Things are already heating up for the two-time Class 4A/5A co-ed cheer state champions from Castle View.
Coach Heather Acampora was quite pleased after her team’s huge accomplishment in December, but her drive for success is at its peak and the Sabercats are back for more.
Castle View won the 4A/5A co-ed cheer championship last season. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)
With just under two months of announcing the Sabercats’ 2016-17 cheer squad, the preparation for competition season began. Aside from the standard summer practices almost every high school cheer team endures, Castle View goes above and beyond in this area.
“During the summer, each team does strength and conditioning with the school three times a week and they also do tumbling twice a week, so they’re not really off,” Acampora said.
The Sabercats journey to competition season is not limited to just this, they also attended a Masters camp hosted by the biggest cheerleading company around, Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA). It was here the Sabercats found themselves working with some of the best coaches in the country — including members from Team USA and top cheerleading athletes from various colleges.
The Sabercats didn’t only get the chance to work with these incredibly knowledgeable cheerleading instructors, they also had the opportunity to work with Blake Johnson, a VIROC choreographer. The team was given its routine in June, and Johnson used his cheerleading intellect to create what would best fit the Sabercats needs — which is valued at about four thousand dollars.
“They have been given the best and hardest routine I’ve ever seen for a high school team. It was designed to meet the score sheet and help our kids,” said Acampora.
The Sabercats have ambitious plans for this season and are truly pushing their limits. They will be performing predominantly college-level skills such as unassisted co-ed full up to hands, partner four high to high full arounds, low-to-high ticks — and on the tumbling side of things, select standing and running fulls.
Castle View lost three major leaders from the previous season and Acampora is well aware that this season will be different without them. The focus now is leadership training and of course, crowd leading.
“There are a lot of teams stepping up that are going to be great this year,” said Acampora.
But the confidence she has in her team is at an all time high and with the team’s dedication, drive, and minimal amount of switching stunting positions. They are expecting a smooth ride on the way to State.
The team will perform its routine several times in front of a crowd leading up to the big day come December, Castle View will be hosting a competition Oct. 22, and the team is also enrolled in UCA Regionals in Pueblo (gameday squad), UCA Regionals in Denver (competition squad), league, and an exhibition at an all-star gym.
Castle View is hungry, and so are many other high school cheerleading programs. The Sabercats have remained undefeated the past two years and in just under four months, Colorado will see if they are going to three-peat.
Not sure if Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster knows this or not, but his daughter gushes over the Blue Jays.
Lauren Foster says her MLB team is “the Colorado Rockies, of course,” then hushes her light Texas cadence as if trying to tell a secret without Steve overhearing, “but this year the Toronto Blue Jays are my favorite.”
Foster loves her dad and his team. But Valor Christian’s all-state shortstop is in love with one of the majors’ top batting lineups, and aims to come out swingin’ like Josh Donaldson this season as she tries to help the Eagles secure a third straight Class 4A softball title.
The University of Wisconsin pledge returns with fourth-year head coach Dave Atencio and seven other core members of last year’s state championship squad. After a junior campaign that ended with a tie for third-most home runs in the state and the most RBIs, regardless of classification, Foster feels confident as a player and leader to guide the Eagles on another title quest.
Lauren transferred last year from Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, Texas after Steve Foster was hired by the Rockies in late 2014 and her family moved to Colorado. She went from a tiny school and softball team that didn’t ever make playoffs, to hoisting a state trophy for Valor — a school “that’s good at everything and everyone hates.”
Foster didn’t think much of the early “everyone hates Valor” warnings, but after a big softball game against league rival Wheat Ridge last season — the Eagles’ only blemish on a nearly perfect schedule — is when Foster realized the animosity was very real, starting with postgame backlash on Twitter.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Foster said. “Valor won a lot of state championships last season, and I understand it could be frustrating for some schools, but our softball team works hard, and we win fairly.”
Coming off its back-to-back state championships, the Valor softball team is up to 17 players on the roster from 12 the past two seasons, and could possibly field a JV team this season, which would be the second time in the school’s nine-year history.
“We’re a very small program,” Atencio said. “Some schools have upwards of 50 players try out, and the last two years we’ve had 12 players total with varying degrees of talent, including two who never played before.”
Heritage softball coach Pablo Severtson coaches Foster on the Colorado Styxx Gold 18U club team with Atencio as his assistant. Severtson said Valor will be tough to beat, and Atencio has done a great job with developing the program.
“The difference between club and high school is in club, the players are already good,” Severtson said. “But in high school, coaches really have to develop their players and what they’re given, regardless of skill or experience level.”
Even before Foster’s first practice with Valor, Atencio knew the 5-foot-4 shortstop was a special player.
“I watched her play last summer before she came to Valor when her Texas club team came to Colorado for a tournament,” Atencio said. “She had been enrolled at Valor for the fall, and as an incoming junior, she already had the skill set of a collegiate ball player: first rate instincts and approach at the plate, and very disciplined.”
With major league blood in her veins, Foster started out throwing and hitting baseballs with Steve, who has also coached for the Royals and Marlins. But she found her own love for softball on a rec league in Dallas the summer after her third grade.
“You can tell she’s definitely been around big league people with the way she plays,” Severtson said. “She leads by example, and she’s one of the best ball players I’ve coached in 25 years.”
Now comfortable with her role on the team, Foster will continue to lead by example and hopes to become more vocal this year as she channels her inner Josh Donaldson on the chase for another state title.
“There are no days off. … You gotta bring it everyday, or you’re gonna get beat.” — Pablo Severtson, Heritage softball coach
Class 5A defending state champion Mountain Range sits at the top of the preseason rankings and returns 5A’s player of the year Hunter Huser, one of the state’s best pitchers. Mountain Range will take on the 4A defending state champion and reigning two-time 4A player of the year Ali Kilponen in a highly anticipated game on August 27 at Metro State.
A few other favorites in 5A this season are Fossil Ridge, Legend, Eaglecrest, Ralston Valley, ThunderRidge and Douglas County, and teams that have been rebuilding and reloading the past few years, like Legacy and Loveland, could shine.
Erie, ranked No. 2 in preseason, seems to be the biggest threat of dethroning Valor in 4A behind the dominant arm of ace Rio Sanchez. Wheat Ridge, Frederick and Mountain View will also be very tough teams to beat.
Coming off a perfect season in 2015, Strasburg is the indisputable preseason favorite in 3A. Coach Michelle Woodard and the Indians have gone 89-4 the past four years and will be gunning for a fourth state title in five years.
Discovery Canyon’s Nick Lorenz during the 2015 4A state tennis tournament. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
In 2014, the Discovery Canyon boys tennis team walked away from the Class 4A state championships scoring a total of zero team points.
Last season, they scored 27. And the Thunder believes it can do better this year.
It’s not hard to see that on the boys tennis scene, Discovery Canyon is quite simply the next big thing. Not bad for a school that only opened back in 2008.
It opened only two years after the club at Flying Horse which is where most of the Thunder’s players grew to love the game and adopt it as their fall sport of choice.
“All of these of these kids that we have had in the program (at the club) are starting to come into high school,” coach Mike Humphrey said. “These are kids that are putting a lot of time in themselves in traveling to tournaments.”
And the results are paying off quickly once those kids are hitting the course.
The Thunder’s top three players all advanced to at least the semifinal matches. Freshman Nick Lorenz came the closest to reaching gold as he fell in the No. 1 singles final match. Kent Denver’s Casey Ross, a junior, got the better of Lorenz 6-3, 6-1 to claim the title.
Looking back on last year’s result, Lorenz knows that there is plenty of work to do both physically and mentally if he wants to stand in the first place spot on the podium.
“Casey’s a really good player too and he’s getting better as well,” Lorenz said. “I know I’m going to have to have the mindset that I can win if I’m going to him.”
But unlike any competition he sees outside of the school season, the results of his matches don’t just factor into his standing, but his teammates’ as well.
The bulk of the Thunder’s team points last year came in all the singles brackets. Dustin Bohuslavschi advanced to the No. 2 singles semis before falling and Tanner Jones made it just as far in the No. 3 singles bracket.
In order for Discovery Canyon to continue it’s upward trend, those three returning players will have to continue their run of success and rely on each other in order to obtain some hardware at the end of the season.
“It’s more pressure than USTA tournaments, which are all individual,” Lorenz said. “But it’s more fun playing for a team.”
Kent Denver has firmly been in control of 4A tennis for the last three seasons. The Sun Devils finished with 89 points last year, 17 better than Colorado Academy who came in second.
Then there was a huge gap for third place as Niwot totaled 35 points. The Thunder finished fourth with their 27, of which 26 came from their singles players.
Discovery Canyon has put itself on the map, and now it’s time to try and earn its place with the state’s top programs.
“The strength of a team is in the depth of a team,” Humphrey said. “It’s getting our doubles players playing more and taking tennis to that next level of what they’re doing now. Just getting those kids to play a little more, getting those touches on the ball so that they’re more adept to playing tennis and being in situations that they usually aren’t in.”
If Humphrey can do that and his singles players can maintain or exceed their current level of success, Colorado high school tennis could find itself in the middle of a nasty Thunderstorm.
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Boys tennis preview
Class 4A
Defending state champion: Kent Denver
Regular season begins: Aug. 18
Regional tournaments: Oct. 8
State tournament: Oct. 13-15, Pueblo City Park Tennis Complex
Returning all-state players: Nick Lorenz, So., Discovery Canyon; Jack Moldenhauer, Jr., Kent Denver; Casey Ross, Sr., Kent Denver; Brendan Schwartz, Sr., Colorado Academy; Garrett Sutter, Sr., Colorado Academy
Class 5A
Defending state champion: Cherry Creek
Regular season begins: Aug. 18
Regional tournaments: Oct. 8
State tournament: Oct. 13-15, Gates Tennis Center in Denver
Returning all-state players: Luca Abbott, Sr., Regis Jesuit; David Glazer, Sr., Denver East; Ryan James, Sr., Cherry Creek; Mitchell Johnson, Jr., Cherry Creek; Ben Murray, Jr., Cherry Creek; Erich Nuss, Sr., Regis Jesuit; Patrick Seby, Jr., Regis Jesuit; Kap Smith, Jr., Boulder
The Fossil Ridge junior will look to to qualify for his third Class 5A state tournament this year, and after finishing tied for fifth place last year, he’s ready to leave his mark as one of the best.
And even more, he’s ready to help his team make the jump from a top-five finish to potential state champions.
“Even though we lost four seniors, I feel like we can still go to state as a team and compete very strongly,” Caridi said. “Also, individually, I feel like I can shoot something pretty low to give me a chance to win.”
And the confidence he has is real.
After spending the 2015 state tournament near the top of the leaderboard, it became very apparent that not only can Caridi play with the top dogs in the class, he can keep up with him.
Even from watching the event, Sabercats coach Andy Stevens could see the confidence growing in his young standout.
“For Josh, It was a great learning experience,” Stevens said. “He saw how (the top guys) handled themselves in adversity. But it also gave him a sense of confidence that he was only a sophomore and was out there competing with those guys.”
Now the next step is figuring out how to get over the championship hump.
If there is any kind of a mental block in trying to take down players who are older, it doesn’t necessarily get solved with strength.
Even at 16-years-old, Caridi knows that the game is more mental than anything. In order to be the best through any round of 18 holes that he plays, he needs to combine ability with the ability to play the game with his head as much as his body.
“It doesn’t always take the biggest drive,” Caridi said. “It takes, whoever gets it in the fairway and who can hit it straight to the green. If (we’re playing) a tighter course, I’ll play a little smarter and if it’s more open, I can be a little more aggressive.”
Regardless of his approach, it seems to work. Stevens admitted that since the first day Caridi put on a Fossil Ridge shirt, he was the top golfer for the team.
He has become the leader of the squad and his ability to compete in 5A is something that will unquestionably give the entire team a lift as they hope to dethrone Regis Jesuit as the reigning champions.
“In order for us to catch and ultimately pass a team like Regis, we have to play our absolute best and handle our business,” Stevens said. “High school golf is so unique that it’s the only time in a golfer’s life that they are part of a team. Confidence definitely trickles down. When Josh or Dillon Stewart or Cam Lampe or Jack Hasting go out and shoot a round in the mid-60’s, that’s going to motivate everyone to pick up their game a bit.”
The Sabercats lost Noah Browned and Matt Atkins from last year’s team, but it was Caridi and Stewart who had the best finishes at state. Lampe, Hastings and Dillon Muth figure to battle it out for the two team spots this season.
But regardless of who ends up taking them, Fossil Ridge is set up to make a memorable run this season.
“One of the things we’re blessed with is depth, we’re very lucky in that regard,” Stevens said. “The seniors we lost left some big shoes to fill, but we feel like (those three) are going to be step in and fill those holes.”
5A: Griffin Barela (Sr.) Lakewood, Josh Caridi (Jr.) Fossil Ridge, Trevor Olkowski (Sr.) Grand Junction, Tyler Zhang (Sr.) Regis Jesuit
4A: Matthew Casias (Sr.) Pueblo South, Cole Krantz (Sr.) Windsor, Glen-Michael Mihavetz (Sr.) Montrose, Jackson Solem (Sr.) Silver Creek, Lenny Urbas (Sr.) Evergreen
3A: Nishant Datta (Jr.) Peak to Peak, Billy Howenstein (So.) Dawson, Oliver Jack (Jr.) Kent Denver, Yale Kim (Sr.) Dawson, Brayden Lambrecht (Jr.) Sterling, Ivan Richmond (Jr.) Estes Park, Sam Taylor (Sr.) Peak to Peak, Ian Thorpe (Jr.) Peak to Peak
Grandview boys lacrosse reached the postseason for the first time since 2009 last season. (Matt Minton)
[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast season, for the first time since 2009, the Grandview Wolves made the boys lacrosse playoffs.
Though they ended their run early with a 12-8 loss to Kent Denver — who went on to lose to eventual state champion Cherry Creek in the semifinals — Grandview’s season was a turnaround from going 6-9 season in 2014.
As their new coach last season, Patrick Chapla secured a bracket spot for his squad and hopes to do so again this season.
Though Grandview graduated nine seniors, two of them key players in Parker Reed and Jack Devro, the Wolves return a strong starting line led by Dylan Lander, Josh Melton and Ryland Clay.
Perhaps the biggest change and predictably impactful addition is transfer Connor Saari. He leaves Regis Jesuit, a powerhouse lacrosse program, where he won a championship in 2014 during his freshman year, and steps onto the neighboring turf.
The junior defenseman leaves his former school on a decision to join his epileptic brother at Grandview. A normally tough transition, Chapla is alternately confident that after playing with the Wolves throughout the winter, Saari is acclimated to his new team.
Chapla attributes last years playoff appearance to his group of seniors.
“They have been absolutely unbelievable. After so many years of playing together, they have figured it out. They take it seriously and they are just great leaders,” the coach said.
This year he harps on the importance of their continued culture of hard work.
“We care, we do the required work, and we hold each other accountable,” Chapla said.
Although the Wolves did not make it out of first round play in 2015, Chapla found the reason and has the remedy.
“We simply did not play a full game in that playoff game,” he said. “We played a few of the quarters. Playing an entire game is something we really have to hone. We can’t flip flop and we simply cannot have down periods.”
Cherry Creek, after four straight appearances in the title game finishing as runner-up, grabbed their fifth championship last year, and is the preseason No. 1 in 5A.
Aspen won its first ever title in 4A last season, and begins the year at No. 6. Dawson begins the year at No. 1.
Grandview hopes to make a deeper postseason run in a few months. The Wolves open their season Friday against Chatfield.
Niwot celebrates first and second place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles at last year’s state meet. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Niwot Cougars, two-time defending Class 4A state champions in girls track and field headed into the 2015 season, wanted to prove their program was bigger than just one person.
After all, Elise Cranny, a record-breaking runner and winner of two distance triple crowns at the state meet (800, 1,600, 3,200) in 2013 and 2014, had graduated. With her departure went a large chunk of the 136 team points accumulated by Niwot at the 2013 and 2014 state championships.
“A lot of people doubted us after we graduated Elise,” senior Kela Fetters said. “They thought our run of championships was over. We knew we had enough talent and the people coming back wanted it. We just had a group of great girls that were motivated all season.”
While Cranny was a transcendent talent — she’s now an American junior indoor 3,000 record holder for Stanford University — Niwot rolled to their third consecutive state championship in 2015 on the strength of the team. In fact, last year’s team scored more points than either of the Cranny-led Cougar units, racking up 85 and easily outdistancing Mountain View (59.5), Air Academy (54), and Thompson Valley (50).
“Within our program, I think our kids and our coaches weren’t surprised,” said Niwot coach Maurice Henriques, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association girls’ coach of the year in 2015. “I think the girls were really motivated last year to show we were a complete team.”
Like any elite track and field program, Niwot has been a 4A force in the relays. The Cougars claimed the 1,600-meter relay state championship in 2013 and 2014, the 800 relay championship in 2015 in a new 4A meet record time (1:41.13), and have advanced to plenty of other finals in the relays during their three-year stretch of team titles.
Lauren and Rachel Sharpe, twin sisters, 2015 graduates, and now members of the University of Colorado track and field team, and Christa Boettiger, a distance runner who signed with Oklahoma University in the 2015 class as well, have been key components to the Cougars’ powerhouse program.
But as Niwot has continued to prove, the program is stronger than just a few individuals. New top-flight competitors stepped up for the green and white last season. Freshman MacKenzie Fidelak placed third in the 400 (56.26), second in the 100 hurdles (15.15) and second in the 300 hurdles (44.15). Fetters, as a junior, won her first individual state championship by edging out Fidelak in the 300 hurdles (44.10). Sophomore Alexis Carroll did the same in the 100 hurdles in a photo finish (15.15).
“Alexis Carroll was the state champion in the 100 hurdles,” Henriques said. “The year before that, she was running the JV Championships. She wasn’t even on our state team. Alexis went from the JV Championships to an individual state championship in a year.”
Carroll also had a monstrous personal best in the long jump, upping her lifetime mark from 16-7.5 to 18-0.5 while placing third in 4A. Niwot returns Carroll, Fidelak and Fetters, the trio responsible for first and second-place finishes in the two hurdle events last year.
For Fetters, a fourth season for the Cougars means a chance at making it four-for-four in team championships.
“I think it would be really, really special,” she said. “I think all of the girls coming back really want it. We actually have a ton of new freshmen. We are just starting to get them excited about it and show them what’s possible this year. For the team and for Niwot High School, to get four in a row would be phenomenal.”
Niwot can expect resistance in the team competition from some teams in their own backyard. Including Thompson Valley from 2012, the Northern Conference has claimed four girls track and field championships in a row. Air Academy, Cheyenne Mountain and Valor Christian are expected to be among the top challengers to Niwot as well.
If the Cougars lay claim to a fourth consecutive title, they’ll become only the fourth program to win at least four state championships in a row. Niwot would be the first to do so since The Classical Academy won five in a row in 3A from 2006-2010. Limon won four in a row in 2A from 2004-2007 and Mullen was a seven-time champion in 4A from 1997-2003. Paonia will also be going after a fourth championship in a row in 2A this season.
Henriques is confident in his Cougars, but he also knows every season is a process and the competition in 4A will be stiff again.
“We always have a theme that you’ll see on the back of our shirts,” he said. “Last year our theme was resilience. This year it’s sacrifice. It’s been a little thing every year. It’s a great way that we bond. We had to be resilient to pull it off last year.”
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nitially, Isaac Green wasn’t sold on the idea of being a distance runner.
Despite the fact Green’s parents both competed in track at California Polytechnic State University, and his sister Claire was among the state’s finest runners for Monarch before taking her talents to the University of Arizona, Isaac was more interested in competing in other sports before high school began.
“My sister kind of dragged me out to cross country,” the junior at Monarch said. “I didn’t really like it that much. I had swim practice in the morning and then I had to leave swim practice early to run. I ended up being alright in cross country my freshman year, so I figured I would stick with it.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to do swimming or track in the spring of freshman year and I ended up doing track. I guess it paid off.”
At 6-foot-1 and over 170 pounds, Green is an awe-inspiring blend of power and speed. And he still does compete in other sports, just coming off a season for the Monarch basketball team. He also excels in the high jump, clearing a personal best of 6-foot-4 last spring, certainly a rare event for a distance runner to pursue.
(Courtesy of Ashley Green)
In the end, Green’s size, while on the larger end of the spectrum for a distance runner, not only makes him a rare breed, an unusual physical presence lined up to lean figures in short shorts and singlets, but also allows him to dominate in a number of disciplines.
“He has incredible range,” Monarch cross country and track and field coach Kent Rieder said. “He was second in the 800 last year and the state champion in the 5k. That’s pretty darn good range. He ran 1:52 in the 800. I think he’ll obviously run faster than that this year. I think his goal is the state record.”
The sport has grown on Green just as he’s blossomed into one of the nation’s premier runners for his age. From a Class 5A runner-up finish in the 800-meter run (1:52.62) to a state championship in the 1,600 (4:19), his first state crown, to now a 5A title in cross country, the junior is already etching his name among the best Colorado distance runners in recent memory.
“He’s the best to come out of our school and that includes a guy who held the record in the 800 in Kirk Webb a few years back,” Rieder said of the former 5A state meet record holder. “He won state in cross country and in the 800 and 1,600 as a senior. I think Isaac will surpass him in all those events.”
Green carries lofty expectations on his broad shoulders — he has goals of going undefeated in the 1,600 and running sub-1:50 in the 800 this season — but also a confidence that brews from a history of championship success. In the fall, it took until the final few strides to decide a champion at the state cross country meet on the trails of the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
Boulder County and Front Range League rival Jake Mitchem, a senior, finished just over one second (16:04.80) behind Green (16:03.60).
“I knew all the guys in the front pack really well personally,” said Green, who also ran a personal best time of 14:55 in cross country last fall. “That made it even more intense. After the last river crossing, I thought I had it in the bag. I had gapped Jake and Paxton (Smith) by 20 or 30 feet. I was going into the stadium thinking I had it, but then I saw Jake’s shadow and heard him breathing behind me.
“That was a crazy experience. I’ve never had a kick as intense as that. It was a really good race.”
Coming off the final turn, Mitchem opened up a stride that allowed him to close on Green, but the big runner, in both stature and mental grit, held the senior off in a tremendous finish for a cross country championship.
“He’s got a will to win,” Rieder said. “That’s something you can’t coach in athletes. He’s got that mentality and that is something that is kind of rare in athletes.”
Rieder is equally impressed by Green off the track.
“He’s not just a great athlete,” the long-time Monarch coach said. “He’s also a very great teammate. He’s inspiring to the teammates he runs with. He’s a very good student as well. He’s getting recruited by Ivy League schools. Academically, he’s a very bright kid.”
Lewis-Palmer senior Paul Tillotson wants to help the Rangers win a state baseball championship before he heads to Nebraska. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
MONUMENT — It’s now or never for Lewis-Palmer senior Paul Tillotson.
The senior has been a staple to the Rangers’ baseball program for three seasons and entering his fourth and final year, he’s hoping that his experience and leadership can help him get his hands on that state championship trophy, even if the makeup of the team doesn’t have the same feel.
“It’s a little bit different,” Tillotson said. “We lost some guys from last year, we got a new coach but we’re looking on the up-and-up right now.”
Having Tillotson on the roster gives the team instant credibility. They came in as the No. 2 team in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com preseason baseball rankings. That’s the kind of reputation a team has when they have a University of Nebraska commit on its roster.
That’s right. Like several other Colorado athletes, Tillotson is bound for Lincoln. That is assuming that the lure of Major League Baseball doesn’t rear its head in June.
Paul Tillotson. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
But for now, Tillotson’s only focus is on helping the Rangers become a better baseball team and continuing the string of success it has seen in recent seasons.
First-year coach Brett Lester is fortunate enough to join a squad that rosters one of the best players in the state.
“It’s a luxury that not many coaches get the chance to enjoy,” Lester said. “He’s going to be competitive every time out and he’s going to do well on the mound, even at the plate in the games that he’s not pitching, he’s going to have a huge output.”
In 2015, Tillotson was such a devastating weapon for the Rangers. From the offensive side, he batted .446 with six home runs and 32 RBIs. In 95 plate appearances, he struck out only six times.
On the mound, he went 8-1 with a 1.62 ERA. He struck out 145 hitters and walked only 22.
So which skill set are the Huskers hoping to utilize?
“I’m definitely going as a pitcher, but they wanted to know if I still want to hit,” Tillotson said. “They hinting on the subject that I’m going to hit more (than they thought I would).”
And he’s up for it.
He remains in constant communication with the Huskers and they continue to track each other’s progress.
And while it’s easy to track numbers on a boxscore, the one thing that Tillotson is working harder at this year is helping out the younger players. He and teammate Billy Cook are doing everything they can to develop young players and ensure that Lewis-Palmer will be a winning program well beyond this year.
“As returning veterans it’s kind of on us to help those young guys out,” Tillotson said. “Just the little things that go into winning games through the season. It’s our job to help kids out when we see things they need help on.”
And in the process, they’ll be helping themselves out as well. At the end of last season Tillotson and the Rangers were on hand as the state championship trophy was handed to Green Mountain. That feeling, regardless of the changes the team has gone through, made him hungry and determined to bring a state championship back to Lewis-Palmer.
The Rangers have never won a baseball crown.
“I definitely have the hunger,” he said. “I want to push myself and my team to prove that we deserve that No. 2 ranking. I’m always going to be pushing my team to make sure that we’re doing the best that we can.”
In the now and in the future, Lauren Murphy is poised to be the big name in the 4A class. She is the next big thing.
The Glenwood Springs sophomore notched a top-10 finish in last year’s state tournament and made the CHSAANow.com all-state team. She was the only freshman on the list. Logic says she is one of the hot names to watch in 2016, but she won’t go as far to say that a state championship should be expected out of her.
“I wouldn’t say I’m one of the favorites,” Murphy said. “I’m just going to try and play my best and you never know who is going to be there or how they’re going to play.”
But for some reason, golf has this odd consistency about it. Kupcho came into River Valley Ranch as a clear favorite to repeat as the individual champion. Kylee Sullivan led a Cheyenne Mountain team that had the talent from top to bottom to take the team title.
This year, six all-state players return and will battle for the 4A title at the Pueblo Country Club in May.
The one difference for Murphy this season is that she hopes to be joined by her teammates so that Glenwood can also vie for the team championship.
“There’s a good team around her,” Demons coach Clem Michel said. “I think the prospect for her finishing better at state is good and taking a team to state is looking pretty good as well.”
The team aspect of high school golf is one of the most appealing parts of competing for Murphy. Throughout the summer and the fall when she is competing, it’s a very individualized game. The high school season gives her the chance to compete alongside her friends.
Lauren Murphy. (Photo courtesy of Brian Murphy)
“(During the high school season) I get to be with a different group of people than I usually play with,” she said. “I have a lot of friends on my team now and playing with a bunch of different people, I really enjoy that.”
It doesn’t hurt that she also lives and gets to play predominantly on the Western Slope. She has honed her game on mountain courses which provide regular challenges that most golfers don’t see much of.
But that won’t come into play this year.
The course at the Pueblo Country Club plays is a par 71. While bunkers and trees are regular obstacles on the course, the overall change in elevation keeps the course on a level playing field.
“I’ve played down in Pueblo before and the courses are pretty flat down there,” Murphy said. “I don’t think there’s any advantage or disadvantage to playing there.”
So it will all come down to who hits the best shots over 36 holes. Murphy is already known as a player to watch in 2016. If she comes away with a state championship, she’s looking at three years of potential dominance throughout the state of Colorado.
Returning all-state golfers: Alexis Chan, Jr., Rock Canyon; Delaney Elliott, Sr., Monarch; Jennifer Hankins, Sr., Legacy; Maddy McCambridge, Sr., Fairview; Jaclyn Murray, Jr., Regis Jesuit; Morgan Sahm, Sr., Grandview; Mary Weinstein, Sr., Regis Jesuit.
Class 4A
Defending individual champion: Jennifer Kupcho, Jefferson Academy (graduated)
Defending state champion: Cheyenne Mountain
Regular season begins: Mar. 3
Regional tournaments: May 12-13
State tournament: May 23-24, Pueblo Country Club, Pueblo
Centaurus girls lacrosse has a third new coach in three seasons, but the Warriors are ranked No. 6 in the preseason. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]odd Breithaupt is not a new face to girls lacrosse. With time at Boulder, Dawson School, Boulder Valley Lacrosse, and youth programs, his experience runs wide.
But he will be the second new face in two years, and third coach in three years, for Centaurus girls lacrosse. The change comes after long time coach Genny Horning stepped down at the conclusion of the 2014 season, followed by a one year stint from Robert Kline in 2015.
But a seemingly challenging position for Breithaupt is alleviated with him being not as unfamiliar as expected. Most of the upperclassman on the Warriors team were coached under his leadership during their youth lacrosse years.
“It’s more of a ‘Getting to know each other again’ opportunity,” he said of the situation. “I will approach is with honesty, open dialogue and respect.”
Centaurus, a frequent powerhouse, advanced to the semifinals for the fifth year in a row last season. Their last championship appearance was in 2013, when they fell to Cherry Creek 20-10.
Though a new face enters the program, the team itself will remain a similar lineup to the previous season.
The Warriors return all-state leading scorer Andrea Kim, as well as Audrey Brown, Madison Hamilton, and Tessa Hannigan. The four tallied 92 goals last season. All three goalies, Morgan Pittser, Lindsey Rosen and Mia Sanchez, also return to defend the net.
And Breithaupt doesn’t plan on going anywhere soon.
“We are executing the first year of our three-to-five year plan for the program,” he said.
Within the detailed vision is an overall search for full transparency.
“Our communication will be improved in is directness,” Breithaupt said.
But the plan isn’t limited to that. Breithaupt and leadership seek a redefinition of roles, expectations, and goals.
“We want to focus on living in the present, going hard on every play whether it’s game or practice, and support each other as teammates should,” the coach said. “I want the girls to know that there are no short cuts to any place worth going.”
He also emphasizes happiness and a shared enjoyable experience in the game of lacrosse.
“I want the girls to feel they have contributed to he team and have grown as a person, leader and athlete,” Breithaupt said.
Though ambitious, foresight, and a sign of commitment will play a huge part in their hopeful success, the Centaurus program turns a new page, nonetheless.
When asked if his coaching style differs that the previous, Breithaupt answers with a definitive: “Absolutely.”
Centaurus will open its season on Friday evening against Mullen.
The Warriors enter 2016 ranked No. 6 in the preseason poll. Defending champion Colorado Academy is No. 1, and perennial power Cherry Creek, which has made every single state title game in the sport’s 18-year history, is ranked second.
Mullen enters as No. 3, Kent Denver is No. 4, and Regis Jesuit rounds out the top-5.
