Live scores from the Class 5A girls golf state meet at Raccoon Creek from May 19-20.
Month: May 2014
-
Live scores: 4A girls golf state meet at Country Club of Colorado
Live scores from the Class 4A girls golf state meet at Country Club of Colorado from May 19-20.
-
Full leaderboards after the first day of 4A, 5A girls golf state tournaments
Results after girls golf’s first day of the 5A and 4A state tournaments.
The 5A tournament is held at Racoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, while 4A is at Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs.
Final round tee times are included on individual leaderboards.
Class 5A
Individual Leaderboard Pos. Player School Time Tee Total R1 T1 Morgan Sahm Grandview 10:27 AM 1 +3 75 T1 Jaylee Tait Columbine 10:27 AM 1 +3 75 3 Sarah Hunt Denver East 10:27 AM 1 +4 76 4 Sydney Merchant Dakota Ridge 10:18 AM 1 +5 77 T5 Adara Pauluhn Skyline 10:18 AM 1 +6 78 T5 Calli Ringsby Cherry Creek 10:09 AM 1 +6 78 T5 Michelle Romano Rock Canyon 10:09 AM 1 +6 78 T5 Ashlyn Kirschner Ralston Valley 10:18 AM 1 +6 78 T5 Hannah Wood Arapahoe 10:09 AM 1 +6 78 T10 Mary Weinstein Regis Jesuit 9:51 AM 1 +7 79 T10 Samantha Barker Highlands Ranch 10:00 AM 1 +7 79 T10 Zarena Brown Pomona 10:00 AM 1 +7 79 T10 Erin Sargent Skyline 10:00 AM 1 +7 79 T14 Mary Kate Nelson Pine Creek 9:51 AM 1 +8 80 T14 Anna Kennedy Legend 9:51 AM 1 +8 80 T16 Andrea Hoos Legacy 9:42 AM 1 +9 81 T16 Jackie Biggs Cherry Creek 9:42 AM 1 +9 81 T16 Claire Stirdivant Denver East 9:42 AM 1 +9 81 T16 Jaclyn Murray Regis Jesuit 9:33 AM 1 +9 81 T20 Amelia Lee Rock Canyon 9:33 AM 1 +10 82 T20 Jennifer Hankins Legacy 9:24 AM 1 +10 82 T20 Sarah Hankins Legacy 9:33 AM 1 +10 82 23 Gillian Vance Dakota Ridge 9:24 AM 1 +11 83 T24 Delaney Elliott Monarch 9:24 AM 1 +12 84 T24 Delaney Benson Heritage 9:15 AM 1 +12 84 T24 Madison McCambridge Fairview 9:06 AM 1 +12 84 T24 Ali Pepper Arvada West 9:15 AM 1 +12 84 T24 Reagan Ritchey Brighton 9:15 AM 1 +12 84 T29 Holly Schaefer Arapahoe 9:06 AM 1 +13 85 T29 Joanna Kempton Heritage 9:06 AM 1 +13 85 T29 Alexis Chan Rock Canyon 8:57 AM 1 +13 85 T29 Sydney Gillespie Regis Jesuit 8:57 AM 1 +13 85 T33 Julia Kim Rangeview 8:57 AM 1 +15 87 T33 Heather Kroll Horizon 8:48 AM 1 +15 87 T35 Katie Larson Fossil Ridge 8:48 AM 1 +16 88 T35 Jenni Chun Highlands Ranch 8:39 AM 1 +16 88 T35 Sammie Medina Central GJ 8:30 AM 1 +16 88 T35 McKenna Reppe Legend 8:48 AM 1 +16 88 39 Faith Hope Cherokee Trail 8:39 AM 1 +17 89 T40 Aili Bundy Loveland 8:30 AM 10 +19 91 T40 Andrea Reppe Legend 8:30 AM 1 +19 91 T40 Sydney Prey Ralston Valley 8:39 AM 1 +19 91 T40 Jordan Remley Ralston Valley 8:30 AM 1 +19 91 T44 Taylor Sunset Fairview 8:39 AM 10 +20 92 T44 Molly Lucas Cherry Creek 8:39 AM 10 +20 92 T44 Mary Luckasen Fossil Ridge 8:30 AM 10 +20 92 T44 Hannah Eddy Arapahoe 8:30 AM 10 +20 92 T44 Erika Truong Heritage 8:39 AM 10 +20 92 T49 Stephanie Bang Cherry Creek 8:57 AM 10 +21 93 T49 Elena Barboza Denver East 8:48 AM 10 +21 93 T49 Kenzi Hueter Fossil Ridge 8:48 AM 10 +21 93 T49 Alex Jaros Boulder 8:57 AM 10 +21 93 T49 Caroline O’Donnell Grandview 8:48 AM 10 +21 93 T49 Erika Sailer Regis Jesuit 8:57 AM 10 +21 93 T55 Julia Baroth Denver East 9:06 AM 10 +22 94 T55 Cammie Fowler Fossil Ridge 9:06 AM 10 +22 94 T55 Carly Gallant Monarch 9:06 AM 10 +22 94 T58 Nikki Backman Arapahoe 9:15 AM 10 +23 95 T58 Haylee Hornick Rock Canyon 9:15 AM 10 +23 95 60 Lauren Pearson Chatfield 9:15 AM 10 +24 96 T61 Mikayla Knoebel Highlands Ranch 9:24 AM 10 +25 97 T61 Emily Jung Grandview 9:24 AM 10 +25 97 T61 Emma Hesse Lakewood 9:33 AM 10 +25 97 T61 Aly Beeman Boulder 9:24 AM 10 +25 97 65 Kendra George Heritage 9:33 AM 10 +26 98 T66 Taylor Head Central GJ 9:42 AM 10 +27 99 T66 Claire McPeak Skyline 9:33 AM 10 +27 99 T68 Leah Perletz Boulder 9:42 AM 10 +28 100 T68 Bailey Summers Grand Junction 9:42 AM 10 +28 100 T68 Megan Volkmann Fruita-Monument 9:51 AM 10 +28 100 T71 Katie Engel Mountain Range 9:51 AM 10 +29 101 T71 Haley Doty Lakewood 9:51 AM 10 +29 101 73 Victoria Thompson Pine Creek 10:00 AM 10 +30 102 T74 Danielle Picard Boulder 10:00 AM 10 +31 103 T74 Remy Mullen Monarch 10:00 AM 10 +31 103 T76 Duval Sutherland Legend 10:09 AM 10 +32 104 T76 Leia Vadeen Northglenn 10:09 AM 10 +32 104 78 Tara Srinivas Fairview 10:09 AM 10 +33 105 79 Delaney Knoebel Highlands Ranch 10:18 AM 10 +35 107 80 Sirena Maynes Prairie View 10:18 AM 10 +36 108 81 Miranda Schiffbauer Arvada West 10:18 AM 10 +37 109 T82 Corinne Wilson Columbine 10:27 AM 10 +38 110 T82 Lexi Valenzuela Bear Creek 10:27 AM 10 +38 110 84 Katie Rice Fruita-Monument 10:27 AM 10 +40 112 Team Leaderboard Pos. Team Total R1 T1 Legacy +29 245 T1 Regis Jesuit +29 245 T1 Rock Canyon +29 245 4 Denver East +34 250 5 Cherry Creek +35 251 6 Arapahoe +39 255 7 Skyline +40 256 8 Legend +43 259 9 Ralston Valley +44 260 10 Heritage +45 261 11 Highlands Ranch +48 264 12 Grandview +49 265 13 Fossil Ridge +57 273 T14 Fairview +65 281 T14 Monarch +65 281 16 Boulder +74 290 Class 4A
Individual Leaderboard Pos. Player School Time Tee Total R1 1 Jennifer Kupcho Jefferson Academy 10:27 AM 1 Even 72 T2 Andrea Ballou Valor 10:27 AM 1 +9 81 T2 Mariah Ehrman Jefferson Academy 10:18 AM 1 9 81 T4 Courtney Ewing Pueblo West 10:18 AM 1 10 82 T4 Hannah More Mullen 10:27 AM 1 10 82 T4 Emilee Strausburg D’Evelyn 10:18 AM 1 10 82 T7 Tori Goodman Falcon 10:09 AM 1 12 84 T7 Sarah Hwang St. Mary’s 10:09 AM 1 12 84 T7 Megan Vernon Golden 10:09 AM 1 12 84 10 Alex Trask Bishop Machebeuf 10:00 AM 1 13 85 T11 Reiley Waldo Durango 10:00 AM 1 15 87 T11 Sammy Geisck Northridge 10:00 AM 1 15 87 T11 Jordan Cherry Montrose 9:51 AM 1 15 87 T11 Kylee Sullivan Cheyenne Mountain 9:51 AM 1 15 87 T15 Haley Patterson Yuma 9:51 AM 1 16 88 T15 Kelly Kruse Cheyenne Mountain 9:42 AM 1 16 88 T15 Kacey Godwin Colorado Academy 9:42 AM 1 16 88 T18 Leah Donnelly Wheat Ridge 9:33 AM 1 17 89 T18 Colleen Casey Estes Park 9:42 AM 1 17 89 T18 Alli Smith Estes Park 9:33 AM 1 17 89 T18 Gia Zupancic Pueblo East 9:33 AM 1 17 89 T22 Melissa Steinbach Coal Ridge 9:24 AM 1 18 90 T22 Mattie Schwall Manitou Springs 9:24 AM 1 18 90 T22 Chelsea Peterson Montrose 9:06 AM 1 18 90 T22 Kiselya Plewe Dolores 9:15 AM 1 18 90 T22 Kellsey Sample Palmer Ridge 9:15 AM 1 18 90 T22 Isabella Morfe Valor 9:06 AM 1 18 90 T22 Mikayla McKie Montrose 9:15 AM 1 18 90 T22 Shelby Bledsoe Ft. Morgan 9:24 AM 1 18 90 T22 Hope Kim Broomfield 9:06 AM 1 18 90 T31 Kelsey McKenna Air Academy 8:57 AM 1 19 91 T31 Madison Tenney Evergreen 8:57 AM 1 19 91 T33 Carson Platnick Broomfield 8:39 AM 1 20 92 T33 Megan McCutcheon Lewis-Palmer 8:48 AM 1 20 92 T33 Brooke Lucero Rye 8:48 AM 1 20 92 T33 Kaitlyn Mobley Ft. Morgan 8:48 AM 1 20 92 T33 Sophia Montoya Pueblo South 8:57 AM 1 20 92 T38 Leah Huizenga Gunnison 8:39 AM 1 21 93 T38 Cassie Kneen Colorado Academy 8:39 AM 1 21 93 T38 Brooke Brennecke Montrose 8:30 AM 1 21 93 T41 Kendra Bellmann Estes Park 8:30 AM 10 22 94 T41 Nicole Rooney Green Mountain 8:30 AM 1 22 94 T41 Kylee Tokoi Mountain View 8:30 AM 1 22 94 T44 Aryn McLaughlin Thompson Valley 8:30 AM 10 23 95 T44 Emma Johnson Colorado Academy 8:39 AM 10 23 95 T44 Samantha Weber Cheyenne Mountain 8:30 AM 10 23 95 T47 Trinity Goderstad Colorado Academy 8:39 AM 10 24 96 T47 Natalie Holley Evergreen 8:39 AM 10 24 96 T49 Maddie Kern Broomfield 8:48 AM 10 27 99 T49 Lauren Cruz Northridge 8:48 AM 10 27 99 T51 Alyx Carter Rifle 8:48 AM 10 28 100 T51 Dolores Sharaf Aspen 8:57 AM 10 28 100 T51 Ashley Roo Valor 8:57 AM 10 28 100 54 Natalie Lyon Durango 8:57 AM 10 29 101 55 Meaghan Ireland Florence 9:06 AM 10 30 102 T56 Shelby Hindes Monte Vista 9:06 AM 10 31 103 T56 Bailey Reed Wray 9:06 AM 10 31 103 T58 Lorenza Rios Pueblo Central 9:15 AM 10 32 104 T58 Taylor Sandoval Eagle Valley 9:15 AM 10 32 104 T58 Jessie Patch Florence 9:24 AM 10 32 104 T58 Brooke Kniffen Durango 9:15 AM 10 32 104 T58 Rachel Knobbs Cheyenne Mountain 9:24 AM 10 32 104 63 Skylar George Broomfield 9:24 AM 10 33 105 64 Jorie Anaya Pueblo Centennial 9:33 AM 10 34 106 T65 Sam DeNardo Pueblo West 9:33 AM 10 36 108 T65 Teagan Sullivan Palmer Ridge 9:33 AM 10 36 108 67 Breanne Buchner Fowler 9:42 AM 10 37 109 T68 Makayla Dahl Valor 9:42 AM 10 38 110 T68 Aly Shuman Palisade 9:42 AM 10 38 110 T70 Raynie Makloski Pueblo South 9:51 AM 10 39 111 T70 Gianna DeGarbo Pueblo Central 9:51 AM 10 39 111 T72 Allie Garcia Coronado 10:00 AM 10 40 112 T72 Kat Jarman Pueblo East 9:51 AM 10 40 112 T74 Katarina Krupinska Golden 10:00 AM 10 41 113 T74 Savannah Bernal Pueblo East 10:00 AM 10 41 113 76 Katelyn Peroulis Moffat County 10:09 AM 10 42 114 77 Taylor Hackett Alamosa 10:09 AM 10 43 115 78 Cora Gottbehuet Falcon 10:09 AM 10 44 116 79 Brooke Trujillo Alamosa 10:18 AM 10 50 122 80 Eryn Salinas Rye 10:18 AM 10 51 123 81 Emily McChesney Elizabeth 10:18 AM 10 53 125 82 Faith Watson Sand Creek 10:27 AM 10 55 127 83 Rachel Weber Classical Academy 10:27 AM 10 56 128 Team Leaderboard Pos. Team Total R1 1 Montrose +51 267 2 Cheyenne Mountain +54 270 3 Valor +55 271 4 Estes Park +56 272 5 Colorado Academy +60 276 6 Broomfield +65 281 7 Durango +76 292 8 Pueblo East +98 314 -
On a familiar course, Columbine’s Tait tied for lead at 5A girls golf
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) LITTLETON — Does Jaylee Tait have the home-course advantage?
The Columbine senior certainly hopes so as she heads into Tuesday’s final round of the Colorado Class 5A girls state golf championship.
Raccoon Creek Golf Club, the site of the two-day, 36-hole tournament, is Columbine’s home course.
Tait has even more of an advantage. Her father, Pat, is the club’s head pro. She even works at the course. And, as expected, she plays a lot of rounds there.
Her round on Monday of 3-over-par 75 put her in a tie for first place with Grandview’s Morgan Sahm.
“It’s a total different feeling than coming out with my friends,” Tait admitted of playing with a state title on the line.
In actuality, “The scores were higher coming in than I expected,” she said.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) Denver East’s Sarah Hunt held the lead at the mid-point at 2-under and made the turn at even par. She lost four strokes on the final three holes to finish at 4-over 76.
Still, “This has been my best day,” Hunt said of her best round of the season. At one behind the leaders, she’ll be in the lead threesome on Tuesday.
Tait at one point was one over. She was hoping to finish at least in the top six, which would put her in the top two groups heading into Tuesday. She thought she might have lost that chance when she double-bogeyed 17.
At 3-over, “I didn’t putt as well as I had liked,” she said.
With rain and snow on the course within the previous week, it was softer than she was used to. In addition, she normally plays Raccoon Creek from the blue or black tees. The tournament is being played from the white tees and she had to club down on many tee shots.
Tait has qualified for the state tournament in each of her four years. Her best finish was 13th as a sophomore. Last year she won the regional tournament but did not play well at state, something she is hoping to rectify this year.
Course conditions might differ in the afternoon, when she plays half her round.
“As far as how the course changes, that should be all right,” she said.
It’s packed at the top in the battle for the team title.
Legacy, Regis Jesuit and Rock Canyon are all tied for first place at 29-over. Legacy is the only one of the three with just three golfers competing, so all three count toward the team score.
Hunt’s score helped Denver East stay close to the leaders; the Angels are in fourth at 250, six strokes ahead of Arapahoe.
Defending champion Calli Ringsby of Cherry Creek ended her first round at 6-over, as did Arapahoe’s Hannah Wood, an expected challenger for the title. The two played in the same group Monday. Dakota Ridge’s Sydney Merchant, another challenger, is 5-over.
-
Jefferson Academy’s Kupcho fires 72 to claim big lead at 4A girls golf
(Tom Robinson/CHSAANow.com) COLORADO SPRINGS — Near state championship misses are something Jennifer Kupcho knows well.
The Jefferson Academy junior finished third at state as a freshman and was second a year ago.
On Monday, the junior made a statement in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament to try and eliminate any heartbreaking drama this year.
Kupcho fired an even-par 72 at the Country Club of Colorado course to take a commanding nine-stroke lead over her teammate Mariah Ehrman and Valor Christian’s Andrea Ballou.
“I had a good round,” said Kupcho, who had only two bogeys. “I struggled with my putting at the beginning, but I was hitting the ball very well. The greens were kind of slow and bumpy, but the rest of the course was really nice.”
The final round concludes Tuesday at the challenging Country Club of Colorado course.
Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho. (Tracy Renck) A year ago, Kupcho was runner-up to Montrose’s Kala Keltz by two strokes. Her freshman season she was one stroke back of Pueblo South’s Bryce Schroeder and Kathleen Kershisnik of Regis. Schroeder won state in a playoff.
“I’ve been really close to winning before and (Monday) I just went out there and played like I know how to play and I didn’t worry about anything else,” said the 5-foot-4 Kupcho, who has a career-best round of 67. “That worked out pretty well and I want to do the same thing (Tuesday).”
In team race, Montrose leads with a 267, followed by Cheyenne Mountain (270), Valor Christian (271) and Estes Park (272). Cheyenne Mountain is the defending state champion.
Although only a junior, Kupcho has already relieved herself of the stress of deciding on where to continue playing golf in college.
“I have verbally committed to Wake Forest,” said Kupcho, who is likely going to major in business. “The weather is really nice there (in Winston-Salem N.C.) and I really liked the coaches. They have a really good golf program.”
-
Regis Jesuit thumps Cherry Creek to win 5A lacrosse title
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — It was back on April 29 that the Cherry Creek Bruins beat the Regis Jesuit Raiders, just days before the start of the Class 5A playoffs. The rematch would prove to have much higher stakes and a very different result.
The Raiders were dominant from late in the first quarter on and beat the Bruins 14-7 to claim the 5A boys lacrosse championship.
Raiders junior attacker Matt Soran led all scorers with five goals and added an assist in a match that saw the winning team dominant nearly from start to finish.
“We started getting the faceoffs and offensively our first couple possessions we were getting a lot of shots but we weren’t finding the net,” coach Jim Soran said. “I had confidence we were going to start hitting the net as the game went on.”
To start the game it was the Bruins moved the ball well in the opening minutes, finding the net 1:50 into the game to take a 1-0 lead. The Raiders tied the game up less than three minutes later, giving all the indications that a see-saw battle was in order. That was when Regis Jesuit came in like a wrecking ball. They went on a 7-2 run to take an 8-3 lead and seize control of the game.
(Dan Mohrmann) The Bruins tried to regain momentum before halftime and junior Jack Savage appeared to help them do so by scoring with 31 seconds left before the break. But the Raiders would gain control of the ball on the ensuing face-off and Chet Dunstan fired a shot into the net as time expired to give Regis Jesuit momentum and a 9-4 lead at the half.
“We knew it was going to be a (tough) game so we didn’t want to let down the pace,” Dunstan said. “We wanted to get back off right in the second quarter and keep going.”
Dunstan struck again early in the second half in the first of three-straight goals for the Raiders to open the third quarter. The other two came at the hands of Soran. The Bruins would get one back with five minutes remaining in the third, but Regis Jesuit entered the fourth and final quarter with a 12-5 lead.
With the game firmly in hand, the Raiders focused on ball control and running out the clock. With pressure mounting, Cherry Creek went on the attack scoring with 9:15 left in the game with the help of a Raiders penalty. But it would be for not as Regis Jesuit continued to let time tick away, closing in a title with each passing second.
“The couple we got at the end of the first half made a big difference,” Coach Soran said. “When you get the next one and you’re down you feel like you have hope and if the other team gets it, it kind of deflates you.”
For the players, there could be no better ending this season than to beat Cherry Creek in the state title game. They considered the loss to the Bruins in the regular season a massive blow and felt that in order to truly be vindicated, they needed to top Creek in the playoffs.
“It felt good; they killed us when they got the regular season game,” Matt Soran said. “We came out with a chip on our shoulder and we wanted to come out firing on them and that’s what we did.”
The lacrosse title marked the second state championship of the day for the Raiders as the boys swim team won the 5A class earlier Saturday afternoon.
-
Lutheran’s boys own sprint finals at 2A track meet
Lutheran won the 2A boys track and field championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com) LAKEWOOD — Maybe it’s something in the water flowing out of the drinking fountains at Lutheran High School.
“It’s holy water,” Darian Perez said with a laugh after Saturday’s final of the Class 2A boys 100-meter dash at the Colorado State Track and Field Championships.
No less than four Lutheran sprinters competed in the finals of the 100 and five in the 200. The Lions had half the field lining up at the start line for the finals in the two events.
Perez’s teammate, Chris Youngs, won the race with Lutheran’s Kent Harris third and Perez fifth. Also competing in the 100 final was Lutheran’s Josh Clausen, who made the podium in ninth place.
They were joined a couple of hours later in the 200 final by teammate Ryan Lee.
Youngs pulled off the double in the afternoon, winning the 200 by nearly two-tenths of a second in 22.42. In both races, Youngs finished just ahead of Meeker sophomore T.J. Shelton, who won last year’s 100-meter title. Harris again placed third.
At the start of the season, Youngs didn’t realize what a special group he was working out with.
“It really is (a surprise) that we’re all good enough to get into the finals,” said Youngs, a sophomore.
Then again, said Perez, “In practice we’re pretty much competing with ourselves.”
Perez went on to finish fifth in the 400 and seventh in the 200.
Lutheran’s sprint coach, Darwin Horan, said it’s been an easy group to coach.
Four of his senior runners competed in the finals in last year’s state 4-by-400-meter relay, where they were seeded first. They finished second to Lyons.
“They were so mad,” Horan said. “They got everybody together (for off-season workouts).”
That set the tone for their preseason workouts. The seniors also set the bar for the rest of the group.
Horan claims he doesn’t have to coach them up much.
“They’re hard workers,” he said.
Youngs and Harris both run club track in the summer have different coaches.
“We work with their club coaches,” Horan said.
Whatever the collective group is doing, it’s obviously working wonders.
The Lions capped off the day by winning the 4-by-400-meter relay in a meet-record time of 3:23.30 to capture the 2A boys team title with 80 points, outdistancing second-place Lyons by 11½ points.
Cherokee Trail and Grandview were tied with 70 points heading into the final event of the 5A boys meet, with Fountain-Fort Carson a close third at 68.
Fountain-Fort Carson won the 5A boys 4-by-400 title. That gave the Trojans the team victory by two slim points over Grandview.
Fort Collins won the 5A girls title by four points over Pine Creek.
The Palmer Ridge boys and Niwot girls took the 4A team titles, with Niwot winning the 4-by-400 over Thompson Valley to decide the team title between the two.
The Classical Academy swept the 3A titles, winning the boys by 13 points over Coal Ridge and the girls by 28½ over Eaton.
Paonia took the 2A girls title for the second straight year, defeating its North Fork rival and training partner, Hotchkiss, by 16 points.
Heritage Christian won by five points over Vail Christian for the 1A boys title and finished second in the girls team race to Shining Mountain Waldorf.
Heritage Christian won the 1A boys track championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com) 
The Classical Academy won the 3A boys track championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com) 
Palmer Ridge won 4A boys track’s championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com) 
Fountain-Fort Carson won the 5A boys track championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com) -
Regis Jesuit wins fourth-straight 5A boys swim title, 20th overall
Regis Jesuit swimmers celebrate their 5A title. (Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com) THORNTON — The dominance of the Regis Jesuit High School boys swim and dive team continues.
The Raiders won their 20th state championship, capturing the Class 5A state title in convincing fashion Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center.
Regis scored 410 points, easily defeating runner-up Cherry Creek which had a 190-point total.
“This is just awesome,” said Regis senior Hennessey Stuart, who was named Colorado High School Activities Association Swimmer of the Year. “It is great to continue this legacy.”
All of Regis’ state crowns have come since 1992 and the last four have been in a row.
Hennessey led the charge for the Raiders winning the 200-yard individual medley, and the 100 backstroke — setting an all-classification record in Friday’s prelims at 46.91 seconds.
Stuart capped his career in grand fashion swimming the first leg on the Raiders’ victorious 400 freestyle relay team which set a Colorado state record at 3:00.84. Mitchell Bruckman, Christopher Dawson and Austin Phillips also were on the relay.
Regis Jesuit’s 400 free relay set a new state record. (Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com) “I would not have wanted to break that (400 freestyle relay) record with anybody else,” said the 6-foot-1, 160-pound Stuart, who is going to swim at North Carolina State University. “We are all seniors and all captains.”
Hennessey’s younger brother, Quinlan Stuart also joined the victory parade by winning his first individual state title in the 100 breaststroke.
“Winning a state title like my brother is an honor,” said Quinlan, a junior. “I’m really happy and I just can’t explain what I’m feeling. This is a blessing and an honor to be a part of a program like this. We work our butts off all season to come here (state) and perform our best, and that’s what we did.”
Regis junior Kyle Goodwin once again finished atop the podium in diving, claiming his third consecutive state championship.
“This feels good and it just feels more rewarding each time,” said Goodwin, who won with a score of 394.25.
The Raiders 200 medley relay of the Stuart brothers, Chris Morales and Will Pieseki, also won state as well.
The swimmer who stole the spotlight from Team Regis — as least for a few moments — was Highlands Ranch’s Nathan Mueller.
The senior won his first two career state titles with wins in the 200 and 500 freestyles.
“This will probably sink in (Sunday),” said Mueller, who is signed to swim at the University of Wisconsin. “This was one of my goals before I went off to college, so it’s cool to get that crossed off my list.”
Douglas County’s JP Beach (50 freestyle), Fort Collins’ Maxwell Holter (100 butterfly), Fairview’s Miles McKenzie (100 freestyle) and Cherry Creek’s 200 freestyle relay were the other state winners. MacKenzie won his event for the second year in a row.
“I was terrified of these guys,” MacKenzie, a senior, said. “I knew if I was going to win I needed to do something spectacular and I just put my head down. I was relaxed and I just swam my race.”
(Bethany Brookens/CHSAANow.com) -
Niwot lone unbeaten in 4A baseball tourney after walk-off victory
Niwot went 3-0 on the first weekend of the 4A state baseball tournament. (Brian Miller) LAKEWOOD — After sitting around for more than two hours while watching an elimination game in the Class 4A state baseball tournament that featured a combined 32 runs, Niwot and Durango took its contest in the opposite direction.
Cougars starter Ford Ladd and Durango’s Ben Wiley were dialed in from the get-go Saturday, not allowing a run between them through six-plus innings. Just when it looked as though extra innings might be in store, Niwot pinch-hitter Cameron Kopplinger drove a two-out base hit through the right side, scoring pinch runner Joe Wilson to give the Cougars a 1-0 victory at All-Star Park.
That means Niwot (21-3) is the only undefeated team remaining in the double-elimination tournament headed into the final four next weekend. The Cougars will play Longmont at 2:30 p.m. on May 23 at All-Star Park, and Durango will take on Green Mountain in an elimination game at noon.
The 4A championship game will be at 10 a.m. on May 24, followed by the if-necessary game.
“This is the most fun I’ve had on a baseball field ever, I think,” Ladd said. “These competitive teams and this stage that we’re on, it’s awesome.”
The Cougars survived two wild contests Friday, holding off Green Mountain 15-11 despite taking an early 10-0 lead. They followed that up by edging Palmer Ridge 5-4 on an obstruction ruling in the seventh inning that brought home the winning run.
Ladd, who improved to 7-0 on the season, came into the tournament knowing he would start the third game.
“I could mentally prepare for that,” he said. “Even though I didn’t know who we were playing against, I could still prepare to pitch today.”
The sophomore left-hander used his curveball to keep Durango (15-9) off-balance, allowing six hits and getting three big double plays to keep the Demons off the scoreboard. He struck out four and walked two.
Wiley was equally tough on the other side, giving up two hits through six innings and striking out three.
“He did a great job. He kept us in that baseball game,” Durango coach Rob Coddington said. “Our defense played outstanding today … and really backed him up.
“Credit Niwot. They came up with a clutch hit there at the end. That kid did a nice job and they were able to get us.”
With one out in the seventh inning, Wiley hit Ladd with a pitch and Wilson came on to run. Skyler Messinger sacrificed Wilson to second, and Kopplinger ripped a ball into the outfield.
“I was just waiting for a fastball,” Kopplinger said. “I got it and got a good hit.
“I was just thinking about getting a good pitch to handle and doing it for this team,” he added. “We’ve been working so hard this year. We just want it so bad and we’re not done yet.”
Blake Dunlap had two hits for Durango, which put two runners on base in the third, sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t push a run across. The Demons had runners at first and second with no outs in the top of the seventh, but Ladd induced a pop-up and a groundball that led to a double play.
“Incredible,” he said of his defense. “I’m speechless.”
Durango will return to the Front Range again next weekend. The Demons reached the final four a year ago before losing to Valor Christian, and Coddington said his players are more prepared this time around.
“They believe a lot. Last year I think it was all kind of new to us, and this year these guys are playing to win the whole thing,” Coddington said. “There’s some good teams … it should be an exciting weekend, and I think all four teams have got their eye on the prize for sure.”
-
Air Academy wins third-straight 4A boys swimming championship
(Courtesy of Diane Shuck) FORT COLLINS — You’d never know that Air Academy boys swimming coach Scott Newell is a quiet and mild-mannered guy by watching him on the deck leading his team.
The Kadets boss knew that his squad had its naysayers, those people that wondered what his team would do without Devon Davis. The same Devon Davis, now at swimming at the Air Force Academy, that was instrumental in helping the Kadets win back-to-back titles.
“Like we said in our pre-meet meeting, we worked a year for this and we had this plan in our head for a while,” Newell said. “They knew about the relays and they knew about what was possible.
“They blew the doors off of possible!”
The Kadets were impressive in winning their third straight Class 4A state swimming and diving title on Saturday at Edora Pool Ice Center, scoring 280 points compared to runner-up Thompson Valley’s 244.
(Courtesy of Diane Shuck) Air Academy put an exclamation point on not only the meet but their season as a whole in the final race of the night, the 400-yard free relay. The all underclassman quartet of Hunter Doerr, Tommy Baker, Caleb Hicks and Jack Dangremond went 3:06.84 to best Lewis-Palmer’s four year old record in the event of 3:08.86.
“I wish we could have started with it, but it is also nice to end with it” a soaking wet Newell said after his team celebratory plunge into the diving well. “I don’t want to make too big of comparisons, but Devon made it possible and that mentality of possible turned into inevitable and inevitable turned into destiny. These guys really laid it down and they knew, even without Devon, we can do something bigger.”
In capturing the title, the Kadets also received gold medal swims from Brennan Mays in the 500 freestyle and from Doerr, Michael Loyd, Baker in Dangremond in the 200 free relay. Mays, a senior, swam a 4:35.07 and held of Thompson Valley freshman Liam Gately (4:36.70) for the victory.
Estes Park’s Forrest Beesley didn’t have the best preliminary heat on Friday, slipping twice on his starts. But the defending champion in both the 50 and 100 free erased those memories and returned to the top of the podium twice more.
Swimming in Lane 8 in the 50, the UNLV-bound Beesley, had a nearly flawless race, winning in 21.14 second and touching Doerr (21.23) and Discovery Canyon’s Blake Lawrie (21.41) at the wall.
“I totally slipped on both of my starts yesterday, which was unfortunate, and it kind of made me a little nervous for today, but then you realize that it is your last meet ever as a high schooler,” Beesley said. “For me the 50, it’s never a perfect race, there is always that I think I could have done better. In this 50, I was thinking about my start a little too much, and I was a little hesitant, but I felt super good going into the wall and my transition was much better than yesterday and my rotation felt great.”
In the 100, Beesley (46.00), this time from Lane 6, got the better of Montrose’s Lars Knutson (46.79) and Dangremond (46.80).
Beesley wasn’t the only two-time individuals champ on Saturday. In fact, D’Evelyn junior Daniel Graber was on top of the podium three times. Not only did he team with Kevin Olson, Jake Sbarbaro and Alexander Moreland to capture the opening 200 medley relay, but he also captured the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke.
(Courtesy of Diane Shuck) The most eye raising effort of the night went to Thompson Valley junior John Thorne. The defending champion and 4A state record holder in the backstroke, Thorne didn’t disappoint in his encore, going 48.82 to win by nearly four seconds over Broomfield’s Blake Logan (52.49). A powerful underwater swimmer, Thorne also was victorious in the 100 butterfly.
Silver Creek’ Tyler Lis won the 200 free, one year after winning the 200 IM.
In diving, Mullen senior David Hoffer finally got his chance to stand on top of the awards podium. After distancing himself from the field during the morning preliminary round, including fellow nationally ranked freshman Vitalii Shestakov of Pueblo East, Hoffer’s only goal on in his final three dives was to try and track down the state record set by Conifer’s Ben Grado in 2006 of 559.60 points.
His second last dive, a reverse 1 1/2, 1 1/2, scored big points and left him withing reach of Grado’s mark. He came close, finishing with a score of 556.10. Shestakov was second with 477.05.
“I was hoping to get (the record) and it didn’t quite happen, but I can’t complain,” said Hoffer, who will compete for Arizona State next season. “I’ve been working for that for the full four years I have been here and God finally allowed me to get it this year.”
