AURORA – The Colorado High School Activities Association would like to congratulate its membership for another successful year. Throughout 2023-24, CHSAA crowned 104 players of the year across its sports and activities, with 68 different schools having at least one athlete represented and 20 schools being represented by multiple athletes.
Valor Christian had the most student-athletes named the player of the year in their respective sports, with six. Erie and Summit had the next most, with four players of the year each.
Three different player of the year winners had a parent win coach of the year this season, with two such pairs coming from Merino. Kya Piel won the 2A Girls Track and Field Player of the Year award father Daniel Piel was the 2A Girls Basketball Coach of the Year award, and Makenna Sutter won 1A Girls Volleyball Player of the Year and Christin Sutter won 1A Girls Volleyball Coach of the Year. The third pairing was between the 4A Girls Softball Player of the Year, Hailey Maestretti, and the 4A Girls Softball Coach of the Year, Glen Maestretti, both representing Lutheran.
There were also 11 underclassmen who earned player of the year honors, including three freshmen, with all three being girls. In just their first year of high school athletics, Nicole Celechovsky was named the 3A Girls Tennis Player of the Year, Abigail Trapp was named the 4A Girls Track and Field Player of the Year, and Elodie Olsen was named the Girls Alpine Skier of the Year.
Additional highlights from this year include:
- Isabel Allori earned 3A Girls Cross Country Player of the Year honors on her path to winning more individual state championships than anyone else in Colorado this year. Allori totaled five individual state titles and, even more impressively, she was one of just nine athletes to win her state championships across multiple events
- Kail Wayman, the player of the year for 8-man football, tallied six rushing touchdowns in the state championship final to help Mancos secure its second state title of any kind and its first ever in football.
- On top of being named the 4A Girls Cross Country Player of the Year, Niwot’s Addison Ritzenhein earned the honor of being Gatorade’s National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.
- Pueblo South senior Maurice Austin was named 4A Boys Basketball Player of the Year thanks, in large part, to his remarkable production on both ends of the court. Austin was the leading scorer in boys basketball across all classifications, with 31.6 points per game, 3.0 more than the next-most prolific scorer, and was third across the entire state in steals, with a whopping 6.0 steals per game.
- Three different player of the year winners helped topple old records this season. On the track, Peyton Sommers helped Cherokee Trail’s 4x200m relay team set a new colorado preps record. In the pool, 4A Boys Swimmer of the Year Jake Eccleston set a new state meet record in the 100 breaststroke, only for 5A Boys Swimmer of the Year Eli Hobson to top it shortly after.
- Zoe Martin added a pair of scoring accomplishments to her remarkable high school resume, as she tallied the 200th girls lacrosse goal and the 100th field hockey of her career, with the latter coming in a state championship final victory. Martin is now slated to continue her career in both sports at the University of Michigan.
If you know of additional highlights that should be considered for inclusion here, please submit them here.
If you want to personalize and order your own personal state champion or runner-up trophy, do so on this website.
2023-24 Players of the Year
| Name | Year | School | Classification | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Agron | Senior | Kent Denver | Girls | Field Hockey |
| Isabel Allori | Senior | Liberty Common | 3A girls | Girls Cross Country |
| Corrie Anderson | Senior | Palmer Ridge | 4A girls | Girls Volleyball |
| Kinley Asp | Sophomore | Colorado Springs Christian | 3A girls | Girls Basketball |
| Maurice Austin | Senior | Pueblo South | 5A boys | Boys Basketball |
| Blake Barnett | Senior | Erie | 4A boys | Football |
| Ian Beck | Senior | Regis Jesuit | 5A boys | Ice Hockey |
| Andrew Bel | Junior | Colorado Springs Christian | 2A boys | Boys Cross Country |
| Dalton Berg | Senior | Mead | 4A boys | Boys Wrestling |
| Eddie Bowman | Senior | Trinidad | 2A boys | Boys Wrestling |
| Lily Boydstun | Senior | Mountain Vista | 5A girls | Girls Soccer |
| Baden Brown | Senior | Valor Christian | 5A boys | Boys Lacrosse |
| Will Brunner | Senior | Battle Mountain | 4A boys | Boys Cross Country |
| Lauren Burt | Senior | Lakewood | 5A girls | Gymnastics |
| Nadhia Campos | Junior | The Vanguard School | 2A girls | Girls Cross Country |
| Nicole Celechovsky | Freshman | D’Evelyn | 3A girls | Girls Tennis |
| Liam Connors | Senior | Erie | 4A boys | Boys Lacrosse |
| Rylan Cooney | Senior | Holy Family | 3A boys | Football |
| Brihanna Crittendon | Sophomore | Riverdale Ridge | 4A girls | Girls Basketball |
| Caitlin Crysel | Senior | St. Mary’s Academy | 3A girls swimmer | Girls Swimming |
| Gabriella Cunningham | Senior | Grandview | 5A girls | Girls Track & Field |
| Caroline Daugherty | Sophomore | Valor Christian | 5A girls | Girls Tennis |
| Brennan Draper | Senior | Chaparral | 5A boys | Boys Cross Country |
| Jake Eccleston | Senior | Windsor | 4A boys swimmer | Boys Swimming |
| Matthew Edwards | Senior | The Classical Academy | 3A boys | Boys Cross Country |
| Tyler Eise | Junior | Ponderosa | 5A boys | Boys Wrestling |
| Caleb Fay | Sophomore | Kent Denver | 4A boys | Boys Basketball |
| Izzy Fay | Junior | Niwot | 4A girls diver | Girls Diving |
| Tyleigh Fehseke | Senior | Wiggins | 2A girls | Girls Volleyball |
| Karsyn Fetzer | Junior | Platte Valley | 3A girls | Girls Volleyball |
| Persaeus Gomez | Senior | Pomona | Unclassified girls | Girls Wrestling |
| Trey Gregory Alford | Senior | Coronado | 4A boys | Baseball |
| Tessa Grudle | Junior | Standley Lake | 4A girls | Gymnastics |
| Landon Hadley | Senior | Peyton | 2A boys | Boys Track & Field |
| Ella Hagen | Junior | Summit | Girls nordic | Girls Skiing |
| Logan Hale | Senior | Erie | 4A girls | Girls Golf |
| Carson Harrington | Junior | Evergreen | 4A boys diver | Boys Diving |
| Asher Hawes | Junior | Denver Christian | 2A boys | Baseball |
| Brenna Higgens | Junior | Valor Christian | 5A girls | Girls Golf |
| Eli Hobson | Senior | Lewis-Palmer | 5A boys swimmer | Boys Swimming |
| Kyla Hollier | Sophomore | Roosevelt | 5A girls | Girls Basketball |
| Talan Hulet | Senior | Delta | 2A boys | Football |
| Kailyn Japuntich | Senior | Gunnison | 3A girls diver | Girls Diving |
| Andrew Jones | Senior | Chaparral | 5A boys | Ice Hockey |
| Aswaanth Karuppasamy | Senior | D’Evelyn | 4A boys | Boys Tennis |
| Jenna Krise | Senior | Briggsdale | 1A girls | Girls Basketball |
| Nadia Leunig | Sophomore | Evergreen | 4A girls | Girls Soccer |
| Ruby Lucken | Junior | Golden | 4A girls | Girls Lacrosse |
| Hailey Maestretti | Senior | Lutheran | 4A girls | Softball |
| Zoe Martin | Senior | Colorado Academy | Girls | Field Hockey |
| Treyton Marx | Senior | Limon | 1A boys | Football |
| Om Mathur | Junior | Peak to Peak | 3A boys | Boys Golf |
| Holly McDaniel | Senior | Sanford | 1A girls | Girls Track & Field |
| Brandon McIlhany | Senior | Liberty | 4A boys | Ice Hockey |
| Jakob Methvin | Sophomore | Battle Mountain | 4A boys | Boys Soccer |
| Tyler Miller | Senior | Merino | 1A boys | Baseball |
| Riley Mills | Junior | St. Mary’s Academy | 3A girls swimmer | Girls Swimming |
| Madison Mintenko | Junior | Pine Creek | 4A girls swimmer | Girls Swimming |
| Lila Moldenhauer | Junior | Kent Denver | 4A girls | Girls Tennis |
| Seth Montgomery | Sophomore | Summit | Boys alpine | Boys Skiing |
| Rosie Mucharsky | Junior | Denver East | 5A girls | Girls Cross Country |
| Mikey Munn | Senior | Windsor | 4A boys | Boys Track & Field |
| Brody Niswender | Junior | Eaton | 3A boys | Boys Track & Field |
| Carson Noe | Senior | Cheyenne Wells | 1A boys | Boys Basketball |
| Cyler Notter | Senior | Stratton | 6-man boys | Football |
| Dale O’Blia | Senior | Mullen | 3A boys | Boys Wrestling |
| Luke Ogren | Junior | Cherry Creek | 5A boys diver | Boys Diving |
| Elodie Olsen | Freshman | Summit | Girls alpine | Girls Skiing |
| Addie Osborne | Senior | Erie | 5A girls | Softball |
| Eliza Osburn | Senior | Valor Christian | 5A girls | Girls Lacrosse |
| Sydney Oveson | Junior | Fossil Ridge | 5A girls diver | Girls Diving |
| Jensen Pascua | Senior | Douglas County | Unclassified boys | Boys Volleyball |
| Kaitlyn Pearson | Senior | Swallows Charter Academy | 2A girls | Girls Track & Field |
| Kya Piel | Sophomore | Merino | 2A girls | Girls Basketball |
| Annabelle Rakers | Junior | Flatirons Academy | 2A girls | Girls Soccer |
| Kourtney Rathke | Senior | Peak to Peak | 3A girls | Girls Track & Field |
| Noah Richmond | Senior | Montrose | 4A boys | Boys Golf |
| Addison Ritzenhein | Sophomore | Niwot | 4A girls | Girls Cross Country |
| Jordan Rockwell | Senior | Limon | 2A boys | Boys Basketball |
| Sadie Ross | Senior | Eaton | 3A girls | Softball |
| Konner Rowden-Stum | Senior | Genoa-Hugo/Karval | 1A boys | Boys Track & Field |
| Delaney Russell | Senior | Valor Christian | 5A girls | Girls Volleyball |
| Duncan Salmen | Junior | Evergreen | 4A boys swimmer | Boys Swimming |
| Cole Scherer | Junior | Valor Christian | 6A boys | Boys Basketball |
| Mason Scott | Junior | Cherry Creek | 5A boys | Baseball |
| Brody Sheffield | Sophomore | Yuma | 3A boys | Boys Basketball |
| Josh Snyder | Senior | Columbine | 5A boys | Football |
| Peyton Sommers | Junior | Cherokee Trail | 5A boys | Boys Track & Field |
| James Sowers | Junior | Summit | Boys nordic | Boys Skiing |
| Lucas Stone | Senior | Eaton | 3A boys | Baseball |
| James Story | Junior | Silver Creek | 4A boys swimmer | Boys Swimming |
| Makenna Sutter | Junior | Merino | 1A girls | Girls Volleyball |
| Hope Torres | Junior | Prospect Ridge Academy | 3A girls | Girls Golf |
| Abigail Trapp | Freshman | Golden | 4A girls | Girls Track & Field |
| Kai Trujillo | Senior | Broomfield | 5A boys | Boys Tennis |
| Charlie Tucker | Senior | Rock Canyon | 5A boys | Boys Golf |
| Jorge Valdes | Senior | Bishop Machebeuf | 2A boys | Boys Soccer |
| Quinn VanSickle | Junior | Valor Christian | 6A girls | Girls Basketball |
| Marcus Von | Senior | Broomfield | 5A boys | Boys Soccer |
| Kail Wayman | Senior | Mancos | 8-man boys | Football |
| Lindsey Whitton | Senior | Battle Mountain | Girls nordic | Girls Skiing |
| Charlotte Wilson | Senior | Cherry Creek | 5A girls swimmer | Girls Swimming |
| Simeon Woldeyohannes | Senior | Colorado Academy | 3A boys | Boys Soccer |
| Naomi Wolff | Senior | Colorado Academy | 3A girls | Girls Soccer |