Highlands Ranch boys basketball picked up a 48-33 win over Castle View.
Month: February 2020
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Photos: 5A girls diving finals at the state meet
Photos from the Class 5A girls diving meet at the state championships.
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Photos: Pomona leads after Day 1 of 5A Region 1 wrestling
Pomona scored 124 points to take a big lead after the first day of the Class 5A Region 1 wrestling tournament.
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Ralston Valley’s Izzy Gregersen makes biggest splash at 5A state diving prelims
THORNTON — Ralston Valley junior Izzy Gregersen will attempt to claim her first diving state championship during the Class 5A girls swimming and diving state finals Friday night.
Gregersen already has a pair of top-10 finishes — 3rd in 2019 and 7th in 2018 — under her belt. While she admits there is a bit of pressure being the favorite heading to the finals at the VMAC in Thornton, the junior’s main focus is clear.
Ralston Valley junior Izzy Gregersen holds a slim lead over Heritage senior Grace Downing heading into the Class 5A dive finals scheduled for Friday night at VMAC in Thornton. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “I want to do well,” Gregersen said of the finals Friday. “We’ll see how it turns out. I’ll come in, do my best and have fun with everybody.”
During the prelims and semifinals held Thursday morning Gregersen was in the center of the action at the VMAC. She had a chair set up right in the middle of the pool deck between the three diving boards talking to many of the other 43 divers that qualified to the 5A state meet during the eight rounds of dives.
Gregersen finished the semifinals first with a point total of 351.1. Heritage senior Grace Downing is a close second with 348.6 going to the finals tomorrow.
“It’s really just fun to be out here. I’m used to diving club,” said Gregersen, who is ranked nationally. “I find it more fun and laid back.”
Ralston Valley had the largest contingent of divers than any 5A program. The Mustangs qualified six — Gregersen, Jordan Okamoto, Payton Roberts, Kelly Heald, Gigi Borghi and Sophie Trudell — to the state meet.
Okamoto and Roberts both finished in the top-20 to join Gregersen in the finals.
Ralston Valley junior Izzy Gregersen preforms a dive during the Class 5A prelims Thursday morning at the VMAC in Thornton. Gregersen placed third at state as a sophomore and seventh as a freshman. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “I love hanging out with Payton (Roberts) and Jordan (Okamoto). They make diving more fun,” Gregersen said. “I also enjoy hanging out with the other teams and getting to know them.”
Roberts a senior and three-sport athlete — gymnastics, diving and track — has already signed to dive at the University of Idaho. Okamoto has a bright future ahead as just a sophomore.
Whatever happens after the finals, Gregersen has one more season diving for Ralston Valley before heading onto the college ranks. Gregersen says that she has talked to a few schools, but hasn’t narrowed down her list of colleges yet.
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5A girls state swimming: Chatfield’s Shanley in strong position after prelims
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) THORNTON — Chatfield junior Kathryn Shanley entered the Class 5A girls state swimming and diving meet looking to defend a championship from last year.
She’s also looking at claiming another individual title and is a prime position to do so when finals begin on Friday.
Shanley will start in the coveted fifth lane in the 200-yard freestyle after a preliminary time of one minute, 50.69 seconds. She finished second in the event in 2019 and that was just before she hit the pool to claim gold in the 500 freestyle.
She’s aiming to keep her crown in that event as she swam 4:59.28 in prelims to firmly put herself in the A final.
Her position as anchor in the 200 freestyle relay also helped the Chargers claim the top overall seed in that race.
Fossil Ridge’s Lucy Bell is another swimmer who put herself in a position for multiple championships as she took top preliminary times in the 200 individual medley and the 100 freestyle.
She also watched as teammate Renee Gillilan beat the field in the 100 butterfly at 53.99. The two standouts for the Sabercats are hoping to guide their team to a four title in six years. It was Fairview edging out Fossil Ridge in 2016 and 2019.
The Knights started prelims out by taking the top seed in the 200 medley relay. Fairview certainly has the bodies to claim its second straight title but a win in the medley relay on Friday would definitely boost confidence for the rest of the night.
They got their first individual leader of the meet when Jenna Reznicek took the top time in the 100 backstroke at 1:02.24. She’ll have to fend off Gillilan – last year’s runner-up – in Friday’s final.
Heritage junior Anna Shaw leads the field in the 50 freestyle and was the only swimmer in the event to break 23 seconds. Shaw came into prelims with the second-best time in the state, but put together a masterful performance to take the top spot in the final.
Capping off the night, Cherry Creek edged Chatfield by 0.04 seconds in 400 freestyle relay to take the top spot in finals.
Earlier in the day, Ralston Valley’s Isabel Gregersen made her way through diving semifinals and heads into Friday as the leader.
Things will get interesting on Friday as finals are slated to begin at 5 p.m. The team race looks competitive as Fairview, Fossil Ridge and Cherry Creek all have the numbers to bring home team hardware.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) -
Wrestling rankings: Five new teams hop in
Below are this week’s wrestling rankings from On The Mat.
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On The Mat Wrestling Rankings
Tim Yount of On The Mat provides weekly wrestling rankings for teams and individuals in all weight classes. To see individual rankings, you can subscribe to On The Mat’s full rankings.
To subscribe via PayPal, choose your subscription option on this page click on the corresponding PayPal button. To subscribe by mail or fax and pay by personal check, click here for a printable subscription form. Email Tim Yount at tim@onthematrankings.com with questions.
To purchase individual weeks of the rankings (as opposed to the entire season), you will need to use the printable subscription form and pay by check. The season ranking subscriptions are offered at a discounted rate.
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Class 2A RK TEAM PVS 1 Wray 1 2 Cedaredge 3 3 Rocky Ford 2 4 Highland 5 5 John Mall 6 6 Centauri 10 7 Hotchkiss 9 8 Buena Vista 8 9 Lyons 7 10 Paonia 4 Dropped out None. Class 3A RK TEAM PVS 1 Valley 3 2 Jefferson 1 3 Pagosa Springs 5 4 Alamosa 2 5 Lamar 4 6 Eaton – 7 Bennett 10 8 Weld Central 7 9 Woodland Park – 10 Sterling 8 Dropped out Eagle Valley (6), Fort Morgan (9). Class 4A RK TEAM PVS 1 Windsor 1 2 Pueblo East 2 3 Broomfield 4 4 Pueblo County 3 5 Pueblo West 8 6 Cheyenne Mountain 6 7 Coronado – 8 Longmont 10 9 Thompson Valley – 10 Loveland 9 Dropped out Mesa Ridge (5), Roosevelt (7). Class 5A RK TEAM PVS 1 Pomona 1 2 Cherokee Trail 5 3 Monarch 3 4 Rocky Mountain 2 5 Ponderosa 4 6 Brighton 7 7 Grand Junction 6 8 Grandview – 9 Poudre 8 10 Legacy 10 Dropped out Pine Creek (9). -
Photos: No. 8 Cherry Creek hockey downs Mountain Vista
Gavin Berkey’s power play goal in the first period turned out to be the difference maker as No. 8 Cherry Creek hockey beat Mountain Vista 3-1.
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Dropped ball procedure amended in soccer
(Chris Fehrm/Chris Fehrm Photography) INDIANAPOLIS – Beginning next season, changes to the conditions and procedure for restarting play with a dropped ball will take effect in high school soccer.
The dropped ball procedure was among 15 rules changes made by the NFHS Soccer Rules Committee at its January 20-22 meeting in Indianapolis and subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
When a ball is caused to go out of bounds due to a simultaneous touch, Rules 9-2-2 and 9-2-3 now stipulate a referee will restart play with a dropped ball to one player of the team that last possessed the ball before going out of play. Previously, simultaneous touch resulted in any number of players contesting a dropped ball to restart play.
Additionally, if play is stopped with the ball in the penalty area or the last touch – by either team – was in the penalty area, the ball is dropped to the defending team’s goalkeeper with all opposing players outside the penalty area.
A dropped ball is also used when a ball is deemed out of play due to touching an official, remaining on the field and resulting in one of three scenarios. Rule 9-1-1b states that if a ball touches an official and remains on the field, it will be deemed out of play if it 1) creates a promising attack for a team, 2) goes directly into the goal, or, 3) changes possession.
“The committee felt it was unfair for the ball to touch an official, remain on the field and give an advantage to either team in any of the three situations outlined,” said Stan Latta, chair of the Soccer Rules Committee.
Three rules changes to Rule 16 address when players may enter the penalty area and play a ball after a goal kick. The rules now state a ball is in play when it is kicked and moves, at which point opposing players may enter the penalty area and play the ball. Previously, opposing players remained outside the penalty area until the ball cleared the penalty area and the goal kick was retaken if it failed to exit the penalty area.
“The changes in Rule 16 will allow for a faster restart and alleviate the tendency to waste time,” said Theresia Wynns, NFHS Director of Sports and Officials and liaison to the Soccer Rules Committee.
Rule 14-1-3 clarifies goalkeepers’ positions during a penalty kick. Defending goalkeepers shall stand with at least one foot on or in-line with the goal line and the goalkeeper shall not be touching the goal posts, crossbar or nets. Forward movement is allowed provided both feet don’t come off the line until the ball is in play.
A complete listing of the soccer rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Soccer.”
According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, soccer is the fifth most popular high school sport for boys with 459,077 participants in 12,552 schools nationwide. Soccer is the fourth most popular sport for girls with 394,105 participants in 12,107 schools.
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3A girls state swimming: St. Mary’s and Erie battling for individual titles
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) THORNTON — Erie’s Payten Irwin fully intends on defending her 2019 state championships in the Class 3A 50-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
To do it, she’ll have to repeat her performance from a year ago in more ways than one. In both events, Irwin claimed gold but did it from outside the prime starting position of the fifth lane.
Caitlin Cairns from St. Mary’s entered the finals with the best time in prelims and that will be the case again this year. Cairns clocked 26.62 seconds in prelims on Thursday to once again take the top seed in the event. Irwin will start in lane six after finishing the race in 24.56 seconds.
It’s the same story in the 100 butterfly as Cairns will start the race in lane five with Irwin right next to her lane six. The battle between the Erie and St. Mary’s standouts will be a fun storyline to watch when finals begin at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Defending team champion Evergreen reminded everyone why they are the team to beat in the event as the Cougars started the day best all other teams in the 200 medley relay. Remi Gucker took the first leg of that race before coming right back to take the top time in the 200 freestyle at 1:56.84. She won the event last year and is looking to add a second gold medal while also helping the Cougars become the first back-to-back champion in 3A history.
Gucker helped her team take the top spot at the meet’s big distance relay races with a time of five minutes, 13.45 seconds in the 500 freestyle relay and 3:42.65 in the 400 freestyle relay.
Salida took a couple of top times through day as Elise Mishmash swam the 100 freestyle in 53.95 seconds. Mishmash won the event last year. She also anchored the 200 freestyle relay team in its top race of 1:42.76.
A neck-and-neck race in the 200 freestyle saw Kent Denver’s Jolie Kim touch the wall in 2:13.24, less than a 10th of a second faster than Aspen’s Lilly Huggard.
St. Mary’s Academy’s Sidney Silver will swim in lane four in the 100 backstroke after a prelim time of 55.27. Thomas Jefferson’s Caitlin Beery dropped nearly two seconds off her qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke and took the top time in the event at 1:07.51.
The 3A meet will continue first thing Saturday morning with diving prelims . Swimming and diving finals are scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) -
No. 7 Golden boys basketball gets revenge on Green Mountain
GOLDEN — With snow piling up seemingly every other day lately, Golden senior Ben McLaughlin doesn’t mind getting work in on the hardwood before taking to the baseball field this spring.
Golden junior Nathan Wiggins (10) attempts to get a shot off in front of Green Mountain senior Matt Schlieper (44) during the first half at Golden High School. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “Baseball is my priority obviously,” said McLaughlin, one of the top baseball players in the state. “We are running with it right now. I’m just trying to enjoy the season. This is my last time playing basketball so I have to enjoy it.”
Golden — No. 7 in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings this week — is zeroing in on a 4A Jeffco League title. The Demons (15-6, 9-1) won their sixth straight conference game Wednesday night with a 54-44 victory over Green Mountain (14-6, 6-4). The Rams handed Golden its lone league loss back on Jan. 18.
The difference in the game was at the free-throw line. Golden went 19-for-30 from the charity stripe. Green Mountain was 5-for-11 from the line.
“(Green Mountain) is a great ball club and we knew it was going to be a tough physical game,” McLaughlin said. “We work on free throws all the time in practice. We needed to step up and knock them down.”
McLaughlin (14 points) and fellow senior Kevin Mulligan (17 points) led the Demons offensively. They combined to make 15 free throws.
Green Mountain senior Matt Schlieper, right, takes a jumper over Golden senior Carter Thompson on Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) Green Mountain’s senior big men — Jason Luzaydio and Matt Schlieper — had success with block shots early, but the Demons kept driving it inside with success.
“We talked about attacking the basket. We can’t settle for jump shots,” Golden coach Lou Vullo said. “We know that (Luzaydio and Schlieper) will leave their feet. I figured we could get them in foul trouble.”
The Demons grabbed their first double-digit lead at 26-16 with a 3-pointer by junior Jake Liedtke midway through the second quarter. Liedtke scored all seven of his points in the second quarter to help give the Demons a 30-21 lead at halftime.
“I’m proud of the team. We were disciplined tonight. I think that is why we shot a lot of free throws,” Vullo said. “We slowed things down. We got a double-digit lead and we didn’t want to lose it. We didn’t want Green Mountain to get back in the game because they have some kids who can score the ball.”
Golden’s defense was stellar is not letting Green Mountain get into its transition game. Senior Blake Schell scored a game-high 20 points for the Rams in the loss that ended any chance for Green Mountain to grab the league title.
“That’s credit to them (Golden),” Green Mountain coach Mike Puccio said of the Rams’ struggles on offense. “We are executing. We are turning it over on a high clip and that’s on the coaches. We’ve got to get us easier buckets. We need to run.”
Golden senior Kevin Mulligan (32) scored a game-high 17 points Wednesday night in the Demons’ 54-44 win over Green Mountain. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) Green Mountain has its regular-season home final on Friday night against Littleton. The Rams prepare for the playoffs with back-to-back road games against Evergreen on Feb. 21 and Pueblo South on Feb. 22.
Golden actually has a week break between games. The Demons are at D’Evelyn on Wednesday, Feb. 19, before closing out their regular season against rival Wheat Ridge on Feb. 21.
“It’s always good to have that,” Vullo said of the six days between games. “It is going to recharge our batteries for sure. Having that week off is going to be good.”
The showdown against the Farmers (11-7, 7-2) — defending 4A Jeffco League champs — could determine the outcome of the conference title race. It’s also something McLaughlin is looking forward to. Golden defeated Wheat Ridge 68-61 in the first meeting Jan. 22 on the Farmers’ home court.
“Golden versus Wheat Ridge, I want it all out on the line,” McLaughlin said of the Demons’ league and regular-season finale next week. “I want to beat them in our place and win that league title.”
Green Mountain senior Trey Towndrow (12) is fouled by Golden senior Carter Thompson (44) during the second half of the Class 4A Jeffco League game Wednesday. The Demons took a 10-point victory to stay one-game ahead of rival Wheat Ridge in the conference standing. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)