sophia (20:15, pb) held on to 19^thplace. Senior Ellison Mucharsky debuted her season with a strong 21:05, 30^th place finish, followed by a surging Sasha Bull (21:17, pb) for 34^th and senior Annabelle Filippini (21:35) for 37^th.  Juniors Bri O’Meara (21:56, 42nd), Helen Miller (22:01 45th), and Eleanor Goldstein (22:56, pb, 71st), and 9^th grader Lila Cypers (22:51, 70th) rounded out the finishers for the Angels. Fossil Ridge took another team title with a mere 39 points, with Denver East taking 2^nd with 82 points, ahead of Fort Collins (87 points), Legacy (108 points), Ralston Valley (168 points), and 13 other schools. 

The Boys and Girls JV races would head off a mere 15 minutes apart, creating a seemingly continuous parade of athletes circling the park and open space. For most of the East JV runners, this would be their first attempt at 5000m for the season. Running a very strong 2^nd mile, senior Charlie Kruger led the East boys, finishing 4^thin 18:54. Newcomer junior Julio Dominguez-Perez ran a 19:21 for 11^th place, freshman Finley Steed held on to 12^th place in 19:31, sophomore Devin Morse ran a personal best 19:33 for 13^th, junior Garrett Johnson finished 15^thin 19:43, freshman Oliver Gustavson 21^st in 19:59, and junior Corbin Hobert 22^nd in 20:03.  The Angels finished with 50 points, behind first place Fossil Ridge with 32 points and well ahead of 3^rdplace Fort Collins (120 points) and 11 other teams. 

In the Girls JV, East was led by the steadily paced performance of junior Evelyn Higgins finishing in 10^th place in 22:56. Sophomore Anna Rothmans-Haji (15^th, 23:28), Juniors Clara Artley (25^th, 23:58) and Siena Berry (31^st, 24:39), and 9^th-grader Franny Hubbard (32^nd, 24:44) made up the rest of the scoring five for the Angels. Sophomores Emma Pieracci (36^th, 24:57) and Sophie DeBlasio (37^th, 25:04) and 9^th-graders Ana Beam (50^th, 25:54), Yelena Konowal (54^th, 26:09), Grace Taub (57^th, 26:14), and Lucia Artley (60^th, 26:27) finished solidly in their 5000m debuts. The JV Girls finished 3^rdof 12 teams with 93 points, behind 2^ndplace Fort Collins (54 points) and 1^stplace Fossil Ridge (18 points), who completed their sweep of all four team divisions. 

For complete results, click here: Legacy Lightning Results

The weather forecast after the long weekend is for things to get warmer again, and the competition for the Angels will definitely get hotter. The Liberty Bell Invitational on Saturday, September 11, is always one of the most competitive meets in the State. Chances are decent that both the Boys and Girls teams will be placed in the elite section. Race times will be posted as soon as division placements are announced.  

As a reminder, we have a team photo site where you can share your pictures and see pictures others have taken. You can upload, download, and enjoy pictures of our photogenic team.

To join, go to https://eastxc2021.shutterfly.com/ and request to join. Once approved, you will see a folder for each week’s meet. Please add your photos to that folder or browse what’s there.

You can also upload to the site from your phone or use the “Shutterfly Share Site” app.

Questions? email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com)

Drivers: Please meet on the Detroit St side of the school to load runners into your car. Check in with one of the coaches when you arrive.