Could you hear the Tigers roar this weekend?
Summit High athletes were ferocious on the rugby pitch and cross-country trails, where the girls rugby team claimed a 17th consecutive state title on Saturday, Oct. 26, and the cross-country team easily swept 4A regionals in Arvada on Friday, Oct. 25.
XC sets pace for state
The fastest girl in the state, Summit senior Ella Hagen, literally ran away with the title in 17:27:5 minutes, beating Leah Siering of Grand Junction by nearly a minute and a half.
Hagen was far off from her state-best time of 16:54:00 minutes, but she’ll have one last chance to beat that mark this coming weekend at the 4A state championships in Colorado Springs.
In the boy’s regional race, senior Josh Shriver showed why he’ll be unstoppable at state, winning the boys race in 15:22.40 minutes, 10 seconds ahead of Eagle Valley’s Dylan Blair in second.
Josh and Ella led a seriously deep Tigers squad to boys and girls team wins. Sophomore Jay McDonald, sophomore Lily Benbow and freshman Sophie Dinse finished top-10.
One more thing about Josh and Ella: They would have won most every regional race at every level.
The only boy faster than Josh was Benjamin Anderson, of Mountain Vista, a 5A school – and he beat Josh’s time by one second.
Two runners were faster than Ella, Eaton sophomore Delany Reuter and Niwot junior Addison Ritzenhein, beating Ella’s time by two and three seconds, respectively.
Rugby reign continues
On yet another stunning October day, rugby easily defended its unprecedented win streak at the state title match in Superior. They played through injuries at key positions to hoist their 17th state crown.
And they did it like they always do – by cranking it to 11.
The girls marched through Palmer in the semifinal, 37 to nil. They did it again in the championship, beating Monarch 26 to 5.
“The truly represented SHS and Summit County,” head coach Karl Barth says.