The track and field season is off to a good start in the state of Colorado.

While it is typical for early season meets to be canceled due to spring snowstorms, the majority of meets have been completed with a minimal amount of adverse weather. After opening the season at the Ivory Moore “We Are Columbine” Invite on March 8, the Summit track and field team returned to the Front Range for the ThunderRidge Invitational in Parker on Saturday, March 15.

Throughout the duration of the meet, Summit grew closer to reaching its peak form, recording top-10 finishes and scoring valuable points toward the team’s final score. 

Leading the performances for the Summit girls track and field team was junior Faith Fox. The talented track and field athlete competed in three events throughout the course of the day, notching top-10 finishes in each.

Fox’s best result of the meet occurred in the girls long jump, where she was able to fly to a mark of 17 feet, 4.25 inches. Not only was the jump enough for Fox to win the event outright, but it also surpassed the school record of 16 feet, 2 inches that she set in March of last year. Fox won the girls long jump by close to 7 inches, with Fort Collins High School’s Griffey Caro and Cherokee Trail High School’s Alexandria Carelock tying for second with a mark of 16 feet, 9.50 seconds.

Fox was far from done though as she went on to compete in the girls 200- and 400-meter dash. Usually competing in the hurdling events, the change in race disciplines allowed Fox to work on her top-end speed and compete against different athletes than she typically would. Despite the switch up in events, Fox rose to the occasion. Fox took seventh in the 200-meter dash (27.24 seconds) and second in the 400-meter dash (59.51 seconds). Junior Saige Heflin also competed in the 200-meter dash, finishing 33rd overall in 29.88 seconds. Junior Teagan Barth followed Fox in the 400-meter dash results, taking 24th overall in a time of 1:06.37. 

In the distance events, sophomore Lily Benbow placed within the top 25 in the 800-meter and 1600-meter runs. Benbow recorded a time of 2:41.18 in the 800 for 22nd overall and ran 5:48.31 in the 1600 to take 16th. 

In the longest event in high school track — the 3200-meter run — freshman Sophie Dinse made her debut. Following a standout cross-country season, Dinse picked up where she left off, placing 11th overall in a time of 12:52.00. 

Freshman Ruby Snyder took 10th overall in the 100-meter hurdles (18.18), sophomore River Close finished seventh in the shot put (28 feet, 7 inches) and the Summit girls 4×800-meter relay team took sixth (11:13.90).

With a total of 29 points, the Summit girls track and field team finished in 11th place out of the 22 teams who scored points at the meet. 

On the boy’s side, the Tigers had several athletes place highly.

Junior Henry Eslich notched the highest finish among his male teammates, taking sixth overall in the boys shot put competition. Eslich heaved the shot 39 feet, 1 inch while senior Cesar Sauceda Viniegra threw 36 feet, 5 inches for 14th place. Eslich contributed four points to Summit’s final team score with his performance.

On the track, freshman Connor Erwin ran 25.11 seconds in the 200-meter dash to take 22nd overall.

Sophomore Lukas Remeikis led performances in the distance events, finishing 16th overall in a time of 2:11.15.

Senior Simeon Ryan took 23rd in the 110-meter hurdles (18.79), and the Summit 4×400-meter relay team took 11th (4:06.29). 

The Summit boys track and field team took 23rd out of 27 scoring teams with a total of four points. 

Nike Indoor Nationals

While their teammates were competing in Parker, senior Ella Hagen and senior Josh Shriver were in New York City competing at the Nike Indoor National meet.

Taking place from Thursday, March 13, through Sunday, March 16, Hagen and Shriver both received the opportunity to compete in an event. Hagen competed on Friday in the Girls Championship 2 Mile while Shriver competed on Sunday in the Boys Championship Mile.

In a highly competitive race, Hagen put herself in the pack and hung onto the hot pace. Hagen crossed the finish line in 13th overall with a time of 10:33.26.

Shriver then roared around the 200-meter banked track on Sunday. Shriver took 27th overall with a time of 4:16.86. Splitting 3:58.18 through 1500 meters, Shriver narrowly went under his school-record time of 3:58.28, which he set at Nike Outdoor Nationals last June.

The Summit track and field team will now travel to Broomfield for the Broomfield Shootout on Saturday, March 22. As of Tuesday afternoon, close to 40 teams had entered the meet.