BOULDER — Four teams advanced to their respective title games Thursday night at the Coors Events Center.
Coverage:
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LOVELAND, PUEBLO, DENVER and BOULDER — The state basketball tournaments in all classes continue on Friday.
Every classification will have Final 4 action today, beginning at 4 p.m. In 4A/5A, only the boys are in action, as the girls played their Final 4 on Thursday.
Live coverage is below. Additionally, all games will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.
Brackets:
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Broomfield has hired Blair Hubbard as its next football coach, tabbing the longtime head of Lutheran and Faith Christian to lead its program.
Eagles athletic director Autumn Sereno announced the hire on Friday morning.
Hubbard is a highly-successful coach who has a career record of 164-35, including 27-12 in the postseason. His teams have made the postseason in 15 of his 17 seasons, and won 11 league titles.
He spent the past two seasons at Lutheran, a 3A program. His teams were 16-5 in two seasons, and reached the playoffs in 2014.
Prior to that, Hubbard spent 15 seasons heading Faith Christian in 2A, where he was 148-30.
Having spent so much time at Faith, he is familiar with Broomfield and its surrounding area. The two schools are separated by roughly 20 minutes.
At Broomfield, Hubbard will replace a legend in Gary Davies. Davies retired in January following 28 seasons leading the program. He had 232 career wins.
The Eagles went 5-5 last season, and missed the 4A playoffs. The year before that, they reached the semifinals.
Broomfield graduated starting quarterback Jack Burgesser, but do return their three leading rushers, and four of their five leading receivers.
On defense, their four leading tacklers graduated.
Follow all of the offseason coaching changes in our tracker.
LOVELAND, PUEBLO, DENVER and BOULDER — The state basketball tournaments in all classes are in action on Thursday.
Starting play on Thursday are the Great 8s in 1A, 2A and 3A boys and girls basketball at 8:45 a.m., as well as the Final 4s in 4A and 5A girls at 4 p.m.
Live coverage is below. Additionally, all games will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.
Brackets:
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[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast season, for the first time since 2009, the Grandview Wolves made the boys lacrosse playoffs.
Though they ended their run early with a 12-8 loss to Kent Denver — who went on to lose to eventual state champion Cherry Creek in the semifinals — Grandview’s season was a turnaround from going 6-9 season in 2014.
As their new coach last season, Patrick Chapla secured a bracket spot for his squad and hopes to do so again this season.
Though Grandview graduated nine seniors, two of them key players in Parker Reed and Jack Devro, the Wolves return a strong starting line led by Dylan Lander, Josh Melton and Ryland Clay.
Perhaps the biggest change and predictably impactful addition is transfer Connor Saari. He leaves Regis Jesuit, a powerhouse lacrosse program, where he won a championship in 2014 during his freshman year, and steps onto the neighboring turf.
The junior defenseman leaves his former school on a decision to join his epileptic brother at Grandview. A normally tough transition, Chapla is alternately confident that after playing with the Wolves throughout the winter, Saari is acclimated to his new team.
Chapla attributes last years playoff appearance to his group of seniors.
“They have been absolutely unbelievable. After so many years of playing together, they have figured it out. They take it seriously and they are just great leaders,” the coach said.
This year he harps on the importance of their continued culture of hard work.
“We care, we do the required work, and we hold each other accountable,” Chapla said.
Although the Wolves did not make it out of first round play in 2015, Chapla found the reason and has the remedy.
“We simply did not play a full game in that playoff game,” he said. “We played a few of the quarters. Playing an entire game is something we really have to hone. We can’t flip flop and we simply cannot have down periods.”
In preseason rankings among coaches, Grandview comes in ninth in Class 5A
Cherry Creek, after four straight appearances in the title game finishing as runner-up, grabbed their fifth championship last year, and is the preseason No. 1 in 5A.
Aspen won its first ever title in 4A last season, and begins the year at No. 6. Dawson begins the year at No. 1.
Grandview hopes to make a deeper postseason run in a few months. The Wolves open their season Friday against Chatfield.
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Defending state champions:
Important dates:
Returning All-State players:
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Niwot Cougars, two-time defending Class 4A state champions in girls track and field headed into the 2015 season, wanted to prove their program was bigger than just one person.
After all, Elise Cranny, a record-breaking runner and winner of two distance triple crowns at the state meet (800, 1,600, 3,200) in 2013 and 2014, had graduated. With her departure went a large chunk of the 136 team points accumulated by Niwot at the 2013 and 2014 state championships.
“A lot of people doubted us after we graduated Elise,” senior Kela Fetters said. “They thought our run of championships was over. We knew we had enough talent and the people coming back wanted it. We just had a group of great girls that were motivated all season.”
While Cranny was a transcendent talent — she’s now an American junior indoor 3,000 record holder for Stanford University — Niwot rolled to their third consecutive state championship in 2015 on the strength of the team. In fact, last year’s team scored more points than either of the Cranny-led Cougar units, racking up 85 and easily outdistancing Mountain View (59.5), Air Academy (54), and Thompson Valley (50).
“Within our program, I think our kids and our coaches weren’t surprised,” said Niwot coach Maurice Henriques, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association girls’ coach of the year in 2015. “I think the girls were really motivated last year to show we were a complete team.”
Like any elite track and field program, Niwot has been a 4A force in the relays. The Cougars claimed the 1,600-meter relay state championship in 2013 and 2014, the 800 relay championship in 2015 in a new 4A meet record time (1:41.13), and have advanced to plenty of other finals in the relays during their three-year stretch of team titles.
Lauren and Rachel Sharpe, twin sisters, 2015 graduates, and now members of the University of Colorado track and field team, and Christa Boettiger, a distance runner who signed with Oklahoma University in the 2015 class as well, have been key components to the Cougars’ powerhouse program.
But as Niwot has continued to prove, the program is stronger than just a few individuals. New top-flight competitors stepped up for the green and white last season. Freshman MacKenzie Fidelak placed third in the 400 (56.26), second in the 100 hurdles (15.15) and second in the 300 hurdles (44.15). Fetters, as a junior, won her first individual state championship by edging out Fidelak in the 300 hurdles (44.10). Sophomore Alexis Carroll did the same in the 100 hurdles in a photo finish (15.15).
“Alexis Carroll was the state champion in the 100 hurdles,” Henriques said. “The year before that, she was running the JV Championships. She wasn’t even on our state team. Alexis went from the JV Championships to an individual state championship in a year.”
Carroll also had a monstrous personal best in the long jump, upping her lifetime mark from 16-7.5 to 18-0.5 while placing third in 4A. Niwot returns Carroll, Fidelak and Fetters, the trio responsible for first and second-place finishes in the two hurdle events last year.
For Fetters, a fourth season for the Cougars means a chance at making it four-for-four in team championships.
“I think it would be really, really special,” she said. “I think all of the girls coming back really want it. We actually have a ton of new freshmen. We are just starting to get them excited about it and show them what’s possible this year. For the team and for Niwot High School, to get four in a row would be phenomenal.”
Niwot can expect resistance in the team competition from some teams in their own backyard. Including Thompson Valley from 2012, the Northern Conference has claimed four girls track and field championships in a row. Air Academy, Cheyenne Mountain and Valor Christian are expected to be among the top challengers to Niwot as well.
If the Cougars lay claim to a fourth consecutive title, they’ll become only the fourth program to win at least four state championships in a row. Niwot would be the first to do so since The Classical Academy won five in a row in 3A from 2006-2010. Limon won four in a row in 2A from 2004-2007 and Mullen was a seven-time champion in 4A from 1997-2003. Paonia will also be going after a fourth championship in a row in 2A this season.
Henriques is confident in his Cougars, but he also knows every season is a process and the competition in 4A will be stiff again.
“We always have a theme that you’ll see on the back of our shirts,” he said. “Last year our theme was resilience. This year it’s sacrifice. It’s been a little thing every year. It’s a great way that we bond. We had to be resilient to pull it off last year.”
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[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nitially, Isaac Green wasn’t sold on the idea of being a distance runner.
Despite the fact Green’s parents both competed in track at California Polytechnic State University, and his sister Claire was among the state’s finest runners for Monarch before taking her talents to the University of Arizona, Isaac was more interested in competing in other sports before high school began.
“My sister kind of dragged me out to cross country,” the junior at Monarch said. “I didn’t really like it that much. I had swim practice in the morning and then I had to leave swim practice early to run. I ended up being alright in cross country my freshman year, so I figured I would stick with it.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to do swimming or track in the spring of freshman year and I ended up doing track. I guess it paid off.”
At 6-foot-1 and over 170 pounds, Green is an awe-inspiring blend of power and speed. And he still does compete in other sports, just coming off a season for the Monarch basketball team. He also excels in the high jump, clearing a personal best of 6-foot-4 last spring, certainly a rare event for a distance runner to pursue.
In the end, Green’s size, while on the larger end of the spectrum for a distance runner, not only makes him a rare breed, an unusual physical presence lined up to lean figures in short shorts and singlets, but also allows him to dominate in a number of disciplines.
“He has incredible range,” Monarch cross country and track and field coach Kent Rieder said. “He was second in the 800 last year and the state champion in the 5k. That’s pretty darn good range. He ran 1:52 in the 800. I think he’ll obviously run faster than that this year. I think his goal is the state record.”
The sport has grown on Green just as he’s blossomed into one of the nation’s premier runners for his age. From a Class 5A runner-up finish in the 800-meter run (1:52.62) to a state championship in the 1,600 (4:19), his first state crown, to now a 5A title in cross country, the junior is already etching his name among the best Colorado distance runners in recent memory.
“He’s the best to come out of our school and that includes a guy who held the record in the 800 in Kirk Webb a few years back,” Rieder said of the former 5A state meet record holder. “He won state in cross country and in the 800 and 1,600 as a senior. I think Isaac will surpass him in all those events.”
Green carries lofty expectations on his broad shoulders — he has goals of going undefeated in the 1,600 and running sub-1:50 in the 800 this season — but also a confidence that brews from a history of championship success. In the fall, it took until the final few strides to decide a champion at the state cross country meet on the trails of the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
Boulder County and Front Range League rival Jake Mitchem, a senior, finished just over one second (16:04.80) behind Green (16:03.60).
“I knew all the guys in the front pack really well personally,” said Green, who also ran a personal best time of 14:55 in cross country last fall. “That made it even more intense. After the last river crossing, I thought I had it in the bag. I had gapped Jake and Paxton (Smith) by 20 or 30 feet. I was going into the stadium thinking I had it, but then I saw Jake’s shadow and heard him breathing behind me.
“That was a crazy experience. I’ve never had a kick as intense as that. It was a really good race.”
Coming off the final turn, Mitchem opened up a stride that allowed him to close on Green, but the big runner, in both stature and mental grit, held the senior off in a tremendous finish for a cross country championship.
“He’s got a will to win,” Rieder said. “That’s something you can’t coach in athletes. He’s got that mentality and that is something that is kind of rare in athletes.”
Rieder is equally impressed by Green off the track.
“He’s not just a great athlete,” the long-time Monarch coach said. “He’s also a very great teammate. He’s inspiring to the teammates he runs with. He’s a very good student as well. He’s getting recruited by Ivy League schools. Academically, he’s a very bright kid.”
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Grandview junior Michaela Onyenwere was named the state’s girls basketball player of the year by Gatorade on Thursday morning.
Onyenwere, who is averaging 24.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game, also won the award last season. Last year, she became the first player from her school to ever be honored with the award.
Onyenwere now becomes a finalist for the national player of the year award, which will be announced later this Month.
“Michaela Onyenwere is an exceptional athlete that possesses great energy,” Grandview coach Josh Ulitzky said in a statement. “She is a player that gives her best effort every time she is on the floor. She is a great teammate who does whatever is required to help her team win. Her leadership has been more evident as she has become more vocal and continues to lead by example in practice and in games.”
Onyenwere has led Grandview to a Final 4 appearance. The Wolves, unbeaten at 26-0 in Class 5A so far this season, are set to play ThunderRidge in Boulder on Thursday.
Grand Junction has hired Mike Sirko as its next football coach, the school announced on Thursday.
Sirko, 61, has been a head coach coach since 1976, and has won at virtually every stop. Most recently, he spent two years leading Hotchkiss — his second stint at the school. He also has been a head coach at Rampart (twice), Falcon, Smoky Hill, Doherty and Aspen.
“Coach Sirko has been recognized for his ability to build and sustain successful football programs across the state,” Grand Junction athletic director Carol Sams said in announcing the hire. “Grand Junction High School is excited to bring Coach Sirko to the valley and to welcome him as a vital part of the Tiger community.”
Sirko replaces Robbie Owens, who led the school to wide success during his tenure. Owens accepted a job in San Diego last month.
Sirko was 7-12 during his most recent stint at Hotchkiss, leading the Bulldogs to the 1A playoffs in 2014.
The coach has a history of doing great things at programs, and has amassed 244 career wins, which is the seventh-most in state history. At least 150 of those wins have come at the 4A or 5A level.
When Sirko took over Aspen, the Skiers hadn’t had a winning season since 1985, and hadn’t made the playoffs since 1974. His first season, Aspen went 7-3 and made the playoffs. In his second, Aspen won a playoff game.
He went 52-24 in seven seasons at Aspen.
Sirko had two stints at Rampart, as well, including 1996-2003 during which the Rams made three semifinal appearances. In 1998, he led the Rams to a 14-0 season and the 4A state title. Prior to his arrival in 1996, Rampart was 0-9.
He also turned around Falcon (1982-88), leading a winless program to its first-ever winning season.
In his first stint at Hotchkiss (1979-82), which was also his first high school job, Sirko took over a program that was 0-34, and led them to the 2A quarterfinals and semifinals in two of his three seasons.
Grand Junction had a lot of success under Owens, including consecutive appearances in the 5A quarterfinals in 2010 and 2011. But roster turnover hit the Tigers in recent seasons, and they’ve gone 6-14 over the past two years.
GJ is set to move down to 4A with the realignment of classifications in 2017. The Tigers return starting quarterback Jax Nourse, two of their three leading rushers, a top receiver in Danny Antonucci, as well as five of their top six leading tacklers.
Sirko is set to meet with his new team on Tuesday.
Follow all of this offseason’s football coaching changes in our tracker.
MONUMENT — It’s now or never for Lewis-Palmer senior Paul Tillotson.
The senior has been a staple to the Rangers’ baseball program for three seasons and entering his fourth and final year, he’s hoping that his experience and leadership can help him get his hands on that state championship trophy, even if the makeup of the team doesn’t have the same feel.
“It’s a little bit different,” Tillotson said. “We lost some guys from last year, we got a new coach but we’re looking on the up-and-up right now.”
Having Tillotson on the roster gives the team instant credibility. They came in as the No. 2 team in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com preseason baseball rankings. That’s the kind of reputation a team has when they have a University of Nebraska commit on its roster.
That’s right. Like several other Colorado athletes, Tillotson is bound for Lincoln. That is assuming that the lure of Major League Baseball doesn’t rear its head in June.
But for now, Tillotson’s only focus is on helping the Rangers become a better baseball team and continuing the string of success it has seen in recent seasons.
First-year coach Brett Lester is fortunate enough to join a squad that rosters one of the best players in the state.
“It’s a luxury that not many coaches get the chance to enjoy,” Lester said. “He’s going to be competitive every time out and he’s going to do well on the mound, even at the plate in the games that he’s not pitching, he’s going to have a huge output.”
In 2015, Tillotson was such a devastating weapon for the Rangers. From the offensive side, he batted .446 with six home runs and 32 RBIs. In 95 plate appearances, he struck out only six times.
On the mound, he went 8-1 with a 1.62 ERA. He struck out 145 hitters and walked only 22.
So which skill set are the Huskers hoping to utilize?
“I’m definitely going as a pitcher, but they wanted to know if I still want to hit,” Tillotson said. “They hinting on the subject that I’m going to hit more (than they thought I would).”
And he’s up for it.
He remains in constant communication with the Huskers and they continue to track each other’s progress.
And while it’s easy to track numbers on a boxscore, the one thing that Tillotson is working harder at this year is helping out the younger players. He and teammate Billy Cook are doing everything they can to develop young players and ensure that Lewis-Palmer will be a winning program well beyond this year.
“As returning veterans it’s kind of on us to help those young guys out,” Tillotson said. “Just the little things that go into winning games through the season. It’s our job to help kids out when we see things they need help on.”
And in the process, they’ll be helping themselves out as well. At the end of last season Tillotson and the Rangers were on hand as the state championship trophy was handed to Green Mountain. That feeling, regardless of the changes the team has gone through, made him hungry and determined to bring a state championship back to Lewis-Palmer.
The Rangers have never won a baseball crown.
“I definitely have the hunger,” he said. “I want to push myself and my team to prove that we deserve that No. 2 ranking. I’m always going to be pushing my team to make sure that we’re doing the best that we can.”
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1A