On Saturday, November 25, East senior Harrison Scudamore raced to a 7^th place finish at the Midwest Footlocker Championship in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His 15:08 finish earned him one of 10 spots from the region of thirteen Midwest states to qualify for the 39^th Footlocker Cross Country Championships in San Diego, California on December 9. Harrison will be one of only forty boys nationwide and the only Colorado athlete to compete in the championship race this year. Harrison moved up from 15^th place at the one mile mark to 11^th at the two mile mark, and finally kicked to a 7^th place finish in an extremely close battle as places 3^rd through 10^th were separated by only three seconds.

One week prior, Scudamore competed in the Nike National Cross Country Southwest Regional Championship in Casa Grande, Arizona. Under balmy conditions in the desert, Harrison ran to a 7^th place finish against the best runners from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. Over the flat, fast 5K course he ran to personal record of 15:05.9 and just one place shy of qualifying for that championship race.

Ticket sales close tonight at midnight. There will be no tickets available after that and no tickets will be available at the door. Tickets are available at https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com

If cost is a barrier to attending, please let Coach Kohuth or email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) and we will make arrangements so anyone who wants to attend can do so.

AUCTION: We are also looking for donations for the silent auction. We would be grateful for items or gift cards from restaurants, specialty stores, exercise studios, hotels, or anything else you can think of. (We can provide you with our non-profit ID so that contributions are tax deductible). Please let Jennifer know what  items you have by November 30th. 

SENIOR SHIRTS: There are a limited number of Senior t-shirts (“Stop E”- see below) still available for sale. They are $15. If you want one or want to reserve a particular size, please email Harry.Scudamore@gmail.com.

SNOW SHOE TRIP: Also note, there are limited spaces left on the Running Club Snow Shoe Trip. Although we will accept reservations until Dec 20, we have finite space reserved and will close it as soon as all 40 spots are claimed.

The trip leaves early on Saturday January 20 and return on the afternoon of Sunday January 21. The cost is $90 per athlete and includes room and three meals. If you need snow shoes, rentals are an additional $18.

You can make your reservation and payment online here for your trip and snow shoes, if you need them. If cost is a barrier to attending, please see Coach Kohuth or email jareich424@gmail.com. We want everyone who wants to come to attend.

Note we will also need some drivers and chaperones, so consider signing up for that too (at the same link).

All athletes on the trip must turn in a POA for XC 2017-18 school year if you haven’t turned one in yet.  Email POA forms to ruthspano@aol.com or turn in to Coach Kohuth.

Please email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) or Ruth (ruthspano@aol.com) if you have questions about any of these things!

We will be closing ticket sales to the banquet on Nov 22. No exceptions and no tickets will be available at the door since the venue needs our final count this week and we are not able to change it once submitted.

If cost is a barrier to attending, please let Coach Kohuth or email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) and we will make arrangements.

Tickets are available at https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com

We look forward to seeing you all Sunday, Dec 3.

Tickets: Our end of season banquet is Sunday Dec 3 from 9-11:30. You must buy tickets by Nov 20. There will be no tickets available later or at the door, so don’t delay. If cost is a barrier to getting your tickets, please see Coach Kohuth or email jareich424@gmail.com to make arrangements.

You can buy tickets here: https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com 

Auction: We will have auction items available at the banquet. Please consider getting donations– anything and everything helps to support to program. (Restaurants, stores, services, yoga, whatever.)

Swag: We will have some team merchandise available for purchase, including our brand new insulated travel mugs, pictured below (yes, we are trying to help you with your holiday shopping). So bring checks or cash to the auction for shopping.

Help: Our senior team parents are doing all the heavy lifting for the auction planning, but we could use help making a slide show. If you can help, please let Jennifer know.

See you soon!

For the first time in four years, Denver East sent a boys team to the Colorado State Meet. For the first time in more than 20 years, the Angels were represented by a girls team at the State Meet. So in 2017, for the first time ever, East had both a boys and girls team competing at the Colorado State Championship Meet.

When the boys took to the course, the temperature had just about reached 40 degrees. Despite these favorable running conditions, the pack of nearly 160 of Colorado’s best prep runners took out the pace fairly slowly despite what is a net downhill first mile. East senior Harrison Scudamore was in 8^th place at the mile in a relatively leisurely 5:17. The second mile brings most of the hills on the challenging Norris Penrose course, and the effort picked up precipitously over the hills with the lead pack running that mile in 5:16. Over the final 1.12 miles, including the notorious uphill finish out of the creek crossing, Harrison would average a 4:46 pace, but nonetheless was beat to the finish by four other runners, finishing 5^th overall for the second straight year. Meanwhile, sophomore Will Daley moved up from 99^th at the mile to 93^rd at 2 miles and then 76th at the finish. Fellow sophomore Asher Hoyt finished 106^th while senior Jackson Adams ran to a massive personal best, despite the difficult course, of 17:45 for 135^th place. Sophomore Riley Nickols finished off the scoring in 146^th place. Freshmen Ian Trautwein and Xander Pacini finished 153^rd and 159^th. When it was all over, the Angel boys had exceeded expectations with a 16^th place overall team finish.

Unlike the boys race, the 5A girls race went out blazing fast. The East girls, always closely packed, put themselves in good position over the first mile and did their best to hold on and move up over the next 2 miles. Leading the way through the finish line for the Angels for the first time all season was sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen with an 85^th place finish and an impressive time of 20:11. The rest of the East scoring pack would come through within 25 seconds, with senior Nell Salzman finishing 92^nd, freshman AlanaMarie Barros in 97^th, junior Lilly Cory in 109^th, and senior Laurel Kruger in 114^th. Freshman Abby Howard was 123^rd and sophomore Lindsey Weyant in 151^st. When the points had been totaled, the Angels had finished 16^th – quite possibly the best ever finish by an East girls team. Only ten other teams finished with both boys and girls teams in the top 16 in the State.

The Future Looks Bright

The boys and girls teams will each graduate two seniors this spring. A well balanced and deep girls team looks to be well positioned next year to improve on this year’s finish at State. A rapidly improving boys team that will likely feature exclusively sophomores and juniors, looks well positioned to make another run at qualifying for State if they put the work in over the summer. We encourage all of our cross country athletes to run track in the winter and spring.

We look forward to celebrating this season with everyone at the banquet next month. You can purchase tickets online: https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com

You can also sign up for the Running Club’s Snow Shoe Trip online as well. This is not an official activity of the cross country team, but is a great opportunity to play, train, and connect. https://snow-shoe-trip-jan-20-21-2018.cheddarup.com

End of Season Cross Country Banquet
Sunday, Dec 3th from 9:00a-11:30a
Park Hill Golf Club 4141 E 35th Ave, Denver, CO

Please join us for a celebration of another successful East Cross Country season! We’ll have brunch, awards, Coach Kohuth’s famous speeches… and a small silent auction to help raise money for the team.

Runners, parents and siblings are all encouraged to come.
Cost is $20 per person.

You must buy your ticket no later than Nov 20. You may do so at this link (or paste https://east-xc-banquet-tickets-2017.cheddarup.com in your browser). You can also contribute to coaches gifts there too. (If the cost is prohibitive, please see Coach Kohuth. We want to make sure everyone who wants to can attend.)

We are also looking for donations for the silent auction. We would be grateful for items or gift cards from restaurants, specialty stores or hotels. (We can provide you with our non-profit ID so that contributions are tax deductible). Please send auction donations by November 18th. Email jareich424@gmail.com with questions or to let her know what you have.

There are a limited number of Senior t-shirts (“Stop E”- see below) still available for sale. They are $15. If you want one, please email Harry.Scudamore@gmail.com.

On a seasonably warm, sunny day, the Denver East Cross Country teams took to the flat course at the Northwest Open Spaces Park in Northglenn for the 5A Region 1 Cross Country Championship with a chance of qualifying for the Colorado State Meet on the line.

Going into the Girls race, the Angels knew they had their best chance at qualifying for State in a very long time. Nobody currently around is certain when an East girls team qualified for the State Meet, but we’re pretty certain it hasn’t happened for at least twenty years. From the shot of the starting gun, the Angel girls went aggressive after this goal. East Angel red was prominent among the top-20 runner from the first mile. The East runners hung on valiantly through the entire 5k, and it was obvious as the runners came through the last ½ mile that the Angels season would be extended another nine days – it was only a question of how high up among the top-4 teams had they finished. Senior Laurel Kruger hung on for a 9^th place finish while junior Lilly Cory moved up strongly to grab 15^th place with a personal best of 19:56. Freshman AlanaMarie Barros, senior Nell Salzman, and sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen finished 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd, to give East a total of 87 points, behind only State #3 ranked Arvada West. In a demonstration of East’s great team depth, the Angel’s 6^th, 7^th, 8^th and 9^th runners were ahead of their counterparts from every other team in Region 1, with freshman Abby Howard in 24^th, sophomores Lindsey Weyant in 27^th and Elena Thoman in 35^th and freshman Christina Doolan in 43^rd. Howard, Weyant and Thoman all ran to personal best times at 5K.

Region 1 for the Boys is loaded with very good teams, including State ranked #3 Dakota Ridge, #7 Arvada West, #10 Legend, and traditional power Arapahoe High School. Even with a great race, finishing better than 5^th place to grab one of the coveted state-qualifying spots seemed to be most likely out of reach. Then the East boys went out and raced. It was not a given that senior Harrison Scudamore would be able to repeat as Regional Championship from the year prior, but he ran a controlled first 2 miles and was able to pull away in the end to earn the win. Further back, sophomores Asher Hoyt and Will Daley fought hard to get into the top-15, eventually moving up to 20^th and 21^st place with Daley beating his previous personal best time by 35 seconds in 16:51. Sophomore Riley Nickols moved up well over the second half of the race to beat his personal best for 5K by 50 seconds for 36^th place in 17:42. Also starting from deep in the pack and moving their way up smartly were freshman Xander Pacini and senior Jackson Adams who finished in personal bests of 17:59 and 18:00, in Pacini’s case a 50 second improvement, for 49^th and 50^th place. Freshman Ian Trautwein and senior Patrick Cox finished in 61^st and 62^nd and senior Henry Kaufman in 81^st. As the Angels congratulated one another for the fast times run on the Northglenn course, the team and coaches knew they had exceeded expectations, but a trip to the State meet still seemed unlikely. When the team results were posted, the celebrating began; East had finished 4^th, behind only Dakota Ridge, Legend and Arapahoe, and 21 points ahead of Arvada West; the Boys Team would be joining the Girls Team for the trip to Colorado Springs for the 2017 Colorado State Meet.

State Meet is at the Norris Penrose Center in Colorado Springs on Saturday, October 28. The Boys race at 9:20 and the Girls at 10:40. If you are a fan of the team or athlete not running, please let Coach Kohuth know if you want to go down to support your team. We will try to organize carpools to the race so East is as well represented by fans as by athletes this year!

Remember, we will celebrate this exceptional season on Sunday Dec 3 at our end-of-season banquet. More details on that soon.  

All cross country runners are invited to Snow Mountain Ranch for a weekend of snow shoeing, relaxing, cardio training, and team bonding. This is not an official cross country team event.

We will leave early on Saturday January 20 and return on the afternoon of Sunday January 21.

The cost is $90 per athlete and includes room and three meals. If you need snow shoes, rentals are an additional $18.

You can make your reservation and payment online here for your trip and snow shoes, if you need them. If cost is a barrier to attending, please see Coach Kohuth. We want everyone who wants to come to attend.

Note we will also need some drivers and chaperones, so consider signing up for that too (at the same link).

All athletes on the trip must turn in a POA for XC 2017-18 school year if you haven’t turned one in yet.  Email POA forms to ruthspano@aol.com or turn in to Coach Kohuth.

ALL RESERVATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 20 so we can reserve our space.

Please email Jennifer (jareich424@gmail.com) if you have questions.

Athletes, including alternates, who are training to run regionals on Thursday are invited to dinner this Weds, Oct 18 at 6:30 pm at the Scudamores’ house (751 Elizabeth Street).

This is not a potluck, but attendees are welcome to bring drinks to share.

email Jennifer jareich424@gmail.com if you have questions. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you Weds night.

Also note that because of problems at the district office, it seems there will not be a bus to the meet on Thursday, so you must turn in a Regional Meet Excursion Form For Parent Permission before Thursday so you can ride with a coach, parent, or athlete. 

On Tuesday 10/10, the Angels hosted the DPS League Championships at Denver City Park. For many of the runners, this was the last meet of the season, and Angel runners capped their season with many great performance across all divisions – all deserving of recognition (as do the many parents and grandparents who made the meet run smoothly).

The Open races took to the wet, and, in places, slushy course first with the girls chasing the boys who got a four and a half minute head start. From the chaos of these overlapping races emerged some great runs. In the boys’ race, senior Patrick Cox led a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 finish for the Angels who crushed the DPS competition with a mere 20 points to 42 for the next best team. Freshmen Xander Pacini and Ian Trautwein were the 3^rd and 4^th place finishers while sophomores Kristian Laird and Jack Beardshear were 5^th and 6^th. Junior Henry Kaufman crossed the line in 8^th, just ahead of freshmen Gus Trautwein and Ben Hill in 9^th and 10^th respectively. A close scan of the results reveals that an East frosh/soph team could have won the Open Division on their own – so the future certainly looks bright.

Led by sophomores Lindsey Weyant and Elena Thoman in first and second respectively, the Denver East girls swept to a perfect score of 15 points in the Open Girls race. Denver South was second with 54 points. The first ten runners to sprint across the finish line were all Angels. The freshmen pack of Grace Burnett (3^rd), Maya Winfield (4^th), Lilia Scudamore (5^th), Julia Schor (6^th), Maya Nussenbaum (8^th) and Grace O’Meara (10^th), would be broken up only by their upperclassmen teammates. Senior Audrey McGlothlen finished her East cross country career with arguably the best race of her career, coming across in 7^th, and junior Emily Turner raced to a 9^th place finish.

For the fourth year in a row, Harrison Scudamore won the Boys Varsity race at the DPS Championship meet; this year he came across the finish line a commanding 39 seconds ahead of the next best runner. Harrison is the first boy (we think) to win the race all four years of his high school career. East sophomores Asher Hoyt and Will Daley ran outstanding races to finish 3^rd and 4^th, joining Harrison on the All-City First Team. Senior Jackson Adams finished 17^th and sophomore Riley Nickols 19^th to give East a total of 44 points, 12 points short of Denver South who finished with a mere 32 points by placing five runners in the top nine overall.  Elijah Bruggeman finished 23^rd and Jack Thompson 25^th for the Angels.

Running for the final time on their home course, seniors Nell Salzman and Laurel Kruger led the Angels to the Varsity Girls team title at the DPS League Championship Meet, finishing 4^th and 6^th respectively. Freshman AlanaMarie Barros finished 7^th overall to also earn All-City First Team honors. While Denver North placed three girls in the top five, East’s outstanding depth would lead them to prevail for the team title. With junior Lilly Cory finishing 9^th and freshman Abby Howard finishing 11^th, the Angels would total 37 points, eight points ahead of the second place Vikings. Sophomore Anna Lucy Buddenhagen finished 13^th and freshman Christina Doolan 20^th for the Angels.

The Varsity teams will race again on Thursday at the 5A Region 1 Championship at the Northwest Open Spaces Park in Northglenn, where the first four boys and girls teams and first 15 individuals in each race will qualify for the Colorado State Meet.

Details on the regional championship are posted in another email.

Please also SAVE THE DATE:

We will celebrate this great season on Sunday Dec 3 at our brunch banquet from 9-11:30 at the Park Hill Golf Club.

Our annual snow shoe trip is set for January 20-21