Lewis and Kasyon Reign as State Snowshoe Champs

Eventual girls' champion Sam Lewis mixes it up with the crowds early in the race. Photo by Jim Lewis.

Special to Colorado Track XC by Darren Brungardt

Repeat…Repeat…Repeat

The 2011 Colorado High School Snowshoe State Championship 5K took place on Saturday February 12, 2011 under the best racing conditions yet at Summit High School in Frisco, CO.  The sky was clear, the temperatures were in the low 30s, and the snow was packed incredibly well for the amount that has fallen this winter.  With over 3.5 feet of snow blanketing the Summit High School area, racers still posted great times given the conditions.

The 5K this year featured full squads from Cheyenne Mountain and Smoky Hill High Schools.  Cheyenne Mountain donned their unique flannel uniforms and one boy sported a speed suit.  Smoky Hill’s boys painted their faces to resemble the fierce fighting Uruk-hai in the Lord of the Rings novels/movies.  Summit, Evergreen, and Boulder High Schools were represented but did not have full teams.  Evergreen’s team saw a mixture of their signature fluorescent green “Evergreen Distance” T-Shirts and their familiar jerseys that they can be seen wearing on the podium at every race they enter.  Summit’s distance runners were all off in Aspen competing in a Nordic Ski Race as they gear up to defend their state titles next weekend at the CHSAA Skiing State Championships.  Samantha Lewis donned all black from Boulder High School.

Unlike last year’s course of deep untracked powder caused by the blizzard that ravaged the county, this year’s 5K race had a packed/semi-packed powder course that was two runners wide.  The course had been packed down by the event hosts: the Summit Girls’ Rugby Team, Summit’s Athletic Director’s children on snowmobiles, and the elk herd that lives behind Summit.  The race started at approximately 10:05 AM with a conservative effort.  Mitch Kayson, the 2010 Colorado High School Snowshoe State Champion, and Jake Fox, both of CMHS, leapt out to an early lead followed closely by Samantha Lewis, the 2010 Colorado High School and US National Junior Champion.  The beginning of the race takes runners on a 300 meter lap around Summit High on a hard packed snow/ice road to get out to the deep powder.

The first obstacle runners faced was a three foot jump over an ice block to get onto the eventual packed powder of the race course.  Racers then raced along the Summit County Rec Path for approximately a half mile before ascending the Gate Hill into the Iron Springs Open Space.  The course continues to go up at a steady rate until runners reach the actual Iron Springs, a natural hot springs behind Summit High.  Here runners must tackle the Powerline Hill, a short hill.  This is the highest point in the race and provides the best view at the top.  Runners are now 300 feet above the start and can see the Blue River converge into Lake Dillon, a 13er in Breckenridge called Baldy Mountain, Summit High, and the Hoosier Ridge separating Summit and Park Counties.  At the apex of Powerline Hill, runners now face a new challenge: Zombie Ridge.  Zombie Ridge brings runners from their beautiful vantage point of 9400 feet crashing back down to the race start elevation of 9100 feet.  This ridge is most famous for the forest fire it had in 2005, but now has the infamous designation of making Summit athletes feel like zombies once they hit the top of it as their evil coaches make them run up and down it.  The rest of the course is primarily flat except for a short but steep hill called Heartbreak Hill.  Runners tumble down the backside of this hill and race through the vast open fields to the south of Summit High and head back north to the school and finish on the hard packed snow/ice that covers the sidewalk.

Mitch Kayson dominated the field and broke the course record set by Ironman Tri-athlete Tim Hola (Tim competed, won, and broke the course record this year in the 10K).  Mitch’s time of 26:28 crushed the previous mark of 27:59 by Hola last year on his way as a repeat state champion.  Kayson’s time will stand the test of time for many years, and is the fastest 5K snowshoe time run in the nation this year by over four minutes for any high school runner.  Kyle Ames of Smoky Hill passed Jake Fox to finish second in a time of 31:15, and Fox finished third in 31:31.  It was a close time, but not as close as the next three competitors who finished neck-neck, separated by a mere three seconds.

Samantha Lewis overtook Jake Fox at the half mile mark.  She did not look back and pressed the pace hard and fast early.  The altitude, hills, and deep powder the last mile caught up to her slightly, but Lewis’ performance was impressive again as she cruised home to win the race in a time of 30:47 (also a national best time).  She was all smiles afterwards earning her second title in a row, and was happy with how much fun she had.  She was a mere 15 seconds off of her previous course record time of 30:32 from last year’s race.  She was followed by CMHS’s Danielle Grossman in a time of 38:35.  This was Grossman’s first year at the race and she was the only girl to brave the car ride up to Summit with the CMHS boys!  Rachael Chacko of Smoky Hill rounded out the podium with a time of 50:03.  Seeing how this was her first snowshoe race, she can only improve upon this time next year to help Smoky Hill’s team score.  Samantha Skold of Evergreen chose to race in the 10K and posted a fantastic finish.  She ran 1:06:22.5 and finished second overall.

The team race was surprisingly close this year.  Throwing in the coed dynamic of the scoring made the results interesting.  The top five scores from the boys, the girls, or both determine the points.  A perfect score would be 1^st boy + 1^st girl + 2^nd boy + 2^nd girl + either a 3^rd place from a boy or a 3^rd place from a girl for a score of 9.  CMHS ran away with the title last year beating Summit handedly.  This year Smoky Hill was ready to rumble.  Although close, CMHS took home the state title by edging out Smoky Hill 17-22.  Danielle Grossman saved the day for the boys and hopefully they bought her a nice lunch on the way home.  Without her second place finish, CMHS would have lost to Smoky Hill 22-24.  The coed team score will continue next year until the race grows big enough to have a boys’ and girls’ team championship.