LITTLETON — The 19th annual Dave Sanders Cross Country Invite was held on Saturday at Clement Park.
Team winners included Dakota Ridge (Division 1 boys), Mountain Vista (Division 1 girls), Holy Family (Division 2 boys) and D’Evelyn (Division 2 girls).
Niwot girls cross country achieved a unique feat in finishing in first place as a team as all five scoring runners occupied the race’s top five positions.
Mountain Vista’s boys and girls cross country teams had an outstanding day at the 41st annual Liberty Bell Invitational on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles swept the Sweepstakes Division, with the girls placing four runners in the top seven, and the boys having four among the top 28.
Mountain Vista’s Jenna Fitzsimmons, the defending Class 5A individual champion, led the way with a time of 17:29.1 to win the girls Sweepstakes race. Brody Dempsey led the way for the Golden Eagles boys, finishing sixth.
Both of Mountain Vista’s teams are defending 5A champions.
Niwot’s Cruz Culpepper won the boys Sweepstakes race, finishing in 15:28.5. His teammate, Ares Reading, was second in 15:30.6.
Loveland (boys) and Heritage (girls) were the team champions in Division 1. Valor Christian’s Cole Sprout (15:33.6) won the boys race in that division, and Regis Jesuit’s Isalina Colsman (18:07.0) won the girls race. Sprout won the 4A title last season.
In Division 2, Silver Creek (girls) and Frontier Academy (boys) won the team races. Tiya Chamberlin of Wheat Ridge (18:13.5) won the girls race; Henry Barth of Glenwood Springs (15:39.5) won the boys race.
In Division 3, University (boys) and Moffat County (girls) captured team titles. Individually, Moffat County’s Wyatt Mortenson (16:33.2) won the boys race, and Colorado Springs Christian’s Rachel Ingram (18.43.4) won the girls race.
LITTLETON — Mark Steinbeck enters his 12th season on Dakota Ridge’s boys cross country coaching staff and the Eagles are on pace for a banner season.
“I know our team aspirations are No. 1 in all of our minds,” said Steinbeck, who has been the head coach since 2012. “The intention right now at the state meet no matter what is to run for the team and try to get the team title.”
A year ago, Dakota Ridge finally ended rival Arvada West’s four-year run at winning the Class 5A Jeffco League boys cross country team title. Steinbeck believes claiming that conference title set the tone for what the Eagles did at the 2017 state cross country meet and what Dakota Ridge has ahead of them this season.
The Eagles placed fifth in the 5A cross country team race last October in Colorado Springs. Austin Vancil and Connor Ohlson finished third and 10th respectively.
Austin Vancil, left, and Connor Vancil lead a strong Dakota Ridge boys cross county team this fall. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Vancil returns for his senior year and Ohlson, who also placed in the top-10 in the 800 and 1,600 during the 5A state track meet last spring, is back for his junior season to lead the pack for the Eagles.
“We want to bring that title back to Dakota,” Vancil said referring to the Eagles winning its lone boys cross country team title in 2006. “It would mean a lot to do that. It’s a huge accomplishment to win state. We also want to try to get our team to qualify for Nike Nationals in Arizona.”
Besides Vancil and Ohlson returning, senior Riley Abrashoff along with juniors Ben Morrin, Ben Piegat and sophomore Jacob White are all back after running at state for the Eagles last season. Dakota Ridge only graduated Mark Testa from last year’s seven state qualifiers.
“We might look like the major favorite, but I’ve told these guys all year that if we don’t train if we don’t take care of business (other teams) will get us if we aren’t on our game,” Steinbeck said.
Evan Appel and Danny Carney are arguably the best two cross country runners to come out of Dakota Ridge. The two combined for six individual top-20 finishes at the 5A state meet from 2005 to 2010. Appel won back-to-back individual state titles in 2007 and 2008.
“It’s crazy to think that today we’ve got two boys (Vancil and Ohlson) just as good as Evan and Danny here at the same time,” Steinbeck said. “Austin and Connor are incredible.”
Vancil has gone from finishing 147th to 23rd to 3rd at the state meet the past three years. He placed 8th in the 1,600 and 4th in the 3,200 at the state track meet last spring.
“He (Vancil) is the smartest racer I’ve ever coached,” Steinbeck said. “Austin just does stuff that I’ve never had to coach him on racing wise.”
Junior Connor Ohlson, right, has a bright running future ahead. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Ohlson doesn’t have the amount of miles as Vancil does under his belt, but the raw talent the junior has is evident. Ohlson admitted he was even surprised about what he accomplished his sophomore season.
“Freshman year you are looking at all the top guys and then all of the sudden you are running with some of those top guys,” Ohlson said. “It’s really humbling and really cool.”
What Ohlson has learned from Vancil has been critical too. The junior said he has learned to embrace the sport by his senior teammate.
Steinbeck is excited about what is in store for Ohlson over the next couple of years.
“Connor does things that tell me he is one of the most special boys to ever run in the state right now,”Steinbeck said. “He has the chance over the next two years to do some incredible stuff.”
While Vancil and Ohlson are two of the top 5A runners, they aren’t the favorite to win the individual title this season. Valor Christian junior Cole Sprout is coming off a remarkable sophomore campaign where he won the 4A individual cross country title and swept the 4A 1,600 and 3,200 titles at the 4A state track meet.
Valor is moving up to 5A this year so Sprout will likely be the rabbit that everyone will be chasing. Vancil doesn’t mind being the underdog when it comes to the individual title.
“It definitely helps not being the top guy going in. You don’t have all the pressure on you,” Vancil said. “On his (Sprout’s) best day he is unbeatable.”
Running head-to-head against Sprout this season is something Ohlson believes will be beneficial for him.
“It’s awesome to have somebody to chase,” Ohlson said of Sprout. “Having someone like him helps you improve more.”
Dakota Ridge seniors Austin Vancil and Riley Abrashoff run during training Aug. 16 near Dakota Ridge High School. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
There are quite a few changes are The Vanguard School this year, starting with a new athletic director.
Rick Jensen, who has 13 years of experience as a high school athletic director and several years of experience as a coach and athletic administrator on the high school and college levels, is the Coursers’ new AD.
He announced three hires on Monday:
Sergio Rangel will take over as the coach of the school’s volleyball team, which went 7-16 in Class 3A last season. Rangel has previously been the head volleyball coach at Fountain-Fort Carson H.S. (2015-16) and at Palmer H.S. (2010-14).
Brandon Burrell will be the new boys soccer coach, taking over for Scott Simons. The 3A program was 5-10 a season ago. Burrell played his collegiate soccer at Georgia’s LaGrange College.
In cross country, Leroy Neal is the new coach, replacing Kari Miller. Coach Neal comes to The Vanguard School with more than 30 years of collegiate head coaching experience, in cross country and track, at Biola University and at the California Institute of Technology.
INDIANAPOLIS — Further simplification of the uniform rule in track and field, and clarification on the method of determining the order of finish in cross country highlight 2019 rules changes in those two high school sports.
Seven changes were recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Track and Field and Cross Country Rules Committee at its June 11-13 meeting in Indianapolis, and all changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
In Rule 4-3-1, the interpretation of a foundation garment was expanded to include any item worn under the uniform top and/or bottom. The rule now states that “any visible garment worn underneath the uniform top and/or bottom is considered a foundation garment. A foundation garment is not subject to logo/trademark/reference or color restrictions.”
In addition, Rule 4-3-2 was rewritten to allow schools more options in meeting the uniform rule. The rule now states that “all relay and cross country team members must wear uniforms clearly indicating, through predominant color, school logo and color combination of all outer garments worn as a uniform, that members are from the same team.”
“It has become increasingly more difficult to officiate the uniform rule given the increase in the number of programs nationwide that are allowing individual team members the option of independently purchasing either all or part of their team uniform,” said Julie Cochran, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Track and Field/Cross Country Rules Committee. “Slight differences in design of uniform do not negatively impact the identification of a relay or cross country team. The expectation of this rule is that all relay and cross country team members can be clearly identified as representing the same school.”
The revised 4-3-2 NOTE states that “the official shall have no uncertainty in determining that all members are from the same team.”
In cross country, regardless of the system used to determine the places of runners, the order of finish should be based on when the torso of the runner crosses the finish line. Changes in Rule 8-3 state that whether hand timing, transponder/chip or image-based timing systems are used, the torso is the determining factor in order of finish.
The committee also revised Rule 8-1-1 regarding the cross country course which better describes a legal course layout.
The remaining changes concern field events in Rule 6. In the discus and javelin, measurement shall be recorded to the nearest lesser inch or centimeter. The addition of centimeter allows states using the metric system to give a fairer depiction of the actual performance.
In Rule 6-9 regarding the long jump and triple jump, the committee established ranges of distances in the events. Rule 6-9-5 NOTE states that the “distance from the foul line or takeoff board may be adjusted to accommodate different levels of competition. Competitors may change which foul line or takeoff board they are using during competition, but only with the prior notification and confirmation of the event judge.”
According to the 2016-17 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, track and field is the most popular sport for girls with 494,477 participants and is No. 2 for boys with 600,136. Cross country ranks sixth for girls with 226,039 and sixth for boys with 266,271 participants.
A complete listing of the track and field/cross country rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Track and Field/Cross Country.”
Kent Waryan, Laura Probst, Chris Peterson, Liz Armbrustmacher and Kevin Williams (not pictured) were inducted into the Jeffco Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday at the Arvada Center. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Laura Probst never won a state championship.
The 2002 graduate of Arvada West High School finished runner-up 11 times in state cross country and track individual races. However, 16 years after leaving Jeffco and after a stellar soccer career at Texas A&M University, Probst was inducted into the Jeffco Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday afternoon at the Arvada Center — along with Chris Peterson, Liz Armbrustmacher, Kevin Williams and Kent Waryan.
“It’s incredibly special. Part of the reason it was so unexpected,” said Probst, who is now a primary care doctor at a Veterans Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. “Being a student-athlete in Colorado and Jefferson County was such an important time in my life, but it seem so far in the past.”
Despite all the second-place finishes, Probst’s attitude was always positive.
“I think you have to remember why you are doing it and what it is all about,” said Probst, who won the coveted Freddie Joe Steinmark Award in 2002. “For me I was competing against myself. As long as I knew I gave my best and left it all out on the track I was satisfied.”
Chris Peterson
The Jefferson High School graduate might have been a little ahead of his time. The sharp-shooting basketball guard led the state in scoring his senior year in guiding the Saints to an appearance in the Final 4 of the state tournament.
Peterson’s youngest son —Lakewood High School graduate Kolton Peterson — broke the all-time Class 5A 3-point record just a few years ago. All the scoring Chris Peterson did in his time in the mid-1970s came without the 3-point line in existence.
“I thought it was going to be a roast at first,” Peterson said during his speech. “My boys were all sitting around last tonight and said I would probably be the first basketball player to go into the (Jeffco) Hall of Fame who never made a 3-point shot.”
Peterson went on to coach softball at Green Mountain, along with boys basketball at Arvada West.
Liz Armbrustmacher
This Evergreen High School graduate was apart of the volleyball juggernaut the Cougars build under coach Lo Hunter in the 1980s, which included a 182-match winning streak.
Armbrustmacher went on to play Indiana University before returning to Jeffco. She led Lakewood High School to a remarkable run starting in the late 1990s.
“All of us in this room understand the impact of sports and activities,” said Armbrustmacher, who is still a teacher at Lakewood. “The lessons learned and taught on the field, the court, the pitch, the diamond and the track that those lessons learned expand far more than the game.”
Kevin Williams
Williams was a seven-time state champion in cross country and track at D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. He still holds the Class 4A state record in the 3,200-meter run that he set his senior year in 2008 with a time of 9:06.27.
“Looking back at my athlete career a feel very lucky to have attended Jefferson County and D’Evelyn,” Williams wrote in a statement read by his high school track coach Micah Porter. “When I arrived at D’Evelyn in 7th-grade and I no idea I would become a distance runner and how big of a role that would play in my life.”
Williams went on to run at the University of Oklahoma from 2008-13 where he had three consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. He is currently the head cross country coach at North Texas University and assistant track coach for the Mean Green.
Kent Waryan
Waryan came to Jeffco in the mid-1970s. He was a teacher, coach and administrator at a number of schools before retiring a handful of years ago from the district. He spent his final years at Jeffco at the athletic director at Wheat Ridge and Lakewood before sharing duties with Kevin Land as the Executive Director of Athletics and Activities in Jeffco.
Jim Thyfault, current Executive Director of Athletics and Activities, said that Waryan served as a mentor to so many current athletic directors in Jeffco.
“The scoreboard is not the most important thing and communication,” Waryan said of the two valuable things his wife has taught him over the years.
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Pomona graduate Ryan Marquez, middle, stands with family members after receiving the 5A Jeffco Male Athlete of the Year and Freddie Joe Steinmark Award at the 32nd Annual Jeffco Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Jeffco Athletics 2017-18 Awards
Athletes of the Year
Jeffco 5A Male: Ryan Marquez, Pomona
Jeffco 5A Female: Camilla Emsbo, Lakewood
Jeffco 4A Male: Adam Thistlewood, Golden
Jeffco 4A Female: Kristina Schreiber, Evergreen
Coaches of the Year
Jeffco 5A Coach of Male Sports: Jay Madden, Pomona
Jeffco 5A Coach of Female Sports: Tracey Boychuk, Pomona
Jeffco 4A Coach of Male Sports: Brian Kula, Valor Christian
Jeffco 4A Coach of Female Sports: Amy Bahl, Evergreen
Assistant Coaches of the Year
Jeffco 5A Asst. of Male Sports: Shane Fugita, Dakota Ridge
Jeffco 5A Asst. of Female Sports: Steve Hadley, Lakewood
Jeffco 4A Asst. of Male Sports: Brian Zehnder, Standley Lake
Jeffco 4A Asst. of Female Sports: Ali Meyers, Evergreen
Fred Steinmark Team Award
Jeffco 5A: Ralston Valley
Jeffco 4A: D’Evelyn
Paul Davis Sportsmanship Award
Jeffco 5A: Bear Creek
Jeffco 4A: Golden
Valor Christian sophomore Cole Sprout has named the boys cross country runner of the year for Colorado by Gatorade on Monday.
Sprout now becomes a finalist for the national award, to be announced later this month.
Sprout won the Class 4A title last fall, finishing in 15:42.1. He went on to place second at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional championships, and then 21st at the national NXN final.
AURORA — Football’s calendar will align with the national setup, allowing for more consistency with surrounding states, and flexibility within the state’s current format.
Additionally, volleyball is heading to a bracket format, there will be a new process for adding a new sport, teams will be allowed to play an exhibition game to raise money for their program, and baseball’s move to a 23-game regular season in 3A, 4A and 5A was approved.
Those were among changes made by the CHSAA Legislative Council during the first of their two annual meetings on Thursday.
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Football changes
(Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
For the immediate 2018 season, football’s changes means that the start of practice will move up by a week, and begin on Aug. 6. Additionally, this change will build in a bye week for classes 4A through 6-man, and allow for 5A to move to a 24-team playoff — something that was also approved on Thursday.
The lead up to full contact will be as follows: two days in helmets, two days of full pads with limited contact, and one day of full pads and full contact. Scrimmages will be allowed on Aug. 16, with the first regular season games allowed on Aug. 23.
No longer will the first week of competition be known as Zero Week — the former scrimmage/contest hybrid week. Instead, it’ll simply be Week 1.
Because the existing approved dates of the postseason remain in place, it leaves a bye week during the regular season for 6-man through 4A, and a bye week for the top eight seeds in the 5A football playoffs while seeds Nos. 9-24 play in the first round.
Elsewhere in football:
2A and 3A will play their championship games at a neutral site.
As noted above, 5A is moving from a 16-team playoff to a 24-team playoff.
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Volleyball bracket
(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
All five classes of the state volleyball tournament, held annually at the Denver Coliseum, will change from pool play to a bracket starting this fall.
The bracket format will be a 12-team Olympic crossover, meaning it will be double-elimination up until the semifinals, where the tournament will change to a single-elimination.
“We are really excited to be moving in this direction,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens said following the volleyball committee meeting last November.
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New process for adding activities and sports
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
The process for adding a new sport or activity — something that was in the spotlight last January with boys volleyball — has been overhauled.
Now, the process will be as follows:
The Board of Directors must approve the new activity for a piloting process, while taking into account things like “longevity and history of the activity, support from the activity’s governing body, ability to host a coach’s clinic on skills and safety (sports only),” and “adequate number of officials (sports only).” The pilot program must last at least one year. New activities can ask for a pilot program from the Board at any point.
The new activity must have support from the Classification and League Organizing Committee, the Sports Medicine Committee, the Equity Committee, the and Board of Directors before the Legislative Council can vote on it.
The new bylaw additions also outlines step-by-step what each new activity should be doing, and when.
It seems likely that boys volleyball and girls wrestling will approach the Board to begin the piloting process. Both sports have expressed interest.
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Foundation Showcase creates exhibitions to raise money
A new bylaw which allows teams to participate in a “Foundation Benefit Contest” beyond the game limits was approved.
This will allow schools the opportunity to schedule exhibition games where they charge admission, keep score and raise money for their programs or a cause.
These games will not have any impact on postseason/playoff considerations.
Seven new schools were approved for initial membership: DSST-Byers, KIPP Northeast, Loveland Classical, Riverdale Ridge, Strive Prep Rise, Strive Prep Smart, Thomas MacLaren. This gives CHSAA 358 member schools.
Stargate, Golden View Academy and Victory Prep Academy were approved as full members.
The cross country proposal to score four of the six runners at the 2A state meet was amended, so 2A will remain with three scoring runners.
Field hockey officially changed its OT procedure for the playoffs. Now, games will play 11 on 11 in the first OT. If still tied, they will play 7 on 7 in a second OT. If the game remains tied, they will go to a shootout.
3A girls soccer’s postseason field will expand from 24 to 32 teams in 2019.
New CHSAA Board members to start in 2018-19: Luke DeWolfe, Steamboat Springs; Chase McBride, Niwot; Obafemi Alao, DSST-Green Valley Ranch; Don Steiner, Evangelical Christian.
