CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann, left, and Kevin Seggelke, President and CEO of Food Bank of the Rockies. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — The Colorado High School Activities Association joined forces with five statewide food banks during state basketball championship week to help bring greater visibility to hunger in Colorado by hosting the first-ever food drive at the basketball championships.

Bolstered by a $5,000 donation from the Foundation for Colorado High School Student Activities, a program known as Feeding Colorado was able to add food stores to its shelves this year. Additionally, any food donated during the state championship stayed in the community where that site is located.

“CHSAA was happy to try and help curb some of the challenges residents in our state have in feeding their families,” CHSAA Assistant Commissioner Bert Borgmann said. He noted the statistics that show more than 750,000 Coloradans are food insecure and in need of food assistance on any given week. And, nearly 1 in 4 children in Colorado are food insecure.

“These are folks in our CHSAA communities and we felt a need to try and help the efforts of these families as they struggle to get ahead,” he said. The five Feeding Colorado food banks in Colorado provide and distribute over 100 million pounds annually to nearly 1600 food assistance programs and touches each of Colorado’s 64 counties at least once each month.

Items from the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids, along with the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and Mile High Sports Magazine were used as prizes to entice donations at Budweiser Events Center (1A), CSU-Pueblo (2A), Colorado Mines (3A) and the University of Colorado-Boulder (4A/5A).

The Association will continue the program next year.

(Courtesy of Kalyssa Hall)

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ct like you’ve been there before. To most athletes, it’s a saying that is designed to keep behavior on the field of play at a respectful level. For Cherry Creek’s Kalyssa Hall, it’s a responsibility that she carries with her as she heads into the Class 5A tennis regionals which begin this week.

Hall is two-time defending state tennis champion. She’s a model student and a self-admitted intense competitor on the court. And she knows that through it all, she serves as an example to not only her teammates, but to all the tennis players in the state of Colorado.

“After I won in my freshman year, people knew who I was and they were more intimidated to play me,” Hall said. “It’s kind of like a spotlight. People are watching me a lot closer than other people so I have to maintain my attitude on the court and my positivity and team spirit a lot more.”

This is Hall’s first year competing at the 5A level after winning her two state titles at Cheyenne Mountain. She moved to Denver and transferred to Cherry Creek last summer.

The change in classification isn’t as much of a factor as some would believe and she has been nothing but a model student and athlete for the Bruins.

“She’s never satisfied and she always wants to get better,” Cherry Creek coach Christin Jacob said. “She works so hard. She works with us at practice, she’s hitting on her own outside of practice and she’s working on her condition constantly. It’s a pretty unreal thing to see.”

There is little doubt in the minds of her coaches and her teammates that she can have a long and successful career on the tennis court, but one of Hall’s best qualities is her ability to see beyond the white lines.

Since the age of 11, she has had her sights set on attending medical school and becoming an orthopedic surgeon. The academic workload that Hall has faced is certainly the foundation for her life ambitions, but her work on the tennis court is what has helped her learn the discipline that she will need in order to excel in that aspect of her life.

“Tennis has done so much for me in terms of developing myself as a person,” she said. “It gives me a sense of responsibility that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Instead of having to manage just my grades and just hang out with friends in my free time for the last 10 years, I’ve had to get all my homework done after three hours of tennis, work out and get up the next morning and go to school and do the same thing all over again.”

From an outside perspective, she seems more than capable of bearing the load that is required of her on a daily basis.

“She has the same attitude in class as she does on the court,” Jacob said. “She works super hard and she’s been great.”

But for the next few weeks, her focus will be directed on the postseason and trying to come away with a third individual state championship. She has gone into the last two state tournaments with plenty of confidence and after successfully defending her title once already, is anxious to do it once more.

“My first two years were pretty solid,” she said. “I had a lot of confidence going into those two (state) tournaments. I feel good with my game right, I’m training a lot more than I used to and I’m playing better than I’ve ever played before.”

Even so, she’s not letting herself get comfortable with her play. The last thing she wants to do is to come off as overly confident heading into state. It’s time to act like she’s been there before.

Falcon’s Jeff Vela. (Courtesy of Marybeth McDowell)

Falcon senior Jeff Vela tossed a no-hitter in Saturday’s win over Vista Ridge.

Vela threw all seven innings in the win, striking out nine against four walks.

This season, Vela is 5-3 with a 1.35 ERA. He has 73 strikeouts, which ranks eighth in the state regardless of classification and second in all of Class 4A.

Saturday, Vela only needed one run — but got seven. The Falcons’ offense was led by seniors Adam Glauvitz (2-for-3, RBI) and Benjamin McDowell (2-4, double, RBI).

McDowell, a second baseman, leads the team with a .465 average, and also has seven doubles and 13 RBIs this season.

Glauvitz, the team’s first baseman, is hitting .375 with three doubles and 11 RBIs.

Benjamin McDowell. (Courtesy of Marybeth McDowell)

Adam Glauvitz. (Courtesy of Marybeth McDowell)

Palmer Ridge joined girls lacrosse’s ranking this week. The Bears, 9-3 this season, are No. 9.

Cherry Creek remained atop CHSAANow.com’s poll with eight of the nine first-place votes. Colorado Academy got the other No. 1 vote, and moved up one spot to No. 2.

Likewise, Denver East also bumped up on spot to No. 3.

Centaurus and Arapahoe round out the top five this week.

Mullen (No. 6), ThunderRidge (No. 7), Columbine (No. 8) and Ralston Valley (No. 10) all stayed put this week.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. With the regular season ending on Saturday, this will serve as the final poll of the season.

Complete rankings are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Girls Lacrosse Poll

Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

It’s been a wet spring season, and Monday’s rain pushed back the annual Ashley Forey Memorial Golf Tournament to May 11.

The event had been set to for a 10:30 a.m. start at Rolling Hills Golf Course, but course officials decided to postpone to a later date because of the rain.

The tournament typically draws a field comprised of the state’s top golfers, and is annually one of the season’s best events.

Now in its 21st year, it honors the memory of former Wheat Ridge golfer Ashley Forey, who died in a car accident in 1994.

Regionals are set to complete in both classes on May 8, but the competition is allowed so long as individual golfers don’t play more than 198 holes this season.

Wheat Ridge is the new No. 1 team in Class 4A. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

Wheat Ridge made a huge leap in taking over the top spot in the Class 4A baseball poll this week.

The Famers, No. 6 a week ago, beat then-No. 1 D’Evelyn, No. 5 Green Mountain, and No. 2 Evergreen as part of a 4-0 run last week.

They received five of the 12 first-place votes in CHSAANow.com’s poll, but it was the most any team got this week. Wheat Ridge also totalled 105 points, placing them just ahead of D’Evelyn, which got four first-place votes and 101 points.

Lewis-Palmer, which received two first-place tallies, is No. 3 in 4A this week. Evergreen dropped to No. 4, and Pueblo West completes the top-five.

The 4A poll added two newcomers: No. 6 Erie and No. 7 Palisade.

Green Mountain (No. 8), Ponderosa (No. 9) and Montrose (No. 10) round out the 4A poll.

The 5A ranking also saw a lot of change this week.

Cherokee Trail led three newcomers at No. 7 in the poll. Pine Creek (No. 9) and Legend (No. 10) also joined.

Rocky Mountain stayed atop the ranking with 11 of the 15 first-place votes.

The three other No. 1s also remained the same: Eaton (3A), Rye (2A) and Eads (1A).

Neither the 3A poll, nor 1A poll, had any newcomers this week. 2A added Swink (No. 9).

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.

These will serve as the final polls of the season, as 1A’s regular season ended last Saturday, 2A’s is set to close this Saturday, and 3A, 4A, and 5A will end next Tuesday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Baseball Polls

Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

Castle View and Steamboat Springs each returned to their respective boys lacrosse rankings this week.

Both teams were ranked just two weeks ago before falling out last week. So their hiatus hasn’t been long.

Castle View joined the Class 5A poll from CHSAANow.com at No. 10.

Likewise, Steamboat Springs is now No. 10 in 4A.

Both No. 1 teams held firm. Cherry Creek is a unanimous top pick in 5A, while Valor Christian has just a two-point edge on No. 2 Aspen in 4A.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.

These will serve as the final rankings of the year with the regular season ending on Saturday.

Complete rankings for both classes are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Boys Lacrosse Polls

Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

Go to: 5A | 4A

The Classical Academy is back on top of the Class 4A girls soccer ranking.

The Titans, who were supplanted by Evergreen two weeks, returned to the top of 4A with eight of the 14 first-place votes this week.

Evergreen, which was upset by Valor Christian, dropped to No. 3. Valor is No. 2 this week.

The other three No. 1 teams — ThunderRidge (5A), Colorado Academy (3A) and Front Range Christian (2A) — all remain the same.

In 5A, Cherry Creek joined this week’s ranking. The Bruins came in at No. 9.

There were no newcomers in 4A. The 3A poll added No. 10 Frontier Academy, while 2A added CS School (No. 5).

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.

These will serve as the final rankings of the year with the regular season ending on Friday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Girls Soccer Polls

Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.

Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.

Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A

Smoky Hill’s Blake Yount wins the boys 800-meter run. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)

LITTLETON — Colorado has a long-standing tradition of producing excellent girls distance runners.

But the recent group of transcendent stars, equally capable in cross country and track, make a case as the greatest high schoolers to ever run on Colorado soil.

Just look at the past three weekends.

On April 10 at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in California, Fort Collins sophomore phenom Lauren Gregory ran a 4:48 in the mile, good for fourth place in the race and sixth place in the country. But Gregory was only third among competitors from her own state. Cherry Creek senior Jordyn Colter won in a national-best 4:45, while Air Academy junior Katie Rainsberger placed third in the race in the fourth best time in America, 4:47.

If that’s not enough to impress you, consider Colter broke the Colorado record in the 800-meter run with a 2:05.48 at the Stutler Bowl Twilight Invite on Friday, smashing Tara Mendozza’s 2:07.53, set in 1999. Colter is now number one in the country in the 800, as well.

The Liberty Bell Invitational, hosted by Heritage High School at Littleton Public School Stadium on Friday and Saturday, followed suit with some eye-popping times.

Gregory, already a three-time individual state champion in cross country and track, came within shouting distance of setting a Colorado record in the 3,200 on Friday with a ridiculous time of 10:25. Her winning margin was 39 seconds over Denver North’s Kayla Young (11:04) and Legacy’s Emma Gee (11:06), standout runners in their own right.

The all-time best is 10:17, set by Niwot’s Elise Cranny at the 4A state championships a year ago. Cranny recently broke the American junior record in the indoor 3,000 meters as a freshman at Stanford, so it’s fair to say Gregory is in good company. The sophomore broke the Fort Collins’ school record and the meet record and now boasts the best time on Colorado soil this spring by 28 seconds over Rainsberger.

Air Academy’s Katie Rainsberger. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)

Not to be outdone, though, Rainsberger cruised to a comfortable victory in the 1,600-meter run on Saturday with a 4:56. She was a mere four seconds off the meet record and won by 16 seconds over Fort Collins’ Devynn Miller.

Count Rainsberger as one of those who embraces the competition.

“I think it’s always awesome when Colorado girls go out and represent,” she said. “It’s kind of a pride thing.”

That being said, Rainsberger shies away from comparisons between her, Gregory, and Colter — the elite trio.

“I think it’s hard to compare yourself to someone, because you are all at different points, but I definitely look up to them,” she added. “I aspire to run 2:05 or 10:25. I don’t necessarily compare myself to them, but I admire them. We’re all really good friends too.”

The girls distance events at Liberty Bell were exceptional all around as 25 young ladies broke 12 minutes in the 3,200 and Fort Collins’ Becca Schulte won a stacked 800 in 2:14. Shining Mountain’s Ginger Hutton, a 1A competitor, ran an 11:28 in the 3,200 Friday and came back to get second place in the two-lapper in 2:15.

On the boys side of things, SkyView Academy’s Ben Butler handled a worthy 3,200 field with a time of 9:23. The 3A runner ranks second for all classifications in the event.

Regis Jesuit’s Javan Lanier ran the second quickest time in all classifications himself in the 100 meter dash in 10.73. Four others broke 11 seconds.

Pine Creek’s Dionne Taylor won the high jump with a mark of 6-8. Trevor Rex of Highlands Ranch also went 6-8, but in more attempts.

Castle View’s Mackenzie Pettit broke the meet record in the girl high jump, clearing 5-7.

Gateway’s Mike Ware (48.25) and Lakewood sophomore Brock Miller (48.99) impressed in the 400 meter dash.

Fountain-Fort Carson boys, speaking to their dominance in 2015, won the 4×100-meter relay in a time of 41.64 — a new best mark in the state — the 4×200 relay in 1:27.99, the 4×400 relay in 3:26, and the 4×800 relay in 7:59. Entering the weekend, the Trojans were ranked No. 1 in 5A in all four relays.

They are the heavy favorites to defend their team crown.

Fountain-Fort Carson’s Dylan Day. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)

Dylan Day, a future Ole Miss Rebel and one of the cogs in the Trojan machine, placed third in the 3,200 (9:40), second in the 1,600 (4:23), and ran a leg on that winning 4×800. The senior says one of Fountain-Fort Carson’s goals is to dominate the relays at Jeffco Stadium.

“I don’t know if it’s ever happened before, but we would like to win all four relays at state,” Day said. “That would be one of the best ways to end my senior year.”

Smoky Hill senior Blake Yount, a 1:51.63 runner in the 800 a season ago — the state record — crushed the field Saturday with a 1:52.61. That’s the new No. 1 in 5A in 2015 and should give him the top seed at the state meet.

Fort Collins girls pushed past fellow 5A title favorites Pine Creek to win the Liberty Bell Invite as a team. Fountain-Fort Carson, as expected, were the boys champions.

(Kevin Carmody/CHSAANow.com)

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY – It was a good week to be a Cherry Creek boys swimmer.

On Tuesday, the Bruins knocked off Regis Jesuit, its longtime rival and winners of the past four Class 5A state titles, and 19 of 20 overall, in a closely contested dual meet. Cherry Creek then kept that momentum going on Saturday by earning the team title at the inaugural Eagle Invitational, hosted by Pine Creek, at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Leading the charge was senior Sam Coffman, who touched first in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle and continuing his astounding comeback from rotator cuff surgery, which robbed him of his junior season.

“He’s come back with a vengeance after missing an entire year,” 13th-year Bruins coach Chris Loftis said. “It’s been fun to watch.”

Coffman took the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 47.76 seconds, touching more than two seconds before teammate Joe Jang. It was a much different story in the 100, when the top three swimmers finished just .03 seconds apart.

When the dust settled, Coffman had finished .01 seconds ahead of Air Academy junior Tommy Baker, with Air Academy senior Hunter Doerr an eyelash behind.

Coffman also anchored the Bruins’ winning entry in the 200 freestyle relay and almost erased a three-second deficit on the final leg of the 400 freestyle relay in a runner-up effort to Air Academy.

“I am at 100 percent and back to where I was before the surgery,” Coffman said. “My injury was definitely an eye opener, and it made me realize how much I missed it. It made me want swimming that much more.”

Cherry Creek, which also got an individual victory from Elliot Schwinn in the 500 free, finished the day with 430.5 team points. Air Academy, the three-time and reigning 4A state champs, finished second with 319 points, highlighted by two individual wins and victories in two relays.

Caleb Hicks (200 individual medley) Tommy Baker (50 free) registered wins for the Kadets.

“Being able to swim at this venue is a huge thing for us and our community,” Air Academy coach Scotty Newell said. “Having a timed finals and not having prelims brought them in. No one wants another two-day invite at this time of the year.”

The event also served as a dress rehearsal for the 5A boys state meet, May 15-16. It will mark the first time the U.S. Air Force Academy has hosted a state swim meet since 1996.

It’s been even a longer wait for Cherry Creek to hoist a championship trophy, all the way back to 1994 in fact.

Although the events of this week can’t hurt, Cherry Creek knows a hungry Regis team will be ready for the challenge at state.

“I definitely think this team is special,” Coffman said. “Honestly, I think we have a good chance this year, but nothing is set in stone. Regis is notorious for having great swims at state.”

Cherry Creek and Air Academy combined to win eight of the 12 events. Coffman’s future college teammate at Missouri, Kyle Goodwin of Regis, won the diving competition as he seeks his fourth consecutive state 5A crown.

Greg Shaw of Coronado won the 100 butterfly, edging Air Academy’s Caleb Hicks by .01 seconds, while Andrew Weiss of Rampart (100 breaststroke) and Gabi Sasia of Highlands Ranch (100 backstroke) also earned individual titles.