Because each of these teams have dropped prior to the start of the competitive season — which begins on Thursday with Zero Week — their scheduled games become no contests for their opponents. Their opponents can also reschedule, if possible.
If any teams drop after the end of the day on Wednesday, they will forfeit their remaining games to their opponents.
Antonito, another 6-man team, was also close to dropping its team, but rallied enough players to field at team.
On Tuesday, Deer Trail announced that it would have a team this season after not having one in 2015 or 2016. The Eagles also play in 6-man.
It’s back to school time. As an athlete, it’s important to think about everything you eat throughout the day in addition to your post-exercise meals and snacks.
You must constantly be fueling up with nutritious foods in order to reach peak athletic performance. If the question of “what should I eat for lunch?” has you stressed out, here are 5 tips for simplifying the task of healthy back-to-school lunches:
Review the school lunch menus (and breakfast menus too, if your school offers breakfast) – take time to go over the weekly (or monthly) menu, making note of the days you will purchase breakfast or lunch at school. School meals are designed to be balanced and nutritious, and purchasing lunch at school can provide a nice break from packing your lunch.
Keep MyPlate top of mind – Regardless of whether you are purchasing or packing lunch, think in terms of MyPlate. Make sure to include dairy foods, grains and meats, fruits and veggies. For example, an easy lunch is crackers (grain) and lunch meat and cheese roll-ups (protein and dairy), carrot sticks (veggies), and some strawberries and grapes (fruit). Throw in a Greek yogurt for a little extra protein and you’ve got a balanced meal. A great tool for packing lunches is the Bento box lunch boxes, which have separate compartments for the various food components.
Aim for milk with meals, water with snacks (and throughout the day) and 100% fruit juice in moderation. Water is calorie-free and great for hydration. Milks has key vitamins and minerals that athletes need for healthy bones and bodies – including calcium, vitamin D and potassium, 3 nutrients many of us fall short on. Milk can be packed from home, but can also be purchased at school. 100 percent fruit juice can be part of a healthy eating plan, but keep in mind that the recommended serving size is just 4 to 6 ounces daily.
Lastly, make wise choices when eating out – If you find yourself eating out with friends over lunch, we’ve got a whole blog post on healthy fast food choices. Keep those recommendations in mind when out to eat so you can make the healthiest choices possible.
Fueling right during the school year doesn’t have to be daunting. With these simple tips and a little preparation, you can enjoy the nutrient-rich foods you need to fuel your athletic performance and learning throughout the school year.
Heritage boys golf had three top-10 finishers to win the Continental League tournament at Lone Tree Golf Club.
“I think the team played well today overall,” Heritage coach Nicole Poulos said. “It feels like their hard work and preparation that they did in the offseason is starting to pay off.”
Paced by Sam Blackwood’s first-place finish at one-over, the Eagles shot +25 to beat Regis Jesuit (+31), ThunderRidge (+37) and Highlands Ranch (+43).
“He’s started the season pretty strong,” Poulos said on Blackwood, who has been on varsity since he was a freshman. “He’s gone above and beyond my expectations.”
The Eagles’ Ben Carrington and Drew Downard finished tied for seventh and tied for ninth, respectively.
“It’s exciting to see these five guys,” Poulos said. “They encourage each other and they’re all friends, but they push each other to be better.
“I think we’re in one of the toughest leagues and it’s always a grind. It’s exciting.”
Highlands Ranch’s Andrew Davis birdied his final hole to match Blackwood at the top of the leaderboard.
Calvin McCoy finished a stroke behind the two to give Regis Jesuit a third place individual finish.
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Pueblo County turns in huge effort to cruise by Cyclone Invite field
Pueblo County’s score at the Cyclone Invite of 30-over was 44 strokes better than the second place finisher, Pueblo Central, and 57 better than the next closest team.
The Hornets had the top three individual scores.
Andrew Egan led the field with a score of two-over, followed by Anthony Romero and Brock Rodrigues.
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Lamar wins Florence Husky Invite
Lance Peters won the individual field at the Husky Invite for Trinidad, but it was Lamar who turned in a consistent team effort for the win.
The team shot 11-over with scores of one-over from Jimmy Clark, Brock Reedy’s three-over and a +7 from Dylan McTaggart.
[button color=”white” size=”big” alignment=”none” rel=”follow” url=”https://old.chsaanow.com/sports/boys-golf/stats/”]Find complete results of all the day’s golf tournaments by clicking here.[/button]
Lakewood senior Jack Castiglia shined the brightest Monday with a 3-under-par 69 at Bear Creek Golf Club. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — Lakewood senior Jack Castiglia overshadowed everyone except for maybe the moon and sun Monday at Bear Creek Golf Club.
Castiglia shot a 3-under-par 69 in the third Jeffco League boys golf tournament of the season. The three-time state qualifier was 10 strokes ahead of 2nd place in the 5A Jeffco individual standings. Lakewood freshman Ryan Liao and Ralston Valley senior Jackson Zinn tied for 2nd with rounds of 79.
The round started out with a bang for Castiglia. He holed out from 120 yards out for eagle on the No. 2 par 4. A birdie on the No. 7 par 3 put him at 3-under-par 33 through the first nine holes, just as the solar eclipse was coming to a peak.
“I was expecting a little bit more,” Castiglia said of the eclipse. “It was probably a little cooler up in Wyoming.”
Most players had a pair of glasses to look at the eclipse. Many took time to take a look during the couple of hours. Players were told if the sky got too dark, play could be suspended. There was a significant drop in temperature for about 10 minutes, but there was plenty light to continue play without a delay.
D’Evelyn junior Sam Spiers takes in the solar eclipse. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“It was interesting,” Green Mountain senior Gabe Goodman said of the eclipse. “I don’t think it effected me too much. It was pretty cool, that’s for sure.”
Castiglia got to 4-under-par with a birdie on the par 5 12th hole, but back-to-back bogey and double-bogey on 13 and 14 gave the rest of the field a glimmer of hope to catch Castiglia.
However, the senior that has a stroke average of 70 — 6.5 shots better than any other 5A Jeffco golfer — through half of the conference tournaments, birdied 15 and 17 to close out the impressive round.
“I want to just keep shooting better then the round before and keep staying positive,” Castiglia said of staying hot over the next three league tournaments.
Goodman, a member at Bear Creek GC, couldn’t get hot on his home course. The senior finished tied for 2nd on the 4A Jeffco side with a 3-over-par 75. Still, Goodman holds a one-shot advantage over Evergreen senior Bridger Tenney for the race for the 4A Jeffco medalist title.
“It was a long grinding day,” said Goodman, who had three bogeys and no birdies through the first 11 holes.
A string of back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 pulled Goodman close to even-par on the round, but bogeys on 14, 15 and 17 quickly spoiled the rally. However, Goodman’s gamble on the final hole paid off.
Goodman went with driver off the tee to set up a short iron shot into the 391-yard par 4 closing hole. A wonderful second shot set up a birdie putt that Goodman sank to finish his round.
Green Mountain senior Gabe Goodman his a drive on No. 1 hole at Bear Creek Golf Club. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“That was really important to get the drive in play. Obviously a smarter play would be to hit an iron off the tee, but I had to see what I could do and hit a driver in play,” Goodman said. “Making birdie on 18 was huge.”
Valor senior Jake Welch won the 4A Jeffco individual title at Bear Creek GC by a shot over Goodman and Tenney.
“It was really cool. I thought it would get a little darker,” said Tenney about playing golf during the eclipse. “I thought we might not be able to play for a little while, but we were able to play through it.”
Tenney started off with a double-bogey on his opening hole, but played just 1-over-par for the rest of the round.
“I’ll take it. It was a grind-it-out round,” said Tenney, who is second to Goodman in the 4A overall individual standings midway through the league schedule. “I missed some putts and made some putts. This is a really tough golf course. I’ll take it.”
Valor senior Jake Welch, far right, takes a break to view the solar eclipse. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Evergreen and Valor actually tied for the 4A team title at Bear Creek GC. The Cougars are currently just three strokes behind the Eagles for the team crown.
“That’s at the top of the priority list,” Tenney said of winning the 4A Jeffco team title over Valor. “Valor is playing great golf and we are struggling a little bit right now, but we’ll get it back. We are going to have to play some clutch golf down the stretch.”
The 5A team race is also tight. Lakewood, three-time defending 5A Jeffco League champ, holds a two-stroke advantage over Ralston Valley with three conference tournaments left.
For a team that had not been to the Class 2A state volleyball tournament since 2011, Dayspring Christian Academy’s undefeated 2016 season – capped by the school’s first state championship – seemingly came out of nowhere.
But the reality is, the stars had just not aligned for the Eagles in recent years. Dayspring Christian won at least 16 matches each season during its state drought from 2012-15. But the Eagles were in the same district as Resurrection Christian – the state champions in 2013-14 and runner-up in 2015 – and were matched in a region that included 2015 champion Yuma.
So with an experience core coming back last fall, Dayspring Christian coach Kristin Kurz challenged her players to take the next step.
“What happened is I said we cannot wait for the wild card,” Kurz said. “We’ve got to go out and we’ve got to do it. We had a point-by-point philosophy, where you’re constantly fighting for those points just so you can win the set and eventually the match.
“They were hungry … they wanted it. Literally all six of them bought into it and persevered and fought. They had the ‘it’ factor.”
The season culminated with a four-set victory over Yuma in the 2A title game and Player of the Year honors for Katie Kurz.
“We took our past defeats from previous years – my freshman year losing out on the wild card by .01 points – and used them to push ourselves harder the next year,” Katie Kurtz said. “We wanted to push hard for the four seniors. We all wanted it for them.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Those four seniors all happened to be in the starting lineup, meaning that Dayspring Christian comes into 2017 with some new faces. Katie Kurz and Megan Roberts, who led the team in kills as juniors, are back, but a lack of height and inexperience will present some challenges to Kristin Kurz early in the season.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Katie and Megan are the backbone; they’ve been there and they know what to do. They’ve been starters since their freshman year,” the coach said. “They’ve tasted what it’s like to be on top and they want it back. We’re trying to get the other four up to the same speed of what needs to be expected.”
Kurz had the third-best hitting percentage in the state as a junior at .426 and was seventh in the state – but first in 2A – in kills with 434. She led the team in aces and digs as well, and Roberts’ 329 kills were good for eighth in 2A.
“We’re definitely setting the bar high for us this year. We try to set them high, so that way we can push ourselves harder,” Katie Kurz said. “We have set the bar high and we tell (our teammates) they can reach it. You can actually achieve what you dream.”
With the graduation of middle blockers Makayla Bell and Brogan Launer, the Eagles will have to make some adjustments this season. Roberts returns to her natural position in the middle, but Kurz is also making the transition.
“We lost a lot of height,” Katie Kurz said. “We’ve been working on our blocking drills. … It’s tough, but we’ve just got to keep pushing ourselves.”
Setter Kelsi Donoho also graduated, but her younger sister, Talia, played a bit at the position on varsity early in the season as a freshman while Kelsi recovered from injury.
Dayspring Christian took part in a camp at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley over the summer. At one point, Kristin Kurz removed both her daughter and Roberts from the lineup and forced her younger players to sink or swim on their own.
The coach told her players that they were not going to always rely on their seniors.
“‘They’re not going to carry this team. You carry each other,’” Kristin said of her message that day. “It will be a learning experience, but the good part is the girls that we pulled up were on the team last year. They were on the bench; they were there, they felt that, they’re hungry for that. They’re willing to do whatever.”
Dayspring Christian enters the season ranked No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com preseason poll, followed by Yuma. Lyons and Union Colony Prep, which also fall in District 7 with the Eagles, are ranked third and seventh, respectively.
In 5A, defending champion Fossil Ridge returns a pair of all-state talent in senior Riley Zuhn and junior Catie Semadeni. Rock Canyon, a state semifinalist, brings back outside hitter Keeley Davis. Davis was second in 5A as a junior with 421 kills.
In 4A, Lewis-Palmer captured its third title in four years. The Rangers graduated three first-team all-state players, including MVP Elizabeth Reich. Three of the classification’s top five hitters – Silver Creek’s Rylee Anderson, Berthoud’s Julie Ward and Holy Family’s Ali Travis – return.
Four-time defending state champion Eaton returns the classification’s top setter in all-state senior Chelsey Lockey, but the Reds graduated Player of the Year Tarynn Sieg. The top five teams in the 3A preseason poll – Eaton, Valley, University, Sterling and Resurrection Christian – all reside in the Patriot League. Valley has been the 3A runner-up to Eaton in each of the three previous seasons.
Fleming returned to the 1A title game last November and captured its third championship in four seasons. Player of the Year Shaylee Johnson graduated, but the Wildcats return a pair of first-team all-state selections in outside hitter Bailey Chintala and middle Alli Keisel. Kit Carson comes into the season ranked first in the preseason poll, with two all-state players back in Tess Hornung and McKenzie Smith.
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Volleyball preview
Important dates
Regular Season Begins: Aug. 24
Postseason Begins: 2A/1A districts completed by Oct. 28; regionals by Nov. 4
State Tournaments: All classifications, Nov. 10-11 at Denver Coliseum
In yet another sign of the sport’s growth, Sierra Grande has announced its intention of add a girls swimming team in 2018.
The Panthers’ new program will compete in Class 3A this winter, according to an email athletic director Eric Flores sent to the CHSAA office. That classification held its championships for the first time last winter.
“This is great news for the sport,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens, who administers swimming. “It shows that adding a 3A classification really encourages schools to add their own program.”
At last year’s state meet, roughly 54 percent of the participants had never been to the state meet. The total number of participants in girls swimming grew to 4,287 in 2017, up from 4,142 the previous season.
Chatfield coach Stephanie Schick has guided the Chargers to 69 victories over the last three seasons. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LITTLETON — Three-straight 20-win seasons which led to three consecutive appearances at the Class 5A volleyball state tournament has securely put Chatfield on the map of perennial state contender.
“We have footsteps to fill and a job to do. It’s not impossible. There is a confidence there,” Chatfield coach Stephanie Schick said during Monday’s practice. “It’s exciting to see them committed to working hard so we can continue our success.”
The Chargers, ranked No. 2 in the 5A volleyball CHSAANow.com preseason poll, have one of the best overall records in the state over the past three years with a 69-17 mark. A remarkable run as the No. 12 seed to the 2014 5A state championship game got the ball rolling.
Chatfield lost in the tiebreaker set in 2015 to just miss out on advancing to the state semifinals. Last year, the Chargers lost to eventual state champion Fossil Ridge in the state semifinals.
Chatfield junior Shea Fuller moves into the setter position for the Chargers. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We will need grit, if we get there,” Schick said of what is essential if Chatfield advances to state for a fourth-straight year. “Everyone needs grit once you get there because all 12 of the teams have earned their way there.”
This year’s journey begins with the realization that eight graduated seniors are gone.
“We want to start off and work together as a team,” Chatfield junior Shea Fuller said of the mentality after losing a handful of key seniors to graduation, including her older sister Haley Fuller who is playing at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. “We work together as a team we’ll figure the rest out along the way.”
The talent level hasn’t dropped off much for Schick. Back to lead the Chargers is 5A Jeffco League all-conference selections Breanna Jones (first-team) and Julia Eiken (second-team). The senior outside hitter and middle blocker is just the start of talent pool Schick is able tap.
“Julia Eiken and Breanna Jones are fun to watch. They are great teammates without exception,” Schick said. “I can’t wait to put the rest of the pieces around them and watch it become smoother around those two. They are phenomenal.”
On paper it appears replacing the graduated setter tandem of Abby Plant and Nicole Langford could be an issue. The two combined for more than 850 assists last season. However, Fuller will slide over to her more natural setter position. It’s actually the position she plays on her club team.
Senior Lacey Cowan is one of four returning 5A Jeffco all-conference selections for Chatfield. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I’m definitely really excited,” Fuller said moving into on-court general for Chatfield. “I want to be able to help everyone focus on our goals and be a leader. We want to run a fast offense.”
Schick says finding a libero to replace JayCee Jones to sure up the defense is a top priority. Filling the role of Sierra Bartley, who had more than 850 kills during her four years as an outside hitter, is another point of emphasis. Schick says she is fortunate to be at the helm of such a strong program.
“I’m honored to be a part of it with these girls,” Schick said. “They are so talented and I can’t take a lot of credit for that at all. I’m lucky to be able to be with these girls again.”
Fuller and senior Lacey Cowan were both all-conference honorable mentions last season. The two don’t have any intention of allowing the Chargers to take a step back from winning the 5A Jeffco League title for the first time since 2009 last season.
“I think Chatfield’s program is a lot about legacy,” Cowan said. “It’s important to keep that feeling in the gym that we are always competitive. It feels really good to be back in this environment. There is so much love in the gym all the time.”
Chatfield opens the season against Fairview in Boulder on Thursday, Aug. 24. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
