Behind them, Broomfield rose to No. 3, Mountain Vista is fourth and Rocky Mountain rounds out the top five. There were no new teams to this week’s 5A poll.
Evergreen takes over the 4A ranking with eight of the 12 first-place votes. The Classical Academy, last week’s No. 1, got the other four votes. Both teams are 9-0-0.
There was a lot of movement in 4A, which also added No. 7 Windsor, No. 9 Niwot and No. 10 Silver Creek.
Front Range Christian, meanwhile, regained its spot atop 2A following a 2-1 win over then-No. 1 Denver Christian.
DC fell to No. 3. Vail Mountain is second.
In 3A, Colorado Academy is the lone No. 1 team to hold its spot from last week. That ranking added SkyView Academy at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.
ARVADA — Columbine scored nine runs in the sixth inning to turn the tide, and the Rebels went on to beat Ralston Valley 12-9 in a Class 5A baseball game on Saturday.
Columbine trailed 5-3 before plating those nine to go up 12-5. Ralston Valley rallied with three in the bottom half of the inning, and got another in the bottom of the seventh, but the Mustangs couldn’t come back.
Mike Griebel hit a solo home run for the Rebels, and was 2-for-4. Michael Tait and Tommy Gillman each had two RBIs.
Columbine drew 11 walks in the win, including three each from Marc Alva and Noah Rimblas.
Ralston Valley’s offense was potent. The Mustangs had 18 hits on Saturday. That included four players who each had three.
DENVER — The Mullen Runners Roost Invitational has long been deemed one of Colorado’s finest track meets.
So when an athlete wins two events and places second in another, it’s noteworthy. But when that competitor is only a freshman, brand new to the high school track world, it’s rather remarkable.
Maya Evans, a sprinter and jumper for the Vista Peak Bison, a Class 4A school in Aurora, displayed her extreme talents Saturday with victories in the 100-meter dash (12.26), long jump (18-3.75), and a runner-up finish in the 200-meter dash.
Vista Peak’s Maya Evans. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
Maybe more remarkable is that Evans’ long jump mark wasn’t even a personal best. She went 19-3.5 at the Runners Roost of Fort Collins meet on March 21, currently the fourth best mark of any freshman in America during the outdoor track season.
Evans also leaped a ridiculous 19-4.25 in an indoor meet in January. Only three other Colorado girls — in any classification — have cleared 18-0 this season and Evans is the only one in the 19’s.
The freshman placed first at Mullen by a wide margin over Thompson Valley’s Ali Artzberger (16-8.50). The Vista Peak superstar also had a personal best in the 100, quite a day for a girl who just got her feet wet to high school track.
Evans’ jumps coach, Myka Greene, wasn’t the least bit surprised by her performance, though.
“I know there are a lot of people who want an athlete like her,” Greene said. “She’s really a great athlete and a real coachable one.
“I’m pretty confident that she can jump 20s at state,” Greene added. “In the 100, I believe she can run 12.00. In the 200, I believe she can get to at least 24.4. Her training that she’s doing, she’s getting there.”
For now, Evans is focused on the process.
“My goal is to drop my times more and jump further in long jump,” the freshman phenom said.
At an invitational the caliber of Mullen, Evans was certainly not the only one to impress.
Mountain View’s Riley Cooney, a senior and University of Kansas signee, won a distance double with the 1,600 and 800 crowns over stacked fields.
In her first event, the 1,600, Cooney tamed the field with a wire-to-wire victory in a time of 5:02.
In the 800, another win was far from a done deal as Thompson Valley’s Emily Leidig, a cross-town rival of Cooney’s in Loveland, broke off for a large lead on the second lap. Cooney, who was in second place, appeared out of contention with 100 meters left. But the senior had a furious finish to catch Leidig with five meters remaining, winning in 2:14 as Leidig ran 2:15.
“I thought maybe I had a shot at it, but it was a pretty big gap. I tried and I guess I got it,” Cooney said with a smile.
Isaac Green of Monarch. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
“I haven’t had a super awesome meet here in the past, so I just wanted to have my last one be a good one,” she added. “I hadn’t run an 800 that was I satisfied with this season. I needed that race today.
“In the mile, I just wanted to get out and take control and run my race. I’m happy with it.”
Monarch super sophomore Isaac Green, one of the best freshman distance runners in the nation a season ago, claimed a thrilling come-from-behind 1,600 meter race over Chaparral’s Dominic Compoz, who led throughout.
Regis Jesuit’s Javan Lanier won both the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Wheat Ridge hired Stacy Coryell as its new football coach earlier this month.
Coryell, a 1978 graduate of the school who also previously served as an assistant for the Farmers, was tabbed as coach on April 1, according to the Wheat Ridge athletics Facebook page.
He replaces Dan Reardon, who left for a job in Ohio after one season at the helm. Prior to Reardon, Reid Kahl was the coach for eight seasons.
Reardon’s team went 6-4 last season and missed Class 4A’s 16-team playoff field.
Wheat Ridge returns two players who threw more than 50 passes last season — quarterbacks Damian Padilla II and Nicco Young — as well as four of its five leading rushers.
The Farmers do need to replace their top offensive player in Jordan Jones, who rushed for 1,366 yards and 21 touchdowns, and also had 571 receiving yards last season.
Coryell has more than 20 years of coaching experience, including time as an assistant at the Colorado School of Mines from 2001-07. He was also an assistant at Wheat Ridge for four seasons in the 1990s, including the 1994 team that won the 4A championship.
During his playing days at Wheat Ridge, Coryell played football, wrestled and ran track. He went on to play football at New Mexico.
LITTLETON — A four-run fifth inning proved to be difference as Mountain Vista came away with a 7-5 win over league rival Heritage on Friday afternoon.
Second-ranked Mountain Vista (9-2 overall, 2-0 5A Continental League) was hanging on to a 2-0 lead over No. 9 Heritage as Will Dixon launched a three-run home run to give pitcher Marc Mumper some breathing room.
“To be honest, I haven’t hit the ball well all year,” Dixon said. “I got up there and knew he was going to throw me some curveballs so I moved up in the box and I just put the barrel on the ball and it went over the fence.”
Dixon also put his Eagles on the board in the first inning with an RBI single that brought home Cole Brook. The home run could not have come at a better time as fatigue began to set in for Mumper in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Heritage (7-5, 0-3) started the inning off with three straight singles and scored their first run on a passed ball. Bill Moreland then connected for a two-RBI double, cutting the Vista lead to 6-3.
“I got a little tired and just lost focus a little bit,” Mumper said. “We got ahead with that lead and we lost focus and they just started hitting the ball a little bit. I didn’t throw it how I wanted to and I didn’t throw it where I wanted to , but that’s just how baseball is sometimes.”
Mumper was able to help his own cause a little bit in the top of the seventh. He reached base on a walk and got to third after stealing second, only to have the throw from Casey Opitz go into centerfield, allowing him to get to third. He then scored on passed ball, giving Mountain Vista a 7-3 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Vista coach Ron Quintana tried to let his senior pitcher go for the complete game win, but was forced to pull Mumper with one out and runners on first and third. Quintana went with Jalen Saiz out of the bullpen, whose first pitch found its way to the backstop, allowing Heritage to bring a run home.
Saiz then struck out Moreland and two batters later, struck out designated hitter Jack Brouillette to end the game. As much as Mumper would’ve liked the complete game, the first priority was for the team to get the win.
“Jalen came in and did a great job,” Mumper said. “I had 100 percent confidence with him in there so it wasn’t too big of a deal. We got a good win there.”
The win for Mountain Vista, currently sits at No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com rankings, is one that Quintana hopes his players can really use to build on as they get deeper into league play.
“Obviously you want to build off a game like this,” Quintana said. “I think every game in our league is a big game. It’s good to start 2-0 in our conference because as everyone in the state knows, our conference is tough.”
That sentiment was echoed by Heritage coach Scott Hormann. He would’ve liked for his Eagles to come away with a home win, but knows that when state playoffs roll around, playing in the Continental League will be a blessing.
“I’m really proud of our guys because we’ve had some rough (games) where we’ve been down,” Hormann said. “I think we’re going to win if we play a lot of games the way we did today against the No. 2 team in state.”
Neither team will get much of a breather as they both get back on the field Monday. Heritage travels to ThunderRidge while Mountain Vista hosts Regis Jesuit. Both games are schooled for 4:15 p.m. starts.
Dakota Ridge junior Bailey Collins (24) is greeted at home plate by some excited teammates after Collins belted a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning Saturday to give the Eagles a 8-7 lead. Dakota Ridge went on to win 12-7 against Pomona at Bart Mapps Field. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — The lone hit Saturday afternoon for Dakota Ridge junior Bailey Collins was the most important one in the Class 5A Jeffco League opener.
Collins belted a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning off Pomona junior John Suyak to give the Eagles an 8-7 lead at Pomona High School’s Bart Mapps Field. Dakota Ridge (6-4, 1-0 in league) went on to a 12-7 victory.
“I had a couple of iffy at-bats. My swing has been off a little bit,” Collins admitted. “I was looking for something I could do my job and hit the ball somewhere. He (Suyak) happened to throw it a little in where I like it. The rest is history.”
The lefty hammered the inside-pitch over the wall in right field to regain the lead for the Eagles. Dakota Ridge took an early 5-0 lead through three innings, but Pomona pushed across seven straight runs to snag a 7-5 lead heading to the sixth inning.
Pomona shortstop Zach Langerak (26) leaps to grab the ball as teammate Carl Martillaro (35) backs up on the play. Dakota Ridge junior Bailey Collins slides into second base on the successful steal in the third inning. (Dennis Pleuss)
The Panthers (1-8-1, 0-1) batted around in their five-run fifth inning to tie the game at 5-5. Suyak had a big two-run double and junior Luke Parsons and sophomore Garret Zanon each knocked in a run for Pomona.
A sacrifice bunt by senior Darrick Watts in the bottom of the fifth inning with the bases loaded resulted in Pomona plating a pair of the runs to give Pomona its first lead.
“The rally is nice, but it’s the other two-thirds of the game where we’ve got to get better,” Pomona coach E.J. Mapps said. “Full credit to Dakota Ridge, the kid (Collins) with the three-run homer is a pretty tough dagger to come back from.”
Dakota Ridge senior Doug Case followed up the blast by Collins with a two-run double later in the top of the sixth inning to push the Eagles’ lead to 10-7. The Eagles scored twice in the top of the seventh inning on RBIs by junior Tyler Carrasco and senior Ryan Morris for a 12-7 lead.
Dakota Ridge junior Thomas Nagel picked up the win in relief for the Eagles.
“That’s a (5A) Jeffco game. Welcome to Jeffco League. That’s how they all are,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeff Legault said of the conference game that featured 23 hits and eight errors. “You have to fight to the last out.”
Dakota Ridge joined Columbine, Lakewood and Chatfield as 5A Jeffco teams who got out to a 1-0 conference start Saturday.
“It’s a whole new season for everybody,” Legault said with the start of league play. “I think we are all equal in our league. There is no standout in our league. All of us are going to have to scratch to get into the playoffs.”
Morris was a key for Dakota Ridge offensively against Pomona. The Eagles’ leadoff batter went 3-for-5 with three runs scored.
“He (Morris) is big when he gets on because of his speed and is dangerous on the bases,” Legault said. “We’ve got to get him more consistent. He is either on and gets us three runs or he is going 0-for-4.”
Dakota Ridge returns to its home field were it faces Ralston Valley on Tuesday and Lakewood on Thursday. Both are scheduled for 4 p.m. first pitch.
“It’s huge for us,” Collins said of Dakota Ridge battling back after falling behind against Pomona. “At the beginning of the season we had trouble dealing with adversity. Today was just a great team win.”
Pomona hits the road next week as it continues its stretch of facing south Jeffco squads. The Panthers travel to Columbine on Tuesday and Chatfield on Thursday. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts.
“We are giving too much away. That is our theme,” Mapps said. “We’ve shown some flashes, but just giving too much away. That’s got to be corrected.”
Dakota Ridge second baseman Ty Lightley waits for a throw as Pomona sophomore Garret Zanon (31) slides in safely during the Panthers’ five-run fourth inning Saturday. Pomona took a 7-5 lead, but Dakota Ridge rallied for a 12-7 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)Dakota Ridge senior Ryan Morris rips a single into left field for the Eagles on Saturday against Pomona. Morris was 3-for-5 from the plate with three runs scored in Dakota Ridge’s 12-7 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
