As distance runners continued to clump together on the track, Summit High School senior Josh Shriver knew he needed to make a move if he wanted to achieve his goal of running a fast time. 

After traveling to Southern California for his first and last Arcadia Invitational, Shriver was not going to let himself grow complacent. Instead, Shriver decided to put it all on the line while racing in the men’s 3200-meter run on Friday, April 11. 

After running 4 minutes, 40.86 seconds through the halfway point, a pedestrian pace for Shriver and much of the field, the experienced distance runner swung to the outside of the pack and took the reins of the race. 

With about three laps remaining, Shriver truly began distancing himself from the rest of the competition. Dropping a 65 second sixth lap, Shriver pulled himself closer to the finish line with every powerful step. 

The abrupt increase in pace seemed to catch the field off guard, resulting in many of the following runners staying bunched up next to each other.

As the bell lap approached, Shriver continued to valiantly lead the field. With the sizable crowd and stadium announcer spurring him on, Shriver pumped his arms harder as fatigue began to set into his legs. Shriver hit the 200-meters-to-go mark while still in the lead, but Chicago’s Simon Lane of University High School also started to make a late push. 

In the final 100 meters, Lane and Shriver battled to the finish line. Running on fumes, both athletes tried to find an extra gear. Simon managed to barely dip past Shriver in the final moments of the race to be crowned the champion of the race. Simon ran 9:08.68 while Shriver took second in 9:08.78.

Although he was a little disappointed that he was not able to win the race, Shriver soon recognized that it was because of his gutsy tactics that made the race what it was. The time marks a nearly 13 seconds personal best and new school record for the senior.

“I came through a lot slower than I wanted that first mile,” Shriver said. “At that moment I decided if I wanted to chase the time I wanted, that I was going to have to do it myself. I took over with about 1400 meters to go and just started pressing. … I did a good job at keeping it steady, keeping my tempo good. I did get caught at the end, but I am still happy with the time I ran and how I made that race for myself.”

Riding high from his impressive performance the night before, Shriver returned to the track on Saturday night, April 12, for the men’s mile. Wanting to further practice his race tactics ahead of the state competition next month, Shriver once again put himself in the highly-competitive race field.

Rubbing elbows with some of the best high school distance runners in the nation, Shriver ran a blazing 1:04.25 through the first lap of the four-lap race. The pace increased on the second lap, resulting in Shriver coming through 800 meters in 2:07.69. 

Despite being sore and tired from the 3200 the night before, Shriver continued to hang tough. Shriver ran a 1:04.12 on the third lap before opening his stride and kicking with all his might to the finish line. 

Closing in 1:01.14, Shriver took seventh overall in 4:12.94. Utah’s Aidan Neal of Alta High School took first in 4:08.73. Shriver shaved close to six seconds off Liam Meirow’s 2014 school-record mark of 4:18.76 in order to claim a spot in the program’s history books.

The two strong performances gives Shriver a massive amount of confidence in his current fitness and his ability to run fast in back-to-back races.

“Two weeks before Arcadia, I ran around 10 minutes in the 3200 and around 4:30 for the 1600,” Shriver said. “I was really frustrated with myself, and I kind of questioned what I was doing wrong. I doubted myself. … Seeing the jump that I made in two weeks is really a testament to the highs and lows you have in this sport. One day may not be your day, but as long as you keep working hard you will have your day pretty soon.”

Shriver was joined by senior Ella Hagen and junior Faith Fox at the prestigious meet. 

Hagen ran in the women’s 2-mile on Saturday night. Coming into the race under the weather, Hagen did what she could to stick onto the hot pace. Hagen split under 80 seconds per lap early on in the race before eventually slowing a tad over the second half.

Hagen finished 27th overall in a time of 10:35.07. Although not the best performance of her career, Hagen was still able to set a school record in the 2 mile. 

Fox competed earlier in the day on Saturday in the women’s 300-meter hurdles. Running 44.33 seconds, Fox shaved close to a second off her previous school-record mark in the event and also placed 12th overall in the women’s open field. 

Don Osse Lakewood Tiger Invitational 

Back in Colorado, the rest of the Summit High School track and field team competed at two meets. Most notably, Summit traveled to Lakewood on Thursday, April 10, to compete at the Don Osse Lakewood Tiger Invitational. 

The Summit girls were able to place second overall at the meet with 70 total points while the boys placed 10th with 36 points. 

Freshman Paige Ratliff and freshman Sophie Dinse were both able to score several points for the team in the girls 1600-meter run. Ratliff set a six-second personal best in the event, crossing the finish line in 5:58.89 to place third overall. Ratliff was soon followed by Dinse who took fourth overall in 6:06.80.

The Summit girls continued to score points throughout the meet. Freshman Avery Russer placed third overall in the 300-meter hurdles (49.73) while sophomore Deirdre Dalzell took sixth (52.12).

Two weeks removed from setting a new school record in the 4×100-meter relay, the Summit girls returned to the track and dropped 0.03 seconds off its previous best mark. With junior Teagan Barth, junior Saige Heflin, freshman Ruby Snyder and freshman Avery Russer all running legs on the relay, the team placed first overall in the event. 

Barth, Heflin, junior Hailey Russer and Faith Fox also secured a first-place finish in the 4×200-meter relay. Clocking a time of 1:48.29, the relay marks the third fastest time in school history.

Additionally, Summit ran in a sprint medley relay. Although the event is no longer contested at the state meet, the Tigers set a new school record mark of 1:52.20. 

The Summit girls closed out the meet by taking fifth in the 4×400 and the 4×800-meter relays.

On the boys side, Summit sophomore Jay McDonald led the performances in the boys 1600-meter run. After completing a lengthy ski mountaineering season, McDonald returned to the track where he ran 4:29.62 to place second overall. Junior Carter Niemkiewicz followed in seventh, running 4:45.12. 

Moving up in distance to the 3200-meter run, sophomore Lukas Remeikis ran an impressive race. Taking nearly a minute off his previous best time from last year, Remeikis ran 10:17.04 to take second overall. Sophomore Owen Fallon also placed highly, taking ninth in 10:48.23.

In the hurdles, senior Simeon Ryan secured a seventh-place finish (17.59) in the 110-meter hurdles while sophomore Benayah Majka took 12th (47.49)  in the 300-meter hurdles.

Like the girls, the Summit boys were able to score a big chunk of points in the relays. The Tigers took fifth in the 4×100 (44.82), fourth in the 4×200 (1:33.71), eighth in the 4×400 (3:53.90) and sixth in the 4×800 (9:08.40). The 4×200 relay team was able to set a new school record in the event by a few fractions of a second.  

Summit traveled to Glenwood Springs for the Demon Invitational on Saturday, April 12. The girls took third (73) and the boys took fourth (54). Summit will now prepare for the Randall Hess Roughrider Invitational on Saturday, April 19.