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Summit’s Ella Hagen sets new course record at Husky Invite, teams place 3rd and 5th overall

Sophomore Ella Hagen sets herself apart from the rest of the competition at the Battle Mountain Husky Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News

With a jumble of legs and the pumping of arms, a serene park or grassy field can quickly become the perfect cross-country course.

This was the scene at the Maloit Park in Minturn on Saturday, Aug. 27 as the Summit High School cross-country team competed at the Battle Mountain Husky Invitational.

Regarded as one of the tougher cross-country courses in the state of Colorado, the Husky Invitational is not for the faint of heart. The course features uneven terrain, steep climbs and sections of single-track trail.



The Summit Tigers cross-country team rose to the occasion though, conquering the course and notching top-five team finishes. 

In the boys’ race, senior Dom Remeikis led the Tigers putting himself in the front pack from the beginning of the race and biding his time over the five-kilometer course.



Remeikis stayed closely behind Battle Mountain’s Will Brumer and Porter Middaugh before the Husky duo broke away from Remeikis in the latter part of the race. Remeikis finished strong in his first race of the season, placing third overall in a time of 17 minutes, 4 seconds. 

That time is a nearly a 30-second improvement from the senior’s best time on the course which he set his sophomore year of high school.

“I felt pretty good about it, it was kind of a rust buster from all the summer training,” Remeikis said. “I was in contention so I will take it.”

Summit senior Dom Remeikis runs in the Battle Mountain Husky Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 27. With a time of 17:04 Remeikis placed third overall and helped the Tigers boys cross-country team to place fifth out of 11 teams.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News

Following Remeikis was a strong performance from junior Joshua Shriver who placed sixth overall in a time of 17:59. The Summit boys’ performance was rounded out by Landon Cunningham in 38th, Cain Steinweg in 44th, Gavin Benedict in 61st and Liam Dalzell in 64th. 

The Summit boys cross-country team placed fifth out of 11 teams at the meet, scoring 152 points. The placing is a one-spot improvement from last year when the team placed sixth overall.

In the girls’ race, sophomore Ella Hagen took to the starting line in order to get her fall cross-country season underway. Hagen wasted no time getting herself to the front of the field, quickly gaping her competition in the first quarter mile. 

Throughout the rest of the race, Hagen raced the clock attempting to go under the course record of 19:15 that was set by Niwot High School’s Mia Prok in fall 2020.

Hagen worked over the hills and powered herself to not only her first victory of the season but a new Husky Invitational course record as well — running 18:54. 

“I have raced against all these girls before so figured I would take it out fast and see if anyone came with me,” Hagen said. “It’s an amazing course. It’s the kind of course that you know it’s going to hurt but you also know it’s going to make you stronger. Getting to the finish was such an amazing feeling.”

Lauren McCalla followed Hagen in fourth place running a time of 21:31 while Adaline Avery placed 21st with a time of 23:42.

Rounding out the top five runners for the Tigers were Avery Eytel and Cecelia Miner. Eytel and Miner placed just seconds behind Avery with times of 23:44 and 23:48 respectively. Paige Wescott placed 40th overall for the Tigers in a time of 25:37.

Like the boys, the Summit girls’ cross-country team improved upon its finish at the meet from the year prior, moving up two places to place third overall. 

The Tigers will compete again at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede in Colorado Springs on Friday, Sept. 2. The race will provide the team the opportunity to get a look at the state course before hopefully competing at the state cross-county meet later this season.


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