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Colorado’s Sophia Herzog takes swimming silver at 2016 Rio Paralympics

Compiled by Phil Lindeman
plindeman@summitdaily.com

Park County’s Sophia Herzog takes silver in breaststroke at Rio Paralympics

Sophia Herzog finally has her first Paralympic medal.

On Sept. 15 at the swimming stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the 18-year-old Fairplay native entered the water for her best event — the 100-meter individual breaststroke — and came away with a silver medal after a blazing-fast time of 1:36.95. (That’s just 2 seconds slower than the Para world record.) Gold went to Australia’s Kane Thomas (1:35.39) and bronze went to Great Britain’s



The silver in Rio was Herzog’s first Paralympic medal after she barely missed making the U.S. team in 2012. At four feet tall and just 80 pounds, she’s also one of the smallest athletes on the American women’s team — and already one of the most decorated. The Paralympic medal comes on the heels of an incredibly 2015 Parapan American Games, when she took silver in three events (100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, mixed 4x50m relay) and bronze in one event (50m freestyle).

Herzog is currently making the celebratory rounds with her team, including a visit to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama. She returns to Colorado and South Park High School in Fairplay for a local homecoming on Monday, Oct. 3. The free event runs from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public.



Anna Banana Memorial Wildcat Invitational — Tigers cross-country, Sept. 24

A regular-season cross-country meet, hosted by Fruita Monument High School at Connected Lakes State Park outside of Fruita on Sept. 24. At the meet, 14 of 15 runners between the Summit boy’s and girl’s teams posted their personal bests — one of head coach Heather Quarantillo’s biggest goals for a young and untested team.

The team is now in the busy final half of the cross-country season. Both teams were in action on Tuesday for the Runner’s Roost Invitational at Chatfield State Park on the Front Range, and then run again in Glenwood Springs on Saturday. Look for those results in next week’s paper.

For complete results, see co.milesplit.com.

Top boys team, overall (18 total)

1. Montrose High School

2. Battle Mountain High School

3. Durango High School

12. SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL

Top girls team, overall (18 total)

1. Battle Mountain High School

2. Durango High School

3. Glenwood Springs High School

9. SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL

Top Summit finishers, boys

63. Max Bonenberger, 18:02

83. Jeremiah Vaille, 18:26

95. Sam Wescott, 18:48

100. Wyatt Cunningham, 18:59

109. Jack Hurlbert, 19:18

Top Summit finishers, girls

31. Lexie Morici, 20:46

32. Morrison Donovan, 20:47

58. Katie Mason, 22:14

82. Josie Jardon, 23:48

90. Aneth Carmona, 24:23

Granby Ranch Roundup — Summit Tigers MTB team, Sept. 24

The third race of the high school mountain bike season, hosted on a mix of private and public trails at Granby Ranch outside of Winter Park on Sept. 24. The event drew 11 Division I North teams from across the state, including local rivals Battle Mountain High School.

The Summit girl’s and boy’s teams combined for sixth-place overall in the league. The team is currently third in the season rankings behind Boulder and Fairview, with Battle Mountain hot on Summit’s heels (roughly 200 points back in the rankings). Summit girls kept the team in the mix, with top-three finishes in all but one of the league age divisions.

The fourth event of the season is Chalk Creek Stampede on Oct. 8. For complete results from Granby Ranch and all high school MTB races, see http://www.coloradomtb.org.

Top Division I North teams, overall (11 total)

1. Boulder High School

2. Fairview High School

3. Golden High School

6. SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL

Top Division I North girls, varsity (15 total)

1. Madelynn Gerritsen, Golden — 52:45

2. Tea Wright, Fairview — 56:30

3. Camryn Kercher, SUMMIT — 56:55

Top Division I North girls, JV (24 total)

1. Jazlyn Smith, SUMMIT — 57:33

2. Camille Lamarque, Fairview — 1:02:48

3. Sophia Finnoff, Silver Creek — 1:03:37

Top Division I North girls, sophomore (24 total)

1. Grace Karoly, SUMMIT — 1:01:03

2. Gaja Wilson, Battle Mountain — 1:01:54

3. Mazie Neill, Golden — 1:04:33


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