(Pam Wagner)

AURORA — Girls golf may be in for a revolutionary change. The idea of introducing a Modified Stableford Scoring system is being kicked around.

Now, the idea hasn’t even been presented to the girls golf committee yet — they meet Oct. 7 — and it would also have to clear the Legislative Council in order to be integrated into the sport. But there is gathering evidence to suggest the Stableford system would create a better experience for all players, and also speed up the pace of play.

The Stableford system awards points for strokes in relation to par on a hole-by-hole basis, as opposed to the traditional method of simply counting strokes.

For example, in the unmodified version, a par is worth two points, a birdie is worth three, an eagle is four, and so on. The inverse is true, as well, meaning a bogey is worth one point, and a double-bogey is worth zero. Those points are then added at the end of a round, and the player with the highest total wins the tournament.

The major advantage here is that once a player reaches the stroke limit which awards no points — in the example above, that would be two-over-par — they simply pick up their ball and move on to the next hole. There would be no more 17s on a par-5.

Currently, some girls golf tournaments can last as long as six hours. With golfers having the ability to pick up after a certain number of strokes, the Stableford method could drastically speed things up.

The Stableford system also helps those just learning the game. For example, if a girl were to record a 4 for a hole on her scorecard when she actually made a 5, she would simply not get the Stableford points that hole. Normally, she would be disqualified from her entire round or tournament.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Additionally, the system means every golfer is viable late in the tournament as a potential impact on the team score — and, more importantly, there would be no more disqualifications at regionals. (Currently, CHSAA allows coaches to decide to pull players from regionals if they are at or near double-par after nine holes.)

Colorado would not be the first state to use a Modified Stableford System. Utah’s girls have been using it for a number of years now, and their rounds average about 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

Utah’s system awards five points for par, meaning a golfer is awarded zero points at 5-over-par and therefore picks up their ball at that point. That also puts a birdie at six points, an eagle at seven, and a double eagle at eight. A bogie is worth four points, a double-bogie is three, a triple-bogie is two and a quadruple-bogie is one.

Using Utah’s version of a modified system, CHSAA staff did a comparison of stroke play to Stableford scoring from the 5A and 4A state tournaments, as well as all regional events. Initial research showed that the Stableford system, while likely a more advantageous system for the general player, would not impact the top golfers.

At the state level, the order of the top 10 individuals remained the same in both classifications, even down to those who tied. The team state champions did not change, either.

At the regional level, the champions and top-10 remained the same.

Utah’s scoring method will be the basis of the conversation when the Stableford system is brought up in the committee meeting. Colorado could input its own system — say, picking up at 4-over-par — but that’s the type of detail the committee would hammer out if it chose to go the Stableford route.

This change is only being talked about for the girls’ game, where it would have the greatest impact. If the committee moved a Modified Stableford System through, the next step would be the Jan. 29 Legislative Council meeting. Conceivably, if passed there, that would be enough time to install it prior to the 2015 girls season.

Ultimately, the girls golf committee is seeking ways to speed up its tournaments. Another option is to cut rounds down to nine holes, which would allow for afternoon events where students don’t miss school time.

[divider]

Short stuff

• We released the rest of our all-state teams last week. Find every team from the 2013-14 season on our All-State homepage.
• Kyle Freeland signed with the Rockies last week. The Thomas Jefferson graduate who was drafted No. 8 overall earlier this month, inked a $2.3 million signing bonus, according to MLB.com. He’ll begin his professional career in Grand Junction, the Rockies’ rookie affiliate. Their season starts Monday night.
• Regis Jesuit shortstop Max George also signed a professional contract with the Rockies, forgoing a commitment to Oregon State. According to BaseballAmerica.com, he signed for $620,000. George will start in Grand Junction, as well.
• Wheat Ridge girls lacrosse’s Gianna Ossello, a first-team all-state pick, was the lone Colorado player picked to the Under Armour All-American games. The midfielder, who is headed to Duke, will play on the South Team. She’ll play in the game on July 12 in Baltimore.
• Chaparral’s Colton McCaffrey was the 5A boys lacrosse player of the year, and is also an All-American. He played in the Adrenaline All-American Game on June 7 — along with Cherry Creek’s Matt Goettelman, Wheat Ridge’s Jensen Makarov, Mullen’s Nick Phillips and Arapahoe’s Nick Runberg. McCaffrey, bound for DU, had two goals.
• Loveland swimmer Brooke Hansen committed to Texas last week, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald. She is a two-time state champion, winning the 100 breaststroke as a sophomore, then the 200 individual medley this past winter. Hansen will be a senior this fall.
• Mountain Vista baseball’s Jack Strunc, a shortstop, announced on Twitter that he committed to Washington State. Strunc is an outgoing senior. He’ll join teammate Nick Leonard in Pullman.
• Greg Maestas, the only wrestling coach Grandview has even known, retired earlier this month. He was at the school for 16 years, and spent 38 coaching in the sport. “He has left a legacy that will be missed,” athletic director Jamee Ulitzky said in a statement. “Words cannot express our appreciation for all of his work and commitment to the sport.” Said Maestas, to the Aurora Sentinel: “It’s time. I enjoyed it, I had some great kids, great parents and good administrators.”
• Ashour Peera has left Gateway’s football program to become the coach at East Ridge in Florida, according to the Sentinel. He spent one season as the Olympians’ coach, and went 6-4. East Ridge is a 7A school in Florida, meaning Peera will return to the state where he coached prior to moving to Colorado. Here’s our updated list of football coaching changes this offseason.
• Bear Creek has hired David Berghoefer as its boys basketball coach.
• The state softball tournaments will stay at the Aurora Sports Complex this fall.
• Florida is mandating the use of helmets in girls lacrosse. The new rule will be effective in 2015.
• Poudre School District hired Ron Alexander as district athletic director, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
• Former Grand Junction defensive end Austin Berk has left the Colorado State football program after his freshman season. He told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that he needs “some time to get my body back to 100 percent.” Berk has had problems with his hip.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Is 2014 the most athletically-gifted class to graduate from this state in recent years? Or ever?

Well, maybe.

It’s tough to find real perspective when it comes to recruiting, seeing as how real data has only been kept since about 2002 at the earliest. Even then, not many commitments and signings were reported at that time, and even fewer were reporting from sports like lacrosse, volleyball and even baseball.

So while the data from the 2014 class absolutely blows away anything that we’ve been able to dig up, we can’t say how it stacks up to, say, the class of 1995. Still, it’s astounding where this year’s crop of seniors will head.

Consider the following, according to our 2014 recruiting database:

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

• A total of 905 athletes have signed to play their sport(s) in college.
• Of those, 343 will head to Division I programs.
• Baseball features an astounding 45 Division I players in this class. I was able to find data as far back as 2006. The next-highest output of D-I guys from Colorado came in 2008, when the state had 28. This year’s 45 Division I seniors, by the way, came from more than 20 different schools.
• Boys basketball has 12 Division I guys this go-round. That, too, is the most since data was kept, going back to 2002.
• Likewise, girls basketball has 18 Division I players. Again, it is a high-water mark, though I only found reliable data back to 2010.
• Football will send 31 players to D-I FBS schools, which is the most since 2008 (33). Another 16 will head to D-I FCS programs.
• Other sports, like boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse and volleyball were right at or above their average Division I outputs over recent years.

In every instance, these sports are reporting the most college signings across all levels. Now, that is undoubtedly because we’re getting more kids to report their college commitments and signings than ever before. (Additionally, our lists only include athletes who are arriving on campus as scholarship athletes. There are dozens of other walkons headed to colleges.)

Even so, the data backs up that the 2014 class will be one to remember.

[divider]

Short stuff

• Already, the 2015 class is reporting 65 college commitments. Of those, 59 are Division I pledges.
• Valor Christian offensive lineman Isaiah Holland, a senior, had committed to Army to play football, but was recently denied admission “due to a medical issue,” according to 9News. Instead, he has signed with Colorado. “I love this state and I love that I get to be one of the cool Colorado kids that gets to go,” Holland told 9News.
• Another late college switch: Chaparral baseball’s Keenan Eaton tweeted that he will head to Wichita State instead of Vanderbilt. This season, the Shockers featured five Colorado products.
• Arapahoe selected assistant Brad Jansen as its next boys basketball coach. He takes over for Dan Snyder, who was massively successful for the Warriors before stepping away from coaching this offseason. Snyder briefly accepted the job at Grandview before changing his mind. Grandview has since hired Michael Rogers, formerly of George Washington.
• Grand Junction hired Isaac Madison as its boys basketball coach, the school announced on Tuesday. Madison was an assistant for the Tigers for the past 11 years. “We look forward to the leadership that he will bring to our men’s basketball program, and the contributions that he will make to the Tiger coaching staff,” athletic director Ned Pollert wrote in an email.
• Arapahoe’s Tate Schroeder, who won the 5A girls tennis No. 1 singles title, appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd on May 26.
• How epic was last week’s 2A baseball semifinal battle between Rye and Sedgwick County? The two pitchers accounted for a combined 32 strikeouts. Rye’s Trenton Hughes had 17, Sedgwick County’s Chase Dunker finished with 15. Sedwick County won 4-1 in eight innings, but then lost to Resurrection Christian in the title game.
• Reagan Todd’s two-out, walkoff grand slam to beat Mountain Vista in the 5A baseball tournament last weekend is one of the craziest finishes to a game I’ve seen at any level.
• The MLB Draft, set for June 5-7, should be interesting for locals. Thomas Jefferson graduate Kyle Freeland, now pitching at Evansville, is expected to be a top-10 pick, and others like Regis Jesuit’s David Peterson and ThunderRidge’s Brody Westmoreland figure to be selected early. Peterson drew a crowd of scouts while pitching last weekend.
• Dr. James Andrews — who has performed countless Tommy John surgeries — and a colleague are releasing an app which seeks to lower the risk of arm injury to youth baseball players. It will be called Throw Like a Pro, and will suggest guidelines on how to manage pitching — such as number of rest days and maximum number of pitches — based on a player’s age.
• Former Chaparral offensive lineman Shane Callahan will transfer from Auburn to one of the in-state schools, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. The paper cited a desire to play closer to home. Callahan will be a redshirt sophomore.
• Cherry Creek is building a swimming pool. Here’s a pic from AD Jason Wilkins on Twitter.

The lead group was two holes away from finishing at the Class 5A girls golf championship Tuesday when some violent weather rolled through Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton.

First, a nearby lightning strike pulled the golfers off the course. Roughly 10 minutes later, marble-sized hail pounded the area. Check out this comparison to a golf ball:

(Tom Robinson/CHSAANow.com)

Here’s what it looked like from inside the tent where players were gathered:

Following an hour-and-15-minute delay, players returned to the course. The greens were cleared of all hail with blowers and there was no visible damage to the course.

Eventually, Rock Canyon senior Michelle Romano won the tournament in a playoff.

Up until the storm, Raccoon Creek was an absolutely gorgeous setting for the championship:

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

But as it turned out, Tuesday was a mere glimpse of what was to come this week.

Wednesday, a set of fierce storms rolled through the Denver metro area and produced multiple tornadoes, as well as hail and rain. Girls soccer’s 4A and 5A championship matches were scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City — but playing those games seemed increasingly unlikely as the evening drew near.

That’s because the field looked like this around 2:45 p.m.:

(Courtesy Paul Evans)

The playing surface was coated with nearly four inches of hail. Almost immediately, CHSAA assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello and DSGP staff met to determine if either of the games could be played that night. The grounds crew was confident it could clear the field because DSGP has a fancy suction system which whisks moisture away from the field.

But about a half an hour later, the power to the stadium — and that suction system with it — went out. The 4A game was pushed back to 6 p.m., and the grounds crew brought out snowplows to clear the field manually. As that work went on, the 4A game was pushed back to 7 p.m. — and 5A, after some discussion, was moved to 5 p.m. Thursday to avoid a start after 9 p.m.

A half-hour prior to kickoff of the 4A game on Wednesday, the teams came out to warm up on a field wiped free of any hail. Even on field level, the surface looked immaculate. True to their word, the grounds crew had done a great job.

Had the field not been ready, the 4A game was set to move to 1 p.m. or 7 p.m. Thursday. Looking at Thursday’s forecast, however, the 5A game may again be fighting severe weather — so it’s a good thing 4A is in the books.

Here are a few more photos from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday:

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

About 15 miles to the south Wednesday night on the campus of the University of Denver, girls lacrosse’s title game had a relatively quiet evening in comparison. There was slight concern in the second half when lightning struck a few miles away, but it wasn’t close enough to cause a delay and the storm quickly moved out of the area.

Don’t be shocked if severe weather also affects the weekend’s baseball championships.

According to the National Weather Service, thunderstorms are very likely in the Denver metro area Friday and Saturday after 1 p.m. — which could wipe out play in 5A and 4A. All-City Field is hosting 5A in Denver; 4A is at Lakewood’s All-Star Park. Those fields need time to dry out from this week’s moisture, as well.

Likewise, thunderstorms are also likely in Greeley (site of 3A) Friday and Saturday afternoon; and it’s the same story in Pueblo (2A’s host) on Saturday.

[divider]

Short stuff

• Hockey’s state championship game will have to find a new venue next season. The title game and semifinals are set for March 6-7, 2015, but the dates conflicts with the Denver Coliseum, which has hosted the championship the past few seasons. Among possibilities are the Pepsi Center, the University of Denver and the Air Force Academy, as well as other venues.
• Sedgwick County’s Chase Dunker struck out 21 batters in a win over Lutheran during the 2A baseball quarterfinals last weekend. Yes, there are 21 outs in a seven-inning game — but two of those strikeouts reached base on dropped third strikes. Dunker also had two groundouts. He allowed just two hits, and had two walks. Dunker now leads the entire state, regardless of classification, with 129 Ks.
• Grandview’s boys basketball opening has been filled. The school hired former George Washington coach Michael Rogers last week. Rogers led the Patriots to the 5A title game in the 2008-09 season, where they lost to Regis Jesuit. “We look forward to the future of boys’ basketball under the leadership of coach Rogers,” Grandview AD Jamee Ulitzky said in a statement. The Wolves originally hired Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder in April before he changed his mind nine days later to step away from coaching for a bit.
• Eaglecrest has an opening for a boys lacrosse coach. Contact AD Vince Orlando for more info: vorlando@cherrycreekschools.org.
• I spent much of my time at the girls lacrosse championship Wednesday with former Denver Christian boys basketball coach Dick Katte, who volunteers at many CHSAA events. Katte could not be more enthusiastic about the sport, and drew many parallels with basketball. He spent much of the final minute of a tense game hooting and hollering along the rail at the edge of the field. It was neat to see.

Jeffco Stadium’s new videoboard has live video capability, and also displays results and lineups. (Dennis Pleuss)

Over the course of the past year, Jeffco Stadium has undergone a transformation. When the state track meet begins on Thursday, the facility will, in effect, cut the ribbon on a variety of new improvements.

Included: a resurfaced track, a new video scoreboard, a new timing system and a new drainage system.

“We made some real investment into it that’s really going to bring us into the future,” Jeffco executive director of athletics Jim Thyfault said Monday.

“Trust me,” added Ezra Paddock, manager of operations for Jeffco, “this has taken effort from every department in the district.”

A big driving force behind much of the improvements?

“We take seriously the opportunity we have to host the state track meet every year.” Thyfault said. “We feel like our part of that, besides providing a facility, is providing a quality facility.

“Time was rolling around where we needed to resurface the track. We felt if we could upgrade the surface and make it an even better one, then that’s what we’re going to do because we feel the state deserves that.”

The surface was part one to the project, along with the new drainage system. “Our surface was at the end of its lifespan,” Paddock said. The new surface is what’s known as a sandwich system and is used by many colleges and universities.

“It’s state-of-the-art,” Paddock said. “It’s the same thing colleges run on.”

And whereas before Jeffco workers often were reduced to five-gallon buckets to be rid of standing water during larger rainstorms, the new drainage system easily handles a lot of moisture. That was tested early on during last fall’s massive flooding.

Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss)

At the same time of the resurfacing, Jeffco buried all wires that had once surrounded the track.

Next came the new videoboard. The process started last summer when Thyfault was talking with a track coach, who asked about running the timing clock on the scoreboard.

“It just got me to thinking, and I got talking to Ezra about it,” Thyfault said. “Anyway, I ran it by my immediate supervisor here, and he thought it was great idea.”

Eventually, Jeffco secured a board from Daktronics, a national company which provides videoboards for some of the biggest sporting facilities in the world — including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Madison Square Garden and Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“Our job now is to go out and sell some advertising to help offset the funding,” Thyfault said.

The video board was first fired up about a week ago. It has live video capability, and also displays results and lineups.

“It really adds to the experience for our kids,” Paddock said. “It’s just such a big difference. We’ve only had it up for a week, and they enjoy it so much.”

During the state meet, the board will provide live results — delivered by the new timing system, which was the final piece to the project.

The Lynx system is “the same system that they use at the Olympics,” Paddock said, and is wired directly to the new videoboard.

Thyfault said Jeffco is mulling putting new videoboards at its other stadiums — the North Area Athletic Complex, and Trailblazer Stadium — as well.

“It just all depends,” Thyfault said. “We’re going to go out and meet with some businesses and hope to partner up with them, and try and make it a win-win for both of us. If it ends up being a good process, then it could move us into being able to get scoreboards.”

Among other future ideas? Family move nights, using Jeffco Stadium’s new video screen, during the summer.

Thursday will mark the 30th year of the past 32 that Jeffco has hosted the state track meet. It doesn’t look to be going anywhere else anytime soon.

“We love to represent Jeffco when CHSAA comes out and hosts the state meet here,” Paddock said. “We try to make it as first class as it can be.”

TJ grad listed as No. 5 prospect for MLB Draft

Baseball America released its top 100 prospects for the 2014 MLB Draft on Wednesday. Thomas Jefferson grad Kyle Freeland, a junior at the University of Evansville, is No. 5 on that list.

Freeland, a left-handed pitcher, is 9-1 with a 1.75 ERA in 12 starts this season, and has 111 strikeouts to just seven walks. His stock really took off during a breakout summer in the Cape Cod League, where he was an All-Star after leading all players in strikeouts (48 in nine regular season games, and another 10 in a playoff game).

Also making the top 100 is Regis Jesuit senior David Peterson, who broke his fibula just prior to the season but made a quick recovery to return and pitch in mid-April. Peterson is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in 12 innings pitched this season. As a junior, Peterson was 6-3 with a 3.26 ERA.

Peterson is committed to Oregon.

Short stuff

• Valor Christian graduate Wyndham Clark was featured by the Golf Channel on Mother’s Day. Now at Oklahoma State, Clark shared the story of his mother’s battle with breast cancer and how he honors her through his game.
• Kent Denver dedicated a new sports pavilion last night, naming it for longtime football coach and athletic director Scott Yates and his family. The new facility — known as the Yates Pavilion — will house basketball and volleyball, and seat 850 people this fall. Here’s a photo. Coaching icon Dick Katte, a longtime figure at Denver Christian, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, as did a number of former players and coaches. “It is gorgeous,” boys basketball coach Todd Schayes said of the facility. “Now I have to make sure to put a strong basketball product in there next year.”
• Valor Christian swim coach Rob Nasser regularly puts out rankings during the season which essentially comprise the best times around Colorado. His most anticipated rankings come out just prior to the state meet, and are based upon the psych sheets. Well, they came out Wednesday and amount to a projected finish at state. The favorites are Air Academy in 4A and Regis Jesuit in 5A. Find the full rankings at cohsswimanddive.blogspot.com.
• Joe Rausch, largely successful as the boys basketball coach at Sand Creek for the past four seasons, will take over the same position at Pine Creek, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. Rausch was 73-30 at Sand Creek, and led the 4A Scorpions to the Final 4 in March.
• Arapahoe’s Austin Shindoll scored an incredible behind-the-back game-winner in overtime during the 5A boys lacrosse quarterfinals. Check out this photo. There’s also video here; the goal comes right around 1:56.
• If you missed it, here was what Jeffco Stadium looked like on Monday during the snowstorm. Presumably, the new drainage system had no problem with the melt.

(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

In hindsight, how big was Monday’s Rocky Mountain-ThunderRidge baseball game?

Heading into the game, we knew it essentially would be the difference between hosting a 5A district this Saturday because of the way the Wild Card point standings were set up. But we thought the loser would end up as No. 9, or thereabout.

Instead, ThunderRidge dropped all the way to No. 12 the night of the game, and wound up as the No. 11 seed in the 5A tournament. That’s because, in the end, teams Nos. 9-12 were separated be a mere 0.158 points in the final Wild Card standings. So the Lobos will play at home as the No. 7 seed, while ThunderRidge must travel to No. 6 Arvada West — a tougher road for the defending champions.

That district — it’s District 8 — could be among the most entertaining in 5A. The potential title game matchup between T-Ridge and Arvada West is an interesting storyline.

On one hand, you have Arvada West, winner of eight games in a row. I saw the Wildcats in early April during a 9-1 loss to Fairview, and they didn’t look like a team that would host a district. Needless to say, A-West has come a long way since then and is at this point a different team.

On the other, there’s ThunderRidge, the early favorite and a mainstay at No. 1 in CHSAANow.com’s poll for much of the early part of the year. But the Grizzlies had a rough week — three losses in four days — in late April which changed the complexion of their season. So this district is really their chance at redemption, of sorts.

Other interesting storylines in baseballs districts, which are this Saturday:

• How will Chatfield respond to the criticism thrown its way about to the Chargers getting 5A’s No. 1 overall seed?  Seems like a good source of motivation. Chatfield, for what it’s worth, has never won a baseball title, though it has appeared in two championship games.
• What will Montrose do? The Indians are 4A’s No. 1 seed — but the program hasn’t reached a title game since 1959, and its last championship was 1952.
• Either Eaton or Holy Family have played in 3A’s title game for each of the past seven seasons. Will that trend continue? Fittingly, Eaton is 3A’s No. 1 seed; Holy Family is No. 2.
• Which of the non-hosts can emerge from a district? Will there be a, say, No. 23 seed making the Final 8 in any of the classifications? That was Cheyenne Mountain in 4A during the 2011 postseason — those Indians went on to win a title. Last year, Mountain View won 4A as the No. 27.

Spring weather bothers soccer, but no issue for tennis

The NAAC saw its share of weather on Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)

Much of 4A girls soccer’s postseason was interrupted by a major storm moving through parts of the state Wednesday night.

At the NAAC, Wheat Ridge and Discovery Canyon had to suspend the start of overtime roughly an hour and a half because of lightning and golf-ball sized hail. That pushed the start of Green Mountain-Longmont to close to 9 p.m.

Up north, Windsor and Palisade actually had to suspend their game with 32 minutes left in the second half to 11:30 a.m. Thursday. There were reports of softball-sized hail in that area.

All that had our office worried about Thursday’s start to the 5A girls tennis state tournament. Rain was in the forecast, and the area was soaked with an overnight drizzle. It was 45 degrees when players began to arrive.

But the tournament kicked off on time Thursday morning — after workers squeegeed any remaining water off the courts. By 11 a.m., the sun was out and the jackets were off. Such is life in this state.

Update: Alas, the rain did not hold off forever for 5A girls tennis. Some first-round matches were delayed to Friday. 4A was also affected by rain.

St. Clair moves to Rampart

J’on St. Clair has resigned as Cheyenne Mountain’s boys basketball coach, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. He was 57-20 in three seasons, and led the Indians to the 4A final four this past season.

Update: Later Thursday afternoon, Rampart announced it had re-hired St. Clair. The veteran coach headed that program from 2004-10 before leaving to take the Doherty girls job for one season and then eventually landing at Cheyenne Mountain.

In St. Clair’s final season at Rampart (2009-10), the Rams went 23-3 and advanced to the 5A Great 8.

Short stuff

• Girls golf’s regionals started on Monday, and it meant the return of live scoring via a partnership with iWanamaker. Live scores, a hit during the boys postseason in the fall, will also be back for the state meet.
• 2A’s Sedgwick County baseball came up to Greenwood Village to scrimmage 5A’s Cherry Creek last Friday as both teams prepared for the postseason. It’s something Cherry Creek has done in recent years — the Bruins scrimmaged 2A’s Rye last season.
• Denver Public Schools has been planning to field a hockey team next season. Now, that district program has a home: Denver East. The Angels will play in the Peak Conference, essentially replacing Bishop Machebeuf, which dropped its program.
• Grandview’s boys basketball job, briefly accepted by Arapahoe’s Dan Snyder before he stepped away from coaching, has been reposted. Candidates should apply through the Cherry Creek School District website.
• A rule change for boys and girls basketball, beginning next season: During free-throw attempts, players in marked lane spaces can move into the lane once the shooter releases the ball. Previously, players couldn’t move into the lane until the ball hit the backboard or the rim.
• Erie hired Bill Giampietro as its girls basketball coach, replacing Noel Potter, who resigned. Giampietro is an alum, and has been an assistant there. The school had 16 applicants for the job. “He is dedicated to our school and basketball program,” athletic director Richie Wildenhaus said. “Those are just some of the factors that set him apart from the rest of the field.  Bill is a great motivator of young people, and his high energy and positive approach will be a great fit for our program.”
• Dayspring Christian Academy is looking for a boys basketball coach, as well as a girls basketball assistant. Info is available via athletic director Harley Lowe: hlowe@dayspringeagles.org.
• Former Rampart football coach JJ Owens has landed a job at Dallas’ Woodrow Wilson High School. Owens, who resigned in November, will teach and be an assistant for the Wildcats, who are coming off a 10-2 year in which they won Texas’ 4A Region II District 12. The team returns eight players on both offense and defense. Sounds like a great situation for one of the better guys in the coaching ranks.
• The Liberty Bell, annually one of the state’s top track meets, was April 26. Here’s a recap from heritageagles.com.

Green Mountain’s Lindsey Hendon set the state record with her 40th career shutout on Tuesday. (Carl Auer, MaxPreps)

Green Mountain goalkeeper Lindsey Hendon has made 221 saves in her career. She carries a 0.631 goals-against average, and has 55 wins for the Rams. But most impressive is what happened Tuesday.

Hendon.

Hendon, a senior, set the Colorado record with her 40th career shutout during a 10-0 win over Colorado Springs Christian on Tuesday.

CHSAA does not maintain soccer records, but the National Soccer Coaches Association of America has extensive data. According to that record book, Hendon broke the mark of 39 career shutouts set by Overland’s Lisa Griffin after the 1988-89 season.

Ten of Hendon’s 40 shutouts have come this season. She notched 11 as a junior, 10 as a sophomore and nine as a freshman.

Hendon, an Iowa State recruit, is now 55-6-6 in net.

Green Mountain is 12-1-1 this season in Class 4A.

Cherry Creek boys lacrosse in driver’s seat

Cherry Creek boys lacrosse had probably its biggest win of the season on Tuesday night — and what a time to have it.

The second-ranked Bruins beat No. 1 Regis Jesuit 10-7 and are now 10-0 against in-state competition.

Cherry Creek has finished runner-up each of the last two seasons. Should they beat Kent Denver in the Friday’s season finale, it seems very likely that the Bruins end up as the No. 1 seed of the Class 5A field. In that scenario, I think Regis — 12-1 against in-state teams — would still wind up as the No. 2 seed.

Other high seeds should include Mountain Vista, Kent Denver and Colorado Academy.

Boykins talks new Douglas County job

New Douglas County boys basketball coach Earl Boykins, the former Denver Nugget, is a weekly guest on 104.3 The Fan. Tuesday, he talked about his new job.

“I’ve always wanted to teach young people basketball,” he said. “That’s always been a desire of mine and something I wanted to do. That’s why I started Boykins Basketball Academy. While doing the Academy, I decided I should take it to the next level, and the next level would be high school.

“It’s been a process that I’m enjoying and I look forward to the next basketball season.”

Douglas County went 3-20 last season, and actually hasn’t had a winning season since 2007-08. That’s also the last time the Huskies made the state tournament. Over the past six seasons, the Huskies are 29-110.

“I believe in Earl, I’ve seen him coach in person,” said Alfred Williams, co-host on 104.3. “I believe the guy’s going to be a great coach. Can’t wait to see it all come together.”

Arapahoe girls soccer turns it around

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

Arapahoe’s girls soccer team finished the regular season 11-3-1 and won the Centennial League by virtue of a win over Cherry Creek on April 15.

It was quite a one-season turnaround for the Warriors, who went 3-11-0 a year ago and lost seven of their final eight games.

Though, these guys didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. Arapahoe was 14-3-0 in 2012, and made the 5A title game in 2010.

Short stuff

• In an abrupt change, Dan Snyder will not become Grandview’s new boys basketball coach. The longtime Arapahoe coach decided instead “to step away from high school coaching for awhile,” according to the Aurora Sentinel.
• Prairie View baseball senior Caleb Dameron now has 22 steals this season with three games yet to play. That is believed to be a big-school state record.
• Sedgwick County’s Chase Dunker threw his third no-hitter of the season on Saturday. This time, he struck out 16. Earlier this season, Dunker struck out 19 of the 21 batters he faced while tossing a perfect game.
• County Line remained unranked in the final 2A baseball poll of the regular season, but the Rivals — it’s a co-op between Wiley and McClave — are now 13-3, including a double-header sweep of then-No. 1 Swink on Saturday.
• Grand Junction boys basketball coach Dutch Johnson resigned to become an assistant at Colorado Mesa next season, according to this tweet.
• Longmont volleyball coach Holli Stetson has resigned, according to BoCoPreps.com, following a difficult season during which she endured the death of her father and had a variety of health issues.
• Spring championship season around the corner, and most of the events will be carried on the NFHS Network. The Network recently released an official app — download it here.
• Ponderosa’s booster club tweeted out new jerseys the team will wear next season under first-year coach Jaron Cohen. Here’s away, and home.
• Brandon Bailey, a 2013 graduate of Broomfield, was named the West Coast Conference’s baseball player of the week on Monday. He pitched a complete-game win over Saint Mary’s last Saturday, allowing just one earned run on eight hits. He also struck out a career-high seven batters. Bailey, who didn’t pitch his senior season because of an arm injury, is now 4-5 with a 3.24 ERA for the Bulldogs as a freshman.
• Greeley West is looking for boys and girls basketball coaches. Apply here.

(Pam Wagner)

BOULDER — Fairview’s baseball team made such quick work of Greeley West in a win last Saturday — it took 57 minutes — that the Knights held batting practice afterward.

The win was a 10-0 affair in five innings, blown open by an eight-run fourth inning which included Jeff Clarke’s home run over the scoreboard in left field. Eight of their nine players recorded at least one hit, and seven had at least one RBI.

Sitting in their dugout after the game, a few players approached coach Rick Harig and asked if they could take batting practice. They didn’t feel like they’d been on the field long enough. Harig shrugged: “Sure, why not.”

So the Knights took hacks for another hour. Not that they really needed the practice. These guys can hit.

Saturday’s game was the seventh in a row in which Fairview’s lineup had produced double-digit runs, and Tuesday’s 15-0 win over Poudre made it eight straight.

(Pam Wagner)

Fairview now has four players with at least four home runs — Clarke, Cam Frazier and Walker Harris — and its 18 homers as a team is third-best in the state among all classifications.

Clarke is hitting .579 with 33 RBIs, Frazier is at .526 with 20 RBIs and Jacob Thoning is hitting .500 with 17 RBIs. No one who sees regular at-bats is hitting below .333. And this is a team which lost designated hitter Steve D’Epagnier to a torn labrum after five games.

The Knights lead Class 5A in team batting average (.447), slugging percentage (.698), RBIs (152) and runs (167).

For context, ThunderRidge led 5A in batting average and runs scored en route to the championship last season. Rocky Mountain, the runner-up, led 5A in RBIs, and was second in runs.

More context: 2012 champion Cherry Creek led 5A in RBIs and runs, and was second in home runs. 2011 champ Regis Jesuit led 5A in runs, home runs and RBIs.

But ThunderRidge, Cherry Creek and Regis also had great pitching staffs. In fact, Cherry Creek’s team led 5A with a 1.75 ERA in 2012. And pitching is what separates teams in the postseason, where seemingly everyone can hit.

Fairview’s arms have matured this season and become more consistent compared to prior years. As a staff, the Knights have a 2.23 ERA, which is third-best in 5A at this point.

Senior Ryan Kokora carries a 1.18 ERA in 29 2/3 innings, and is now 6-0. He started (and won) Fairview’s biggest win of the season, a 10-7 victory at Rocky Mountain on April 10. Kokora gave up seven runs that day, five earned, but hasn’t allowed anything else in any of his other appearances. In fact, outside of the Rocky Mountain game — in which he pitched well, make no mistake — Kokora has allowed just eight hits.

But one pitcher can’t carry a team through the postseason.

(Pam Wagner)

Fortunately for Fairview, the Knights have what amounts to two aces. Ryan Madden, a junior, is 6-1 with a 3.37 ERA and 31 strikeouts against just five walks in 35 1/3 innings.

Mike Vlasity is the team’s closer with a 0.88 ERA, and has 21 strikeouts to two walks in 16 innings.

Johnny Feauto or Jacob Kearney will likely be Fairview’s third starter should they need one in the postseason. Neither have been needed since early April.

All of them have flourished under the guidance of senior catcher Cannon Casey, who calls pitches all game, and has since he was a sophomore.

It’s all amounted to this: Fairview is unbeaten in Colorado so far this season (11-0), with the lone loss coming over spring break in Arizona. The Knights already have 14 wins, which is the most since going 16-5 during the 2008-09 season. That is also the last time they won a postseason game. Fairview beat Arvada West in the first round of districts that season, but then lost to Grandview in the second round.

As far as recent history goes, the Knights lost in the first round of districts in 2013 and 2010, and didn’t even make the postseason in 2012 or 2011. In fact, Fairview’s last trip to the Final 8 came during the 2007 season, when it went 1-2.

So this is quite a turnaround. As of Thursday, Fairview is No. 2 in CHSAANow.com’s 5A baseball poll and No. 3 in the wild card points standings.

The school made a surprise trip to football’s championship game in the fall. Is its baseball program next?

Short stuff

• Eaton hired Zac Lemon to be its next football coach, according to Colorado Preps, filling one of the bigger jobs in 2A. Lemon had been at 1A Hotchkiss, where he was 60-16-1 in seven seasons. Here’s our coaching changes tracker.
• In recent months, Regis Jesuit’s 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman Tim Lynott has hauled in the scholarship offers. Thursday, the 2015 grad was offered by Wyoming. That followed an offer from Utah State on Monday. He’s now up to 12 total, and counts Miami, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona State and Kansas State among his offers. CU and CSU have both offered, as well.
• He’s a 2016 graduate, but Legacy quarterback Matt Lynch committed to Colorado State during the Rams’ spring game this past Saturday, according to BoCoPreps.com. “It did shock me a little bit,” Lynch told BoCoPreps of committing early.
• Eaglecrest picked Tom Brennan as its girls basketball coach. He was an assistant at the school this past season, and was also on the staff at ThunderRidge when it won 5A titles from 2003-05. “We are confident coach Brennan can take this program to a different level of success moving forward while also providing long term stability and consistently high expectations year in and year out,” Eaglecrest AD Vince Orlando said in a statement. In addition, the school hired Rhonda Appleton-Webb as an assistant.
• Chatfield cracked MaxPreps’ top 50 national baseball rankings on Monday. Though, that will likely change after the No. 1 Chargers lost to No. 3 Columbine on Wednesday.
• Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway went 4-for-4 with three home runs and nine RBIs in a win over Standley Lake last Saturday.
• Dakota Ridge golfer Sydney Merchant set the course record at The Meadows Golf Course on Monday when she shot a 63. Just another golfer to watch for in the loaded 5A field.
• The Colorado 7 League added an eighth team during the 2014-16 realignment, but will keep its name.
• If you missed it, Pueblo East hired longtime assistant Mike Massaro as its boys basketball coach.
• This is neat, via Aaron Matas: The Xcel Energy Center, home to the Minnesota Wild, has high school hockey jerseys adorning its walls.
• Rule change for swimming: In the backstroke, “any part of the swimmer’s body must be on or above the water at the finish.” This will take effect in the 2014-15 season. Previously, the swimmer could be underwater.

(Courtesy Dunker family)

Trying to hit Chase Dunker? Good luck.

The Sedgwick County senior threw his second no-hitter of the season on Thursday, this one a perfect game against Holyoke in which he struck out 19 batters in a seven-inning game. Two balls were put into play — one a groundout to second, another a groundout to third. He threw just 82 pitches.

He was also 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Dunker, 5-foot-9 and 147 pounds, is now 5-0 with 77 strikeouts against just four walks. In fact, Dunker has faced 99 batters this season, meaning he’s striking them out more than three-fourths of the time.

Dunker hasn’t allowed an earned run in 28 2/3 innings so far this season, and has given up just two total runs — and four hits. He also no-hit Wray on April 5, striking out 14 of the 16 batters he faced that game and throwing only 56 pitches.

Sedgwick County is now 11-1, and ranked No. 6 in CHSAANow.com’s latest 2A poll.

In his career, Dunker is now 17-3 with a 1.01 ERA. He hasn’t allowed an earned run since last May.

Dunker has signed with Northeastern Junior Collge in Sterling.

Short stuff

• Regis Jesuit, already likely to move into Class 5A baseball’s No. 1 spot next Monday following ThunderRidge’s loss to Mountain Vista, got a big piece back Thursday when left-handed pitcher David Peterson returned to the mound in an 8-1 win over Ponderosa. He threw just one inning. Peterson, an Oregon recruit, fractured his right fibula before the season and was originally expected to miss the entire season. “Great to get back on the mound last night for the first time. Can’t thank my team enough for being the most supportive guys through all this,” he tweeted. Regis, meanwhile, has won eight-straight games.
• On its Facebook page, Castle View announced it has hired Russ McKinstry as boys basketball coach. The move could shake up the Continental League a bit, where Castle View hasn’t been much of a contender in recent years. The SaberCats are just 29-62 since the 2010-11 season, including 9-32 in the Continental. They haven’t ever finished higher than eighth in the league. McKinstry led Lewis-Palmer to back-to-back 4A titles in 2012 — that team included CU’s Josh Scott — and 2013, but resigned last summer. “I’ve always felt like there was a very high ceiling for potential growth in Castle View’s boys basketball program,” McKinstry told the Facebook page.
• Another big boys basketball coaching move: Douglas County tabbed former Nugget Earl Boykins, according to Basketball Colorado. Boykins played in Denver from 2003-07, and played in the NBA for 16 seasons.
• MaxPreps’ computer rankings have made their spring debut in many sports. Included are baseball, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse. Girls soccer‘s rankings were already up and running. Because the computer rankings uses a complex algorithm, a certain number of games are needed before the data is unveiled.

(Pam Wagner)

In mid-February, Chatfield sent out a release announcing the hire of baseball coach Brandon Stone.

Stone was up against it. Chatfield’s first game was exactly 30 days away.

Well, Stone’s Chargers are now 11-0, and sit atop Class 5A baseball’s Wild Card points by a sizable margin. Through the weekend’s games, Chatfield has 114.091 points; second-place Regis Jesuit is at 111.364, third-place ThunderRidge has 109.000.

We’re only at the midpoint of the 2014 season, but Chatfield is just two wins away from matching its entire total from all of last season, when the Chargers went 13-10.

Still, that record is somewhat deceiving. Chatfield cruised through the district round to reach the final eight last year (where they went 0-2). Now, they’re carrying the momentum on through to this spring.

Leading the way has been junior Kyle Winkler, who is batting .559 with a team-high 18 RBIs, five doubles and a home run. It’s a dangerous lineup, which features seven players hitting .390 or above, and five kids with double-digit RBIs. The latter group doesn’t even include Blake Moore, who has three home runs.

The staff, led by a trio of seniors, has been good, too. Nick Chamberlain has a 1.33 ERA in a team-high 21 innings pitched. Patrick Barder carries a 2.58 ERA in 19 innings, while Travis Schnoor is at 3.50 in 12 innings.

Chatfield hasn’t won a game in the final eight since 2008. Does that change this year?

Pomona OL commits to CU

Pomona senior-to-be Dillon Middlemiss committed to the University of Colorado on Saturday.

It had apparently been a goal of his since middle school. From his Twitter account:

Throwback to middle school. I set a goal and achieved it. Today I verbally committed to CU #gobuffs #DungeonFamily pic.twitter.com/BB43Ad3wh2

— Dillon Middlemiss (@big__d75) April 12, 2014

He’s the third local football player from the class of 2015 to commit publicly thus far. Pine Creek defensive back Avery Anderson and Valor Christian defensive back Eric Lee have both pledged to Nebraska.

Middlemiss is 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds.

Valor Christian football’s national schedule

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

Next season, Valor Christian football will play against East High School out of Salt Lake City, Utah, according to NationalHSFootball.com.

East went 13-1 last season, with the lone loss coming in the Class 4A championship game. The Leopards feature senior-to-be Christian Folau, a linebacker who has committed to Stanford.

The two teams will play on Sept. 5 at Valor.

It is the third out-of-state team the Eagles will play next season. They’ll open up at Bonneville, Idaho, on Aug. 22 (Zero Week), before returning home to play Pomona on Aug. 29. The East game is the following week, and then Valor — a five-time defending champion across classes 5A, 4A and 3A — hosts Chandler (Ariz.) on Sept. 12.

Denver East’s Carey gets his own day

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Rep. Angela Williams proclaimed April 10 “Rudy Carey Day” for the Denver East coach.

Here’s a picture our Tom Robinson snapped at the announcement last week:

(Tom Robinson/CHSAANow.com)

Short stuff:

• Denver East guard Dom Collier was an honorable mention All-American pick by MaxPreps.
• On a related note, Collier’s Angels finished at No. 10 in MaxPreps’ national rankings. It’s the highest finish for a boys team in this state since the ranking started in 2005-06.
• Regis Jesuit’s girls basketball team finished at No. 11 in those same rankings. It, too, is the highest finish ever for a girls team from Colorado. That ranking started in 2005-06, as well.
• Cherry Creek baseball coach Marc Johnson won the 700th game of his career on Wednesday. Friday, the Bruins’ Brian Perry won his 200th as boys lacrosse coach.
• Here’s a quick roundup of recent football coaching hires. Included: Rod Dobbs at Chaparral, Jeff Krumlauf at Doherty, Brian Tinker at Fossil Ridge and Craig Ball at Gilpin County. As always, here’s our football coaching changes tracker.
• Manitou Springs may be the next to fill its vacancy, according to our Dan Mohrmann. The school interviewed candidates on Friday.
• April’s Legislative Council meeting is Thursday. This post will take you through the ins and outs of what will be voted on and discussed. Among the topics are a potential 5A football seeding committee. Find the full agenda, including PDFs of all proposals, here.
• Here’s an interesting take on youth sports from Changing The Game Project, where they examine “an adult driven, hyper competitive race to the top in both academics and athletics that serves the needs of the adults, but rarely the kids.” This culture, they argue, “produces bitter athletes who get hurt, burnout, and quit sports altogether.”

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

This season’s 5A basketball Selection Show is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at the WMDC Building just behind the Red Lion Hotel in Aurora.

The Selection Show will reveal the 5A girls and boys tournament brackets on a team-by-team and region-by-region basis. The room can accommodate 150 people, though the Selection Show will also be shown on the NFHS Network. Additionally, the brackets will be concurrently unveiled on CHSAANow.com.

Coaches, players and fans are welcome to attend the event.

The 4A brackets will be posted immediately following this event, which should end around 5 p.m.

Wheat Ridge announces Reardon as new coach

In a release sent over email on Tuesday, Wheat Ridge officially announced that former Poudre coach Dan Reardon will head the Farmers’ football program.

Reardon, 5-14 over the past two seasons at Poudre, has a long history of coaching. Included was a seven-year stint at Ursuline High School in Ohio, where he was 68-26 and won three state championships. From 2007-10, Reardon’s teams went 53-6. This past year, Ursuline, a private catholic school, had an enrollment of 507 kids.

“Dan Reardon is a man of quality character and quality football knowledge and experience,” Wheat Ridge said in a statement. “He is an excellent role model that will help develop character and leadership with our students and athletes.  He will be an asset to Wheat Ridge High School.”

Reardon replaces Reid Kahl, who had a very successful nine seasons at the school, including 4A championships in 2006 and 2008 and a runner-up finish in 2010. Kahl was 85-24.

Football adds targeting rule

Dangerous hits will be further penalized in high school football.

The NFHS last week added a targeting rule, meaning hits that take “aim and (intiate) contact to an opponent above the shoulders with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulders,” will be penalized by a 15-yard penalty.

The change was made “in an effort to reduce contact above the shoulders and lessen the risk of injury,” according to a release from the NFHS.

The NFHS rules committee also added the following definition of a defenseless player: “A defenseless player is a player who, because of his physical position and focus of concentration, is especially vulnerable to injury.”

Additionally, the committee limited the number of players that can line up on each side of the kicker during a kickoff, which should help avoid injury — especially in onside kick situations.

Short stuff

• Awards from this past weekend’s state swim meets: Ralston Valley’s Maddie Myers was named 5A swimmer of the year; Douglas County/Castle View’s Kaitlin Costello was named diver of the year; Regis Jesuit’s Nick Frasersmith was name swim coach of the year; Regis Jesuit’s Kim Hagger was named dive coach of the year. In 4A, Niwot’s Marjorie Driscoll was named swimmer of the year; St. Mary’s Academy’s Alexa Beckwith was named diver of the year; Manitou Springs’ Roy Chaney was named swim coach of the year; St. Mary’s Academy’s Lisa Kafka was named dive coach of the year.
• A slight rule change in boys and girls soccer requires a goalkeeper to leave the field when they are injured and the referee has stopped the clock. Previously, an injured player in the field was required to leave when injured and the referee had stopped the clock, but goalkeepers were not.
• Jefferson County has started a new Facebook page encouraging good sportsmanship.