Runners!
Please bring your clean JV uniform to the conference room in room 225 (the counseling center) on Thursday, October 12 from 1:15 pm until 2:15 pm. Unreturned uniforms will result in a $100 charge to your student account.
Seniors and team captains: If you are available to help check in uniforms, we’d love to have your help!
Varsity runners: Keep your varsity uniforms until further notice. If you have a JV uniform, please turn it in on Thursday.
This Monday is, according to captains, the “funnest” practice of the season. Dress appropriately for running outdoors.
Monday night will be the last athlete potluck at the Weber home 1563 Lafayette Street. This is intended to be dinner for all the athletes who show up, so please come with food to share. Please bring enough food or drink for 8-10 people (pastas, salads, pizzas, buckets of chicken, lasagnas all work well and should be inexpensive).
Runners who are attending should bring items to share as follows:
Parents: If you are looking for something interesting to do while your runner is potlucking, there will be a DPS School Board Candidate Forum on Monday, Oct 9 from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at East High School in the Commons (cafeteria). The event will be hosted by the East Angel Friends and Alumni Foundation. Learn about the different candidates running for At Large and Districts 3 & 4 (East HS is in District 4) seats on the board. Information on Go Bond and the Green Roof Initiative will also be available.
This Tuesday will be the City Championship, which East is hosting. You can still sign up to help out here.
Note: if you ordered a senior shirt, they will arrive this week. Please bring $15 on Tuesday and see Harrison.
Here’s to a great last week of the regular season!
This Wednesday is the second to last athlete potluck. Keep in mind that whatever you are assigned, please bring enough food or drink for 8-10 people. This is intended to be dinner for all the athletes who show up, so please come with food to share. (pastas, salads, pizzas, buckets of chicken, lasagnas all work well and should be inexpensive). And to the 9th graders, next year’s freshmen will be feeding you!
Runners who are attending should bring items to share as follows:
Parents: If you are looking for something interesting to do while your runner is potlucking, there will be a DPS School Board Candidate Forum on Monday, Oct 9 from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at East High School in the Commons (cafeteria). The event will be hosted by the East Angel Friends and Alumni Foundation. Learn about the different candidates running for At Large and Districts 3 & 4 (East HS is in District 4) seats on the board. Information on Go Bond and the Green Roof Initiative will also be available.
A quick reminder that we need help with City Meet on Tuesday 10/10.
You can sign up for one of the many jobs available here
… and mark your calendars. Post-season snow shoe trip is scheduled for Jan 20-21.
Maybe it was the cool temperatures, maybe it was the flat course, maybe it was the lack of dirt and grass, but the inaugural Denver West Cowboy Classic, which had runners making loops around Sunken Gardens Park, the host school, and finally the track, delivered some unexpectedly fast times on Wednesday. With most of the varsity runners sitting out, the Angels showed great depth on the boys and girls teams.
The Open Boys led things off with a 3rd place finish out of 12 teams. The Angels were led by the sophomore trio of Teddy Hickenlooper, Nikola Hannon and Taylor Lucas in 20th, 25th, and 27th respectively. Freshman Cyrus Jenkins-Nieto followed closely in 28th and sophomore Stephen Evans finished out the scoring in 32nd.
The East Angels in the Open Girls race also ran to a 3rd place finish. Ninth grader Isabella Garcia finished in 6th place for East, followed by the senior tandem of Maria Crippen and Mackenzie Whitehead-Bust in 9th and 10th. Two more ninth graders, Clara Lorenzo and Jane Port would cross the line together for 18th and 19th place.
Continuing the theme of freshmen leadership, three nine graders would cross the line first for the Angels in the Boys Varsity race. Ian Trautwein ran to a 34th place finish, while Xander Pacini was 42nd and Gus Trautwein was 44th in his best race yet for the season. Senior Jack Thompson and sophomore Jack Beardshear finished 50th and 51st for the balance of East’s scoring, and the Angels took 8th of 15 teams.
Finally the Varsity Girls got their chance on the fast course. In an early indication of the form they would show a couple days later, freshman Maya Winfield led East with a 34th place finish, followed closely by senior Audrey McGlothlen in 35th. Yet another trio of freshmen would complete the scoring for the Angels, with Julia Schor running to 38th, Maya Nussbaumer to 47th and Claire Ely to 50th.
Girls Run to Historically Fast Times and Place at Thornton
On Friday, the East Angels travelled to the Thornton Invitational, a meet that brought together more than 30 teams to compete over a course with which the Varsity has become familiar recently, since it has been home to our regional championship two of the last three years. Facing a slightly tougher course and slightly warmer temperatures, East coaches did not anticipate fast times rivaling those that had been run two days earlier. They were wrong.
Sophomore Kristian Laird would be the first to prove seasonal and personal best times were in order as he ran 19:08 for an 11th place finish in the JV race. Freshmen Ben Hill and Jenkins-Nieto placed 16th and 34th respectively, the latter in a seasonal best time of 19:49. Hickenlooper and senior Gunnar Ranum, with a PR of 20:26, finished out the scoring for East in 69th and 70th, as the Angels placed 8th of 26 teams in the division.
The East Angel JV Girls absolutely obliterated their competition, winning the 19-team race with just 35 points – a full 71 points fewer than their closest competition. The team was led by fast-improving Maya Winfield who finished 3rd in 21:32, followed closely by sophomore teammate Lindsey Weyant in 4th in 21:36, and fellow freshman Grace O’Meara in 5th, also in 21:36 – a personal best for her. Audrey McGlothlen ran to a 10th place finish and sophomore Maisie Moskowitz to 13th for the remainder of the 35 point total.
Sophomore Asther Hoyt ran to a new personal best of 16:36 for 16th place in the Boys Varsity race, leading the boys to a 12th place finish of 34 teams. Fellow sophomore Will Daley also ran to a new personal best of 17:28 for 49th place. Senior Jackson Adams ran nearly a minute faster than he did last year at Thornton with his 18:04 for 84th place. Riley Nickols (122nd, 18:32), Elijah Bruggeman (124th, 18:34), Jack Thompson (141st, 18:45), Patrick Cox (143rd, 18:47), and Xander Pacini (148th, 18:49) all ran seasonal best times.
Like the JV Girls earlier in the day, the Varsity Girls ran a sensational race. For the first time in recent memory at a meet of this level, the girls achieved a podium finish, taking 3rd place out of 30 teams. Senior Laurel Kruger ran a 19:23, the fastest time by any East girl in the last 10 years. In fact, the next eight Angel girls across the line are now all among the fastest 25 girls at 5K for East in the last decade. Keeping the East score low, freshman AlanaMarie Barros (19:48) finished in 20th place, senior Nell Salzman (20:06) in 25th, sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen (20:09) in 26th, and junior Lilly Cory (20:13) in 31st – each in a seasonal best time. Each of the next five girls who raced across the line also achieved personal bests including Abby Howard (46th, 20:29), Christina Doolan (70th, 20:56), Elena Thoman (76th, 20:59), Lilia Scudamore (84th, 21:08) and Grace Burnett (95th, 21:28).
Championship Season
Championship season is now upon us. First up is the DPS League Championship hosted by East at City Park on Tuesday, October 10. (As the host, we will count on our parents and fans to help make the meet a success, so be sure to sign up.) This will be the last meet of the season for the majority of the team, so definitely one at which we take aim. It is always our goal to sweep the four team titles. We know the competition has gotten better each of the last three years with South on the boys’ side and North on the girls’ side certainly ready to put up stiff competition.
For the varsity teams, state meet qualifying takes place at the 5A Region 1 Championship on October 19, at the Northglenn Open Spaces Park. For those teams and individuals who qualify, the Colorado State Meet is on October 28, at the Norris-Penrose Center in Colorado Springs.
As you may know, East is hosting the Denver Public Schools League Championship at City Park on Tuesday 10/10. We need parents to help make this day a success. The schedule is below.
You can sign up for anything from being a course monitor (so kids don’t get lost in the park while racing) to helping the timing company to helping with clean up or filling water cups. Everything helps, so please take a role. [Note that course monitors also get a limited addition shirt!]
You can sign up here.
LEAGUE CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE – 2017
3:15 — High School Open Boys
3:17 — High School Open Girls
4:00 — High School Varsity Boys
4:30 — High School Varsity Girls
Friday, September 29, 2017
Dismissal: 12:45 pm
Bus leaves East at 1:00 pm
Entries for 24 Annual Thornton High School Cross Country Invitational
Click here for Course map
Meet time schedule:
Coaches meeting — 2:00 pm
Boys Open – 2:30 pm
Girls Open — 2:40 pm
Boys Varsity(10/team) — 3:30 pm
Girls Varsity (10/team) — 4:10 pm
Awards — 5:10pm
The Thornton (Margaret Carpenter) Recreation Center Multipurpose Fields are located off of 108th and Colorado Blvd. You can also park at the Rec Center or the parking lots located off of 112th Avenue and Madison Street.
If you are not racing at the Cowboy Invite, you need to attend the required practice today at 3:15 at the Big E. Coaches Fuhrman and Miller will be leading practice today. If you cannot attend, let Coach Fuhrman know.
List of Cowboy Invite runners: Cowboy/girl Entries
Tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept 27, is the Denver West High School Cowboy/Cowgirl Invitational.
Class dismissal: 1:15
Bus leaves at 1:30 pm
Athletes participating: Entries for Cowboy/girl Invitational
The penultimate week of the invitational part of the season was one of the busiest yet with three meets from Denver, to Boulder, to Lawrence Kansas.
North Viking Invitational
On Tuesday the Angels took to the Case Willis Golf Course for the North Viking Invitational – the best meet of the DPS season until the City Championship. Considering the competition, many East runners had great races on Tuesday afternoon on a deceptively warm day at the challenging Willis Case course in NW Denver. Girls and boys both finished 11 out of 22 and 25 teams in their respective fields. With JV, JV2 & 3 racing against largely varsity and full JV squads (our varsity and top JV runners were preparing for the Kansas Rim Rock trip), the Angels placed in the top third to top half in all four races! The JV boys and girls both placed 7th in their races.
A lot of guts were displayed by our athletes tackling “Mt Willis Case” at mile 1 and again at mile 2.5 on a windy, dry, cloudless and surprisingly warm day; Angels displayed effort, purpose and focus, passing competitors with determination on the hill. Many athletes were walking this hill, but none of ours did and they used the hill to pass competitors.
Breakout runs were made by Maya Nussbeumer, Maya Winfield and Julia Schor. Nussbeumer and Schor worked nicely together in the varsity race while Winfield raced alone as East’s top finisher in the girls JV race. Top finishes in the varsity race were put in by sophomore Maisie Moskowitz and freshman Xander Pacini. Senior Gunner Ranum finished as the top JV runner in what was one of his most inspired races as an East High XC runner.
Rim Rock Classic Invitational in Lawrence, Kansas
Kansas has hills! That is what the 20 East Angels who were fortunate enough to make the trip found out on Friday when previewing the historic Rim Rock Farm cross country course, eleven miles north of the University of Kansas. The all grass and dirt course, which also includes a couple of covered bridges, was different than anything East runners had seen in Colorado, and the Angels were excited for the challenge.
On Saturday, more than 130 teams from at least eight states converged on Rim Rock for what was described by the meet organizers as the warmest day in memory for the meet – so hot and humid (near 90, in both cases), that the final four race of the day had to be cancelled. Fortunately, East was competing in the most competitive division and three of the first four races of the day, before conditions transitioned from challenging to unsafe.
Girls JV were the first to race on Saturday, and despite their youth, East ran with intelligence and poise. Ninth graders Lilia Scudamore (21:32), Christina Doolan (21:54) and Grace Burnett (22:05) ran from deep within the pack of 200 runner to move up to 2nd, 10th, and 19th place finishes respectively. Sophomore Lindsay Weyant and freshman Grace O’Meara finished in identical times of 22:38 for 43rd and 44th to round out the scoring for East, whose 118 points was good enough for 5th place out of 28 teams.
The Girls Varsity would be the next East team to take to the course. East’s scoring five all finished between 52nd and 88th place for a total of 376 points for 13th place out of 36 teams. Ninth grader AlanaMarie Barros led the Angels with a time of 20:33, followed by senior (and recently crowned Homecoming Queen) Nell Salzman in 73rd (20:51) and senior Laurel Kruger in 77th (20:56). Scoring was completed when sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen came across in 21:06 for 87th and Abigael Howard in 21:08 for 88th. Elena Thoman completed the course in 21:36 for 125th and Emily Turner in 22:22 for 171st.
The Boys Varsity, seeded 33rd of the 44 teams, exceeded expectations with a 28th place finish in the most competitive division of the day. Harrison Scudamore led the Angels, running a strategic race. Starting from the back of the lead pack in the first half-mile, he moved his way up to 4th place midway through race, and closed fast on the eventual winner (the #1 ranked runner in Missouri, #23 nationally), narrowing a 12 second gap with half a mile to run to just 4 seconds at the finish, placing second overall in 15:32 and ahead of the #1 ranked runners from Nebraska and Kansas. Sophomore Asher Hoyt came across the line in 17:06 for 65th place, again one of the top underclassmen in the race. Despite fighting a respiratory illness all weekend, sophomore Will Daley finished strong in 17:55 for 167th place followed by Jackson Adams (18:39, 231st), sophomores Elijah Bruggeman (18:48, 242nd) and Riley Nickols (18:57, 261st), and senior Patrick Cox (19:03, 262nd).
Pat Patten Invitational
On a cool and cloudy Saturday in Boulder, a small, but strong crew of athletes turned in great performances against the state’s best teams. Given the opportunity to run some of their first varsity races, both the boys and girls teams yielded great results, with all 9 boys running varsity coming in under 22 minutes. Henry Kaufman, Gus Trautwein, and Jack Beardshear joined the sub-20 club. The girls’ performances were equally admirable, with all 7 girls running varsity going under 24 minutes, with senior Audrey McGlothlen joining the sub-23 club. The JV races were equally impressive. Jack H Thompson was the first boy across the line for East in just over 21 minutes, and Jane Port came in first among the girls in under 25 minutes. While it isn’t apparent in the results, given the competition, this was some of the best racing of the year, with over half of the runners turning in season or career bests, some by as much as two and three minutes. Coaches Miller, Fehrman, and Spano, were all definitely impressed by the effort!
Looking Ahead
In the last week of invitational competition, the East Angels head to the inaugural Cowboy Invitational at Denver West High School on Wednesday and the always fast Thornton Invitational on Friday. Many will race twice this week. Look for entries to be posted soon.
And of course, you can support our team by helping to transport the tent at this link.
See you at Chipotle on Tuesday evening!
Denver East High XC 
