Coaches

Mike Hagen was an unremarkable high school and collegiate athlete who nevertheless greatly enjoyed endurance sports. He gradually improved, earning a few results such as 1997 USAT Amateur Triathlete and Duathlete of the Year (Age-Group Duathlon World Champion and Triathlon National Champion), five second-place age-group finishes at Ironman Hawaii (but never first), 6-time consecutive Armed Forces Triathlon Champion, 2013 Xterra National Champion, 2014 Ski Mountaineering North American Master’s Champion, and 2015 and 2018 Breckenridge Epic 6-day mountain bike master’s champion. 

Mike earned a Master’s in Exercise Physiology, taught Physical Education at West Point and commanded the US Army World Class Athlete Program (Olympic training program). After retiring from the Army he worked at Carmichael Training Systems as the director of coaching where he selected, trained and supervised the coaching staff.

Mike coached the Palmer Ridge High School XC team for one season and the Air Academy track team for two seasons. Both programs were fortunate to win state championships and had three individual state champions during his coaching tenure there. He coached over 10 athletes who received scholarships to D1 and D2 colleges.

The Hagen family moved to Breckenridge in 2018, upon which Mike coached the SMS XC Team for three years. Eva and Mike started the Summit Distance Program to provide free summer coaching to area junior and high school runners. 

Mike feels very fortunate to have begun coaching the SHS XC and Track distance runners in the Fall of 2021.

Coached Athletes who competed in college:

Jeremy Meadows - Palmer Ridge High School, Baylor

Andrew Lester - Palmer Ridge High School, U.S. Air Force Academy

Ryan Matson - Palmer Ridge High School, Arizona

Brandon Hippe - Palmer Ridge High School, Portland State

Jonathan Wolfe - Palmer Ridge High School, Colorado School of Mines

Logan Bocovich - Palmer Ridge High School, Colorado School of Mines

Andrew Rudnicki - Palmer Ridge High School, Colorado School of Mines

Nicole Phaneuf - Palmer Ridge High School, Tulane

Matt McDonald - Air Academy High School, Boise

Luc Hagen - Air Academy High School, Colorado School of Mines

Maria Mettler - Air Academy High School, U.S. Air Force Academy

Ethan Powell - Air Academy High School, Kansas/Colorado

Trenton Shimata - Air Academy High School, Norwich

Cal Banta - Air Academy High School, Colorado State

Mackenzie Moss - Air Academy High School, UNLV

Dillon Powell - Air Academy High School, Colorado School of Mines

Matt Mettler - Air Academy High School, Colorado School of Mines

Ethan Abbs - Air Academy High School, Colorado Mesa

Tatum Miller - Air Academy High School, Oregon

Lilliana Hamilton - Air Academy High School, Missouri

Matthew Storer - Air Academy High School, Western/Colorado Christian

Max Bonenberger - Summit High School, Colorado School of Mines

Dominykas Remeikis - Summit High School, U.S. Air Force Academy

Lindsey Kiehl - Summit High School, Florida/Loyola

Will Bentley - Summit High School, University of Colorado

Josh Shriver - Summit High School, U.S. Air Force Academy

Ella Hagen - Summit High School, University of Colorado

Eva was born and raised in the mountains near Salzburg, Austria. She retains a love of the mountains to this day. High schools in Austria, like most of Europe, do not have interscholastic school sports. Instead they have a club-based sports system. Eva was an alpine ski racer in her school days. Upon meeting her husband Mike while he was stationed in Italy, and moving to the U.S., she picked up running and became an outstanding road racer. 

Eva was an assistant XC and track coach at the United States Military Academy - West Point, from 2000 to 2002.

When they moved to Colorado, Eva coached the Pentathletes on the US Olympic Team at the Olympic Training Center. It was in Colorado Springs that Eva started trail running and ski mountaineering and quickly became a top-level competitor. While Eva can still occasionally be convinced to enter a trail or skimo race, which she typically crushes, she runs or skis daily for the joy and bliss of being in nature.

Shortly after moving to Breckenridge, Eva and Mike founded the Summit Distance Project for area youth runners. Eva has coached the Summit Middle School XC and track distance teams for several years with outstanding results. In 2020, Eva began coaching the Summit High School nordic team and they have already won a state championship.

Eva loves coaching youth runners. She had a remarkable ability to inspire youth runners and instill confidence while they learn to train hard and love running.