DENVER — The state spirit championships continued on Saturday, and seven more champions will be crowned by night’s end. Find Day 1 results here.
Saturday’s champions include Evergreen (4A poms); Broomfield (4A cheer); Faith Christian (3A cheer); Clear Creek (3A poms); Salida (2A/3A co-ed cheer); Cheyenne Wells (2a cheer); and Vail Christian (2A poms).
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Class 4A poms
Evergreen won the 4A poms championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Evergreen
94.67
470.00
2
Broomfield
94.33
468.00
3
Valor Christian
93.00
463.00
4
Battle MountainÂ
90.00
445.00
5
Wheat Ridge
89.33
446.00
6
Windsor
89.17
443.00
7
Mullen
88.00
431.00
8
Durango
87.00
423.00
9
Eagle Valley
86.67
435.50
10
Canon City
86.50
423.50
11
Lewis-Palmer
85.50
424.50
12
Mead
84.67
422.00
13
Frederick
82.50
403.50
14
Green Mountain
79.33
397.00
15
Centaurus
75.33
378.00
16
Conifer
73.67
366.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Evergreen
96.33
477.50
2
Broomfield
94.67
469.50
3
Valor Christian
92.00
461.00
4
Battle Mountain
90.33
449.00
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Class 4A cheer
Broomfield won the 4A cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Broomfield
85.20
428.10
2
Palmer Ridge
78.87
389.20
3
Valor Christian
77.80
388.90
4
Pueblo West
76.40
381.40
5
Erie
74.33
371.80
6
Glenwood Springs
72.13
361.40
7
Sand Creek
70.23
348.80
8
Coronado
70.07
347.20
9
Pueblo South
65.67
324.60
10
Windsor
64.63
324.30
11
Weld Central
64.00
319.50
12
Ponderosa
61.70
304.00
13
Vista Ridge
60.97
305.80
14
Green Mountain
59.50
299.70
15
Thompson Valley
58.93
297.30
16
Longmont
58.77
290.90
17
Rifle
58.73
296.20
18
Woodland Park
58.13
292.10
19
Canon City
57.97
290.90
20
Wheat Ridge
57.30
284.50
21
Durango
56.17
285.70
22
Skyline
55.57
271.60
23
Englewood
55.57
273.90
24
Elizabeth
54.97
271.50
25
Golden
54.13
266.80
26
D’Evelyn
54.07
267.60
27
Pueblo Centennial
53.37
265.60
28
Mead
52.77
260.60
29
Mullen
52.37
267.20
30
Lewis Palmer
52.03
263.30
31
Battle Mountain
51.70
257.90
32
Northridge
51.30
257.00
33
Montezuma-Cortez
46.53
228.20
34
Ft. Morgan
43.73
228.50
35
Roosevelt
43.33
215.30
36
Pueblo Central
41.23
210.30
37
Denver North
40.47
210.60
38
Silver Creek
19.27
98.90
39
Conifer
0.00
0.00
39
Mountain View
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Broomfield
90.27
451.10
2
Pueblo West
77.27
389.90
3
Palmer Ridge
75.27
376.60
4
Glenwood Springs
75.03
375.80
5
Erie
74.60
373.60
6
Valor Christian
73.57
366.80
7
Sand Creek
72.97
360.00
8
Coronado
71.87
358.60
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Class 3A cheer
Faith Christian won the 3A cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Faith Christian
71.67
355.20
2
Manitou Springs
68.70
346.20
3
University
68.23
340.00
4
St. Mary’S
67.40
335.30
5
Dolores Huerta
67.10
330.30
6
Coal Ridge
60.17
301.20
7
Holy Family
59.77
299.90
8
Frontier Academy
58.83
294.60
9
Machebeuf
58.77
293.10
10
Sterling
58.27
293.70
11
Lamar
56.73
282.10
12
Pagosal Springs
55.77
277.20
13
The Academy
54.73
278.10
14
Buena Vista
54.03
270.50
15
Florence
53.93
275.40
16
Bayfield
53.37
268.40
17
Middle Park
52.13
261.50
18
Alamosa
51.20
256.10
19
Pinnacle
50.60
246.60
20
La Junta
46.37
227.80
21
Kipp Denver
45.63
226.80
22
Trinidad
45.17
224.60
23
Jefferson
44.20
220.60
24
Peak To Peak
0.00
0.00
24
0.00
0.00
Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Faith Christian
72.80
364.60
2
Manitou Springs
70.47
353.30
3
St. Mary’S
69.10
346.90
4
University
59.87
301.80
[divider]
Class 3A poms
Clear Creek won the 3A poms championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Prelims/Finals
Rank
Team
Score
Tie-break
1
Clear Creek
83.33
415.00
2
Bayfield
82.00
411.00
2
Bennett
82.00
405.00
4
Sheridan
81.33
407.00
5
Aspen
80.83
404.00
6
University
80.17
398.50
7
Grand Valley
77.33
382.00
8
Basalt
61.33
303.00
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Class 2A/3A co-ed cheer
Salida won the 2A/3A co-ed cheer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
WESTMINSTER — Holy Family, the No. 1 team in the 3A girls basketball poll this week, improved to 2-0 with a 52-38 win over 5A Mountain Range on Thursday.
Sophomore Katie Chavez led the way for the Tigers with 10 points and seven assists. Lindsey Chavez had nine points, while Megan Mcgillin and Maggie Spitzer each had eight. Mcgillin also had eight rebounds, two assists and three streals.
Abby Brich had 11 points for Mountain Range in the loss. Lauren Bohan had 10.
The football committee met on Thursday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — The Centennial League just got even tougher.
Valor Christian, a five-time defending champion, is set to join the Centennial following Thursday’s football committee meeting. Final approval on all league alignment changes needs to come at January’s legislative council meeting. (See the recommended alignment.)
“We’re just happy for our kids and our community that we can be in a league where we can have some rivalries and be a good contributing member,” said Brian Kula, assistant athletic director at Valor Christian. “It’s a tough league. That’ll be something we have to prepare well for, and I just think it’s a great bunch of schools with great leadership. We’re excited to be a part of that.”
The committee adopted Option E from the 5A alignment proposals, citing its inclusion of Grand Junction and Fruita Monument in Metro-area leagues, as well as the competitive balance created by the Continental North and Continental South leagues.
Option E, along with four of the five other 5A proposals, included moving Valor from an independent to the Centennial League. The lone proposal that didn’t do that was an outside-the-box approach proposed by the Centennial which would have placed teams in leagues based on a so-called “waterfall” system.
The waterfall system would have ranked teams based upon Wild Card points standings over the past two seasons. The top seven teams by that criteria would have been placed into separate leagues. Then, remaining teams would be placed into conferences on a snaked order. So, the No. 8 team would go with No. 7, No. 9 with No. 6, No. 10 with No. 5, and so on.
However, the committee didn’t feel comfortable with the waterfall proposal as it would have completely restructured the alignment. Wanting to keep tradition intact, the committee decided to not consider the proposal further.
Eventually, following continued discussion, the committee settled on Option E — a major point of which was moving Grand Junction and Fruita Monument into Metro-area leagues. That move was made necessary after the Southwestern League — which traditionally combines 4A and 5A schools — was left with only four schools following the Classifciation and League Organizing Committee’s meeting in mid-November. The idea of moving to Front Range leagues was originally suggested by Paul Cain, president of Southwestern League.
“That was really encouraging to see schools include (teams from) the Western Slope without hesitation,” CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico said during the meeting.
The reorganization of the Continental and Pioneer leagues into the Continental North and Continental South was also important to the committee. In part, the reorganization brought the Highlands Ranch-area schools (Highlands Ranch, Mountain Vista, ThunderRidge) together, while also putting the Parker schools (Chaparral, Legend) and Castle Rock schools (Castle View, Douglas County) in the same league.
Other changes from the current alignment in 5A see Boulder-area rivals Fairview and Boulder heading into separate leagues, as well as the formation of the Jeffco League with Arvada West, Bear Creek, Chatfield, Columbine, Lakewood, Pomona, Ralston Valley and Mullen.
The new South Metro League was formed on the framework of the old Aurora League and has Smoky Hill joining from the Centennial, Arapahoe from the now-defunct Super 6, Heritage from the Pioneer, and Grand Junction from the former Southwest.
In the new Flatirons League are Boulder, Brighton, Denver East, Montbello, Northglenn, Prairie View, Thornton and Westminster.
The football committee selected Option B for the 4A enrollment. That moved Western Slope-area teams Montrose and Durango into Metro-area leagues.
“We put in more hours than ever before,” assistant commissioner Harry Waterman told the committee at the end of the meeting. “You guys put in a lot of work. This was a monumental task.”
Other selections for alignment by the football committee:
5A football playoffs headed to a selection committee
The 5A football playoff field will be set by be a selection committee going forward, so long as the change is approved at January’s legislative council meeting.
During the classification breakout session of the football committee meeting, the decision was made to move away from selecting the 32-team field strictly on Wild Card points. Instead, 5A football is proposing a move to a selection committee made up of seven administrators — one from each league. No coaches will be allowed on the selection committee.
The criteria to be used by that selection committee, in no particular order:
Wild Card points
Head-to-head
Common opponents
Coaches poll
Strength of schedule
Overall record
League standings
Additionally, 5A football is seeking to tweak the way hosting is determined in the postseason. Currently, the higher seed hosts in the first round, but thereafter, the team with the fewest home games to that point hosts. If the number of home games are equal, the higher seed hosts.
Instead, 5A football would have the higher seed host playoff games unless the lower seed hasn’t yet hosted a playoff game. (The higher seed would continue to host first round games.)
Elsewhere, in the other classes:
3A football will play its championship game at the home of the higher seed, regardless of the number of home playoff games to that point.
8-man is doing away with cross-over games as a way of determining postseason qualifiers. Instead, teams will play a nine-game regular season and get automatic playoff qualifiers based upon league finish.
Valor running back Christian McCaffrey. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Valor Christian star Christian McCaffrey has been named the Gatorade football player of the year in Colorado for the second year in a row.
The award, announced Thursday, “recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field,” according to a release.
McCaffrey, a senior, also won Colorado’s Gatorade player of the year award as a junior last season. He is the state’s first two-time winner since former Cherry Creek star Darnell McDonald (1996-97). The award started in 1986.
McCaffrey had 46 total touchdowns this season, the most of any player in the state. Included were 27 rushing scores and 16 receiving scores. He helped the Eagles win a fifth-consecutive championship on Saturday with a 56-16 win over Fairview. In that game, McCaffrey had 221 total yards and four touchdowns.
“Christian’s impact on the field is irreplaceable,” Eaglecrest coach Mike Schmitt said in a release. “We could not tackle or even contain him, and that puts a lot of pressure on your offense knowing that when he gets the ball he can literally score at any moment.”
McCaffrey, the son of former Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, ends his career with four championships. He had 8,845 all-purpose yards and 141 touchdowns.
McCaffrey is now a finalist for the national Gatorade player of the year award, which will be announced later in December.
AURORA — No. 7 Regis Jesuit had three players in double figures as the Raiders opened their season with a 60-32 win over Columbine on Tuesday. Bryan Staerkel had 16 points for Regis, while Jared Small and Kip Boryla each had 10.
Ralston Valley players gather on the ice after a 10-1 victory over Cheyenne Mountain in the Mustangs’ season opener Monday night at Apex Ice Arena in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Ralston Valley hockey started its 2013-14 campaign right were it left off last season.
The Mustangs won its season opener Monday night at the Apex Ice Arena with a dominating performance against Cheyenne Mountain. Ralston Valley skated to a 10-1 victory against the Indians to begin the defense of the state championship it claimed last year.
Ralston Valley outscored its four playoff opponents last year 20-2 on the road to winning the school’s first state hockey championship.
“That is definitely the goal,” Ralston Valley senior Greg Dyba said of attempting to repeat. “The speech earlier in the locker room was about when we have something we are going to defend it with all we have and get that back. We are going to grind and do whatever it takes.”
Ralston Valley senior Greg Dyba celebrates his second of three goals Monday against Cheyenne Mountain. (Dennis Pleuss)
Ralston Valley’s top offensive line of Dyba, Victor Lombardi and Austin Resseguie put on an offensive show. The all-senior line produced five goals. Dyba had a hat-trick midway through the second quarter. Lombardi had a goal in each the first and third periods.
The Mustangs put nearly 60 shots on goal and held the Indians to just over 10 shots on goal.
“Those are three big contributors for us,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said of his top line. “They are leaders on and off the ice. I expect a lot out of them.”
Ralston Valley’s second offensive line of Cody Noel, Lincoln Smith and Colton Hellman wasn’t shabby in the opener. Noel scored a pair of goal grinding out in front the of net and Hellman added a goal in the third period.
Noel, a sophomore who transferred from D’Evelyn to Ralston Valley this school year, is playing his first season of high school hockey.
“I was really excited to play with some of my friends on the team,” Noel said. “I want to work hard and try to win another state title.”
Cheyenne Mountain has the most decorated hockey program in the state. The Indians have 14 state hockey titles. Cheyenne Mountain’s last state championship came in 2004.
Ralston Valley forward Lincoln Smith (9) closes in on Cheyenne Mountain junior Tanner Taylor during the first period Monday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
Junior Ryan Case scored the Indians’ lone goal Monday night. Seniors Gret Liquori and Keaton Allison assisted on the power-play goal in the second period. Case’s goal cut Ralston Valley’s lead to 3-1, but the Mustangs quickly answered with back-to-back goals from Dyba before the end of the second period.
The Mustangs showed their depth in the third period getting five goals from five different players. Ralston Valley goalie Zack LaRocque picked up the win in net, while Cheyenne Mountain freshman Fyan McCann picked up the loss.
Ralston Valley came so close to winning its first state hockey championship a handful of times before finally hoisting the trophy last winter. Since the Arvada-area school started its hockey program seven years ago, the Mustangs have been in the mix for the state championship almost every single season.
“While winning a state title was great and great experience for our returning players, this is a brand new team,” said Schoepflin, who is in his third year as head coach for Ralston Valley. “It’s different than last year. We want to improve constantly. That is our big goal. We want to peak at the right time like we did last season.”
The Mustangs’ next home game at Apex will come at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17. Ralston Valley will hang its state banner on that night when the Mustangs face their Jeffco rival Standley Lake. Schoepflin said he hopes to have a lot of graduated seniors back in town during winter break from last year’s state championship squad attend the game.
Ralston Valley senior Greg Dyba fires a wrist shot during the second period Monday in the Mustangs’ 10-1 victory against Cheyenne Mountain. (Dennis Pleuss)Cheyenne Mountain freshman goalie Fyan McCann is able to make a pad save on a shot by Ralston Valley senior forward Victor Lombardi during the first period Monday night at the Apex Ice Arena in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss)Ralston Valley forward Evan Lukens, right, puts a hit on Cheyenne Mountain junior Casey Kosley during the second period Monday night at the Apex Ice Arena. (Dennis Pleuss)
