Ella Hagen and Dom Remeikis once again led the charge for the Summit High School cross-country team at the Rifle Invitational on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

Remeikis, a junior, arrived in Rifle with some wind in his sails after setting a new school record at last week’s meet in Northglenn. He let that wind carry him to a first-place finish at the Rifle Invitational, crossing the finish line in 16 minutes and 54 seconds.

Remeikis had teammates quickly following in his wake with freshman Joshua Shriver finishing in the bronze medal position in a time of 17:12. Summit junior Landon Cunningham quickly followed by placing fourth overall in a time of 17:29.

The Summit boys are still without top runner Zach McBride, who has been sidelined due to an injury, but the performances from the Tigers at Rifle were enough for them to place fourth as a team, barely getting edged out by Coal Ridge in third and Rifle in second.

In the girl’s race, Hagen rubbed elbows with some of the best runners not only on the Western Slope but also in the state.

Hagen battled with Basalt’s Katelyn Maley, running stride for stride with the 2020 3A state cross-country meet champion until the very end.

Maley barely edged out Hagen as they both kicked to the finish. Hagen ended up finishing in second with a time of 18:22, just one-tenth of a second behind Maley.

The rest of the Tigers girls showed why they should be a threat at the state cross-country meet Saturday, Oct. 30, by having another strong showing.

Sophomore Adaline Avery finished second for the Tigers and eighth overall in a time of 21:17. Freshman Cece Miner finished seconds behind in ninth place with a time of 21: 25.

The Tigers girls ran as a tight pack with Avery Eytel and Niamh Nelson rounding out the Tigers top five in 14th and 18th overall. The competitive running of the Tigers girls on Wednesday was enough for them to place second as a team, only three points behind Basalt High School, which placed third at the 3A state cross-country meet in 2020.

Next up, the Tigers will be preparing for the Colorado 4A Region 1 meet Friday, Oct. 22, in Evergreen. It is at the regional meet where the Tigers will get the chance to secure spots to the state meet Saturday, Oct. 30, in Colorado Springs. The top four out of 13 teams in the region go on to the state meet.

“The boys would have a decent chance of qualifying for state, but it is very unlikely with Zach McBride still out from injury,” head coach Michael Hagen said. “Our top three boys all have a reasonable chance of finishing in the top 15 individually to qualify for state.”

The coach thinks the Tigers girls may have their day Friday, Oct. 22.

“The girls, because of the steady and significant improvement of our two through five — Adaline Avery, Cece Miner, Avery Eytel and Niamh Nelson — we now have an outside chance of qualifying as a team,” he said.

The last time the Summit Tigers traveled to the state cross-country meet as a team was in 2019, when the boys qualified and placed seventh. The last time the Tigers had an individual go to the state cross-country meet was also in 2019, when Grace Staberg finished 19th overall.

The Tigers will look to have state championship qualifying performances as they take to the line next week.