results

A great article in the Summit Daily summarizing Summit's performance: Summit cross-country outlasts challenging home course; girls place 1st and boys take 2nd

We had a lot of great races, resulting in the girls team placing 1st and the boys tying for 1st and placing 2nd on the 6th place tie-breaker. And all of that without Josh, Will, Gavin, Lindsey and Ella! It was great to see a pack of four Summit boys leading the first lap of the Stinger and a big pack of girls running together as well.

One way to pick out great performances is comparing times to previous races and last year's Copper Mountain Cup. Compared to Eagle Valley two weeks ago, the average girl's time on our much tougher Summit Stinger course appears to be about 2:30 slower. Using that marker, Lily, our first place girl had a great race at just 2:11 slower than Eagle Valley. Also outstanding were Mila at just 1:48 slower and Lila at just 1:54 slower! With that great race, Mila stepped into our top 5 for the first time this year and helped secure the girls win.

Only three girls raced this year's Summit Stinger and last year's Copper Mountain Cup. Avery had a huge 1:30 improvement from last year and Cece knocked another second off last year, which was a big breakthrough race for her.

Lily, Avery, Ashley, Cece and Mila all placed in the top 10 SHS times run at the Stinger!

The boys look on average to have been about 2:00 slower than Eagle Valley, which is excellent given the difficulty of the Stinger. On that basis, Lukas clearly had a breakthrough race being just 1:04 slower. (The pacing help from Jay surely helped. At Rifle, we will have several pacing groups.) Max also stepped up big, being just 1:07 slower than Eagle Valley. Cain also clearly took to the Stinger well, being just 1:34 slower than EV.

Only 4 boys raced the Stinger this year and last, and three had huge improvements. Jens was a huge 2:40 faster, Carter was 1:51 faster and Cain 1:04. Owen finished in our top 5 for the second time this year and helped secure the first place tie.

Like the girls, the top 5 boys - Jay, Lukas, Cain, Carter and Owen - all recorded times in the top 10 ever run by SHS athletes at the Stinger.

Full results with lap splits are here: https://www.itsyourrace.com/results.aspx?id=14823

Photos 

Click here for more!

2023 Summit Stinger at Copper

WHEN:  Saturday, 30 September 2023

WHERE:  Fairway 11, near the Alpine Lot, Copper Mountain, CO

WHAT: The world's toughest and highest grass high school XC course!

TRANSPORTATION: Car pool to the race. Arrive at least one hour before your heat.

RACE TIMES: 

10:00 Middle School Boys

10:03 Middle School Girls

11:00 High School Boys 

11:30 High School Girls

12:00 Awards

RACE WEBSITE: https://sites.google.com/summitk12.org/copper-mountain-cup/home 

RESULTS: https://coppermountaincup.itsyourrace.com/Results.aspx?id=14823 or scan the QR code below.

Top Entries

We changed the name from the Copper Mountain Cup because:

1. Copper has a pro ski race called the Copper Mountain Cup and they wanted to avoid confusion.

2. To highlight that the race is hosted by Summit High School.

3. To accentuate the challenge of the race, featuring the 22% grade climb of "The Stinger"!

A couple courses are a bit higher, but are flatter. Some courses might have more total vert, but are at lower altitude. Some might have rougher surfaces. (Actually, we view the soft golf course grass as one of the top features of our race.) We don't think any high school course rivals ours for the combination of high altitude, total vert and steepness (22%) of the climbs. So until someone wants to argue otherwise, we are claiming to be the WORLD'S TOUGHEST high school XC race!

Check the times run by some top ranked runners that are 3 to 5 minutes slower than their PRs. Nothing makes it clearer how hard the WORLD'S TOUGHEST is than that.

The WORLD'S TOUGHEST is the perfect race to develop toughness in your runners before their crucial Regional and State competitions. If they conquer this course with a positive growth mindset and don't fret about not setting PRs, they will be set up to race strong when it really counts.

Or maybe we should call it the WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL!! The photos below were taken a couple days before the 2022 race.

Girls and Boys Team Champion Award Banners

Individual Awards

Volunteers Needed!

Parents, Friends and Relatives - Please sign up to help here! We are also looking for mountain bikers to lead out the front runners.

SHS School Records at the Copper Mountain Cup

2022 Race Review

No PRs were run, of course! Especially with the course being 39 meters longer than last year. (A little detail I didn't raise before the race! ☺ )

There were several outstanding performances, though, by runners who rose to the challenge of competing on the World's Toughest High School Cross Country Course!

Most Improved clearly goes to Claire Jackson! Not including her time, the girls were on average 3:10 slower than St. Vrain, one of the slower courses we have raced on. But Claire raced fantastically and was only 40 seconds slower than at St. Vrain. Her performance reduced that average deficit compared to St. Vrain from 3:10 to 2:45. Claire has been placing about 8th or 9th within the team at most meets, but made a stellar jump to 4th at Copper. Well done! Claire raced in the JV division at Copper. Had she been in the varsity division, we would have placed second and been close to first instead of placing third on the tie breaker. It looks like Claire will be a great aid in our bid to qualify for State. 

Placing in the top 10 were Lauren at 7th with a fine 22:58 and Ella in 2nd with a 21:02. Ella's time was 10 seconds faster than last year despite the course being longer. Ella has placed second four times in a row now, to some of the top XC racers in the state and nation. At Copper she placed second to 3A 1600 and 3200 State Champion Isabel Allori for the second race in a row. (The other being St. Vrain.) Ella's pacing was perhaps a bit too aggressive on the first lap, but she continued battling hard, despite tripping and falling while passing a boy who wouldn't make room.

There is a second Most Improved recognition for the girls. Claire gets the most improved for the season. Cece gets the most improved compared to last year. Cece also had a great race, running a big 53 seconds faster than last year! Niamh is the runner up in that most improved competition, with a nice 19 second faster race. Again, all of these on a longer course.

Lando let the way for the boys in 14th. Most improved for the boys clearly goes to Donovan, who actually ran faster at Copper than at St. Vrain and was only 30 seconds slower than at Dave Sanders. Congratulations Donovan on a big breakthrough! Cain also had a fantastic race and was second for Summit. Carter wasn't completely recovered from illness but raced well. He and Gavin did a great job of running together and supporting each other. Memphis and Bryce also raced well, with times much closer to their St. Vrain times than the team average.

The boys placed a competitive 4th without Dom, Josh and Zach racing. (For Dom and Josh, see the Desert Twilight results.)

See your race splits below. For the most part, the splits were remarkably consistent. Although as we've discussed, consistent splits aren't necessarily a good thing. It can mean you ran too comfortably, well within your limits and you left performance on the course.

Summit Daily Article: Summit Tigers cross-country team battles challenging course at Copper Mountain

Full Results on MileSplit, including the outstanding Summit Middle School performances.

Full Results with Splits

Photos here! 

Please upload your photos.

2022 copper mountain cup

WHEN:  Saturday, October 1st, 2022

WHERE:  Fairway 11, near the Alpine Lot, Copper Mountain, CO

WHAT: The world's toughest and highest grass high school XC course!

RACE TIMES: subject to change

9:45 Middle School Coach’s Meeting at Start Line

10:00 Peaks League Middle School Boys Championship (race 7, score 5)

10:05 Peaks League Middle School Girls Championship (race 7, score 5)

10:20 Middle School Open - Boys and Girls (race unlimited, score 4)

10:35 High School Coach’s Meeting at Start Line

11:00 Boys Open (race unlimited, score 5)

11:03 Girls Open (race unlimited, score 5)

11:30 Boys Varsity (race 7, score 5)

11:33 Girls Varsity (race 7, score 5)

12:00 Awards

Girls Varsity:

Hagen, Ella

McCalla, Lauren

Avery, Adaline

Miner ,Cecelia

Eytel, Avery

Leffler, Darby

Girls Open:

Jackson, Claire

Nelson, Niamh

Boys Varsity:

Benedict, Gavin

Cunningham, Landon

Niemkiewicz, Carter

Steinweg, Cain

Thwaites, Memphis

Varble, Roan

Boys Open:

Dalzell, Liam

Oppito, Bryce

Phaf, Jens

Ramey, Donovan

Serafini, Kai

2022 Virtual Meet

Here are the projected team results - provided everyone enters and races to their current season best. Will we be able to use home field and altitude advantage to exceed the seeds? The girls are seeded first by a single point, with 5 teams within 7 points!! The boys were seeded 2nd until I removed Dom and Josh (running at Desert Twilight). That dropped us to 4th. Can we at least beat the Olathe Northwest team from Kansas with our altitude acclimation?

2021 Copper Mountain MileSplit results

10/2/21: Summit High School runners win inaugural hilly, home meet at Copper Mountain Resort. 

Freshman Hagen wins by nearly 3 minutes; junior Remeikis leads Tigers boys team in victory

2021Copper Mountain Cup Results with Lap Splits 

Please read below and the embedded document for race information and updates. 

Disclaimer:  Although not anticipated, all information is subject to change.

Meet Director: Michael Hagen, Summit Cross Country coach, 719-360-1693, tiger.crosscountry@summitk12.org

Date: Saturday, October 1st, 2022

Schedule:  

9:45 Middle School Coach’s Meeting at Start Line

10:00 Peaks League Middle School Boys Championship (race 7, score 5)

10:05 Peaks League Middle School Girls Championship (race 7, score 5)

10:20 Middle School Open - Boys and Girls (race unlimited, score 4)

10:35 High School Coach’s Meeting at Start Line

11:00 Boys Open (race unlimited, score 5)

11:03 Girls Open (race unlimited, score 5)

11:30 Boys Varsity (race 7, score 5)

11:33 Girls Varsity (race 7, score 5)

12:00 Awards

Meet Entries and Scoring:

High School Varsity - Run 7, Score 5.  In the case of a tie, sixth place finishers will be used.

High School Open - Run unlimited, Score 5.

Peaks League Championship - Run 7, Score 5.

Middle School Open - Unlimited entries, Score 4. The Middle School Open race is for all of the non-Peaks League middle school teams and all Peaks League runners not in the Championship race (top 7).

Team Registration: via MileSplit.

Entry Fee/Payment:

$200 entry fee for co-ed high school teams ($100 for girls only or $100 for boys only).  

$100 Middle school entry fee.

$10 per individual for small schools/partial teams.

Payment must be received no later than Friday, 30 September 2021. Please make checks payable to Summit High School Cross Country, note Copper Mountain Cup in memo line, and mail to:

Summit High School

Attn: Travis Avery

P.O. Box 7

Frisco, CO  80443

Timing: All races and all runners will be professionally timed.  Results will be uploaded to Milesplit.

Awards: Middle School awards will be presented to the top seven individuals. High School awards presented to the top ten finishers in each varsity race. 

Course Records: 

• Boys: 18:50.7 - Dominykas Remeikis, Summit High School, 2021

• Girls: 21:12.8 - Ella Hagen, Summit High School, 2021

Parking:  Ample parking in the Copper Mountain Alpine Lot. The course start and restrooms (in the Transportation Center) are a short walk from parking.

Waiver:  Copper Mountain is providing outstanding support, including a free pass to the summer adventure park for all racers! They do require a waiver for all racers and coaches. Since nearly all racers will be under 18, they will need to be completed by a parent/guardian. Please send the below info to all your parents/guardians. It takes a minute.

Waiver - https://waivers.edgeauditor.com/auto-setup/copper/36fl66

1. Click “2022-23 Copper Master Waiver”.

2. Click Get Started button.

3. Select “Individual” – even though multiple kids from one family might be on a team, they must complete one individual at a time.

4. “What is your date of birth?” refers to the COACH or ATHLETE that the waiver is for, not the guardian filling out the paperwork.  If the guardian uses their birthdate, the waiver has not been completed properly.

5. If the participant is under 18, they will get a pop-up stating, “Guardian Required – A guardian is required to sign for any participants under 18”.  Click “OKAY”.  Guests 18 and older will NOT see this pop up.

6. Click OK through “Important – All fields marked with an * are mandatory”.

7. Complete all “Guardian Information” and/or “Participant Information” as requested.

8. Scroll down to Additional Questions and select your team’s name “**XC Race Copper Mountain Cup”.

9. Click Continue ->>>

10. Please read through the waiver and initial at the bottom.  Click “Continue”.

11. The next page will request the signature of both the participant and/or the guardian.

12. Click Finish.

Mountain Course (Note: Race Direction is Counter-Clockwise TBD)

Front Side Course (alternate in case of heavy snow/ice on Mountain Course)