The 2016 all-state girls tennis teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These teams were created based upon results at the state tournament.

The athletes who won championships at their classification were named players of the year.

Scroll down to see the teams.

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Class 5A

Fairview’s Seraphin Castelino is the 5A girls tennis player of the year. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Player of the year: Seraphin Castelino, Fairview

Coach of the year: Susan Stensrud, Fairview

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Class 4A

Kent Denver’s Josie Schaffer is the 4A girls tennis player of the year. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Player of the year: Josie Schaffer, Kent Denver

Coach of the year: David Adams, Cheyenne Mountain

Keith Wahl. (File photo)

Keith Wahl, who led Valor Christian’s baseball team to the Class 4A championship on Sunday, has accepted a position to become the athletic director at a high school in Alabama.

Valor Christian announced the change on Monday morning. Wahl, who has been with Valor Christian since it opened in 2007, will become the AD at Briarwood Christian in Birmingham, Alabama.

“I want to thank everyone at Valor for my time here over the past nine years,” Wahl said in a statement. “When I chose to come here nearly a decade ago, I was hooked on the vision to, ‘Prepare tomorrow’s leaders to transform the world for Christ.’ What I didn’t expect coming here was that I would be one of the leaders being prepared.

“My wife, Alyson, and I see the Lord’s hand all over our move to Alabama, and are looking forward to where this step of faith takes us. We love Valor and the amazing people who labor in love here, and will continue to pray blessings upon such a special place.”

Wahl was also an assistant athletic director at Valor Christian, and helped to head the school’s Valor Sports Network sports media class, which won national awards for its coverage.

His baseball teams were 127-61 in nine seasons, and won six league championships.

“We are very thankful for the years of coaching, teaching and ministry that Coach Wahl has given to our students at Valor Christian,” Eagles athletic director Jamie Heiner said in a statement. “Our accomplishments on the baseball field and in the classroom under Coach Wahl’s leadership have been wonderful and effective. He has built a strong foundation for future success in the baseball program and we look forward to building on that foundation in the coming years.

“We have all been blessed by the service of Coach Wahl over the past nine years, and we are now excited for his future, knowing God has prepared him for such a time as this.”

Heiner added that the school would begin a search for a new coach immediately.

Valor Christian won the 4A baseball championship. (Tom Robinson/CHSAANow.com)

LAKEWOOD — The task was tall for the Valor Christian baseball team: defeat Pueblo West twice to claim the school’s first baseball title.

Sunday at All-Star Park, the goal came to fruition for the Eagles, who claimed the Class 4A state baseball championship with two resounding victories.

Valor Christian (22-4), once-beaten in the eight-team, double-elimination state tournament, had to get past  unbeaten Pueblo West twice.

The Eagles did just that, winning 8-1 and 9-6 to add more hardware to the school’s ever-growing trophy case.

They received a sterling performance from freshman right-hander Davis Heller in the first game, forcing a second and final game.

And that’s where Valor Christian showed its resiliency. The Eagles rallied from 4-0 and 5-4 deficits with late-inning heroics.

It was the second time in four years Pueblo West (21-6) finished as the runners-up.

Levi Walters went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the way for Valor in the second game.

The Eagles trailed 4-0 after three innings and 5-4 after five. Each time, they came back, taking the lead for good with a two-run sixth and adding three insurance runs in the seventh.

“Being down 4-0 isn’t a situation you want to be in,” Walters said. “We just trust in each other that anyone can get the job done. We have confidence in everybody. Sticking to Valor baseball is how we did it.”

“Our guys were fighting,” Valor coach Keith Wahl said. “We were down four and we kept scraping and battling. We wanted to get them back one by one. We talked at the beginning of the year about being gritty, free, high-achieving followers of Christ. And that’s what we exemplified today.”

Pueblo West coach Dan Sanchez tried to find words after losing in the championship game again.

“We started out that first game really tentative, pretty nervous,” Pueblo West coach Stan Sanchez said. “That second game we made some mistakes you can’t make that were crucial. The beat us, outhit us.”

Pueblo West jumped on Valor starter Luke McNary for three runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI infield single from Josh Drury and a two-run single by Dauson Tate. It added another run in the third for a 4-0 lead before Valor tied the game with a four-spot in the fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate and stringing together five hits.

“To me these are the best two teams in 4A and (Pueblo West) deserves a ton of credit,” Wahl said. “They are going to get one, they deserve it.”

The Eagles forced a second game against the unbeaten Cyclones with a 7-1 win earlier Sunday. Heller handcuffed Pueblo West with a solid performance. He pitched into the seventh, allowing one run on four hits, striking out five and walking three.

Sean Rooney broke up a scoreless game in the fourth with a two-out single into left field, driving in Blake Donels, who had walked and was sacrificed to second by Luke Ziegler. Following a walk to Walters, both runners moved up on an RJ Dabovich wild pitch and Luke Bozarth made it hurt with a two-out, two-run single into center field.

Valor Christian added four more in the sixth for a 7-0 cushion.

Pueblo West’s lone run came on a seventh-inning solo home run by Alan Garcia.

GREELEY — Faith Christian won the Class 3A baseball title on Sunday, topping Manitou Springs.

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PUEBLO — Dawson School won the Class 2A baseball state championship with a win against Limon on Sunday.

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University gave Faith Christian its first loss in the 3A tournament on Saturday. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

GREELEY — One long fly ball to right field gave University a breath of life.

During the Class 3A baseball Final 4 at Butch Butler Field, the Bulldogs, playing in their hometown, rode a two-run home run by Jake Spence in the top of the eighth inning to a 4-2 victory over Faith Christian.

The win gave University a chance to play in the 10 a.m. de facto semifinal game Sunday against Manitou Springs, winners of a 10-3 game against Kent Denver later in the afternoon Saturday. The winner of that game will play Faith Christian for the championship at 12:30 p.m.

In a double-elimination format, Faith was the last team to lose in the postseason, meaning the Eagles — champions in 2007 and 2011 in 3A — were already guaranteed a spot in the title game with or without a loss to University.

But Saturday belonged to the Bulldogs.

In a scoreless game through five innings, Spence got things started with a one-out triple in the sixth. Then, Beau Hawley had an RBI single to drive Spence in for the game’s first run. Freshman Kalob Padilla added a sac fly to make it 2-0 University.

Faith Christian answered back in the bottom of the sixth as AJ Stephens had an RBI double and Gabe Hegarty had a sac fly of his own to even things at two. Extra innings began after a scoreless seventh. That’s when Spence came to the plate again.

“I got up there knowing I had a job to do,” the senior said. “We had a guy at second base and I needed to move him over. I had seen the ball really well all day and was making good contact. He threw it inside and I just timed it up and took it.”

Spence — responsible for six of his team’s eight home runs this season — gave it a ride, providing the Bulldogs the chance to reach their first title game since 1997 should they beat Manitou.

University beat Valley and Lamar, but lost to Manitou Springs earlier in the tournament. The Bulldogs have reached three baseball finals, winning 3A in 1992 and 1997 and AA in 1982.

“We always have a dream at the beginning of the year to do it, but this year was different,” Spence said. “We all knew we had the ability to go out and accomplish it.

“A win like this is huge for us, because we knocked off the undefeated team. But we have a lot more work to do to be able to play them again in the championship game. It’s awesome for us.”

Senior pitcher Spencer Wilcox overpowered some hitters on the way to nine strikeouts for the Bulldogs, finishing one out shy of seven innings before having to come out due to the pitch count rule. Wilcox, who came in with an ERA of 0.81, only gave up four hits, three walks and two earned runs to improve to 4-0.

University, which lost to Brush in the semifinals last season, has a record of 20-5 headed into the final day of the season.

“It’s about starting pitching,” Spence said. “We have a great pitcher throwing for us tomorrow in Kalob Padilla. He’s going to go in and throw strikes. All we have to do is play our game.”

The freshman threw the final inning and a third in relief for University on Saturday, giving up no hits and no runs.

As for Faith Christian, the Eagles beat Lamar, Kent Denver and Manitou Springs earlier in the tournament. Faith will be appearing in its third-ever baseball title game after beating Holy Family in 2011 and Erie in 2007. Landon Ford pitched the first seven and a third innings against University, finishing with five strikeouts and four earned runs.

In the second game at Butch Butler Field, one touch of power pushed Manitou Springs into Sunday.

A homer, coming in the top of the second off senior Dominic Archuleta’s bat, was a towering three-run shot to left, giving the Mustangs a 3-0 lead against Kent Denver. Manitou eventually went up 8-0 in the fifth, rolling into Sunday’s matchup against University with a 10-3 victory over Kent Denver.

“He threw me one high and inside and I just stroked it,” Archuleta said. “Luckily it stayed fair and went out. It just picked up from there.”

The Mustangs outhit the Sun Devils 15-6 and Travis Struble, finding his way out of trouble in a few instances, did the rest with a solid performance on the mound — 6 2/3 innings, six hits, two earned runs, two walks and nine strikeouts.

Manitou Springs has a chance to appear in its second-ever baseball finals with a win over University. The first came when the team lost to Broomfield Broomfield in the 1966 AA championship game.

For a lineup that kept churning out hit inning after inning, Sean Whalen had an RBI single with two outs in the top of the tirrd to drive in Struble and make it 4-0 Mustangs. During a four-run fifth, Struble had an RBI single, Whalen an RBI double, Dylan Hickox an RBI double and Riley Manzo an RBI triple. That gave Manitou Springs an 8-0 lead.

Lucas Culver added an RBI single in the sixth to make it 9-1. Brennan Allen took advantage of a bases-loaded situation later in the inning, drawing a walk to push it to 10-1 and live another day.

“I’m just happy to be in the situation we are,” Archuleta said. “I love my team. I wouldn’t want to be in this situation with anybody else and I just love the way we are hitting right now.”

Manitou Springs, which also beat St. Mary’s, University and lost to Faith Christian earlier in the tournament, had a 4-for-4 performance out of Whalen. The Mustangs have a 16-9 record.

“We just have to come out and play hard against University,” Archuleta said. “We’ve seen them. They definitely want revenge. They are a real good ball club. They stroke the ball. We just have to play hard, execute and play Mustang baseball.”

As for Kent Denver, the Sun Devils were never able to match the early momentum of Manitou Springs.

Will McKissick had an RBI single to put Kent onto the scoreboard with two outs left in the bottom of the fifth. The Sun Devils loaded the bases for Noah VanSickle with one out in the seventh, who drove in two runs with a single to make it 10-3.

Kent Denver finished its season with a 15-9 record. They took out Eaton, a huge upset of the defending champion Reds to start the tournament, while also losing to Faith Christian and beating St. Mary’s.

DENVER, LAKEWOOD, GREELEY and PUEBLO — The state baseball championship games in all remaining classes are on Sunday. We will have live coverage from every site.

All games begin at 10 a.m. Select games are on the NFHS Network.

Brackets: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A

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Live scoreboard

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Live coverage

Cherokee Trail won the Class 5A baseball championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

DENVER — Lightning hovered in the area of All-City Stadium as the Class 5A baseball championship was to be decided Sunday, threatening clouds ruining a clear blue sky.

It didn’t get close enough to cause a delay — but it did seem to find the bat of Cherokee Trail senior Eric Cox, who provided the spark that delivered a state championship to the Cougars.

Cox hit a game-changing two-run home run in the third inning, and Cherokee Trail beat Rocky Mountain 9-4 to win the 5A title on Saturday.

“Everything. It was everything,” Cherokee Trail coach Allan Dyer said of the home run. “It just got us started. We just needed a breakthrough, and Eric has been the guy all year, and he just did it.”

The resilient Cougars rebounded from a 2-0 loss earlier in the day, and rallied from a 3-0 hole in the deciding game to secure the championship, the program’s second.

In a way, it was a microcosm of their season, which started off with back-to-back losses.

“That’s defined this group all year, is their resiliency,” Dyer said. “We just told them to hang in there.”

Down 3-0 in the third inning, Cox hit the home run to right field to cut into the deficit.

“You could just see the energy in the dugout. It was crazy,” Cox said. “We were down both games, and like we have been all year, we brought the energy back up in the dugout.”

In the fourth, the Cougars tied the game on an errant pickoff attempt — which set the stage for John-Michael Osley. With two runners on, the second baseman doubled both home to give his team a 5-3 lead.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

“I was just trying to have fun,” Osley said. “I looked at my partner in crime, Jerome Bohannon, and every time I look at him, I try to smile and remember to have fun playing the game. That’s just what went through my head: ‘Just have fun, and try and put a good swing on it.'”

Said Dyer of Osley: “He’s just been the clutch hitter for us all tournament, he’s been the guy.”

Two innings later, Osley added another RBI double to make it 6-3. Bohannon followed that with a two RBI single to make it 8-3.

Osley finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Bohannon was 2-for-3 with the two RBIs.

Bohannon also starred on the mound, throwing a complete game. He struck out six, walked four, and allowed just three earned runs on seven hits.

Bohannon worked his way out of key situations, including stranding a runner at second in the bottom of the sixth, and at one point retired eight consecutive batters.

It was consistent with his play during the entire tourney — he hit two home runs the first weekend, and finished with eight RBIs in six games. He was also the winning pitcher in two games.

“We knew coming into today that we had our big guys (pitching),” Dyer said. “We knew it was ours to lose.”

Rocky Mountain got a stellar performance from John Sorensen in the first game to even force a winner-take-all championship with the 2-0 win. But because Cherokee Trail entered the day unbeaten in the tournament, Rocky Mountain needed to beat the Cougars twice to win a championship.

The Cougars didn’t waste their second chance, proving their resilience once again.

“That is the story of our season,” Osley said. “That’s the type of team we are. We don’t let anything get us down, and coach Dyer always tells us that that’s what makes our team great, is our resiliency and our ability to come back.”

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Faith Christian won the 3A baseball championship. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

GREELEY — Faith Christian is growing its legacy.

The Eagles adding a third Class 3A baseball crown with a 5-1 win over Manitou Springs on Sunday. Faith Christian also won in 2007 over Erie and 2011 over Holy Family.

In a double-elimination format, Faith was the last team to lose in the postseason, meaning the Eagles were already guaranteed a spot in the title game with or without the 4-2 eighth inning loss to University on Saturday.

After the Mustangs beat University 3-2 in eight innings in the de facto semifinal game earlier Sunday, Faith Christian got an outstanding performance out of senior ace Austin Stone when it counted most as Stone had three consecutive strikeouts in each of the second, third and seventh innings.

Stone finished his final prep game by going the full seven innings and racking up 11 strikeouts, while only allowing two hits and one earned run.

He had a 2.33 ERA headed into Sunday and completed an 8-0 season. Stone also had an RBI double in the top of the sixth to push Faith Christian’s lead to 5-1.

“All my pitches were working today,” Stone said. “My curveball was working really well. I was getting a lot of over-the-top swings. I was trying to pitch through contact most of the time, but it was nice getting so many strikeouts.”

Faith Christian coach Ralph Nance thinks Stone deserves plenty of accolades for all he accomplished during the state title run.

“Austin Stone has really come on in the last month or so and been tremendous,” Nance said. “Obviously today you saw it. He’s the 3A player of the year without a doubt.

“The rest of the seniors were there the whole time. They pulled everybody together and made it a really fun ride. They really came together as a team and did all the right things. They are great student-athletes.”

Davyn Adamscheck, a junior on the mound for Manitou in the final, had an RBI single to score Dominic Archuleta in the bottom of the first.

Faith Christian took a 2-1 lead off back-to-back RBI singles by Gavi Wygant and Macklin Brockmeyer in the top of the second as the Eagles had seven hits in the first three innings.

Faith Christian senior Adam Buchman opened up a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth for the Eagles with an RBI single. Faith could’ve put the Mustangs at a bigger deficit, but stranded two runners in the inning.

More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

Nonetheless, they pounded out 12 hits and five runs in the final. Buchman also had a spectacular catch for the final out in the sixth.

Nance, now the proud owner of his first state championship in his 13 seasons with the Eagles, especially has a feel good story.

“I had a big heart attack in March before the season started,” he said. “It was one of those things where you don’t know if you’re going to be around the next minute. I’ve been going through recovery and the kids have been supportive. I love these guys. I’m just so thankful the way things turned out. It’s a dream.”

Nance’s teams were appearing in their sixth Final 4, but he missed the two title runs with time off from the program. This was his first time ending the season as the 3A winners.

“It means everything to us,” Stone said. “Our coach really needed it. He deserves it all.”

Adamscheck gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings for Manitou Springs in the final, handing the ball to Sean Whalen down 3-1. Whalen then gave up the two-run RBI to Stone.

The Mustangs did have a memorable run to the title game.

And on the final day of baseball this spring, Manitou, in the de facto semifinal game against University, had another fine outing on the mound, this time from senior Zach Garrett. Garrett tossed 7 2/3 innings, throwing 103 pitches and giving up only two runs.

A game that went to extra innings, the Mustangs had a game-winning RBI single to the middle of the field by junior Sean Whalen in the eighth, outlasting University 3-2 to seal a bid to the final.

Dawson won the 2A baseball championship. More photos. (Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)

PUEBLO — With two outs in the top of the seventh inning Tanner Fulkerson was wiping tears from his eyes.

With good reason.

A short pop up to the catcher Max McClellan sealed it for the Dawson Mustangs, who beat Limon 13-4 Sunday to claim the Class 2A state baseball championship.

Fulkerson, a senior, was the winning pitcher of record for Dawson and when the championship appeared to be within reach, his emotions started getting the better of him.

“With one out to go I almost started crying, it’s sad that it’s coming to an end,” he said. “I was wiping the tears away and I was expecting the ball. I didn’t know if I was going to get a ground ball and probably make an error for the last play of my high school career.”

But that never happened.

Instead, he saw McClellan accept the ball into his mitt and the players began the celebration. It is the first baseball championship in school history.

It seemed to be the Mustangs’ day early as they put up seven runs in the second to give Fulkerson plenty of support on the mound. As the rally continued, the Limon fielders appeared out of sorts defensively as they committed two errors in the inning.

After a short rain delay in the fourth inning, the Mustangs continued their offensive onslaught, adding four more runs to pad the already significant lead.

“(The delay) was a little frustrating,” Luke Feigal said. “But in the end, I don’t think it made a huge difference.”

More photos. (Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)

While Feigal struggled at the plate on the day, he was instrumental with his work on the mound. He threw a complete game in the semifinals, helping Dawson advance to the title game. He allowed seven hits, two walks and struck out three in a 6-1 win over Sedgwick County.

“Obviously there are some nerves for anything that big,” he said. “I think a little bit of nerves is a good thing because it means you care. We just know we’re there for each other.”

Limon reached the title game via a thrilling 4-2 win over No. 1 Paonia in the semifinals. Down 2-1, the Badgers scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to fend off a team that many viewed as the favorite in the tournament.

But they could not repeat that magic in the championship game. Limon only registered seven hits in the game and at times, just could not figure out Fulkerson through six innings or Feigal in the seventh.

“They’re our one-two punch,” Mustangs coach Joe McKenzie said. “All season long, when we’ve needed them to throw in big games, they’ve come through. You saw it today. We had a few pitches left with Luke and he comes in and knocks it down.”

And in doing so, he helped bring a baseball crown to his school for the first time.