Aspen to host Severy cross country meet
The Aspen Times
Christina Capasso/Special to The Aspen Times |
The running spotlight will be on Aspen on Saturday.
Aspen High School’s cross country team will host the annual high school and open citizens races on the Moore Open Space adjacent to the high school campus.
The high school races draw huge fields every year with more than a dozen teams scheduled to race in Aspen on Saturday.
Middle school races also are planned in connection with the races, named in memory of former Aspen High School state track and cross country champion Chris Severy, who went on to an All-American career at the University of Colorado.
He was killed in a cycling accident just outside Boulder just as he was about to enter medical school.
Chris Severy was known for his ability to excel on difficult trails in tough conditions.
The Aspen race, which is staged on the Nordic trails at Aspen High School, is designed with “cross country” racing in mind for the prepsters, according to Aspen head coach Chris Keleher.
“This is cross country as you remember it from high school: hilly, possibly muddy, hard and truly memorable,” Keleher said.
The day’s racing will begin with the Chuck Severy Invitational, an open citizens race, at 8 a.m. It’s named in honor of Chuck Severy, Chris’ father and an ardent supporter of AHS athletics before his death from cancer.
Registration for the open adults 5-kilometer race will begin at 7 a.m. at the race venue.
Advance registration is available at the Ute Mountaineer in Aspen or at http://www.active.com.
Entry fee is $20, tax deductible. The funds go to the Aspen High School cross country program.
Middle school girls will run at 9 with the middle school boys racing at 9:15 a.m.
The JV girls will run at 9:30 a.m. followed by the JV boys at 10 a.m.
The featured girls high school varsity race will start at 10:45 a.m. Saturday.
The boys varsity race will begin at 11:30 a.m.
The races will start and finish on the Lower Moore Playing Field by AHS.
