Palisade is now the No. 1 team in Class 3A. (Betsy McLaughlin/Palisade Tribune)
Palisade edged then-No. 1 Rifle last Friday after rallying from a 27-14 halftime deficit. Tuesday, Palisade is on top of CHSAANow.com’s Class 3A football poll.
The Bulldogs received all 13 first-place votes in moving up from No. 2 taking over at No. 1. Rifle dropped to third. Unbeaten Coronado, which has the most wins in the state at 7-0, is second.
The 3A ranking added Roosevelt (No. 10) this week.
In the 5A poll, Fairview has moved up to No. 2 from No. 3.
The Knights (5-0) are 5A’s lone remaining unbeaten team, and got one first-place vote. Valor Christian got the other 23 and remained atop the ranking.
Regis Jesuit is third this week, and is followed by No. 4 ThunderRidge and No. 5 Cherry Creek.
Montrose, idle last week, remained in 4A’s No. 1 spot. Monarch moved up to No. 2, and Standley Lake is No. 3 this week. That ranking added Pueblo South at No. 8 and Durango at No. 10.
The state draws for this year’s boys tennis championships are now posted.
“We’re really looking forward to this year’s state championships are are anticipating a high level of competition at both tournaments,” assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens said Monday.
If there is inclement weather, tournaments status and schedule changes will be announced on CHSAANow.com.
Here is the process for how the brackets were created:
On Sunday, CHSAA sent out a survey to coaches to voice their opinions and feedback regarding the best teams/individuals in state.
All 16 individuals/teams will be considered for placement on the draw.
The top 4 individuals/teams will be placed.
The committee shall consider the following factors (in no particular order of importance): strength of league, overall record, strength of competition, head-to-head competition and common opponents.
The remaining Regional Winners (No. 1s) will be randomly drawn for places on the draw
The Regional Finishers (No. 2s) will then be randomly drawn for matches against a Regional Winner.
All Regional Winners will be paired against a Regional Finishers.
No two teams or individuals from the same Region will play each other during the first round of the state championship.
AURORA — Douglas County, Wheat Ridge and Strasburg are the top seeds in their respective classifications for the regional softball brackets released on Sunday.
Douglas County, 17-2 this season, heads the Class 5A field. Rock Canyon (No. 2), Legend (No. 3), Fossil Ridge (No. 4), Dakota Ridge (No. 5), Legacy (No. 6), Ralston Valley (No. 7) and Brighton (No. 8) will also host regionals.
In 4A, Wheat Ridge (18-1) is the top seed. Other hosts are No. 2 Erie, No. 3 Ponderosa, No. 4 Pueblo East, No. 5 Discovery Canyon, No. 6 Broomfield, No. 7 Frederick and No. 8 Berthoud.
Strasburg is the No. 1 seed in 3A. Additional regional hosts include Sterling (No. 2), Holy Family (No. 3), Lamar (No. 4), Burlington (No. 7) and Basalt (No. 8).
Here are the links to each classification’s regional brackets:
The regional brackets were all seeded by committees. The 32-team fields in 5A and 4A, and 24-team 3A field are all determined using (but not limited to) the following criteria:
Any automatic qualifiers not listed in the top 32 (or, in 3A, 24) of the MaxPreps rankings will be placed on the bracket. This may cause teams to be removed out of the top 32 or 24 teams listed in the final rankings before the regional tournament.
Strength of schedule.
Overall schedule.
Head-to-head competition.
Strength of competition.
Geography will be a factor in considering the final pairings.
Of note when seeding the brackets and setting matchups:
League opponents may be paired against one another.
A school in any league may be paired above a school that finished above it during the regular season.
The committee is comprised of the following:
One representative for each 3A District (1-6).
One representative for each 4A/5A League plus Independent.
One non-voting representative from the CHSAA office.
The big showdown down South took a turn at halftime.
Trailing second-ranked Falcon 13-8, No. 8 Pine Creek scored the game’s final 21 points en route to a 29-13 win in Class 4A football.
“We made some adjustments at halftime and really came out and played well,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller told ColoradoPreps.com’s Built Ford Tough Scoreboard Show on Friday night. “We got them off the field, our offense controlled the second half, and that was able to keep (Falcon star Kalen Ballage) from carrying the ball. We’ve got a chance of winning when he’s not carrying it.”
Ballage did finish the game with 196 yards and two scores.
“We kind of took a punch in our mouth in the first half — playing in about 40 mile-per-hour winds — and we were able to adjust,” Miller told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids just controlled the line of scrimmage and Scott Savage and James Fisher had space and they found creases, and we were able to get up on people. And Lavanson Coffey, our blocking fullback, just had a great game and we just kind of went back to old-fashioned football, running between the tackles and getting chunks of yardage and able to put some points on the board.”
Pine Creek is now 3-0 against 4A competition. The Eagles opened 1-2 against 5A foes Fountain-Fort Carson, Lakewood and Columbine.
“Going through Columbine, going through Lakewood and Fountain-Fort Carson prepared us for this (game against Falcon),” Miller said. “We had a couple of tough losses early, but we went through some hard practices and hard losses against tough, physical teams and they pay dividends on nights like tonight.”
The other monster game on Friday night ended with No. 2 Palisade nipping No. 1 Rifle in 3A, 28-27. The Bulldogs’ Levi Hoaglund found John Goff with 17 seconds remaining to secure the win.
“We had a group of guys that just persevered and hung with it,” Palisade coach Joe Ramunno told the Scoreboard Show.
Palisade trailed 27-14 at halftime.
“That’s just kind of the nature of kids that we have here at Palisade,” Ramunno said. “It’s been that way for many, many years — you can go back to the 50s. They’re tough guys that just kind of hang in there. And we got out-played tonight. I really felt like we were outplayed for almost three-and-a-half quarters. Very fortunate to come out with a win, and they just have that mentality: there’s a lot of fight in that dog.”
At the 5A level, it was another week of destruction. No. 2 Chatfield lost to unranked Columbine in a wild game, No. 8 Cherry Creek topped No. 4 Cherokee Trail and Overland upset No. 7 Grandview, beating the Wolves for the first time in a very long time. Since 2004, Overland was 0-9 against Grandview and was outscored 103-336 over that span.
Mullen very nearly took down No. 10 Arapahoe, but the Warriors survived in overtime, 27-21. Arapahoe was up 21-0 at halftime.
When the dust cleared, it left Fairview as 5A’s lone remaining unbeaten team. The Knights (5-0) topped Arvada West 41-21 on Friday.
Elsewhere, it was No. 8 Paonia beating No. 10 Meeker in 1A despite six turnovers.
“I hope it was six. I don’t know, I kind of lost count,” Paonia coach Brent McRae told the Scoreboard show. “We just kind of huddled them up and said, ‘Here’s the deal, boys: this happens. This happens in life. And you can pick it up and finish and keep believing and keep fighting or you can lay down.’ They fought for each other.”
Also, 2A’s eighth-ranked Florence rebounded from last week’s loss to Manitou Springs to beat No. 5 Lamar.
“They knew what they had to do, what they had to clean up, and they had a pretty good week of practice and took a lot of pride in cleaning up what we needed to clean up,” Florence coach Jeremy Nix told the Scoreboard Show.
Columbine senior Bernard McDondle attempts to shed the tackle attempt of Chatfield junior Jeremy Thompson during the Class 5A Super 6 League game Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. McDondle had a monster night racking up 285 yards rushing and six touchdowns in the Rebels’ dramatic 50-43 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
LAKEWOOD — Columbine senior Bernard McDondle rushed for 285 yards and six touchdowns Friday night, but his most important role late was that of a decoy.
The Rebels (5-1, 1-1 in 5A Super 6 League) pulled out a 50-43 victory against previously undefeated and No. 2-ranked Chatfield (5-1, 1-1) thanks to a play Columbine calls “hide-a-ball” in the final minute at Jeffco Stadium. Junior Austin Norton scored on a 65-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Chatfield led 43-42.
“We’ve been working on it all week,” said Norton, who picked up the football after some slight of hand by Columbine quarterback Michael Tait. “It worked out perfectly and we fooled (Chatfield) with the play.”
Tait faked a pitch to McDondle after placing the ball behind a Columbine lineman’s legs. Norton picked up the ball and raced down the sideline untouched to score the eventual game-winning touchdown as the majority of Chatfield defenders had their eyes on McDondle.
“As soon as (Chatfield) bit onto me I knew it was money,” McDondle said of the perfectly executed trick play.
McDondle put up some remarkable rushing numbers in the rivalry between the two south Jeffco-area schools. He carried the ball 27 times to rack up his 285 yards. His 67-yard touchdown on the first Rebels’ drive of the second half put him over 200 yards on the night. He scored on runs of 10, 45 and 4 yards in the first half, before tacking on touchdown runs of 13 and 25 yards in the fourth quarter.
“(McDondle) is a special, special player,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said.
Neither squad led by more than seven points as both offenses answered one other time after time.
Columbine used its vaunted rushing attack to the tune of 485 yards on the ground. While McDondle accounted for the majority of offense, Tait finished with 82 yards passing and 63 yards rushing.
Chatfield junior quarterback Kyle Winkler gets off a pass Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. Despite going 27 for 39 passing for 294 yards and a touchdown, Winkler and the Chargers suffered their first loss of the season to rival Columbine, 50-43. (Dennis Pleuss)
Chatfield’s offense wouldn’t be outdone. The Chargers had a balanced output with 294 passing yards from junior quarterback Kyle Winkler to go along with 271 rushing yards. Junior Michael Callahan-Harris had his best game of the season with 28 carries for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Brendan Murphy had a pair of short touchdown runs for the Chargers, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.
“It was a lot of ups and downs the whole game,” said Winkler, who was 27-of-39 passing. “I was pacing the sidelines that last Columbine drive. We just didn’t stop them there.”
Winkler nearly guided the Chargers in position to at least tie the game in the final minute. Chatfield drove down into Columbine territory in the waning seconds. Senior Jahrel Olson nearly made a spectacular one-handed grab in the back of the end zone with in the final 10 seconds, but he stepped out of bounds before he was able to control the pass from 28 yards out from Winkler.
While combining for 93 points and 1,132 yards, it was the type of game McDondle fully expected.
“I knew walking into it that it would be a battle,” McDondle said. “It’s always a battle with Chatfield.”
Frontier Academy’s cross country team finished just one point behind eventual champion Holy Family last year. (Courtesy photo)
GREELEY — Frontier Academy cross country coach Brett Shanklin and his girls choose not to dwell on the past, although it creeps in from time to time.
Instead, his Wolverines, ranked No. 7 in this week’s cross country poll, have their eyes squarely focused on this month’s Class 3A state meet back at Colorado Springs’ Norris Penrose Events Center.
“I probably dwell on it more than the kids,” said Shanklin, whose team finished a mere point behind champion Holy Family at last season’s state meet. “Cause we were so close and we had this wonderfully awesome team last year. The kids had really come so far and they put a great effort out there. On that day, we were almost there, but not quite good enough.”
The 2013 season has been devoted to making sure they are at their best on “that day” and having a little fun in the process.
Frontier Academy is on the west side of Greeley and access to the kinds of terrain they will face at state isn’t really close by. So Shanklin and his team have improvised.
“We train for what that course is going to be like, we train for the hills,” said Shanklin, who has taken his kids down to the Springs on several occasions already this season. “We just try and simulate some training that is going to prepare us to be successful down there.”
Makayla Santos. (Courtesy photo)
There is a spot at a park between Greeley and Loveland that gives the Wolverines exactly what they need. “We call it Championship Hill,” Shanklin said, “and our whole premise is that is where champions are made.”
Naming their training spots is just something the Wolverines do. There is “The Cemetery”, “The Safari” and “The Sahara” — all meant to diversify how they train and better prepare themselves for the ultimate goal of winning a state title.
Ironically, one of the favorite spots for them to run was right along Poudre River Trail. But after the recent floods, those places have been off limits.
“The place that we call ‘Red Barn’ is on the Poudre Trail and there was about 3/4 of mile that was hit pretty hard,” said senior Makayla Santos, who is the Wolverines’ top returning state placer — 18th — from last year’s state meet.
Santos and her teammates Taylor Bancroft, Megan Murray and Emily Root have had varying degrees of success from the Vista Ridge Invite to the Broomfield Invite. But more than anything, this season’s hard work is geared towards one thing: a quality performance at state.
“We ran at pre-state and that was exciting to see what we are expecting from our team,” Santos said. “We still just go out there and run.”
PUEBLO — When the Pueblo East softball team began practice in August, history was in the back of the mind of the Eagles.
A year ago, Pueblo East’s softball squad won the school’s inaugural softball state title defeating a Niwot team led by pitcher Nickie Blue 4-2 in the Class 4A state championship. That team finished with a 24-0-1 record.
“Last year we were kind of going through it blind, and we didn’t know any better,” said Pueblo East star senior pitcher Katie Orona.
The win was extra special for the Eagles, who lost in the state title game in their previous four other trips in 1996 and 2001-2003. What’s more, Pueblo East’s softball team joined the school’s 1978 girls cross country team as the only teams to wear a state crown in the school’s history.
Now, the softball program wants to cement its legacy at the school by capturing back-to-back state championships.
“We need to relax and not put the pressure on us,” veteran coach Ben Garcia said. “Last year, we didn’t really expect a lot, but we knew we had the capabilities, and that was the key. I think this year we have had great spurts, but we have also had situations where we have been very tense. We need to get back to the basics.”
The Eagles have won ten games in a row and have clinched their second consecutive South-Central League crown with an 12-0 mark. Pueblo East concluded its regular season with a 12-2 win against Pueblo West.
Now, the squad will take aim at Class 4A Regionals on Oct. 12. The top eight seeded teams will host four-team regionals. The top two finishers at each of the eight regionals advance to the state tournament Oct. 18-19 at Aurora Sports Complex.
“Obviously you want to host, that is the first thing, and I think we are set to do that,” Garcia said. “Right now, I think we are playing our best softball. We learned some lessons going up north playing against some of those teams (at the Erie tournament). Now, we know what we need to do and we just have to take care of ourselves.”
The Eagles’ defense is fueled by Orona. Heading into this week, Orona has a two-year record in the circle of 32-2-1. She has a 1.25 ERA this season with 124 strikeouts.
Pueblo East’s only in-state losses this season came at the Erie tourney to top-ranked Wheat Ridge (7-2) and Broomfield (4-1). They also tied No. 2 Erie 8-8.
Orona has verbally committed to play for Brown University in the Ivy League.
(Kim Orona)
“If we peak around regionals and state we will be set,” Orona said. “There is a little bit more pressure because people have been studying me a little more. The key for me is to add something different to my pitching that they haven’t seen. I have added some different things since Erie and hopefully it will take people by surprise.”
Kelsey Laughlin, Pueblo East’s standout senior shortstop, also believes the Eagles are ready for the challenge ahead of them.
“The experience from last year definitely helps us,” said Laughlin, who is hitting .426 with 16 RBIs. “We didn’t want to have the losses we had at Erie, but they brought us back to reality and they have made us better.”
In addition Laughlin, second baseman Cheyenne Talmadge has sparked the offense from the lead-off position. The speedy Talmadge had a team-best .519 average.
“We just need to motivate ourselves and believe in ourselves, and our coaches,” said the junior Talmadge, who has verbally committed to play at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. “We definitely have more thirst to go out and win state again.”
Pueblo East actually does have a good mix of seniors and underclassmen contributing this season.
In addition to Talmadge, sophomore third baseman Jailen Minnich (.458, 15 RBIs) and the freshmen — center fielder Lauren Renck (.400) and catcher Chayanna Gallardo (.382) — also have been strong contributors.
“The kids who came back from last year, they are the ones who are helping our young ones,” Garcia said. “We have some great young ball players who are doing a super job, but the older players have taken them under their wings and realize that we can all do this together. Now, we just have to put everything together on the field and execute in all situations. If we can do that, I feel pretty good about our chances.”
Regis Jesuit celebrates winning a fourth-consecutive team title. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — The wind couldn’t stop Regis Jesuit from running away with this thing.
Despite gusts up to 20 mph, the Raiders captured their fourth-consecutive Class 5A championship in boys golf on Tuesday afternoon. Regis Jesuit finished at 7-under after the two-day tournament — second-place Ralston Valley was 16-over for an astounding 23-stroke gap.
“Most of that (gap came) during the first nine” on Tuesday, Regis coach Craig Rogers said afterward. “They really came really ready to play. They were in a good space mentally, physically and emotionally. They’ve been working hard. They were ready to go.”
Spencer Painton tees off on the 18th hole. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Raiders’ senior Spencer Painton paced his teammates, and the field, in capturing the individual title. He finished 6-under.
“Those conditions were very difficult,” Painton said, “and I was very happy to be able to contribute a large part to the team.”
Painton, a University of Kansas recruit, entered the day with a one-shot lead over Legacy’s Li Chen, but lost it after a bogey on the first hole. The two were tied for much of the front nine until Painton birded the seventh. He picked up two more strokes when he birded No. 8 and Chen bogeyed it. Even so, Painton didn’t let a sense of relief creep in.
“We still had ten holes left to play, we had the back nine,” he said. “Especially with conditions like this, you just have to keep the head down and keep going because you never know what can happen.”
As it turned out, though, the lead was Painton’s for good after that. He had a two-stroke lead as he walked up to the 18th green, but his mind didn’t wander.
“To be quite honest, I had a not-so-easy putt left, I was still trying to finish,” said Painton, who finished second last season. “I just had to make sure that it was not over until the score cards were signed and officially turned in before I could start celebrating.”
Chen finished in a tie for second with Regis Jesuit’s Jake Kelley. In all, the Raiders had three medalists, including Chris Korte, who finished in a tie for seventh.
Cherry Creek was third in the team competition at 18-over, Legacy (23-over) was fourth, while Heritage and Fairview tied for fifth at 24-over. (Find complete results here.)
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Valor Christian wins 4A title
Valor Christian’s championship team. More photos. (Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
EVERGREEN — Valor Christian was finally able to capture that elusive boys golf championship. The Eagles, who finished runner-up a year ago following a playoff, were 33-over as a team to beat out second-place Silver Creek (36-over).
Isaac Petersilie. More photos. (Jenn Roberts-Uhlig/CHSAANow.com)
Valor was led by Jake Staiano’s 8-over performance.
Individually, Coronado’s Isaac Petersilie stood on top of a tight leaderboard at the end of the tournament at 4-over. He beat out Cheyenne Mountain’s Wilson Belk (5-over), as well as Pueblo West’s Glenn Workman (7-over) and Staiano. (Complete results.)
“It was really my putting. Every save I needed to make pretty much went in,” Petersilie said afterward. “That felt great. It, early-on, was a confidence booster.
“I was a little nervous coming in, but I’m really excited and really happy.”
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Alexander Dawson races to 3A championship
Alexander Dawson’s state-winning squad. More photos. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
PUEBLO — Alexander Dawson had three finishers place in the top-7 as the Mustangs ran away with the 3A title.
Leading the way was Cole Folwell, who finished third at 4-over, and Cameron Connor (fourth, 5-over).
Basalt’s Tristan Rohrbaugh won the individual championship after shooting 1-under for the tournament.
Tristan Rohrbaugh with his dad. More photos. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Rohrbaugh said afterward. “I can’t stop smiling.”
“I really didn’t know until the 13th who was leading or where anyone stood,” he added. “I really didn’t want to know, but when I overhead some people talking and I asked my coach (Al Rakowski). He told me I was three up. I felt a little better, less pressure.”
Peak to Peak’s Behrod Keshtavar finished second at 3-over. (Complete results.)
Additional reporting by CHSAANow.com’s Jenn Roberts-Uhlig and Bethany Brookens in Evergreen, and Bert Borgmann in Pueblo.
