PUEBLO — Sometimes perspective can provide the proper inspiration. That’s certainly the case for the St. Mary’s Academy girls golf team. Like any team playing in the Class 3A state tournament at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo, the Wildcats are looking for a state title. But there is so much more on the line for them.
A state championship isn’t just an achievement. It’s a thank you. They want to thank coach Ann Wolta Blackstone for the time that she dedicates to them to help them improve their game. Especially when she has a life-changing battle of her own.
Wolta Blackstone is going through her third battle against breast cancer. But even in the midst of fighting off a life-threatening disease, she’s coaching her girls through their swings and seeing the best results she can.
Led by freshman Maddy Bante’s even-par 71, the Wildcats came out of the first day of the state tournament with the team lead.
“It’s amazing,” Wolta Blackstone said. “I’ve coached for six years at St. Mary’s Academy, and this is the first time I’ve had three really good golfers. It’s just so fun. It’s fun to watch them compete and have a good time.”
Having a good time can certainly help when the scores are favorable.
The Wildcats have three players inside the top 10 on the leaderboard. Bante’s 71 was the low round of the day at Elmwood and she’ll go into Tuesday’s final round with a three-stroke lead over Jefferson Academy’s Aubri Braecklein.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
She never let herself get into too much trouble. She made a bogey on the par 4 fifth hole then regained the stroke by sinking a long birdie putt on the par 5 ninth.
On the back nine, she made bogeys on 13 and 17 but got a huge emotional and confidence boost as she chipped in for eagle on 16.
“I definitely was not expecting that,” Bante said. “I just wanted to get it to within a few inches. It will bring me a lot more confidence on that hole and get me to thinking I can get there in two.”
Her tee shot veered left on 18, but she escaped the trouble and got up and down for a par and the best round of her life. As she walked off the green, she and Wolta Blackstone embraced and allowed the emotions of the round and situation at hand wash over them.
Prior to heading to the course, the team had surprised their coach with a fresh set of golf shirts for everyone. The St. Mary’s Academy logo was in pink and a pink ribbon along with “Coach Ann” were stitched on the right sleeve.
It was the idea way for them to remember to play with their emotions on their sleeves as they hunt the first girls golf title in school history.
“I really wanted to do something special for her,” junior Mallory Hopper said. “This year I thought we would make it all about her because she inspires us with her strength every single day. It was a way to honor all that she does for us.”
Hopper’s 83 has her in 10th place on the leaderboard while Natalie Tatar shot 77 to sit in fourth. With Bante sitting in first heading into Tuesday, the Wildcats have a chance to take both the individual title and the team championship.
And there’s nothing they’d like more than to play their way to those championships for their coach.
“I’m so blessed with Coach Ann,” Bante said. “We are so thankful for her so doing this for her is just a small thing compared to what she’s done for us.”
Tuesday’s goal of winning a state title is a goal for both players and coach. It’s no longer about any of them doing anything for each other. It’s all about doing something together.
Between Classes 5A and 4A, Lauren Lehigh won a pair of girls golf state championships during her time at Loveland and was the last high school player to win a 5A state title in Colorado.
Her younger sister, Katelyn Lehigh, had designs on extending the Lehigh family’s reign over Class 5A but the global pandemic cancelled the 2020 season, leaving the Loveland junior with a long while to heap expectations upon herself for when her opportunity would finally come. On Day 1 of the 5A state tournament at the newly redesigned City Park Golf Course, Lehigh didn’t succumb to the pressure of living up to her family name in the final days of Season C.
Carding a two-over 72 on Monday, Lehigh will open Tuesday’s final round in a tie for the lead with senior teammate Taylor Bandemer. The duo’s first-day effort positioned their Loveland team with a 10-stroke lead in the team competition.
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)
“My freshman year, we had state at Harmony and it got rained out to one day,” Lehigh said. “So, that’s the only state experience I’ve had because COVID cancelled last year. So, I was definitely really nervous coming into today. I feel like I set expectations for myself over the past couple of years to play well. I’ve played well all high school season and I just tried to settle down and play my game because you can’t win it on the first day.
“The fear going in was that I would do something, it would blow up, and everything I’ve been working towards for the past two years would just suddenly be gone. That’s not the case, so I’m really happy.”
Both Lehigh, who tied for eighth in 2019, and Bandemer stayed steady throughout Monday’s opening round. Bandemer birdied No. 8 and No. 13 to lower her score after starting 3-over through the first five holes. Lehigh birdied No. 9 to make the turn at 1-over and posted a lone bogey on the back nine to stay at 2-over on a mild-weather June day that didn’t see any player go low.
“I played pretty solid golf. I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens,” Lehigh said. “I couldn’t seem to get a put to the hole but my midrange putting really saved me today. I made a lot of five- and 10-footers for par. But nothing went drastically wrong, so I’m good.”
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)
It has been over two years since the last girls golf state championships and since 2018 that Eaglecrest’s Emma Bryant won the 5A title as a freshman. Still in the hunt to reclaim the title from the Lehigh sisters, Bryant shot a 5-over 75 and will be three strokes behind the co-leaders when play resumes on Tuesday morning.
Right on the heals of the Loveland pair, Prairie View junior Lily Nelson sits third after carding a 73. Fossil Ridge junior Olivia Steen, who was fourth in 2019, is currently fourth at 74. Rock Canyon’s Grace Dunkleberger, who tied Lehigh for eights place in 2019, and Mountain Vista’s Abby Aeschleman are tied at 75 with Bryant in fifth place.
Ten strokes behind Loveland (225) in the team competition, Rock Canyon (235) will begin the second day in second place. Arapahoe (248) is third 23 strokes behind the front-running team.
“I think our girls were really tough and I’m really proud of how they played,” Rock Canyon coach Ron Saul said. “They had some adversity out there and I really expect that they’re going to make a run at it tomorrow. We’re 10 shots back but you can make that up in a heartbeat. And they’ve got the talent to do it.”
Fossil Ridge won the team title in 2019. Loveland was second, just one stroke back. Cherry Creek was third.
Pairing and tee times for Day 2 will be released Monday night.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (June 21, 2021) – Seven outstanding former high school athletes highlight the 2021 class of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) National High School Hall of Fame, including three who went on to earn gold medals in the Olympics and four others who excelled in professional football, basketball and baseball.
Joining the seven former athletes in this year’s class are three highly successful high school coaches, one former state association administrator and one speech and debate coach in the performing arts area.
These 12 individuals were selected in March 2020 and were scheduled to be inducted last year; however, the 2020 in-person NFHS Summer Meeting was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, these 12 honorees will be inducted July 1 at the 38th induction ceremony of the National High School Hall of Fame, which will be held at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Orlando, Florida. The induction ceremony will take place at 6:00 p.m. EST on July 1 at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, and will be streamed live on the NFHS Network at: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evtfb1ffdd8eb
The four high school athletes who went on to professional stardom are Dave Logan of Colorado, Tim Couch of Kentucky, Matt Holliday of Oklahoma and Alex English of South Carolina. Otherathletes in the class are three female stars who landed Olympic gold in the Olympics: Karyn Bye of Wisconsin, Maicel Malone of Indiana and Michele Smith of New Jersey.
Logan was a three-sport standout (football, basketball and baseball) at Wheat Ridge (Colorado) High School in the early 1970s and was drafted by teams in all three professional sports. He was a two-sport star at the University of Colorado and then was a wide receiver with the Cleveland Browns (eight years) and Denver Broncos (one year). In his second career also worthy of Hall of Fame notice, Logan has coached four different Denver-area schools to nine state high school football championships during the past 27 years.
Couch had a record-setting football career as a quarterback at Leslie County High School in Hyden, Kentucky, in the mid-1990s. Couch set three national career passing records – 872 completions, 12,104 yards and 133 touchdowns. He was named National Player of the Year as a senior. Couch also excelled in basketball, leading the state in scoring as a senior with 37 points per game. He had a stellar career at the University of Kentucky and played five years with the Cleveland Browns.
Holliday was a three-sport player – and two-sport star – at Stillwater (Oklahoma) High School in the late 1990s. As a quarterback in football for three years, Holliday passed for 68 touchdowns. He was a four-year starter in baseball and hit .443 as a senior with 12 home runs. He played with four teams during his 20-year professional baseball career, which ended in 2018 with the Colorado Rockies. Holliday was second in the MVP voting with the Rockies in 2007 and won a World Series in 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
English is perhaps the greatest basketball player in South Carolina history. He was a three-time all-state selection and Player of the Year at Dreher High School in Columbia, and he was the leading scorer in University of South Carolina history. English played 16 years in the National Basketball Association, including 10 years with the Denver Nuggets when he scored 2,000 points in eight consecutive seasons.
Bye was a three-sport star at River Falls (Wisconsin) High School in the late 1980s and was a trailblazer for girls in the sport of ice hockey in the state. She was team captain and three-time all-conference while playing on the River Falls boys hockey team. She also played tennis and softball. She later excelled in ice hockey at the University of New Hampshire and played on the 1998 Olympic women’s ice hockey team that won a gold medal.
Malone was a track and field star at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1984 to 1987. She won 11 of a possible 12 state titles in the three sprints (100, 200, 400) during her four years at North Central. She set state records in all three events and helped North Central to two state championships. She later won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics as a part of the 400-meter relay team.
Smith was a three-sport athlete at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey. She participated in field hockey, basketball and softball, which became her top sport. Smith had a 51-6 record with 11 no-hitters as a pitcher and helped her team to the state title as a junior. She had an outstanding career at Oklahoma State University with an 82-20 record and was the starting pitcher for the U.S. Olympic teams that won gold medals in 1996 and 2000.
Three outstanding high school coaches are a part of this year’s class, including Rickey Baker, who led Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona, to a national-record 27 consecutive state cross country championships from 1990 to 2017. Another coach in this year’s class is Charles Berry, who retired in 2018 after a 57-year career as a girls and boys basketball coach in Arkansas. With most of his years at Huntsville High School, Berry won 1,377 games as a boys and girls basketball coach. The final coach in the class is Terry Michler, the winningest boys soccer coach in history from Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Michler has won 1,004 games and nine state championships during his 48-year career.
Completing the 2021 class are Bill Farney, who served on the administrative staff of the Texas University Interscholastic League for 32 years, including 14 years as executive director, and Robert Littlefield, one of the top speech and debate educators in North Dakota and nationally for 45 years.
Following is biographical information on the 12 inductees in the 2021 class of the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame.
ATHLETES
Tim Couch
During his football career at Leslie County High School in Hyden, Kentucky in the mid-1990s, Tim Couch set three national career passing records – 872 completions, 12,104 yards and 133 touchdowns. He helped Leslie County to a 13-1 record as a junior while completing an amazing 75 percent of his passes – a national record that stood for 15 years. As a senior, he passed for 42 touchdowns and led his team to an 11-3 mark, and he was named Gatorade and USA Today National Player of the Year while earning Mr. Football honors in Kentucky. ESPN.com selected Couch the sixth-best high school athlete in history. Couch was equally dominant on the basketball court. He scored 3,023 points in his career, leading the state in scoring as a senior at 37 points per game. He was two-time all-state in basketball. Couch’s football prowess continued at the University of Kentucky, where he passed for 8,159 yards and 73 touchdowns in his final two seasons. He led Kentucky to the Outback Bowl after his junior season and was fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Couch was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns and passed for more than 11,000 yards and 64 touchdowns in his five years with the Browns.
Karyn Bye
Karyn Bye was a three-sport star at River Falls (Wisconsin) High School in the late 1980s and was a trailblazer for girls in the sport of ice hockey in the state. Amazingly, Bye was a three-time all-conference and team captain of the boys ice hockey team at River Falls. With the formation of girls hockey teams still almost 20 years down the road, Bye became one of the state’s top players on the boys team. She also earned four letters in tennis and was a three-time state qualifier, and she was captain of the River Falls softball team and was three-time all-conference and all-state as a senior. She batted over .500 in both her junior and senior seasons. Bye was the leading scorer all four years on the women’s ice hockey team at the University of New Hampshire and was team captain in her final two seasons. Bye was a member of the USA National Ice Hockey Team for many years and was Player of the Year in 1995 and 1998. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic teams that earned a gold medal at the 1998 Games in Japan and a silver medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Alex English
Prior to his stellar college and professional careers, Alex English was one of the top high school basketball players in South Carolina history during his days at Dreher High School in Columbia. English was a first-team all-state selection three consecutive years, Player of the Year in South Carolina in 1971 and 1972, and he was a two-time all-American. He set the all-time scoring records at Dreher, and his No. 22 jersey was later retired. English stayed home for his college career and is still known as the greatest player in the University of South Carolina history. He ranks first in scoring and third in rebounding in Gamecocks’ history and was a two-time all-American, and he had his second No. 22 jersey retired by USC. While he played for four teams during his 16-year professional career, English will always be remembered for his decade of the 1980s with the Denver Nuggets. He was the NBA’s leading scorer in the 1980s with 19,682 points and was the first player in league history to score 2,000 points in eight straight seasons. English set 31 records in 10 seasons with the Nuggets and is the team’s all-time leader in points (21,645) and assists (3,679). English was an eight-time all-star – all with the Nuggets – and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Maicel Malone
As a member of the girls track and field team at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1984 to 1987, Maicel Malone was one of the most decorated athletes in Indiana high school track and field history and was, perhaps, the first superstar in any Indiana girls sport. She was an 11-time state champion in the 12 sprint events during her four years of competing in the state track and field meet. She won the 100 and 400 meters all four years and the 200 meters three years (finished second as a sophomore). She is still the Indiana state record holder in the 200 (23.12 in 1986) and the 400 (52.42 in 1986), and her 100-meter state record (11.52 in 1986) stood until 2015. She is the only Indiana female athlete to set three state records (100, 200, 400) in the same meet (1986). Malone (now Maicel Green) helped North Central to two state championships – as a freshman in 1984 and in her senior season in 1987. She was a four-time NCAA champion in the 400 meters (three indoor, one outdoor) at Arizona State University, and she was a member of the 400-meter relay team that won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She won five other gold medals in international competition and was inducted into the Indiana Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1993.
Matt Holliday
Matt Holliday would rank high on a list of the top high school athletes in Oklahoma history, thanks to his days as a three-sport player and two-sport star at Stillwater High School in the late 1990s. He was a three-year starter at quarterback in football and led his team to a 30-6 record while passing for 6,211 yards and 68 touchdowns. In baseball, he was a four-year starter at third base and he also was a pitcher. He hit .438 as a junior and .443 as a senior with a combined 18 home runs. In between those sports, he was a three-year starter on the basketball team. Holliday was highly recruited in both football and baseball by a number of top universities, including his hometown choice of Oklahoma State University, but he was drafted in the seventh round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft and embarked on a 20-year professional baseball career that ended in October 2018. Holliday played for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland A’s, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and returned to the Rockies to close his career. In 15 major league seasons, Holliday hit 316 home runs and finished with a .299 career average. His best season was 2007 when he hit .340 with 36 home runs and 137 runs batted in for the Rockies and finished second in the MVP voting. He was a member of the 2011 Cardinals team that won the World Series.
Dave Logan
In a state rich with standout high school athletes, Dave Logan was second to none during his days as a three-sport star at Wheat Ridge (Colorado) High School from 1969 to 1972. And with his eight state championships as a high school football coach the past 26 years, Logan has become the face of high school sports and activities in Colorado. He was two-time all-state in football as a wide receiver and defensive back and received the Gold Helmet Award as a senior as the state’s top senior player, scholar and citizen. He was a three-year starter in basketball and was Colorado Sidelines Player of the Year after averaging 24.1 points per game. In earning three letters in baseball, Logan hit .380 and was 7-2 as a pitcher as a senior and claimed all-state and team MVP honors. And if that wasn’t enough, Logan was a trombone player in the school band. He was one of only three multi-sport players who was drafted by all three major sports organizations. Logan was a two-sport star at the University of Colorado and then played nine years as a wide receiver in the National Football League, including eight years with the Cleveland Browns and his final season with the Denver Broncos. Logan has coached four schools to nine state football titles, including the 2020 championship with Cherry Creek High School in metro Denver. Finally, Logan is the radio voice of the Denver Broncos and hosts a popular midday radio talk show.
Michele Smith
Michele Smith was an accomplished three-sport athlete at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, in the early 1980s. As a pitcher in softball, she was 51-6 and recorded 11 no-hitters. She helped her team to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 3 state softball title as a junior with a 23-1 record, 0.17 earned-run average and 229 strikeouts. She was selected to the all-state softball team three consecutive years. In field hockey, Smith was named first team all-conference as a junior and senior, and in basketball, she scored 1,114 points in her career and was a two-time all-conference selection. At Oklahoma State University, Smith compiled an 82-20 record as a pitcher, and her career batting average was .343 with 15 home runs. She was a three-time All-Big Eight Conference selection and was a two-time Division I All-American. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic softball teams in 1996 and 2000, and she was the starting pitcher for both gold-medal winning teams. She also played on three gold-medal winning World Championships teams and two teams that won gold medals at the Pan American Games. Smith joined ESPN in 1995 and has been the lead college softball analyst since 1998. In 2012, she was the first woman to serve as commentator for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game.
COACHES
Rickey Baker
Rickey Baker has become one of the most successful boys cross country coaches in the nation since his arrival at Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona in 1987. Three years later, Baker led Hopi to its first state boys cross country championship, and his teams didn’t lose another state title until 2017 – a streak of 27 consecutive team championships. The 27 consecutive state cross country titles is a national record and is third all-time when considering all sports (girls swimming and boys swimming). Baker’s 1999 team scored a perfect 15, which means Hopi runners finished 1-2-3-4-5. Perhaps most amazing about the streak is that Hopi continued to win despite moving into larger classifications. Hopi won 11 straight 2A titles (1990-2000), six consecutive 3A titles (2001-2006) and 10 straight 4A titles (2007-16). Since the streak ended, Hopi has finished runner-up the past three years. Baker started coaching the girls cross country team three years ago and has led his teams to two second-place finishes. He has also coached Hopi’s boys basketball team for 18 years, with a 2A state title in 1997, and the girls and boys track and field teams for the past 10 years. Nine of his track and field athletes have won individual state titles. During his days as a high school athlete, Baker was Arizona’s one-mile champion in 1977 while attending Winslow High School, and he was a member of Winslow’s state cross country team in 1976.
Charles Berry
Charles Berry retired in 2018 after an amazing 57-year career as a boys and girls basketball coach in Arkansas. After four years in the Hector School District and two years in Plemerville, Arkansas, Berry moved to Huntsville in 1967 and remained for 51 years. He resurrected a dormant boys basketball program upon his arrival and coached the boys team for the next 20 years. In 1978, he established the girls basketball team, which he coached until his retirement in 2018. Berry’s overall combined record as a high school boys and girls coach was 1,377-686, with a 1,116-619 record at Huntsville. Along the way, he won two Arkansas Activities Association state girls basketball championships (1997, 2008), and his girls teams finished second two other times (1984, 2013). Berry’s teams made 30 appearances in the state tournament, and they won 16 conference championships and six regional titles. The Huntsville High School gym was renamed Charles H. Berry Gymnasium in 2006, and Berry was inducted into the Arkansas Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.
Terry Michler
Terry Michler is the winningest boys high school soccer coach in history, and in 2019, he eclipsed the 1,000-victory mark in his 48th season at his alma mater, Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. After graduating from Rockhurst College in Kansas City and playing professional soccer for three years, Michler returned to CBC in 1972 to direct the soccer program. After the 2019 season, Michler’s career coaching mark stands at 1,004-284-117. His CBC teams have claimed 31 district championships and have won nine Missouri State High School Activities Association State Soccer Championships in 15 appearances. Michler’s state titles have been distributed throughout his career, with his first in 1983 and his last in 2018. His teams have been ranked nationally in 13 different seasons, and he has had about 300 former players who played at the college level and more than 30 who played professionally. Michler has written – or helped to write – four books on soccer, and he has been inducted in numerous other halls of fame, including the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame and the CBC Sports Hall of Fame.
ADMINISTRATOR
Bill Farney
Bill Farney retired as executive director of the Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) in 2009 after leading the nation’s largest state association staff for 14 years. Farney joined the UIL in 1977 and served as an assistant director and athletic director for 18 years before assuming the executive director’s position in 1995. During his tenure at the UIL, Farney developed the academic and fine arts programs into the most expansive offerings of any state association. He also helped to expand more opportunities for girls by adding team tennis, soccer, softball and wrestling as sanctioned sports. Farney also developed a waiver process to help disadvantaged students with unavoidable circumstances, and he also implemented the Coaches and Officials Positive Expectations (COPE) course for coaches and players to learn proper sportsmanlike conduct. Farney was a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent at schools in Oklahoma and Texas for 15 years before joining the UIL, including the final seven years as superintendent of schools in Crawford, Texas. Farney earned his bachelor’s degree from Tulsa University and his master’s and doctorate from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He was a member of the NFHS Board of Directors, NFHS Basketball Rules Committee, NFHS Swimming and Diving Rules Committee and the NCAA Football Rules Committee.
PERFORMING ARTS
Robert Littlefield
Robert Littlefield has been one of the top speech and debate educators in North Dakota and nationally for more than 45 years. After beginning his career as director of forensics and fine arts in the Barnesville (Minnesota) Public Schools in 1974, Littlefield worked at the high school and college levels in North Dakota until 2016, when he moved to the University of Central Florida. In addition to serving as debate coach at Shanley High School in Fargo, North Dakota, for eight years, Littlefield was the state planner and coordinator for speech clinics for high school teachers and students for more than 20 years. He also coordinated summer speech and debate camps for high school students and was founder and executive director of the Valley Forensic League. During his time at Shanley, Littlefield revitalized the program and had teams regularly place at regional, state and national competition. Littlefield has been involved in national leadership positions with both Pi Kappa Delta National Forensic Honorary and the National Speech and Debate Association. In addition to service on boards and committees with these organizations, Littlefield’s research, development and publication in scholastic journals and instructional workbooks has been extensive. During most of his time in North Dakota, Littlefield was a professor at North Dakota State University and directed the NDSU Speech and Debate Invitational for 25 years.
ENGLEWOOD – Four teams took the field at Englewood High School on Saturday to decide which two would battle for the Class 4A state championship in Season D. At the end of a long and sweltering and occasionally rainy day, Cheyenne Mountain and Evergreen emerged victorious.
Next Tuesday, those two teams will face one another in the championship game at 5 p.m. back in the same stadium where they shined in the semifinals.
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(1) Cheyenne Mountain 9, (4) Erie 8
Cheyenne Mountain boys lacrosse is back in the Class 4A state championship game.
At Englewood High School on Saturday, top-seeded Cheyenne Mountain held off a late charge from No. 4 Erie to win 9-8 in the state semifinals and punch its ticket to a third straight title game appearance. For players like senior Griffin Meyer, who remembers the sweet taste of winning a championship back in 2018, the chance to play for another has been something they have eagerly awaited.
“We just can’t wait. It’s time,” Meyer said. “I was there and it’s the most unbelievable feeling when you win a state championship and I want to experience that with all the fellas on this year’s team.”
The 2018 champion, Cheyenne Mountain lost to by one goal to Golden in 2019 and had to wait longer than usual for another shot at state, as the global pandemic cancelled the spring season in 2020.
In their return to the state semifinals against Erie on Saturday, Cheyenne Mountain pulled out to a 5-1 lead at halftime. Erie, however, cut the lead to 7-5 with six minutes left and 9-7 with 1:46 remaining in the contest. The Tigers cut the lead to one goal with 16.4 seconds left and despite a strong attacking effort off a reset, could not find the net for an equalizing goal that would have sent the two teams into overtime against one another for the second time this season.
Cheyenne Mountain defeated Erie, 11-10, in double overtime on May 6 during the regular season.
“They’re a really good team and they have some great offensive players,” Cheyenne Mountain senior defender Carver Ward said. “We did a good job of controlling the possession early on, but it also felt like a battle against the heat as much as against them. We wore down and bit and once they got the possession, it was their game right down to the last shot. But I think we did a good job on defense because as far as settled opportunities, they didn’t score much.”
When Cheyenne Mountain faces Evergreen in the title game on Tuesday, the team will be playing for the program’s second state championship.
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(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)
(2) Evergreen 14, (11) Eagle Valley 5
On Saturday, the No. 2-seeded Evergreen boys lacrosse team showed up to Englewood High School determined to play its way through to the Cougars’ first-ever appearance in a boys lacrosse state championship game.
So, they did.
Facing 11th-seeded Eagle Valley in the state semifinals, Evergreen started slow but used an hour-plus lightning delay to regain its form. Following the delay, the Cougars outscored the Devils by a margin of 11-4 to run away with the victory, 14-5. As a result, and for the first time ever, the Cougars have the opportunity to play for a state title.
“This team is special in so many ways,” Evergreen head coach Jay Egger said. “We didn’t start off well, so I’m really proud of the discipline and the character they showed in order to adjust. We’re going to state. Oh my gosh. This is the first time our program has ever won a conference, let alone go to the championship game. We’ve just got really good dudes and it’s been a special season.”
In Tuesday’s championship game, the Cougars will face a Cheyenne Mountain team that has played in the last two title games and claimed its own first-ever state championship in 2018. Cheyenne Mountain beat Evergreen, 12-6, during the regular season.
Despite being underdogs on paper, the Cougars don’t appear to be intimidated by their upcoming opponents’ recent success.
“We’ve just got to come in and outwork a really good Cheyenne Mountain team that we played earlier in the season,” Evergreen’s Jack Fairbanks said. “This time we’ll be ready for them, ready to put up a really good fight, and hopefully win this thing.”
Tuesday’s Class 4A state championship between the tournament’s top two seeds will begin at 5 p.m.
ENGLEWOOD – Four teams took the field at Englewood High School on Saturday to decide which two would battle for the Class 5A state championship in Season D. The potential for several firsts was established when Mountain Vista and Valor Christian emerged victorious.
Next Tuesday, those two teams will return to Englewood to one another in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. It will be both teams’ first appearance in the Class 5A title game.
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(4) Mountain Vista 13, (1) Cherry Creek 12
There have been many big moments in Mountain Vista boys lacrosse history, but arguably the biggest of the them all now belongs to Cam Brown.
With his team battling defending state champion Cherry Creek in overtime of a state semifinal game at Englewood High School on Saturday, Brown shouldered his way past his defender and scored from the left side to send his team home with a 13-12 victory. Thanks to the senior’s golden goal, the Golden Eagles will play for a golden trophy when they make their first Class 5A state championship appearance on Tuesday.
“I knew as soon as we got the ball in overtime, the game was over,” Brown said. “Our offense is good and we were playing Vista lacrosse all-around. I got by my guy and I just did what I had to do. We’re the hardest working team in the state and we knew we had a shot at state. Now, we’re here.”
Saturday’s penultimate-round game may have ended in favor of Mountain Vista, but it began quite differently. The defending champions raced out to a 4-0 lead before the Golden Eagles scored five unanswered goals to get back in front. The contest was tied eight different times.
“We knew it was going to be an absolute dogfight,” Mountain Vista head coach Matthew Plitnick said. “They’ve got great coaches over there. They’ve got great players. We dug ourselves a huge hole early that I was not very happy with, but then we started to have confidence in the way that we were prepared. We started executing a lot better and this is the first time Vista has ever played for a state championship in lacrosse. We have about 18 kids on the team, so we have a real small roster and I’m real proud of the eight seniors we have to the team because they all play a big role for us.”
Cherry Creek’s Dakota Johnson and Thomas Power each scored four goals. Mountain Vista’s Dillon Pless, Caleb Bonjean and Brown each recorded a hat trick.
In Tuesday’s championship game, the Golden Eagles will face No. 2 Valor Christian. Mountain Vista dealt Valor Christian its sole loss of the season back on May 14.
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(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)
(2) Valor Christian 10, (6) Regis Jesuit 7
The Valor Christian boys lacrosse team has won two Class 4A state championships in the last six years and the Eagles would certainly love to add a 5A trophy to their growing collection.
They’ll soon get their chance.
In the state semifinals on Saturday at Englewood High School, No. 2 Valor Christian won 10-7 over No. 6 Regis Jesuit to reach the 5A state championship game for the first time. After missing out on what they believed to be a promising season when the global pandemic shut down high school sports in 2020, the Eagles are even more motivated to get the job done in Season D.
“It means everything,” Eagles senior Griffin Mallory said. “Last year was devastating because we had a great senior class. These guys this year, we really came together and we knew what our goals were from the beginning. We wanted to go to state. It didn’t stop with a day of work. We came out every single day and this is the result.”
With two familiar conference rivals squaring off, Saturday’s game went back and forth throughout the bulk of the contest with both defenses setting the tone early on. The score was tied four times before Valor Christian became the first team to pull ahead by more than a goal in the third quarter. The Eagles led 6-5 going into the fourth quarter and scored four unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter to distance themselves from their opponents.
Valor Christian led by as many as five goals in the final frame before Regis Jesuit was able to mount a late comeback attempt and cut the led to three before the final buzzer. Valor Christian’s Jake Likes led all scorers with four goals, while teammate Gunnar Fellows and Mallory each had two. Will McFadden led Regis Jesuit with a pair of goals.
In the championship game, Valor Christian will face a Mountain Vista team that beat the Eagles, 12-10, during the regular season. The blemish stands as Valor Christian’s only loss to date in Season D.
“We’re excited. We really were hoping for Vista,” Valor Christian head coach Josh Hoffman said. “That’s our only loss for the year, so we’ve been wanting to play them and we’re excited to play them again. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to go.”
Tuesday’s 5A title game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Englewood High School.
PUEBLO — Peyton is a well-balanced baseball team and if there was any doubt about that, the Panthers erased them all on Saturday at the Runyon baseball complex in Pueblo.
In the two games they played, Peyton showed strength in both pitching and on offense as it grabbed a 15-0 win over Denver Christian and an 8-1 win over Buena Vista to advance to the Class 2A championship game next Saturday.
In the first game, as strong as the Panthers (17-1) overall were offensively, it was the arm of CJ Lashley that was perhaps the most impressive part of their game. Lashley threw a four-inning no-hitter which gave his team a huge mental boost not just for their second game of the day but for the remainder of the 2A state baseball tournament.
“We’re an all-around team,” Lashley said. “Throwing that no-hitter definitely gave us a lot of confidence and helped us save some arms for the next game. It shows that it’s not one player on the team, we have balance throughout the whole roster.”
Lashley helped his own cause early in the first game as he ripped a 3-RBI triple in the second that pushed the Peyton lead to 6-0 over Denver Christian. They added nine more runs to finish off the game in the bottom of the 4th, just before Runyon went into a lightning delay for close to an hour.
When they took the field against Buena Vista, the Panthers showed no sign of slowing down. They again jumped on the board early and Brennen Meyers pitched five solid innings.
The Panthers will have a chance at avenging their only loss of the season as they’ll head back to Pueblo next Saturday to face No. 1 Limon. The Badgers beat St. Mary’s 8-1 then rallied in a big way to beat Rye 16-6 to advance to the state championship game.
A four-run first inning for Rye put Limon (19-0) in an early hole, but they responded in a big way in the bottom of the 2nd. Kory Tacha tied the game with a 2-RBI single and then the Badgers added five more in the inning to take firm control.
“We’ve been down like that before,” Tacha said. “We had to battle back in games earlier in the season and we’re good at that. We’re a team that can battle through adversity and come out on top.”
Limon and Peyton met earlier in the year, back on May 21, when the Badgers got a 4-2 win. That game featured a pitching matchup of Lashley and Tacha and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the same matchup in a week’s time.
The 2A baseball state championship game will begin at 9:30 a.m. on June 26 at Hobbs Field.
PUEBLO — If there is a way to battle back in the seventh inning, Ponderosa is going to find it. The Mustangs trailed 5-0 after the first couple of innings before rallying back to beat Evergreen with a walk-off home run on the first day of the Class 4A baseball tournament.
They followed that win up with another walk-off blast, this one against Cheyenne Mountain to enter the second day of the tournament unbeaten.
In Saturday’s marquee game, the winner of Holy Family and Ponderosa would automatically advance to the state championship series. And Holy Family looked like it wanted that advancement early as it jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Mustangs in the first inning.
But even on a different day, the Mustangs had same grit and heart that they’ve shown in the postseason. They scored 11 of their 14 runs in the sixth and seventh innings to get a 14-11 win over the Tigers.
“It’s incredible,” coach Bob Maloney said. “We have so much senior leadership. In 30 years, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s unmatched.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
It’s been quite the remarkable three-game stretch for the Mustangs (18-2 overall). Tied with Evergreen in the seventh inning on Friday, Dom Lopez blasted a walk-off home run to beat the Cougars. He hit another home run later in the day against Cheyenne Mountain which proved crucial in that win as well.
When Lopez got into the batter’s box in the top of the seventh against the Tigers (18-2), the Mustangs were down two with the bases loaded and one out. He couldn’t help but think of how things transpired on Friday.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Lopez said. “But really, I just had the same mentality, just put the ball in play.”
He let loose on a monster hack on a 1-2 count and for a brief moment, it looked like the ball would carry out of Hobbs Field. It landed on the warning track and Lopez ended up at second. The rest of the runners scored and for the first time in the game, Ponderosa took the lead.
Parker Dennis got hit by a pitch then Skyler Ahern ripped a ball to left-center – the same area where Lopez had hit his double two batters earlier – but with more pop.
His ball carried over the wall to make it a 14-10 game. It was Ahern’s first home run of the season and it came at the best possible time.
“With this team we fight and battle,” Ahern said. “It doesn’t matter how much we’re down. We’ll always scratch a couple of runs across and keep fighting until the game is over. We have seven innings so we need to make all seven count.”
That’s been the mindset all weekend and the Mustangs have every intention of carrying that over.
Even with the loss, Holy Family is still in the title picture as they only have one loss in the tournament. The Tigers play Cheyenne Mountain on Friday morning with Ponderosa set to play D’Evelyn. If the Mustangs beat the Jags, they’ll have to be beaten twice on Saturday.
