It was a week of little change in the CHSAANow.com field hockey rankings. More accurately, it was a week of no change as the top five teams from last week held their positions.
From spots one through five, the ranked teams went a combined 6-0-3 last week.
Colorado Academy holds the No. 1 spot with wins over Arapahoe and Smoky Hill. The Mustangs outscored their opponents 13-0.
Kent Denver maintains its spot at No. 2. The Sun Devils topped Golden last Wednesday before playing to a tie against Regis Jesuit on Friday.
Palmer Ridge stands at No. 3 and was the only team other than Colorado Academy to receive a first-place vote. The Bears tied with Denver East and beat Grandview since the last set of rankings were released.
The aforementioned Angels come in at No. 4. Their only game last week was the tie against Palmer Ridge.
Rounding things out at No. 5 is Cherry Creek. The Bruins beat St. Mary’s Academy and Liberty last week.
The ranking, voted upon by coaches, is the official poll of the Association. Rankings are released each Monday during the season.
A 3-0 start to the regular season is good enough for Denver East to join this week’s CHSAANow.com field hockey rankings.
The Angels are outscoring their opponents 15-0 in what is still a young season, but the goose eggs have garnered the attention of the voters. Denver East sits at No. 5 this week.
Colorado Academy and Kent Denver sit Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in this week’s field hockey rankings. (Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
Colorado Academy remains the top team in the state with a 1-0-1 record. The tie came in a 0-0 showdown with Kent Denver, who jumped from No. 4 to No. 2.
Cherry Creek comes in at No. 3 this week with Palmer Ridge sitting at No. 4.
The ranking, voted upon by coaches, is the official poll of the Association. Rankings are released each Monday during the season.
ENGLEWOOD — In an early battle of two of field hockey’s power programs, No. 1 Colorado Academy and No. 4 Kent Denver played to a scoreless tie on Friday.
Each team is annually among the state’s best. Kent owns the most titles in state history (nine), while Colorado Academy has won the past four, and is second with five championships overall.
The tie is actually quite significant. It is just the second time in the past 58 games that Colorado Academy hasn’t won. However, with the tie, the Mustangs’ unbeaten streak now stands at 71 consecutive games.
Arapahoe had more than 60 girls try out for its new field hockey team. (Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com)
There will be two new teams in the hunt for the 2016 Colorado state field hockey championship: the Liberty Lancers and the Arapahoe Warriors.
“To add two programs in one year is phenomenal,” said Liberty head coach Michelle Amon.
With the new additions, there are now 15 field hockey programs in the state.
“(Field) hockey is basically isolated on the east coast and California. In between, there’s not much,” Amon said. “So, for it to be out here it’s just incredibly big for our sport in general because it’s moving across the country.”
The sport has been popular on both coasts, but, like lacrosse prior to the past five years or so, it has struggled to gain traction in between. Amon has experienced the growth of the sport first hand and loves being in the middle of it.
“I’m coming from Kentucky where it has taken about 25 years for us to get where we’re at, because we didn’t have very many programs as well,” Amon said.
Amon has been playing and coaching field hockey for 14 years and played collegiately at the University of Louisville.
“It’s definitely a part of who I am,” Amon said.
As for the players that will be taking the field for Liberty, they consist of a variety of multiple sport athletes.
“I have a couple soccer players, a couple swimmers, and then most are lacrosse,” Amon said. “I have probably two or three girls who have played before.”
Arapahoe had an impressive turnout for their tryouts with a total of 62 girls showing out for a spot on the new team.
“The sport provides new opportunities for girls in the fall season and we are seeing a great response by the numbers of girls who are trying out for the teams,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who oversees the sport. “I am hoping that the participation numbers continue to increase with the addition of these teams, and ultimately, we would love to get more schools offering programs.”
A massive learning curve is to be expected, but the girls of the Liberty field hockey team seem to be chugging along with more excitement than frustration.
“They’re picking up the skills pretty well – they’re excited to be playing a new game,” Amon said. “It’s not really frustration, it’s more anxiety because there is so much to learn before we start playing.
“It’s excitement, there’s not really frustration because they’re just happy to be on the field and have a team.”
Amon ran clinics in the spring and summer, but for most of the team their experience of the game ends there. The athleticism of her players is huge in their ability to pick up the game.
“I was pleasantly surprised because we have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. I have a lot of athletes so I got lucky there,” Amon said.” Some of the girls have grown very quickly. It’s pretty great to see how quickly they’re picking it up because it’s not a very easy sport to pick up right away.”
Amon spoke on the surrounding community and its efforts giving credit to both the resources around the school as well as the people.
“The community has been working many years to get this game growing here, and I’m super excited to be a part of it, and I hope that it continues to grow,” Amon said. “But it will take time.”
One of the resources Amon named is the Olympic committee being in the area. She mentioned that the team has been watching the Olympics together and getting immersed in the game.
“It’s actually really fortunate that the Olympics are right now as we’re starting because the girls are getting exposed without ever knowing what it was before,” Amon said.
The U.S. national team made it to the quarterfinals, so the success brought even more excitement to the girls.
Looking towards the season and the expectations from the new team, Amon did not shy away.
“I’m very competitive,” Amon said. “I would like to have huge expectations.”
A few of the older girls on the team have stepped up as leaders with that same mentality.
Mindful of the future of the program, Amon wants to keep the sport trending upwards.
“The biggest thing is getting the younger kids excited to come up and build our program,” Amon said. “Keep that excitement, keep that love of the game happening and passing it down so that we can continue to grow.”
“We are really excited about the growth of high school field hockey, and I see the addition of two new schools a direct reflection of hard work by the coaches, players, parents, officials, and entire field hockey community in general,” Brookens said.
When a team has gone four full seasons without a loss, it’s hard not to vote them in as the top team in their sport.
And that’s what has happened with Colorado Academy field hockey.
The Mustangs come into the 2016 season as the clear No. 1 team in the state after winning their fourth-straight state title last year.
Cherry Creek lands at No. 2 after falling to Colorado Academy in the state title game last season.
With two competitive games played against the Mustangs last year, Palmer Ridge takes the No. 3 spot. The Bears fell to Colorado Academy 4-2 in last year’s semifinals.
Kent Denver comes in at No. 4 despite losing to Regis Jesuit in the first round of last year’s state tournament. The Raiders round out the poll at No. 5.
The ranking, voted upon by coaches, is the official poll of the Association. Rankings are released each Monday during the season.
