Talia Schmidt scored two goals to power Class 4A No. 12 TCA girls soccer to a 2-0 win over No. 6 Canon City on Friday.
Category: Featured
-
Photos: Liberty Bell track & field
Photos from the Liberty Bell track and field meet.
-
Photos: No. 4 Valor Christian takes down No. 2 Fairview
In a key late-season matchup, No. 4 Valor Christian won 15-2 over Fairview.
-
3A girls tennis: D’Evelyn claims second state title in school history
(Luke Zahlmann/Pueblo Chieftain) COLORADO SPRINGS – A state championship final day is intense by nature.
D’Evelyn and Colorado Academy sought to make it even more nerve wracking on Day 2 of the Class 3A girls tennis state championships as the two met in four of the day’s seven finals after being tied at 21 apiece following the tournament’s first day.The Jaguars made their mark for the second time in school history, taking advantage of the chance to separate four of the five bouts. Their team score of 59 edged out Colorado Academy’s 44.“We had a long talk (as a team) after quarantine was over,” D’Evelyn coach Woody Oliver said. “We said that we can either be bummed and be disappointed about the fact that COVID-19 ruined our 2020 season or we could just get right back at it.“I think the girls took that to heart and made them that much more hungry.”Last year, when COVID-19 “won state,” the leaders of the team expected it to be their year. This year, the team’s lone senior — Kyrianna Kryzstek — was in just her first year on varsity.The pressure of having to win was placed on the shoulders of the team’s only player who won’t return next year. She and her partner, junior Anna Day, came through with the No. 1 doubles title.“We came in today knowing we were going to play our heart out, no matter what happened,” Kryzstek said. “We were all really confident going into today. Of course there were nerves, but they weren’t bad.”Part of the confidence came from the team’s head-to-head, regular season win against the Mustangs last month.The other part came from the team’s ability to relax. Even after the matches concluded and the title was theirs, every member of the Jaguars threw on a pair of swim goggles.The tradition stems from the team’s joke about being a “real team” in water polo. They’ve even made an Instagram for the non-existent program.All of the nuances D’Evelyn took with them to state kept them calm and collected. What’s more, the team will return everyone except Kryzstek next year — a positive sign for their chances of a repeat.“We learned a lot from the past two years,” Oliver said. “The hope moving forward is to get right back after it this summer. The fact that we bring back pretty much the whole team is a big advantage.”On the day, Aspen’s co-op squad was also named the tournament’s sportsmanship award winner. -
5A girls tennis: Cherry Creek continues dominance of Class 5A with 37th title
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com) DENVER – The Cherry Creek girls tennis team isn’t used to waiting long between state championships.
The Bruins won three straight Class 5A team titles from 2017-19. But when an unexpected newcomer in COVID-19 blocked them from a title in 2020, the Bruins were forced to sit idle and wait for another shot at extending their streak. On Saturday at Gates Tennis Center, an unusually hungry Cherry Creek girls amassed 66 team points to run away from Fairview – the 2016 champion – to leave the 5A state tournament with the trophy once again.
Even for decorated Bruins like senior Halley Mackiernan, who has never lost a match at state and has now been part of three team titles amidst the Bruins’ seemingly endless run of winning 22 out of the last 23 championships, this most recent victory was exceptional.
“We’ve all been waiting for this for so long, especially not being able to play the season last year,” Mackiernan said. “It’s finally here and it’s a great feeling unlike any other state championship. I’m so sad to leave the team, but I’m so happy we were able to come back out here and win this one after wanting it for so long.”
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com) The individual gold went to Boulder’s Lily Chitambar, but not without a fight from Smoky Hill’s Valerie Negin. After defeating 2019 No. 2 singles champion Alexis Bernthal in the semifinals, Negin pushed Chitambar to the brink during a three-set match that included a first-set comeback from being down 5-0 to win a tiebreaker before the Boulder junior eventually prevailed, 6-7, 6-0, 6-4.
“I just tried to stay as mentally tough as I could,” said Chitambar, who placed fourth as a freshman in 2019. “It was super hot and after she came back from 0-5, I was a little shaken up. I just tried to go one point at a time and stay tough. It felt really good and it was definitely more exciting to win the championship because she’s such a good player and it was such a good match.”
The rest of Saturday’s finals resembled a head-to-head dual match between the Bruins and the Fairview Knights, who trailed the eventual champions by just two points to start Day 2. Cherry Creek advanced to the finals at six of the seven total ladder spots and played Fairview head-to-head in five of those matches.
At No. 2 singles, Cherry Creek’s Lorena Cedeno beat Fairview’s Natalie Stone, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. At No. 3 singles, Cherry Creek’s Anika Sharma edged Fairview freshman Alexis Bernthal, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com) Cherry Creek twins Eliza Hill and Nicole Hill, who played together for the first time this season, won 6-3, 6-1 over Fairview’s Virginia Gomulka and Elizabeth Roth at No. 1 doubles. In the No. 2 doubles finals, Mackiernan and Anna Fusaris won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 against Fairview’s Jane Roth and Maya Brakhage. The No. 3 doubles title match went in favor of Cherry Creek’s Victoria Moldovan and Jisele Boker, who beat Fairview’s Mia Grayson, 6-2, 6-2. At No. 4 doubles, Cherry Creek’s Ella Barclay and Vivienne Bersin won 6-2, 6-0 over Fossil Ridge’s Katie Sollenberger and Avery MacKenzie.
The Bruins have now won 37 championships in total.
“The girls just persisted and they were intent on spending time together this season,” Cherry Creek head coach Chris Jacob said. “They bonded in a great way in a short amount of time and I think that made a huge difference. Our senior leadership was tremendous and when I see matches like two singles and three singles where the girls are cheering each other on and our girls are nervous but that helps them fight through it, I know a lot of that has to do with that connection they’ve made with one another.
“To do that in six weeks is pretty impressive.”
Fairview finished runner-up with 39 team points.
Heritage won the sportsmanship award.
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com) -
4A girls tennis: Mullen captures No. 1 singles title and first team title since 2006
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) PUEBLO — Lauren Manwiller faced a bit of a trouble in the second set of the Class 4A girls tennis No. 1 Singles championship.
She had dropped the first game of both sets to Loveland’s Beilynn Geiss and Manwiller was down 15-break in the 10th game of the second set. She held a 5-4 lead and with the temperature rising at Pueblo City Park, playing a third set was something she wasn’t interested in doing.
So she rallied and to get the 6-2, 6-4 to give the Mustangs a No. 1 Singles title. That win also pushed them out of reach of Cheyenne Mountain to claim the team championship. Manwiller knew that while she was playing for herself in her position, she also had team implications riding on the result.
“That’s what I love about high school tennis,” she said. “I love it more than tournaments. I’m on a team where they support me and I support them.”
She needed the support through the duration of her match. Geiss got on the board early, taking the first game in each set trying to establish momentum early. But Manwiller was prepared for the battle ahead of her.
She didn’t shy away from the challenge of falling into an early hole, but rather she embraced it and used as fuel to battle back.
“I knew she would hold her serve so I just stayed focused,” Manwiller said. “I just played my game and held my serve for most of the time. I knew if I could hold my serve then I would likely win.”
Prior to the championship she faced her toughest challenge in Niwot’s Alys Pop. The Cougars sophomore put up quite a fight in the semis but after Manwiller got the first set 7-5, she rolled to a 6-1 win to close out the match.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) Although the No. 1 Singles match was all that was needed for the Mustangs to win the team title, the overall team went on a gold medal hunt on Saturday. Tierney Scanlan and Izzy Desjardins won the No. 2 Doubles title while Madeline Crites and Aubryanne Meugers rolled to a No. 3 Doubles crown.
They weren’t reliant on just one position, the Mustangs wanted to put together an all-around great team performance to finish with 45 points.
“It was a whole team effort,” Mullen coach Jera Sturgell said. “It was obviously a tough season with the restrictions and everything. We came in blind and coming into state we had to play our best because the best is here.”
The team championship is the first for the Mustangs since 2006.
The biggest drama of the day came in the race for team runner-up as Niwot had a chance to overtake Cheyenne Mountain, but Palmer Ridge’s Tessa Rothwell beat Niwot’s Anna Sallee in No. 2 Singles to dash the Cougars’ hopes of a runner-up finish.
Cheyenne Mountain held on to win second as a team despite not winning a single state championship at the tournament.
Kent Denver left Southern Colorado with hardware of their own as the Sun Devils were given the Vicky Matarazzo Sportsmanship Award.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) -
Liberty’s Jeff Koch named Gatorade Colorado boys soccer player of the year
(Tim Bourke/TimBourke.com) A monumental portion of what the Liberty boys soccer team has done in recent years has started, and often ended, with senior Jeff Koch at the back of its formation.
Liberty’s 6-foot-1, 175-pound field general led the Lancers on an undefeated run through the regular season and to the Class 5A state semifinals in Season C. He scored three goals and assisted on four more, all while serving as the linchpin for a Lancers (11-1) defense that shut out five opponents and allowed just nine goals.
That all-around impact has not gone unnoticed, as Koch has been named the Gatorade Colorado boys soccer player of the year.
“Jeff was the best defender we faced this year,” Rampart head coach Karl Anderson said in Gatorade’s release. “He locked down the middle of the Lancers’ defense as well as being an offensive threat on set pieces.”
Koch, who has six goals and five assists in 28 high school games, will take his most recent award with him when he continues his soccer career at Southern Methodist University this fall. He is the third Gatorade Colorado boys soccer player of the year to be chosen from Liberty High School.
The Gatorade player of the year award recognizes not only outstanding athletic achievement, but also high standards for character and off-field accomplishment. Not only has Koch been named all-conference in the Pikes Peak League three times, as well as an all-state second teamer, he has maintained a 3.57 GPA and has also volunteered locally with several charitable organizations, schools and youth leagues.
Koch is now a finalist for the Gatorade national boys soccer player of the year award, which will be announced later in June.
-
Baseball coach EJ Mapps leaves a lasting legacy at Pomona
Pomona baseball coach EJ Mapps gathers his team before his final game coaching the Panthers on Thursday at Bart Mapps Field. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) ARVADA — EJ Mapps coached his final game Thursday afternoon on the baseball field that bares his late father’s name — Bart Mapps Field.
After 32 years at Pomona High School — 28 years as the head baseball coach — Mapps filled out his final line-up card, hit his last pre-game infield and coached third base for the final time.
EJ Mapps fills out his final line-up card before the Panthers took on Mountain Range on Thursday at Bart Mapps Field. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “Four years ago I kind of had this in my mind with my son (Griffee Mapps) graduating that would be a good time to do it,” Mapps said of stepping down after this season. “I really wanted his last game to be my last game. I felt it was a good time to close this book and start a new chapter.”
And what a book was written over the three decades at Pomona. Mapps finished with 288 victories to go along with winning the Class 5A state title in 2003 after state runner-up trophies in 1998 and 2000.
“We just kept pushing and pushing and pushing,” Mapps said of the Panthers’ state runner-up runs in 1998 and 2000. “It was similar to what Jay Madden did in football here at Pomona. You have to get to the title game a couple of times and maybe lose before you figure how to push over and through to get the title.”
Pomona edged Regis Jesuit 2-1 in the winner-take-all championship game at All-City Field in Denver back in May 2003.
“We’ve had a million great teams. That 2003 team has to be the best ever,” Mapps said. “Just fantastic memories, great ball players and great people that I’m still friends with.”
While the wins and heated rivalries with the likes of Arvada and Arvada West back in the late-1990s and early-2000s were legendary, it was the family aspect that Mapps brought every day to Pomona.
EJ Mapps started his coaching career at Pomona as an assistant baseball coach in 1990. He took over the head coaching duties in 1994, racking up 288 wins and the Class 5A state title in 2003. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) In 2000 the baseball field was actually named after Bart Mapps, EJ’s father that had been there from Day 1.
“Those were good times. A lot of people thought he was the coach before me,” Mapps said. “Right as I was about to start my career my Dad was retiring from Coors. What a great thing for him and I. He was able to come everyday. He did our scorebook. He worked on the field. He relaced kids’ gloves. The kids just fell in love with him because of the kind of person he was.”
Bart Mapps passed away in 2013.
Mapps will continue to teach physical education at Pomona next school year. He also plans on getting back into coaching sooner rather than later.
“This is what I do. Coaching is in my blood. I can’t stop. I’m a terrible golfer,” Mapps admitted with a laugh. “I won’t be away for long. It will be hard for me to be away from the game for very long. I’m sure there will be some opportunities.”
Mapps felt like it was an ideal time to turn over Pomona’s baseball program after going through the COVID pandemic that cancelled the 2020 high school season completely in Colorado and shortened this season.
EJ Mapps goes over the ground rules with the umpires and Mountain Range coach D.J. Yeager. Yeager was actually on Pomona’s 2003 state baseball championship team that Mapps coached. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “Last year with COVID I think that sucked the life out of a lot of us,” Mapps said. “I’m assume they will go back to a normal full regular season next year. I feel like it’s a great time for the next person to take the reins and start off on the right foot. The cupboard, in my opinion, is still stocked.”
Pomona had more than 70 students tryout for baseball this spring.
“The school is a great place. The administration has been totally supportive in everything we wanted to do,” said Mapps, who had Pomona’s principal Andy Geise and athletic director Mike Santarelli on hand Thursday for his final game.
Santarelli spoke before Thursday’s game simply saying, “Coach Mapps did it the right way.”
“I just appreciate all the players and their families. The support they have given to the program and me personally,” Mapps said. “I feel like everyone here is family. This is a special place for sure.”
EJ Mapps spent 28 years at the head baseball coach at Pomona High School. He coached his final game for the Panthers on Thursday in a 7-6 loss to Mountain Range. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) -
Complete results from the Class 5A girls tennis state tournament
Results from the 2021 Class 5A girls tennis state tournament, held June 11-12 in Denver, are below.
Note that the schedule has been changed to a two-day tournament in Season D.
The first two rounds at each position will be played Friday, starting at 9 a.m. Starting with singles matches, first-round matches will be put on as courts become available. Quarterfinal times are approximate and will be put on as courts become available. All remaining matches are scheduled for Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.
Should weather intervene, check CHSAANow for contingency plans.
These results will be updated throughout the tournament.
For more information on the process for creating these brackets, click here or scroll down.
[divider]
2021 Class 5A girls tennis state tournament
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”Team”]
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”1S”]No. 1 Singles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”2S”]No. 2 Singles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”3S”]No. 3 Singles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”1D”]No. 1 Doubles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”2D”]No. 2 Doubles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”3D”]No. 3 Doubles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”4D”]No. 4 Doubles
[/cbtab][/cbtabs] -
Complete results from the Class 4A girls tennis state tournament
Draws for the 2021 Class 4A girls tennis state tournament, held June 11-12 in Pueblo, are below.
Note that the schedule has been changed to a two-day tournament in Season D.
The first two rounds at each position will be played Friday, starting at 9 a.m. Starting with singles matches, first-round matches will be put on as courts become available. Quarterfinal times are approximate and will be put on as courts become available. All remaining matches are scheduled for Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.
Should weather intervene, check CHSAANow for contingency plans.
These results will be updated throughout the tournament.
For more information on the process for creating these brackets, click here or scroll down.
[divider]
2021 Class 4A girls tennis state tournament
Click on a tab to see that bracket, or team scores.
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”Team”]
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”1S”]
No. 1 Singles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”2S”]No. 2 Singles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”3S”]No. 3 Singles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”1D”]No. 1 Doubles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”2D”]No. 2 Doubles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”3D”]No. 3 Doubles
[/cbtab][cbtab title=”4D”]No. 4 Doubles
[/cbtab][/cbtabs]