Rim Rock High School Classic
Twenty-nine East Angels crossed a fair amount of countryside to get to Lawrence, Kansas this past Friday to inspect the Rim Rock Farm Cross Country Course. By the time the Angels had arrived, nearly 3 inches of rain had soaked the course earlier in the day. Despite being a bit spongy or slick in a couple places, the course was generally in good shape and the team looked forward to competing on this iconic grass and dirt course—over rolling hills and through two covered bridges—with fair weather forecasted for the next morning’s races.
The Angels arrived early Saturday morning at Rim Rock Farm, with their four teams scheduled to compete in the first four races of the day. The JV Girls, defending champions at this meet, took to the course as scheduled at 8:15. The Angels established themselves early among the top-25 runners of the nearly 200 in the race. Ninth-grader Lola Carhart established herself among the top-3 from start, ran shoulder to shoulder for the lead from about 1200m to 4000m, then pulled away up the final hills for a decisive win in 20:46. Senior Avery Ash demonstrated a powerful last 1000m as well, moving from a distant 3rd to easy 2nd place finish in 21:00. Junior Lila Cypers battled with the first chase pack to take 5th place in 21:18, while senior Sasha Bull hung on for 8th place in 21:52. In the team battle, it looked as if the finish of the 5th runners for Denver East and Dallas Center-Grimes (Iowa), who had also placed three runners in the top-7, might prove decisive, but when sophomore Meara McBride cross in 15th place in 22:15, it was clear the Angels had defended their JV title with a mere 30 point total. Sophomore Quinn Dunkin also broke into the top-25 with her 23rd place finish in 22:39, while her classmates Kairine Brown and Daniela Maldonado-Ramos finished 35th and 47th in 23:23 and 23:52 respectively.
The JV Boys lined up for their start as scheduled 50 minutes later, only to be told within a minute of their scheduled start that their race would be postponed due to thunderstorms in the area. Following a one-hour delay, the boys would line up again, at which time another band of storms would role in to force a second postponement, which led to them toeing the line nearly 2-hours after their scheduled start, only to have thunderstorms again come into the area within a couple minutes of their third scheduled start time. At this point, the JV boys were told that their race, originally scheduled for 8:55am, was rescheduled to after 3pm. Weather permitting.
The Varsity Girls, who had started their warm-up no fewer than three times in anticipation of racing immediately after the JV Boys, took to the course next. Girls from more than thirty schools and at least seven states were represented in the Gold Varsity Division. The Denver East Girls were for the most part conservative in their approach to the course, where the toughest hills all come in the third mile. Sophomore Rosie Mucharsky ran from the back of the lead pack through the first mile and held on to finish 8th in 18:30. Most of the rest of the Angels scoring pack came through the first mile in around 70th place and had moved up to near the top-50 as they climbed the hills early in the third mile. Ultimately, it was ninth-grader Corrine Kennedy who had one the best finishes of her young career to be the 2nd Angel in 40th place in 19:44, crossing the line along with sophomore Julieta Ochoa who took 41st also in 19:44. Ninth-grader Avery Johnson wasn’t far behind, taking 49th in 20:00, while sophomore Scout Chomas held on for 72nd place in 20:26, to close out the scoring for the Angels. Senior Sophia Shiroff placed 105th in 21:06 and sophomore Mary Clare Nussbaum 125th in 21:24. The Angels totaled 190 points to grab an impressive 2nd place team finish against a deep field of teams.
The Varsity Boys were offered the opportunity to race next, with 280 runners from at least 40 schools and 7 states racing in the most competitive boys division. Up front, junior Jonas Scudamore would hang close to the top-10 through the mile, battle for places 6th – 8th over the second half of the race, and eventually secure 7th place in 15:46. Senior Connor Beardsley, as he has most of the season, crossed the line as East’s second runner in 17:30 for 122nd place. The rest of the team hung way back early and moved up substantially by the finish. Sophomore Toby Penner ran 17:46 for 153rd, while freshman Emery Wagner continued to show good week-to-week improvement with his 189th place finish in 18:07. Sophomore Isaiah Springer finished 205th in 18:17 followed closely by juniors Ben Brown 208th in 18:18 and Beckett Nelson-Gardner in 18:21. The Varsity Boys finished 26th place in the Gold division.
The Boys JV continued to sit on the sidelines, so to speak, through four more races as the temperature rose from the 70’s to the low 80’s on this very humid afternoon. They had arrived at the course at 7:30am. Finally, at 3:05pm, more than 6 hours past their schedule race time, they got the opportunity to race. It was worth the wait. Sophomore Kyle Kojima wasted no time establishing himself near the top-10 early, eventually sprinting across the finish line in 18:17 for 8th place, while his classmates Abraham Morginsky and Alexandros Mays moved up to 14th in 18:41 and 22nd in 18:55 respectively. Seniors Finn Egan placed 28th and 47th in 19:22 and 19:54, followed by sophomore Mason Harper in 71st in 20:26. When the mud had settled, the Denver East Boys had finished 3rd of the 20 teams that had had enough perseverance to stick around to race.
North Viking and Northfield Nighthawk Invitationals
The East Angels were well represented in Varsity and JV division races at two DPS hosted meets last week. Highlights at the North Viking Invitational over the hilly Case-Willis Golf Course included Liza Cathey leading the Angels with a 6th place finish in 22:44 in the Girls Varsity race, followed by ninth-grader Abby Forsberg in 11th in 23:01 and sophomore Helen Love in 19th in 24:00. The East Girls finished 3rd of 10 teams. Senior Linus Cole led the Varsity Boys with his 37th place finish in 21:14, while junior Donovan Aggeler finished 40th in 21:23, with the Boys finishing 9th of 14 teams in the JV division. Junior Abby Purvis dominated the girls JV race, running to a 23:30 win. Ninth-grader Pearl Bussard was the next across the line for the Angels with her 5th place finish in 25:37, as the JV Girls finished 2nd of 10 teams. Sophomore Micah Gallantz led the JV Boys to a 5th place finish of 11 teams with his 6th place finish in 21:44.
At the Northfield meet at Central Park, the Varsity Girls were led by Forsberg with her 18th place finish in 21:54. Love finished 44th in 23:50, followed by a pack of Angels who all finished between 23:59 and 24:05 for places 48th-54th: Medea Gregory, Pearl Bussard, Yelena Konowal, Rae Tatel, Grey Johnson, and Franny Hubbard. Together they secured 9th place of 12 scored teams. The Boys Varsity were led by sophomore Alex Wilkerson’s 61st place finish in 20:12, followed by seniors Merle Hezel (75th, 20:31), Cole (78th, 20:35), and Isaac Ely (80th, 20:36), as the team finished 12th of 19 teams. In the Girls JV race, the Angels were again led by Purvis, who finished 4th in 23:01, with ninth-grader Addy Everhart next across the line for the Angels in 27:05 for 42nd. The Girls were 4th of 9 teams. Similarly, Gallantz would again lead the JV boys, finishing 26th in 20:56 followed by ninth grader Zach Smiles in 49th in 22:06, and the JV Boys finished 6th of 12 team.
Friday brings the East Angels to the last meet on the invitational schedule – The Thornton Invitational.
Denver East High XC 