Luke Fritsche is a model student here at Erie with all of his academic and athletic accomplishments. He is both an impactful student and a member of our community. Fritsche is loved by many teachers and students alike as he is able to spread positivity throughout the town with his daily actions.

In the classroom, Fritsche shines among his peers. He is taking several classes above his grade level as well, “I took at least 1 AP class every year and 2 this year with the majority of my other classes being honors,” Fritsche admits. This kind of effort to challenge himself has led him to be recognized several times by the school. He managed to letter academically both semesters of his freshman year, a letter in band, and two more letters for sports. Fritsche was able to get this achievement by playing snare on the drumline for his freshman year. 

While academics are clearly important to Fritsche, he is able to spend a lot of his time in the sports we offer here at Erie. Fritsche is an active participant in both track and cross country. This all started in middle school for Fritsche as he has been performing at a high level for years. Fritsche currently holds the middle school state record for cross country. He was able to continue this trend by instantly being a part of the varsity team for both of his sports, upon going into 9th grade. Fritsche was even honored as Freshman of the Year in cross country, being the most outstanding runner in his grade. The following year, he got 1st place on the team to win regionals. In Arizona his sophomore year, he ran a very impressive 16 minute and 23 second 5k. He was a very significant contributor this year as well, with the Erie cross country team getting back to back regional wins. This year, Fritsche was the only male captain for the cross country team, going to show how much of a leader he is. Fritsche was on pace to do the same kind of great things in track, but his most recent season had been canceled because of COVID-19.

Fritsche has made an enormous impact both while running and just being a good teammate. Senior on the team, Elias Hinojosa said, “Luke is just a super talented runner who you can always rely on to go out and over perform.” This kind of reliability is just some of what makes him a great teammate. Fritsche is always the type of teammate to push the others around them to be better themselves too. Hinojosa said, “It’s great running with Luke because he is always able to make you want to work harder or do more than you would have, which can really go a long way in making the team as a whole better. He is a big reason why we have been able to do as well as we have the last couple of years because, from day one, he was right at that top level and has always been a leader.” The ability to push his teammates is a part of how the Cross Country team has been able to win regionals for several consecutive years. 

Fritsche has been successful because he has had great role models to look up to. His older brother, Timothy Fritsche, and friend Alex Walker both did very similar things to Fritsche with their time in high school, pushing Fritsche to be his best. Especially when it came to sports, Fritsche could always be seen pushing himself to compete on the same level as these two, even though they were both two years older than him. This kind of challenge is what sets Fritsche apart from so many other athletes his age, with that kind of work and dedication. Some of the most interesting races Fritsche has run are Luke and Tim going head to head because they both were determined to beat their brother. 

A massive contribution that Luke has added to his community is his time as an Eagle Scout. To earn an Eagle Scout, it is required to head up, organize, and complete a project. Fritsche described his project,  “There was an area in the mountains where a lot of trees had to be cut down because of beetles, so I went and planted 500 little trees with my troop.” 

This kind of project is a massive help to the ecosystem here in Colorado and it is the reason that Fritsche has been honored with this title of Eagle Scout. Fritsche also mentioned, “I have done plenty of volunteer work, for example, with some churches in the area. I helped Cavalry Bible do some renovations on their new campus over the summer.” One reason Fritsche became an Eagle Scout is that Walker was already an Eagle Scout, and Luke and Tim were competing on who could get it first. This type of brotherly competition is apparent in a lot of Fritsche’s life, but it has done great things.

With all the great things that Fritsche is able to do with his time, it is hard to imagine how he could be any more active in the community. Luke is setting himself up for success every day and is bound to do great things, in the classroom, on the track, or in the community. We look forward to seeing what he will be able to do with the last year and a half he has in high school. Luke Fritsche is a great example of how to work hard, set goals, and help the community all while having fun.