As the fall colors reach their peak in Summit County, Summit High School is hosting a week full of events in order to celebrate homecoming. 

The week of sporting events began on Monday, Sept. 23, with a junior-varsity football game against Aspen High School which was then quickly followed by the “Tiger Bowl” — the school’s annual powder puff football game. 

On Tuesday night, Sept. 24, Summit saw its first win of the week, with the boys soccer team defeating Vail Mountain School, 2-0. Following the massive win, the Summit girls rugby team looked to continue the spirited homecoming-week action on Wednesday, Sept. 25, as it took on Monarch High School on Climax Molybdenum Field.

The Tigers recently returned from its first out-of-state tournament of the season where it took on many of the top girls rugby teams in the nation in Utah. Playing six games from Friday, Sept. 20, to Saturday, Sept. 21, Summit’s top varsity team lost three and won three games over the course of the trip.

“I thought we did some things in attack really well and other areas of our preparation and defense were not where we wanted them to be, but I need to do a better job preparing them for that level,” head coach Karl Barth said. “We have a young team and have the potential and individual skill but need to get to know how to play cohesively, but that will come with experience.”

With newfound experience and the team growing closer as a unit, Summit hosted Monarch High School with the hopes of defeating the Colorado rugby program. In the first of three games for Summit’s varsity squad, the team received the opening kickoff and almost immediately displayed its astonishing speed.

Senior Olivia Lyman was the first athlete to break down the field for Summit, sprinting past Monarch defenders and to the try line. Lyman successfully touched down for the try but was pulled down awkwardly as she reached the try zone. 

Lyman was subsequently pulled from the game with an apparent lower-leg injury while Summit expanded its lead to 7-0 with a successful conversion.

The Lyman injury dimmed the spirits of Summit for a few minutes before junior Penelope Wiethake dashed down for a second Summit try. After striking home two conversions, senior Delilah Staberg scored a final try before the end of the first half.

Summit led 21-0 at the halfway point of the first game.

Monarch put up a strong offensive front to begin the second half, but strong tackles from senior Sadie Slahetka and junior Hailey Russer kept the team from finding the try line for several minutes.

After possessing the ball for the majority of the half, Monarch broke past Summit to score a try. 

Leading 21-7, Summit closed out the first match by distributing the ball across the pitch. After several passes, sophomore Hannah Webb found room to sprint down the field, scoring the game-sealing try.

Summit defeated Monarch, 28-7 in the first game.

Despite playing without Lyman and junior Teagan Barth, who broke her foot while in Utah, Summit came together to produce a second powerful win over Monarch. 

Summit’s first try of the second game occurred when junior Avery Thisted sprinted the ball to about midfield before pitching the ball in the direction of Russer who picked the ball up for the try.

Monarch attempted to even the score by the end of the first half, but Thisted and Russer converged again to keep the visiting team from the try line. Webb scored her second try of the night by running 90-yards to the try line on the other side of the field before Summit concluded the half with a third try.

Summit led 21-0 at half. 

Summit defended its lead in the second half, producing two more tries (Webb) and two conversions (Staberg) before the final whistle.

Summit defeated Monarch 35-7 in the second match.

Wanting to sweep Monarch in front of a homecoming crowd, Summit rushed onto the field for the final game of the night. Monarch gave Summit trouble for the majority of the first half, but eventually the Tigers managed to break free.

Thisted used her speed to get past most of the Monarch defense before finding Russer open for the pass. Russer ran to the try line to give Summit a 7-0 lead after a successful conversion from Staberg.

Summit scored two more times before the end of the half with Staberg sprinting for the breakaway try in the waning moments of the first frame. 

Summit went into halftime with a 19-0 lead.

Over the final seven minute half, Summit further displayed why it is the top rugby program in the state. The entire varsity roster worked together to wrap up on tackles, distribute the ball across the field and extend the team’s lead.

Summit scored two tries (Slahetka, River Close) and two conversions (Penelope, Staberg) in the second half. Close’s try in the final seconds of the game had the whole Summit sidelines jumping up and down with excitement as the sophomore sprinted past the final Monarch defender and to the try line.

“When I got through the last part of the defense, I just remember thinking I needed to takeoff,” Close said. “I heard Avery with me, behind me on my right, so I decided to just book it and if I heard someone (from Monarch) behind me Avery could assist me on the try. Right around the 30-yard line I was just thinking about breathing and not tripping.”

Summit defeated Monarch 33-0 in the final game, sweeping Monarch in the three-game series.

“After the injury we were all kind of like, ‘Wow, Olivia is a big part of this team. What are we going to do to come together?’,” Close said. “We are strong as a team with or without some players, so coming together we can overcome any obstacle. We shook that off and focused for the rest of the games. That is what we did and I am proud of us.”

“It is the next woman up, you have to do your job and it is a team sport,” Karl Barth said. “It is a super bummer for both of them. I though Penelope jumped right in and made an impact right away. … That last game, they were out there tired with only two subs while obviously playing a really good team. They held them out of the goal line. That was awesome.”

With the night of games against Monarch being Summit’s final home game of the season, the varsity team will now prepare for several tournaments.

Summit will play the Liberty 7s rugby tournament in Kansas City, Missouri on Oct. 5., the Regis 7s tournament at Regis High School in Aurora on Oct. 12, and the Western States 7s tournament from Oct. 18-19 in Boise, Idaho.

“We get until Friday to get ready so hopefully we will get healthy because a lot of them are sick right now with homecoming week,” Barth said. “Hopefully they get some rest, get some chicken soup and enjoy the rest of their week. We will do a little bit tomorrow and then we will get back to it on Monday.”

Summit will face Eagle Valley the week of Oct. 19, before playing in the Colorado Interscholastic Rugby Association state championship tournament on Oct. 26, at Williams Field in Superior.