Jeffco Preps With Pleuss is a monthly roundup of Jeffco prep highlights hosted by Dennis Pleuss, Jeffco Public Schools’ sports information director. The Season C sports wrapped up with Ralston Valley, Columbine and Chatfield girls volleyball squads all advancing to the Class 5A state tournament held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. D’Evelyn’s girls soccer team got off to a good start in the deep Class 4A Jeffco League with a victory over Standley Lake at Lakewood Memorial Field. Golden’s girls lacrosse, along with Columbine and Green Mountain boys lacrosse team pulled off victories at Trailblazer Stadium as the extended Spring 2021 season got underway. Golden baseball coach Jackie McBroom grabbed his 100th career coaching victory and Chatfield baseball showed why the Chargers are a favorite to contend for the 5A state title later this June.

The 2021 all-state field hockey team is created by the field hockey league and the sport’s coaches.

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Player of the year: Tallulah Fuhs, Cherry Creek

Coach of the year: Spencer Wagner, Regis Jesuit

Honorable mention:

• Elise Euler, Grandview, Senior
• Jane Goldman, M/D, Denver East, Sophomore
• Hannah Hermann, D, Palmer Ridge, Junior
• Megan Jackson, G, Dakota Ridge, Senior
• Lily Kim, Kent Denver, Senior
• Betsy Little, Dakota Ridge, Senior
• Zoe Martin, F, Colorado Academy, Freshman
• Lucy Munro, M, Mountain Vista, Senior
• Maddy Riley, F, Mountain Vista, Senior
• McKenna Riley, D, Mountain Vista, Senior
• Maya Rutherford, D/M, Colorado Academy, Senior
• Samantha Shoflick, F/M, Cherry Creek, Senior

The Season C all-state boys soccer teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These team were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of coaches.

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Class 5A

(Tim Bourke/TimBourke.com)

Player of the year: Sebastien Mazur, Fairview

Coach of the year: Eric Schuler, Fairview

Honorable mention:

• Alam Bushara, Eaglecrest, Senior
• Eric Cerna, FORW, Rangeview, Senior
• Tyler Egan, D, Valor Christian, Senior
• Andy Galvan, Adams City, Senior
• Cameron Gerber, MF, Boulder, Sophomore
• Jackson Isaacs, FORW/STRK, Pine Creek, Senior
• Domyniko Jordan, FORW, Rampart, Senior
• Komil Khatamov, STRK/FORW/MF, Overland, Senior
• Darwin Leiva, MF, Aurora Central, Junior
• Mason Louth, MF, Valor Christian, Junior
• Jake Milanski, Fairview, Junior
• Aiden Mott, Mountain Vista, Junior
• Nash Mullen, Legend, Senior
• Joe Murtagh, D/MF/FORW, Skyline, Senior
• Milas Norwood, MF, Liberty, Junior
• Karl Pankratz, D, Arvada West, Senior
• Collin Pearson, GK, Lakewood, Senior
• David Pousma, D, Rock Canyon, Senior
• Shandelle Quintanilla, Hinkley, Senior
• Kevin Ramirez, MF, Horizon, Senior
• John Rosa, D, Silver Creek, Senior
• Dante Russo-Delee, FORW/MF, Poudre, Senior
• Tanner Scarth, D, Regis Jesuit, Senior
• Evans Sims, GK, Boulder, Junior
• Landon Sutterby, Cherokee Trail, Junior
• Jake Swan, Rocky Mountain, Senior
• Peyton Voelker, Fossil Ridge, Senior
• Carter Watson, GK, Monarch, Senior

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Class 4A

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Player of the year: John Burnett, Windsor

Coach of the year: Philip Weiser, Windsor

Honorable mention:

• Alejandro Arellano, MF/HB, Centaurus, Sophomore
• Jonathan Baylon, D’Evelyn, Senior
• Evan Berg, Golden, Senior
• Quincy Cooling, STRK/MF, Montrose, Sophomore
• Cole Dempsey, D, Mullen, Senior
• Joseph Fernandez, D, Battle Mountain, Junior
• Ismael Flores, STRK, Coronado, Junior
• Brody Foote, D, Mead, Sophomore
• Cully Freeman, D/MF, Evergreen, Senior
• Justin Garces, MF/FORW, Glenwood Springs, Senior
• Max Garfield, Northfield, Junior
• Javi Gonzalez, GK, Regis Groff, Senior
• Jack Hanson, FORW, Cheyenne Mountain, Senior
• Carter Kruse, D, Niwot, Senior
• Patrick Maxwell, GK, Severance, Sophomore
• Wade McWhorter, Thompson Valley, Junior
• Matthew Mondragon, FORW, Regis Groff, Senior
• Angel Navarro, MF, Mesa Ridge, Senior
• Blake Nemeth, D, Erie, Senior
• Isaac Perez, MF, Greeley West, Senior
• Alexis Ricalday, Fort Morgan, Senior
• Kai Rubin, STRK/MF, Loveland, Junior
• Emmanuel Sanchez, Harrison, Freshman
• Jace Sandler, FORW, Wheat Ridge, Senior
• Collin Sheehan, D, Pueblo West, Junior
• Brandon Shull, GK, Golden, Senior
• Kyle Smith, Canon City, Senior
• Anderso Sugia, MF/FORW/D, Palmer, Sophomore
• Connor Taylor, GK, Longmont, Senior
• Tucker Terlizzi, Palmer Ridge, Senior
• Nate Van Keulen, FORW, Air Academy, Senior
• Devon Whiting, The Classical Academy, Senior
• Alejandro Zarate, STRK, Northridge, Senior

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Class 3A

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

Player of the year: Nick Maffei, Colorado Academy

Coach of the year: Gabe Bernstein, Colorado Academy

Honorable mention:

• Quinn Conger, D, St. Mary’s, Senior
• Axel Espinoza, MF/FORW, KIPP Denver Collegiate, Senior
• Oscar Estrada, DSST: Conservatory Green, Freshman
• Max Ferguson, D, Salida, Senior
• Jesus Fernandez, SWEP, Lamar, Senior
• Gustavo Galaviz, FORW/MF, Middle Park, Senior
• Jared Garcia, Strive Prep – Smart Academy, Senior
• Jair Hernandez, James Irwin, Senior
• Justin Kleen, FORW, Liberty Common, Senior
• Sebastian Kohlhofer, Vail Mountain, Junior
• Sean Lowe, MF, Manitou Springs, Junior
• Andy Lupercio, FB/MF/STRK, Arrupe Jesuit, Senior
• Ian MacKay, Colorado Springs Christian, Senior
• Sean Maulhardt, MF/HB, Delta, Senior
• Izaak Menindez, /D, Eagle Ridge Academy, Junior
• Aidan O’Donnell, Pagosa Springs, Senior
• Connor Phillips, D/MF, Frontier Academy, Junior
• Josefat Rodriguez Duran, STRK/MF, Manual, Freshman
• Alejandro Salas, Atlas Preparatory School, Senior
• Joshua Salehi, MF, Liberty Common, Junior
• Sofonias Semie, STRK/FORW, DSST: Green Valley Ranch, Junior
• Omar Sierra, STRK/SWEP, KIPP Denver Collegiate, Senior
• Julio Sixtos, FORW, Fort Lupton, Senior
• Hayden Tallmadge, D, Montezuma-Cortez, Senior
• Garret Thom, Lutheran, Senior
• Isaiah Thomas, FORW/FB, Manitou Springs, Senior

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Class 2A

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Player of the year: Gabi Marmolejo, Crested Butte

Coach of the year: Than Acuff, Crested Butte

Honorable mention:

• Jaxon Borchardt, Rocky Mountain Lutheran, Senior
• Luciano Camerena, MF/FORW, The Vanguard School, Sophomore
• Gio Garcia, MF, Ellicott, Junior
• Grayson Gresham, D, Colorado Springs School, Junior
• Adani Hassan, Lotus School For Excellence, Junior
• Noah Martin, Front Range Christian, Sophomore
• Hall Matthews, D, Heritage Christian, Junior
• Samuel Ross, Evangelical Christian, Sophomore
• William Shade, Rocky Mountain Lutheran, Junior
• Gabe Skur, MF/FORW, The Vanguard School, Senior
• Hugh Sperber, D/FORW, Fountain Valley, Sophomore
• Jayden Taylor, MF, Heritage Christian, Sophomore

(Scott Gerrard)

The last year of high school athletics has been a mixed bag of emotions. Seasons were postponed and the calendars were adjust as necessary as administrators and coaches were tasked with trudging the waters of an unprecedented global catastrophe.

But kids are resilient and a lot of the athletes around the state took the chance to expand their competitive nature and participate in as many sports as possible.

Strasburg’s Garrett Gerrard was one of them. The onslaught of COVID-19 gave Gerrard the opportunity to compete in new situations and gave him a chance to contribute to high school athletics in a way that is dear to his heart, all after he had been diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.

Gerrard’s mother passed away when he was just two years old, but he’s known his entire life that that she a had a big passion for helping those with special needs. She was involved in the Special Olympics when their family lived in Hawaii. That desire appeared to be hereditary as Gerrard jumped at the chance to help the Strasburg unified bowling team when the season began earlier this year.

“It wasn’t something I was planning on doing from the start,” Gerrard said. “I was planning on taking the chance to just lift weights after school. But from prior experience that I had with special needs children, I just thought back to that and realized it was something I wanted to do.”

His prior experience was working with a special needs baseball camp. He found immense pride in helping the kids find joy in the game and realized it was an experience that he wanted to continue when the opportunity to compete with the unified bowling team.

And he was naturally going to compete wherever he could. He was facing a personal challenge through it all as he got his diabetes diagnosis in his junior rear, right when the pandemic was starting to hit the United States.

“It was in February, right after basketball,” he said. “I didn’t want being a diabetic to be an excuse to not do anything.”

So he powered on and competed in five sports throughout the year.

(Scott Gerrard)

When football was initially pushed back to Season C in August, Gerrard found himself getting recruited to pick up the golf clubs and join the team on the links.

“Because I didn’t have football, it was my first and only chance to play high school golf,” he said. “I took it and I ended up competing at regionals.”

He didn’t quite qualify for the Class 3A state tournament at Dos Rios in Gunnison, but as luck would have it, the timing worked out well. At the time, COVID numbers had dipped and the CHSAA staff advocated for football to be moved back to the fall.

Gerrard jumped back onto the gridiron and was there when Strasburg advanced to the 1A title game against Limon. From there he went out for basketball. Strasburg made it to the 3A state tournament, but lost to Faith Christian in the first round.

He helped the unified bowling team advance to regionals and then as the weather got (somewhat) better, he was out for the baseball team. He plans on sticking with baseball through the duration of the spring, despite graduating from Strasburg earlier this month.

“It’d be hard to throw away an opportunity at my last chance to play a sport that I’ve played since I was four years old,” Garrett said. “I wanted to embrace my final chance to play one of the sports that I love.”

That’s the epitome of his high school experience his senior year. Despite the challenges thrown his way from COVID, he was there every step of the way for his school and his teammates. And he’ll have a story to tell years down the road when recollecting his high school experience.

“It’ll be a pretty big one,” Garrett said. “One, for having played five sports in one year and also for making it through a pandemic where we weren’t in school every day. I wasn’t able to build that camaraderie with my teammates when I wasn’t sitting in the classroom with them.”

But the kids all did okay. And Garrett has a senior year experience that he’ll never forget.

(Scott Gerrard)

On May 15, 2021, the Far Northeast football team beat Boulder in the Season C state championship game at CSU-Pueblo’s Thunderbowl to capture the program’s first title. Filmmaker David Parfitt captured the action.

Brad Cochi

The Season C all-state gymnastics teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These teams were created based upon results at the state meet. The following criteria was used:

• Athletes who placed in the top four of an event were named to the first team.
• Athletes who placed fifth-eighth of an event were named to the second team.
• The athletes who won all-around championships in their classification were named gymnast of the year.
• Coaches who led their teams teams to championships were named coaches of the year.

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Class 5A

Gymnast of the year: Mattea Dolan, Overland

Coach of the year: Lisa Sparrow, Overland

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Class 4A

Gymnast of the year: Mia Curry, Niwot

Coach of the year: Stacey Folmar, Elizabeth

THORNTON — Complete results from the Season C unified bowling state championships.

Season C was a campaign unlike any other and the unusual championship season was as memorable as ever. Champions were crowned in field hockey, football, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball. Here’s a recap of how all the Season C championships went.

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Field Hockey

(Brad Cochi)

• • Regis Jesuit tops Cherry Creek in 2OT to claim title
  • Photos from the state championship game
  • State tournament bracket
  • Complete playoff coverage at the field hockey page

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Football

(Brad Cochi)

• 5A: Anderson does it all as Far Northeast beats Boulder for state title | Bracket | Photos
• 4A: Thomas Jefferson comes back to beat Gateway for title | Bracket | Photos
• 3A: Rifle erases the clock to beat TCA for state title | Bracket | Photos
• 2A: With torn ACL, Caleb Allen leads Manitou Springs over Flatirons Academy | Bracket | Photos
• 8-man: Hoehne builds big lead, tops John Mall for title | Bracket
• Complete playoff coverage at the football page

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Gymnastics

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

• Overland claims first 5A title since 2014 | Photos
• Elizabeth claims third 4A team title in four years | Photos
• Overland’s Dolan shines to claim 5A all-around title
• Niwot’s Curry repeats as 4A all-around champion | Photos
• Complete results from the state championships
• Complete playoff coverage on the volleyball page

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Boys Soccer

(Brad Cochi)

• 5A: Mazur’s deep strike gives Fairview first state title | Photos
• 4A: Windsor caps undefeated season with state championship | Photos
• 3A: Colorado Academy tops Frontier Academy to win fifth title | Photos
• 2A: Late goal gives Crested Butte second title in three seasons | Photos
• Complete playoff coverage on the boys soccer page

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Unified Bowling

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

• History made as Pueblo East crowned CHSAA’s first Unified Bowling champion
• Team results from the state championships

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Girls Volleyball

(Brad Cochi)

• 5A: Rampart completes standout season with first-ever championship | Bracket | Photos
• 4A: Palmer Ridge tops Mead for program’s first title | Bracket | Photos
• 3A: Eaton claims seventh title in the past decade | Bracket | Photos
• 2A: Wiggins claims first championship in program history | Bracket | Photos
• 1A: Merino roars back to claim first title since 2001 | Bracket | Photos
• Complete playoff coverage at the girls volleyball page

(Brad Cochi)

PUEBLO — Tony Lindsay Sr. can’t help but smile when he talks about community and family. To him, those make up the foundation of a solid football program. And he wanted to display that in his first championship game as the coach at Far Northeast.

His family was there. His sons followed from Denver South, wanting to partake in the task of rebuilding the school formerly known as Montbello.

“I told my sons that they could stay there,” Lindsay said. “One of them could get the head coaching job there.”

But they wanted to follow dad and do something special.

On May 15, 2021 they got to do just that. The Far Northeast Warriors claimed their program’s first football title with a 34-0 win over Boulder to claim the Season C Class 5A title. What was more special was how Lindsay got to watch more family contribute to that special moment.

Emmit Anderson got himself a rushing touchdown in the first half, but Gregory did it all. He ran for a touchdown, caught one, threw for one and even had an interception on defense.

A jack of all trades and the game’s Most Outstanding Player as a result.

“It’s a team sport, it’s not just me,” Gregory said. “The linemen block, the quarterback makes the passes, the running backs make great runs. It’s not just me, I was just contributing.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

He as just contributing at a high level that will go down in legend when people recount how the Warriors earned the trophy that will sit in a display case for all to see.

Gregory got the Warriors (5-2 overall) on the board with a 24-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Emmit made it a 13-0 game with a touchdown run in the second and then Gregory created his own opportunity. He picked off a Tristan Langenegger pass and was rewarded when Andy Martinez found him on a deep route to make it a 20-0 game.

“To end off my senior year like this, not a lot of people get that opportunity,” Gregory said. “I’m blessed to do it with these guys, my brothers. I love them.”

The Warriors’ first touchdown of the second half came on an Anderson throw as he took the handoff and found Jaylen Byrd streaking down the sideline. The throw was perfect and the lead increased to 27-0, giving the Warriors a feeling that a championship was well within their grasp.

All that was needed was one last defensive stand, which the Warriors got by applying consistent pressure to Langenegger. With the ball back in their hands, Martinez went to the air one more time, finding Leonardo Ramos-Valles for a touchdown.

The offense played well, Gregory Anderson was spectacular and the defense as a whole was stellar.

“That’s the heart; that is our heartbeat,” Lindsay said. “Those five guys down there (on the defensive line), you watch any game it’s all them. Defense wins championships.”

Perhaps the biggest source of pride for Lindsay through it all was that he felt the joy coming from the kids that reside in the community. These were Far Northeast kids doing something special at Far Northeast.

He was aware of the challenge that he was facing when he took the job. But it was a challenge he was excited to face.

“That’s why I went there,” he said.

The first step to building a program back is easy in his mind. A team has to start winning. He stood on the field of the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl in Pueblo and soaked in what his guys accomplished. They won.

Now the real work begins.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — The final Season C football championships were claimed as Far Northeast and Rifle left the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl with titles.

Coverage

• 3A: Rifle erases the clock to beat TCA for state title | Bracket
• 5A: Anderson does it all as Far Northeast beats Boulder for state title | Bracket

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Rifle 35, TCA 34

• Link to gallery

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

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Far Northeast 34, Boulder 0

• Link to gallery

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)