Summit runners set meet records at Pat Amato Classic

Summit junior Dom Remeikis and freshman Ella Hagen each ran to the program’s record times at the Pat Amato Classic on Friday, Oct. 8, in Northglenn.
On the 5,000-meter course, Remeikis ran to a time of 16 minutes and 6 seconds, which was the fastest in school history. The time also ranked Remeikis second place overall in the loaded field, which featured the top runners not only from Colorado but also from New Mexico and South Dakota.
“It’s a big meet with five or six of the top-20 ranked teams in the nation entered,” Tigers head coach Michael Hagen said.
Remeikis led for the first 2 miles of the race before a pair of runners from Los Alamos, New Mexico, caught up to him. Remeikis held off one for a win that coach Hagen said might just have been the junior’s best race in Colorado — even though it wasn’t his fastest. To do so, Remeikis went from third to second place in the final 150 meters of the race.
“To some extent, this was his breakthrough race,” the coach said. “He was going for the win, and he ran aggressively trying to win. He knew there was good competition, but he also knew he belonged up front.”
Summit freshman Josh Shriver was second for the Tigers on Friday, running to a 24th place time of 17:06 that was closely followed by Landon Cunningham’s 29th place time of 17:17.
Although Summit is without top runner Zach McBride, a junior currently out due to injury, the coach said Shriver and Cunningham are running so well that they both might qualify to state as individuals even if the Tigers don’t make it as a team.
“Landon just continues to improve,” coach Hagen said. “He’s improving, relatively, every race, every week.”

In the girls race, Tigers freshman Ella Hagen ran to a sixth-place time of 18:08, her fastest time in Colorado. The time also earned the freshman the distinction of running the fastest time for a Tigers girl at the Pat Amato Classic.
“There was strong competition — No. 1 girl in the state won it — so that was a really good race for her,” said coach Hagen, Ella’s father.
Tigers sophomore Adaline Avery was Summit’s second-best girls runner on the day with a time of 21:11 that earned her 63rd place. Freshman Cece Miner was next up for the Tigers with a 74th place time of 21:36.
Coach Hagen said Summit’s girls are “right on the edge” of competing to qualify to the state meet as a team.
Summit is next scheduled to run Wednesday, Oct. 13, at the Rifle Invitational in Rifle.

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