The faces of the Pueblo County girls swimming team have changed a lot since the Hornet hoisted the Class 3A runner-up trophy last February. It’s still early in the season, but the results haven’t changed as much as those generating them.
The Hornets got hit hard from graduation last year, losing Amanda Blickensderfer and Alex Musso. The two seniors were key components to the 200-yard medley relay teams and performed well in individual positions as the Hornets claimed back-to-back second-place finishes. Losing those two and other seniors that graduated from the program would indicate that County is ready to go into rebuilding mode.
“We graduated 12 seniors,” coach Dan Radiff said. “We’ve been runner-er up two years in a row so you think, well it’s time to start over again. Get things going.”
That transition seems to be going smoother than Radiff could have hoped for. The Hornets finished sixth as a team at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational on Dec. 21. That was better than any 3A school at the meet and better than several 4A and 5A programs.
“I just don’t know what to expect from these schools because of their experience,” he said. “I’m shocked I got all three relays back into the finals (at Cheyenne Mountain). Usually I can only get two.”
He got to display one of those relay teams right from the get-go. Kandi Liberato, Brooke Musso, Anna Maurello and Adrianna Morrow-Guerrero finished fifth in the 200 medley relay with a time of one minute, 59 seconds.
Maurello is the lone senior on that relay team and one of the big leaders coming into the year for the Hornets. She’s impressed with the way the rest of this team have just come in and really adopted the mentality that this team has taken into the season for the last few years.
“We’ve been battling one of those trophies for so many years now that it’s kind of normal for us,” she said. “We just have to stay focused, work hard and support each other.”
That hard work and support is already showing signs of paying off. Liberato, a junior, has already logged a time of 1:00.06 seconds in the 100 backstroke. That time would have been good enough to finish fifth in the event at state.
It’s not uncommon for times in December to to be a tad slower than what the swimmers expect them to be to in February. As they build themselves up, teams will target specific meets to shift gears and start competing like they’re at state. For the Hornets, it’s their own meet as they host the Hornet Invite on Jan. 17 and 18.
“It’s one of the best meets of the entire season,” Maurello said. “We get to prove to everyone that comes that this is our pool and we know how to swim in it.”
They’ve shown over the last two seasons that they know how to swim. A couple of runner-up trophies are evidence to that fact. And by the time the season is over in February, they’re hoping to add more hardware to show its the overall program, not just a few swimmers that generate successful results.
On Thursday, we brought you our most-read stories from the 2019 calendar year. Today, we list some of our favorite stories that have run on CHSAANow this year, ordered chronologically.
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Southern Colorado basketball official Nick Lave calls it a career after 41 years
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Jan. 4 | By Dan Mohrmann
For one last time on Thursday night, Nick Lave took the court to do what he has done for 41 years as a basketball official in Colorado. He wanted to make the playing field level and let the kids decide the outcome of the game.
Grandview girls basketball leaning on youth in big moments
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
March 7 | By Brian Miller
Last March, Lauren Betts was an eighth-grade student watching Grandview’s girls basketball team win a second consecutive Class 5A state championship at the Denver Coliseum.
Read the full story here
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Pine Creek baseball’s Riley Cornelio brings next-level heat
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
March 27 | By Dan Mohrmann
As the Pine Creek hitters get their practice swings in before game time, a very distinct noise can be heard off the third base foul line.
Yuma’s Paul Brophy wasn’t going to let cancer keep him off the baseball field
(Courtesy of Laurie Kjosness)
April 24 | By Dan Mohrmann
Yuma pitcher Paul Brophy might be the toughest student-athlete in Colorado. One look at his stat line in MaxPreps will show casual fans that he’s certainly good at baseball, but sometimes measuring toughness is difficult to do.
Girls track: Valor Christian’s Anna Hall puts the finishing touches on a remarkable career; other top performances from the meet
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com)
May 18 | By Brad Cochi
Five weeks ago, Anna Hall’s ankle was in a boot and with her final Colorado track and field state championships in doubt, the Valor Christian senior wasn’t doing much smiling around that time.
Read the full story here
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Spurs guard Derrick White, a Legend grad, reflects on the impact of high school basketball
(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
June 27 | By Ryan Casey
In the same fieldhouse where he had once been a camper, and later a coach at camps, Derrick White hosted his inaugural Basketball Academy this week, drawing hundreds of attendees who ranged from elementary high school.
Prairie’s Hannah Kinnison shows that Division I volleyball talent is littered throughout Colorado
(Kevin Saffer/MaxPreps)
July 22 | By Dan Mohrmann
A stigma sometimes exists in high school sports that if an athlete wants to play their sport at a high level in college, they must play at a big high school.
Golden’s softball twins present double trouble for opponents
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Aug. 16 | By Dennis Pleuss
The offensive numbers Golden’s identical twins Makayla and Makenzie Middleton have put up the previous three seasons on the softball field is mind boggling.
Front Range golf tournament experiments with complete digital scoring
(Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
Aug. 16 | By Dan Mohrmann
The Front Range golf tournament that was played at Riverdale Knolls this past Wednesday was yet another sign that high school athletics are moving further into the digital age.
Kit Carson’s small-town environment provides a memorable game day experience to its football team
(Gabriel Christus/Denver Broncos)
Aug. 18 | By Dan Mohrmann
Roughly 20 minutes after journeying southbound from the junction of Colorado Highways 94 and U.S. Route 287, passing cars roll into a small community that houses a dominant football program.
Video: A look back at the 2019 4A and 5A football championships
Dec. 9 | By Boogie Brown Media
It was an epic Championship Saturday at Mile High during the 4A and 5A state football championships.Watch the video
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Sargent one of many schools benefiting from state spirit’s new game day division
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Dec. 6 | By Dan Mohrmann
Throughout a given school year, the most exposure that fans have to their respective schools spirit teams are what they see on the sidelines during other competitions. The purpose of those teams is to generate excitement and enthusiasm for football, basketball or volleyball teams.
Air Academy girls basketball coach Phil Roiko just laughs when trying to describe what Kylee Blacksten’s shot looked like as a freshman.
An easy way to describe it is that it’s not as refined as it is today.
But with Blacksten being one of the most talented girls basketball players in the state, he prefers to be more descriptive, if nothing else just be able to talk about how far she’s come in the last four years.
“As a freshman it had this weird twist to it and everything,” he said.
And as he said it, he was trying to demonstrate the way in which the ball was spinning on that shot. Roiko looked more like an umpire signaling for a home run than a basketball coach gesturing the spin of a shot.
“Now it’s smooth,” he says with a sly grin.
There’s nothing about Blacksten’s game as a senior for the Kadets that isn’t smooth. At any given point of a game, she can handle the ball, find an open teammate after drawing a double-team, attack the basket, knock down long range shots and defend.
She’s a complete player and that exactly what the University of Colorado thought when convinced her to play in Boulder when her time at Air Academy is over.
“They’re recruiting me to play the three and I love driving (to the hoop),” Blacksten said. “That’s my favorite part is driving and then that kick out and then that awesome three that everyone screams and yells about. The running aspect that it will fit.”
The lesson is cliche, but it doesn’t make any less true. Blacksten’s path from a weird twist in her jumpshot to a Division I prospect didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it came by making overnights shorter in time.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
To evolve into the player she’s become, she learned to take advantage of every minute of the day, even if that meant early in the mornings when everyone else was asleep.
“Instead of just sleeping in, a lot of kids take partials in the morning and are sleeping, she’s going and working with her skills coach.,” Roiko said. “So that’s, this tells you the dedication she has, where other kids are sleeping and she’s working on her game and that’s paid off.”
Playing college basketball has been a dream of hers ever since she was a kid. She comes from a family of athletes and both of her parents had the opportunity to play collegiately, but neither one panned out.
When she decided that she wanted to get to that next level, she felt like she was doing it for her parents just as much as she was doing it for herself.
“It was kind of like they got it but didn’t go,” Blacksten said. So it’s always been my dream to go play.”
But first thing’s first. The Kadets are looking to bounce back from what they felt like was a premature departure from the Class 4A girls basketball tournament last year.
Graduation took a heavy toll on the team and the only two players with significant varsity experience were Blacksten and junior Annie Louthan.
As the lone senior in the starting lineup — and one of two total on the roster — logic says that Blacksten should be the bona fide leader on the floor. But in the way that most people think of that role, that’s not her style. She’s not as vocal as many would expect her to be. But her style certainly plays into the make up of Air Academy’s team.
“We’re all a family and we all love each other,” Blacksten said. “We all support each other and we really do want the best for each other.”
With just one loss in this young season, there’s still plenty of time to do the best for each other. And if the evolution of this year’s team is anything like Blacksten’s shot from four years ago, a deep playoff run may once again be in the cards for the Kadets.
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14. Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura ends Pomona’s Theorius Robison’s bid for fourth wrestling title
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura pulled off a big upset in the state wrestling semifinals to end a quest for four state wrestling titles from Pomona’s Theorius Robison.
8. Valley’s Angel Rios and Skyview’s Jaslynn Gallegos become first girls to place at state wrestling
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Just two months before a vote that made girls wrestling its own sanctioned sport, Valley’s Angel Rios and Skyview’s Jaslynn Gallegos each became the first girls to ever place at the state wrestling tournament against the boys.
7. Ponderosa’s Cohlton Schultz: A once-in-a-generation wrestler who just may be the state’s best
(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
An in-depth look at Cohlton Schultz, the 2019 Ponderosa graduate who already had tasted international success, and would become a four-time state wrestling champion.
3. 5A football semifinal between Pomona and Cherry Creek moved to Stutler Bowl
(@cchsactivities/Twitter)
With an unplayable field at the NAAC due to a massive snowstorm, the Pomona and Cherry Creek semifinal football game was moved to a new location and date.
There’s little, if any talk, coming from the best player on the floor. Each day he’s trying to improve and there’s few games where he doesn’t get crowds, home or away, excited about shaking an opposing defender and slamming the ball through the rim.
He’s that good.
“He’s a quiet person, but he has kind of a quiet confidence to him,” said Cheyenne Mountain boys basketball coach Elgin Fitzgerald.
The person he’s referring to is senior Javonte Johnson, the team’s star basketball player. At 6-foot-5, it’s easy to pick him out in a crowd of high school students. He is dwarfed only by Fitzgerald, who stands 6-foot-9 and had a college basketball career of his own at Dartmouth under current Sierra coach Terry Dunn.
His hometown being Colorado Springs, Johnson hasn’t had to move around much up to this point. However, that will change next year when Johnson heads to the University of New Mexico, who he inked a letter of intent to play for collegiately.
“I grew up here my whole life,” said Johnson. “It was nice; there wasn’t a whole lot of moving. I was just able to focus on basketball whenever I needed to. (New Mexico) is still pretty close but it won’t be like ‘home-home.’”
Both on and off the court, Johnson is typically more reserved than you would expect the star of the team to be, but Fitzgerald doesn’t see that as a bad thing.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“He’s just a naturally quiet person — nothing wrong with that — but once he steps on the court, he lets his game do the talking and demonstrates that he’s more vocal and loud through his actions on the court which I think is always fun to see.”
Basketball is a big part of Johnson’s life, but he’s able to find time for other activities as well. When he’s not on the court, he likes to spend time with friends, watch movies (his favorite is Like Mike), or play video games. Call of Duty is one of his favorites.
“I just like to do what every other kid likes to do,” he said. “I like to draw too. Just abstract or whatever comes to mind. I draw a little bit and in eight and ninth grade I used to make music, beats and stuff.”
When he was younger, Johnson played other sports besides basketball such as soccer, t-ball and flag football. But it always came back to basketball. Johnson, who lives with his dad and younger sister, grew up watching his dad play basketball and that helped fuel his love for the game as well.
“I’ve been working out with him ever since I started,” said Johnson. “I don’t know what I’d be doing if it wasn’t basketball really. It’s been like all my life really so that’s kind of hard to assume what I’d be doing if I didn’t have basketball.”
Fitzgerald, who has coached Johnson for all four years of his high school career, has been impressed with how much Johnson has developed since first stepping onto the court at Cheyenne Mountain.
“I’d say he’s very coachable,” Fitzgerald said. “He’ll do whatever you ask and he’s very good about that. He’s grown a lot in that area and become really good at that. His work ethic is something that sets him apart from everybody else. Those two things really set him apart and character overall, just the kind of person he is, very polite (and) very nice. You can just tell he’s just a mature, young man and he does what he’s supposed to do. He does all the right things and I think that makes it really easy to coach him.
“I’ve had the opportunity to just talk to him whether it’s at school or before and after workouts when schools would come watch him. I’ve really enjoyed the last couple years of the recruiting process where we’ve touched base with coaches, but through that I’ve gotten to know Javonte and our bond has kind of grown stronger through that and so I think that’s been really great for me and him to have that and share that.”
One person who has been on the same path with Johnson longer than Fitzgerald is his childhood friend, Dominique Clifford from Vanguard High School. Clifford recently verbally committed to University of Colorado.
“His dad had a YMCA team back in second grade and he heard about me from someone so he asked us if I would like to play for them and I did, and ever since then we’ve been like brothers,” Johnson said. “He’s just a real humble person. He doesn’t brag about anything; we just have a lot of things in common.”
Fitzgerald gives a lot of credit to Johnson for putting Cheyenne Mountain basketball back on the map. He hopes that Johnson’s legacy will last at the school for a long time.
“He’s been able to do that because he’s of who he is as a person both on and off the court,” Fitzgerald said. I’ll also miss just the fact that he’s such a good person, easy to coach and someone that gets along with his teammates.
“I’ve never had any kind of issue with him in any capacity. It’s always been a positive experience for me and for him and obviously the talent speaks for itself. But just the person that he is and the way he conducts his business is something that you really don’t see that much in high school athletes and so I think that that’s definitely something that I’ll miss when he’s gone.”
The goal for Fitzgerald and for the Cheyenne Mountain community is to enjoy watching Johnson play for the remainder of his senior year. Simple as that.
