{"id":800742,"date":"2019-10-26T19:08:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T01:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=373654"},"modified":"2019-10-26T19:08:39","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T01:08:39","slug":"summit-high-boys-cross-country-runners-place-strong-seventh-at-state-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/summit-high-boys-cross-country-runners-place-strong-seventh-at-state-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit High boys cross-country runners place strong seventh at state meet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Summit High Tigers compete in the 2019 Colorado Cross Country State Championships on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

COLORADO SPRINGS \u2013 The Summit Tigers boys cross-country running team was slotted into the No. 1 starting spot on the inside of the opening stretch of the 5,000-meter state championship course at the Norris Penrose Events Center. As the Tigers took their final warm-up jogs and sprints down the inside fence, seniors Jeremiah Vaille and Max Bonenberger brought the seven boys together.<\/p>\n

This, Summit\u2019s first appearance as a boys team at states in years, was the moment they\u2019d all grinded so hard for. And Vaille and Bonenberger, two veterans who ran individually at last year\u2019s states, imparted a final bit of wisdom on their Tiger teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cMax and I went last year,\u201d Vaille said, \u201cso we knew it was kind of stressful. It\u2019s a big start line and it\u2019s intimidating with hundreds of these fastest runners in the state and in the nation right next to each other. We told the team it was intimidating. But we are fast, and we\u2019ve been training for this. So we tried to be excited for it and spread excitement through the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever Vaille and Bonenberger said served as the ideal final inspiration for the Tigers boys. Fewer than 20 minutes later, Summit\u2019s top-5 varsity runners all crossed the finish line with sub-19-minute times to earn the Tigers a tie for eighth place with Rocky Mountain rival Battle Mountain, out of the 20 schools competing in the 4A boys championship race.<\/p>\n

But it was Summit\u2019s sixth runner, Giovanni Marquez, who provided the crucial tie-breaker for Summit. Though his time of 18 minutes and 14.8 seconds didn\u2019t count toward Summit\u2019s point total of 216 (tabulated by Summit\u2019s top-5 runners) Marquez\u2019s time was better than the sixth-fastest Battle Mountain time. As such, the Tigers took the tie-breaker and bested the Huskies at the final meet of the season just over a week after Battle Mountain defeated them for the regional championship.<\/p>\n

For Tigers head coach Heather Quarantillo, the team-wide effort on Saturday was the perfect exclamation point on a team-centric year. When asked what one word described this year\u2019s Summit boys team, it was \u201cunited.\u201d And they were never more together than Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes with everything that we try to teach them all the time,\u201d the coach said, \u201cthat every person on the team matters. And everyone can make a difference as well as every single pass that a runner makes can influence a team score. This is a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Led by senior Jeremiah Vaille\u2019s 13th place showing, the Summit Tigers boys cross-country team ran to the best showing of any school in their region at Saturday\u2019s state meet, their seventh place (out of 20 schools) just ahead of High Country rival Battle Mountain.Vaille and his fellow Tiger seniors Max Bonenberger and Paul Hans chat about what this special season means to them and the Summit Tiger program.<\/p>\n

Posted by Summit Daily News<\/a> on Saturday, October 26, 2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A year after Vaille and Bonenberger finished 77th and 102nd respectively at last autumn\u2019s 161-runner state race, the seniors ran to 13th (16:30.5) and 36th (17:00.2) in their Summit swan songs. The Tiger leaders were bolstered by freshman phenom Dom Remeikis, who was the fastest freshman not only the 157-runner 4A race, but in any of Saturday\u2019s state championship races, with a time of 16:53.3.<\/p>\n

With three years ahead of him, the highest of Rocky Mountain skies is the limit for Remeikis\u2019 high school running career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely thought I\u2019d be up there,\u201d Remeikis said of his expectations entering the season, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be that far up, which is kind of cool. It\u2019s a fun experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Summit\u2019s other finishers at states were senior Paul Hans (87th, 17:53.5), junior Sam Burke (96th, 17:58.0) and freshman Zach McBride (125th, 18:42.3).<\/p>\n

Staberg finishes top-20<\/strong>
When Jason Staberg moved up from the Denver area with his freshman daughter Grace a few years back, the middle school cross-country runner was hopeful to find a \u201ctribe,\u201d as her father put it, of like-minded student-athletes here in Summit.<\/p>\n

Between ski mountaineering and cross country, has she ever found that. And since joining the Tigers running team as a junior last year, has Staberg ever contributed just as much as she\u2019s received from that tribe.<\/p>\n

After just missing qualifying for states last season, Staberg ran to 19th of 151 runners at Saturday\u2019s 4A state meet. The senior did so after starting smack-dab in the middle of the humongous pack at the start of the soft and hilly course.<\/p>\n

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Summit runner Grace Staberg and Tigers coach Heather Quarantillo reflect on the senior\u2019s strong 19th place of 152 runners at the state championship in Colorado Springs to round out her Tiger cross-country career.<\/p>\n

Posted by Summit Daily News<\/a> on Saturday, October 26, 2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Nineteen minutes and 28.9 seconds later, Staberg kicked as hard as she could before collapsing briefly after crossing the finish line. After recovering a moment later, Staberg was nothing but smiles as the ski mountaineering star truly gave it her all in her final race as part of the Tiger tribe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little bit stressful,\u201d Staberg said. \u201cI\u2019m not used to being fifty runners back, so the start I felt I was boxed in a bit. But after about a half mile we started to settle in and spread out a bit, and after that I felt like the race went well. I was fairly consistent and it was nice to be running with a lot of girls around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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