There are moments in sport that transcend competition. We were again reminded of this last night at the Cherry Creek-Prairie View football game.
Prairie View senior Patrick McKinney, who has cerebral palsy and is bound to a wheelchair, scored the game’s final touchdown. Everyone in the stadium cheered McKinney as he cross the goal line, including the Bruins’ players on the field.
After he scored, both benches emptied and surrounded McKinney in celebration.
Chatfield kicker Andrew Mangold (85) watches a success field goal attempt Friday at Jeffco Stadium. (Tanya Wheeler-Berliner/Jeffco Public Schools)
Story by Tanya Wheeler-Berliner/Jeffco Public Schools
LAKEWOOD — Chatfield took one step closer to wrapping up the Class 4A Plains League title Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.
The Chargers, No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com 4A football poll, defeated South Jeffco-area rival Dakota Ridge 36-29 to take sole possession of the conference race. Chatfield (8-1, 4-0 in league) is one game ahead of Dakota Ridge (5-4, 3-1) and Heritage (6-3, 3-1) with one week remaining in the regular season.
Chatfield can sweep through the conference and extend its winning streak to six games when the Chargers face Heritage at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, at Jeffco Stadium. Dakota Ridge closes it regular season on the road against Adams City next Friday night.
Dakota Ridge did give Chatfield a scare days before Halloween. The Eagles jumped on top early in the first quarter with a 39-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Drew Dominic to senior Keenan Brown.
Chatfield’s students section was able to cheer after the Chargers rallied to win 36-29. (Tanya Wheeler-Berliner/Jeffco Public Schools)
Chatfield responded quickly when senior Tylor Rowles scored his first of three touchdowns of the night. Chatfield’s Andrew Mangold nailed a 36-yard field goal, increasing the lead 10-6, but Dakota Ridge answered with a touchdown run by senior John McEwen with 35 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Eagles a 12-10 lead at halftime.
Dakota Ridge started the second half on fire, scoring 10 unanswered points with a 27-yard field goal by senior kicker Harper Silliman and then a 92-yard pass from Dominic to senior receiver Jonathan Freddilino.
Dominic connected with David Brandt on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Eagles up 29-17.
Dakota Ridge’s students section cheers Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Tanya Wheeler-Berliner/Jeffco Public Schools)
Then, the momentum began to shift. Rowles ran for a 69-yard touchdown to cut Dakota Ridge’s lead to 29-24.
Dakota Ridge fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the beginning of the fourth quarter which led to another Mangold field goal, narrowing the Eagles’ lead to 29-27.
Another Dakota Ridge turnover set up the Chargers for the go-ahead touchdown. Rowles found the end zone for the third time to give Chatfield a 33-29 lead.
Mangold kicked through a 23-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter to ice the game and complete a run of 19 unanswered points by Chatfield to end the game.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Kim McConnell watched her daughter Quinn run towards the finish line, appearing to be a shoo-in first-place finisher in the 3A girls cross country state final.
But then Coach McConnell watched in dismay and screamed in horror as Quinn collapsed on the track for a first time — then a second — before falling to the dusty dirt ground right at the finish line.
“It was shocking because Quinn had a huge lead already when I saw her go past at the two-mile mark,” Peak to Peak cross country and track coach McConnell said. “Kayla (Young) really came back on her in the last part, so I think she went out too hard too early. It’s warm out here and there’s a lot of drama around the season and so many expectations of trying to win a state title.”
There were no individual cross country titles for Peak to Peak Charter School runners at the 2016 cross country state meet, but Quinn and teammate Anna Schults placed in the most dramatic race of the day and helped the Pumas clinch the program’s first-ever 3A girls cross country team title at Norris-Penrose Events Center on Saturday.
“It was scary and difficult,” Quinn McConnell said of nearly fainting at the very end of her race. “You feel like a third person watching yourself,, and it’s hard to finish because everyone is yelling at you. We’ve been working at this specific race for five months and all of our goals have been around it.”
McConnell came through the home stretch of the 5K race, followed by Denver North senior Kayla Young. Young was gaining ground on McConnell, until she started collapsing during the last 400 meters of the race. But suddenly, McConnell started to crumble as well — the first time she had ever experienced that happening during a race before.
Young passed McConnell and won the race, briefly setting a course record with a time of 18:36.1, before Grandview’s Brie Oakley was up to bat in the later 5A girls race and crushed the mark by more than one minute at 17:07.
Sophomores McConnell and Schults placed first and second in the 3A girls race, respectively, for the 2015 state runner-up Pumas. And this year, the duo placed second and third, respectively, to help the Pumas win first with 57 points.
“I think everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, and to be able to win a state championship with the team is something we’ve wanted forever, and the fact we were able to do it despite everything that’s happened is just incredible,” Quinn McConnell said.
It was an extremely rewarding end to a tough, emotional year.
“This trophy represents a lot of drama this season and some very, very hard things that have happened,” Coach McConnell said. “It’s wonderful to look at, but it’s really all about the people who made it happen: the parents who have supported our team and the kids bonding together after Brandon Ries’ death to create something very beautiful.”
This year proved to be a very terrifying scene for the Peak to Peak community when Quinn started falling down during her race, as the cross country team had recently lost a member of its family in a similar setting.
On September 16, senior team captain Brandon Ries, 18, collapsed during the third mile of a 5K meet race in Broomfield and died.
McConnell told Runner’s World, “apparently he just started walking and then [laid] down on the side of the course, and that was it, he was gone. He was given CPR right away and emergency people came pretty fast and they tried for a long time, there on the course and in the ambulance and at the hospital.”
The cause of Ries’ death has not yet been determined. One of his two younger sisters, Jillian, is also on the Peak to Peak cross country team, but did not compete in this year’s state meet.
“Having his sister on our team is pretty poignant as well. She didn’t get to race today, which is unfortunate, but she’ll be back,” McConnell said. “They’re just waiting to get all the results back from Brandon before they give her the all-clear. They just wanted to be sure about any genetic links.”
There was a ton of support for and honorary nods to Ries at the meet, with a moment of silence and short tribute Coach McConnell wrote before the girls accepted their team trophy.
“Because of the consistency of his love, sacrifice, gratitude and joy, Brandon positively and profoundly impacted everyone around him all the time,” the announcer read out loud.
And James Ries, Brandon and Jillian’s father, said his son truly loved cross country, the team and running outside in nature. On Sept. 10, during a family outing to the Springs for a gymnastics show, James said Brandon practiced on the state XC course by himself in preparation.
“Coach McConnell and that team have really bonded together,” James Ries said. “Every workout is important for the physical aspect and team aspect, and Brandon was a vital part of that. He really tried to bring everyone along and make it fun for everyone.
He added: “for the team to come together, especially after Brandon died, and for the boys team to qualify for state is a great accomplishment and I’m very proud of those boys who banded together to make that happen.”
James Ries was also at the meet taking photos of the Peak to Peak racers, and couldn’t describe exactly what it felt like to be there.
“Many, many XC teams across the state [have] offered condolences and honored Brandon in a variety of ways. The cards and banners that we and the Peak to Peak XC team has received is really extraordinary. The running community has been an amazing source of support through all this,” Ries said.
He said there were numerous signed banners and cards filled with condolences and well wishes across the state and even outside the state. One team collected Chipotle gift cards and sent them to the Peak to Peak team; there were handmade cards, remembrance bracelets, wearing school colors and many more gestures.
Coach McConnell also said she received an enormous outpouring of support over the last few weeks.
“I’ve gotten emails and texts from around the world. It’s like a tangible help when all these people reach out to let us know they are supporting us,” McConnell said.
The team really came together as a single unit by using gratitude — to have Brandon in their lives and to be able to have one another on a team — and has been moving through this grieving process focusing on being open about discussing Brandon, and being there for one another, no matter what.
“It’s not really about the running — it’s about loving well. Brandon was 18 and did it so beautifully,” Coach McConnell said.
And the season isn’t even over yet for a handful of Peak to Peak runners. They’re off to the Nike Cross Regionals in Arizona on Nov. 19
COLORADO SPRINGS — A changing of the guard occurred at the Norris-Penrose Event Center on Saturday. More specifically, Vanguard became one of two boys programs at the state cross country championships to end a four-peat.
The Crusaders, on the strength of seniors Grant Hughes (fifth place), Harley Morgan (eighth) and junior Nick Lovato (11th) took down the four-time defending state champions in Lyons in Class 2A. With some individuals from non-qualifying teams sprinkled in the top finishers, each Crusader moved up two to four places in team scoring, contributing to the winning 15-26 point tally over runner-up Lyons. As a result, the charter school in Colorado Springs won its first-ever state championship in any sport.
Moving down from 3A to 2A this year provided Vanguard with a boost. Adding Hughes, a multi-sport athlete who has competed in soccer, basketball, and track, didn’t hurt the team’s chances either.
“I decided to come out for cross country for the first time,” the senior said, knowing that outstanding runners like Lovato (12th in 3A in 2015) and Morgan (27th) were already in place. “I wanted to help win it with them.”
A natural athlete, Hughes didn’t need much of an adjustment period to get into the swing of being a high-level cross country competitor. He placed third at the Air Academy Kadet Invite early in the season, went on to claim the 2A Region 2 crown and then earned all-state honors on Saturday.
“We had a team of 11 and only a team of eight this year,” Morgan said. “Most of the seniors were part of our top five and we basically had to build from scratch. Having Grant was such a blessing. He’s a really athletic guy.”
Over the course of the season Vanguard established its name as a 2A favorite, cementing that status with a perfect score (1st, 2nd, 3rd individuals) at its regional meet. Now, to bring home a state title for the first time is something extra special.
“It really means a lot,” Morgan said. “It’s going to bring a lot of focus to the cross country team. I think we’ve inspired a lot of kids at our school.”
Custer County’s Jerald Taylor (16:06), a senior who placed 16th in 2015, ran away from Rocky Ford junior Cody Danley (16:38) to win the 2A individual title.
As for the other four-time team champion being overtaken, Monarch took out Mountain Vista, the only program in Colorado history to conquer four consecutive 5A boys titles.
As the season went on, there was an inkling by many around the state that the Coyotes might be on Mountain Vista’s level. On September 10 at the St. Vrain Invite in Lyons, Monarch came within one point, 71-72, of defeating the Golden Eagles.
A program that had claimed three 5A girls crowns in a row from 2011-2013, Monarch was looking to secure their first boys championship. They did just that Saturday with an 88-97 victory over Vista. On top of that, senior superman Isaac Green (15:57) claimed his second of back-to-back cross country state titles over Vista’s Joshua Romine (16:04).
“At the very beginning of the year we do a camp and our goal this year was to win state,” Monarch coach Kent Rieder said. “We felt that with the talent on our team, and I knew all the guys would work hard, we felt we could do it.”
The Coyote scoring contingent was also comprised of Charlie Perry (3rd), Zach Litoff (22nd), Isaac Russo (25th), and Will Dixon (37th).
Green couldn’t quite grasp the idea that his team had finally accomplished a long-standing goal.
“We’ve been dreaming about it for a long time,” he said. “To actually be able to do it, it’s incredible.”
Initially, Monarch thought Mountain Vista had claimed another title. Green was enthralled by the announcement of the final team results.
“I was doing another interview and they were talking about the girls teams and I thought they were talking about the boys,” he said. “They were like, “In third place, Monarch.’ I was like, ‘oh, we were so close.’ Then they started talking about the boys teams and I just couldn’t focus. We didn’t think we got it. We were sitting there and they called out Monarch. It was wild.”
Class 4A
Air Academy girls have been in the spotlight lately. Katie Rainsberger was the Nike cross country national champion last year and her and her teammates won the 4A team crown.
Senior Ethan Powell wanted to show that the Kadets, who have been one of the better 4A boys programs in recent years as well, had some serious firepower of their own. By a margin of 15:55.7 to 15:55.8, Powell out-leaned Montrose senior Ian Meek for the state championship. He became the first Air Academy boy to win state cross country since Ian Burrell won 5A in 2002.
“A lot of times when people talk about our program, the focus goes to the girls team,” Powell said. “That’s totally justified. They are incredible, but it’s nice to show people we’ve got something going on, on the boys side too.”
In the team race, Palmer Ridge, who was beaten by Durango by two points in 2015, blew away the competition with 55 points to Widefield’s 110 and Air Academy’s 122. Jeremy Meadows (fifth), Andrew Lester (sixth), Ryan Matson (12th), Andrew Rudnicki (14th), and Brandon Hippe (17th) pushed the Bears to their second championship in three years.
Class 3A
Tanner Norman got to run at his favorite place on Saturday. Training around 30 times over the past two summers on the trails at Norris-Penrose and TCA’s top competitor, after winning 4A last year, got to soak up the experience again with another performance much to his liking.
After claiming a race that was considered pretty wide-open in 2015, Norman entered as the heavy favorite this state meet after establishing himself as one of the better runners nationally throughout the fall. The senior (15:44) dominated the field as Faith Christian freshman phenom Cole Sprout was the runner up in 16:10.
The Classical Academy (111) finished second as a team to Alamosa (77). Caleb Palmer (5th), Isaiah DeLaCerda (6th), Oscar Martinez (17th), Caleb Berlinger (23rd), and Elijah DeLaCerda (26th) led the Mean Moose to their third state championship in a row and fifth overall in boys cross country. They are now tied with The Classical Academy, Rocky Ford, Cherry Creek and Denver East for the fifth-most titles in the sport.
DENVER — Shelby Schumacher knew it was a unique group of leaders on the team at the beginning of the field hockey season, but the six seniors got together and decided to make their last year fun. Maybe field hockey wasn’t everyone’s main sport, but all they could do was support each other and play as a team.
In her 20th year head coaching the Sun Devils, Coach Kathy James and her squad proved to be the ultimate definition of a team and played lights out together to win the program’s 10th state title in its 13th championship game appearance.
No. 1-seeded Kent Denver beat No. 2-seeded Palmer Ridge 2-0 in the 2016 field hockey state championship at All-City Stadium on Thursday night. The Sun Devils, who finished the year 16-0-2, have the most field hockey titles in Colorado and had not won since 2011.
“This senior class was outstanding, and none of them are field hockey players,” James said. “I had three lacrosse players and a soccer player (out of six seniors), and our goalkeeper is a primary field hockey player, but everyone else came from other sports.”
Forward Schumacher, one of the team’s senior leaders, is the soccer player of the bunch and scored an insurance goal for the Sun Devils, finishing off a straight shot on a penalty corner after time had expired in the first half.
“We all got together once we made the team and thought it was such a ragtag group and just decided we were going to have fun with it and play as a team,” Schumacher said. “Field hockey isn’t our main sport, and lining the girls up for preseason, we were like, ‘We’re just going to do this together,’ and we don’t know how, but everyone watched out for each other and we worked together as a team.”
Junior midfielder Olivia Baglieri scored the game-winning goal on a deflection for the Sun Devils with 2:38 remaining.
Schumacher and sophomore forward Madeleine Hunt were both aggressive from the get go in breaking with the ball up the sides of the field. Kent Denver was very active in front of goal with plenty of early chances to score in the first half.
“I came into this game knowing it was going to be our hardest fought game in a couple years,” James said. “I knew Palmer was going to play hard. Their goalkeeper, hands down, is one of the best and she was not going to let the easy stuff in. We were going to have to earn our goals because she’s phenomenal, and she played the game of her life.”
Palmer senior goalkeeper Keelin Broeker played very tough, but Kent Denver’s quick offensive explosion in the last three minutes of the first half sealed it. The Bears had solid coverage on defense, but couldn’t get the offensive momentum going past the Sun Devils, who were not letting Palmer Ridge get any good looks.
Palmer Ridge finished the season 13-3-2 and advanced to the program’s third championship game appearance by knocking four-time defending state champion Colorado Academy out in the semifinals 1-0. It was revenge that had been brewing after the Mustangs had repeatedly taken the Bears out of the state tournament the last five years.
“It’s always exciting to get here, but it’s never fun to lose,” 10th-year Palmer Ridge coach Paul Lewis said. “We’ve done it a few times (2012, 2014) now and it’s tough. Once the pain settles and they think back on the season, we’ll have our banquet and be able to talk about the amazing things they did this season.”
The Bears will lose eight seniors from their squad.
Horizon’s Trevor Lemons (18) and Ralston Valley’s Erik Makic (9) chase after the ball Thursday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Horizon moved on to the second round of the Class 5A boys soccer state tournament with a road victory Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The No. 21 seeded Hawks scored a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of the opening half on the way to a 3-1 win over No. 12 Ralston Valley.
Horizon senior Noah Engen was key in the two early goals for the Hawks (9-6-1). Engen served a perfect pass to sophomore Devin Marquez in the 6th minute. Marquez headed the ball over Ralston Valley junior goalie Jared Peterson for the 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Engen did it all himself with a long blast that found the back of the next. The Hawks led 2-0 after 10 minutes and held that two-goal lead at halftime.
Ralston Valley’s Erik Makic, Han Trznadel and John Newlon all had scoring chances late in the first half for the Mustangs. However, Ralston Valley (11-5) couldn’t cut into the 2-0 lead before halftime.
Ralston Valley senior Erik Makic (9) tries to get off a shot against Horizon. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletic)
Horizon added an insurance goal in the 54th minute with a goal from junior Sawyer Cirbo on Ralston Valley sophomore goalie Cooper Steputis, who came in at net for Peterson after the two early goals.
Ralston Valley did break up the shutout in the 68th minute with a goal off the foot of junior Nick Nowlen, but it wasn’t enough as Horizon held on first the victory.
Horizon moves onto the next round where it will face the winner of No. 28 Far Northeast Warriors and No. 5 Fairview on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
Horizon had success against 5A Jeffco teams during its regular season. The Hawks defeated Arvada West and Chatfield in late August to begin their season. Horizon entered the postseason on a three-game losing streak. The late-season skid included shutout losses to Broomfield and Fort Collins, both top-10 seeds for the 5A state tournament.
Ralston Valley’s Pete Siegrist (10) and Nick Nowlen try to settle the ball in the Mustangs’ playoff opener. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Ralston Valley, the 5A Jeffco League champs, had some remarkable statistics when it comes to its balanced offensive scoring this season. The Mustangs’ leading goal scorers during the regular season were senior Riley McNamara and Trznadel with four goals each. Ralston Valley had 11 different players put the ball into the back of the net in regular-season play.
First-year head coach Jamie Scarcliff, a Ralston Valley graduate, took over the post during the summer. She was named Coach of the Year in the 5A Jeffco League this fall. The Mustangs went undefeated in conference play winning the 5A Jeffco title.
Horizon players celebrate the Hawks’ second goal Thursday at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
