There were quite a few changes to this week’s football rankings, with Dakota Ridge (4A), Roosevelt (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A), and Fleming (6-man) taking over atop their respective classifications.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
“I’m shaken and blown away, it’s a lot to process,” said Baca. “I’m so grateful, it’s hard to put into words because of how crazy things have been in this world, a lot of people worked very hard to put this on for us and I’m just grateful to even be here.”
Baca crossed the finish line at 16:07, only two seconds in front of second place finisher Joshua Medina of Alamosa.
The course proved to be difficult, and the final stretch forced the runners to push their limits.
“This course is unforgiving and that last quarter is tough,” Baca said. “It’s a gutsy course and you have to be brave and tough.”
Being Gunnison’s first school champion is a huge honor that Baca feel very fortunate to have.
“I just tried to do this for everyone who tried to do this in the past and all my mentors like Colton Stice, who taught me how to run brave,” Baca said with a smile. “I hope Gunnison is proud of me.”
Despite a strong effort from The Classical Academy and Holy Family, the Frontier Academy boys proved to be too much on Saturday.
Frontier Academy scored 48 points to repeat as the 3A champions. Their top finisher Senior Abuzaid Fanning came in fourth and the team had four top-20 finishers that helped the team finish on top again.
During the girls race, Basalt sophomore Katelyn Maley turned in an outstanding individual effort to claim the title.
“I’m just feeling very excited and we did very well as a team today, especially since we came in today without one of our main runners,” said Maley. “I was in shock when I crossed the finish line and I was only thinking about getting water.”
Maley crossed the finish line with an impressive 18:39 time, 34 seconds ahead of the next finisher, Kennedy McDonald of The Classical Academy. Approaching the last quarter of the race, Maley had a 24 second lead over all other racers.
“The hills and heat were really tough today,” said Maley. “Luckily I kept myself mentally tough and just kept telling myself it would be over soon.”
While Maley may have won the cross country state title, her mind is already looking to the next competition.
“I’m just going to keep grinding till track and field,” Maley said. “Although this season is abbreviated, I’m just glad we got to be here and I’m grateful for everything.”
In the girls team race, The Classical Academy claimed the championship for the second straight year, its twelfth girls team cross country state title in school history.
“I don’t think we felt as much pressure this year, but it just feels really good to be here again and we’ll just keep trying to continue to win,” said McDonald.
TCA claimed that top spot on the toughness of the three top-ten finishes from Kennedy McDonald (second), Cassidy McDonald (eighth), and Sophia Valentine (ninth).
Saturday, the Holy Family Tigers found a way, and rode it to its second state title in three years.
Buoyed by a first-inning grand slam from junior catcher Abby Edwards, Holy Family withstood a pesky Mead squad to defeat the Mavericks 9-6 in the Class 4A state softball championship.
“They have courage, respect, grit, and they work hard, every single one of them,” said Moriah Nguyen, a first-year head coach for Holy Family who also served as an assistant on the Tigers’ 2018 title team. “They’ve work their tail off all year long, and no one deserves it more than them.”
The fact that Holy Family was in position to win this title is amazing in of itself.
In the semifinals against D’Evelyn early Saturday, the Tigers trailed as much as 6-1, looking listless as D’Evelyn seemed destined for a title game appearance.
Heading into the top of the 7th inning, trailing the Jaguars 6-5, the Tigers did what championship teams do — never say die.
Holy Family threw down a remarkable 7-spot on D’Evelyn in the 7th inning, which featured a pair of three-run home runs from senior Jenna Pfenning and junior Annika Manzanarez, enabling the Tigers to come away with a stunning 12-7 win to boost itself into the title game. At the same time, it allowed the Tigers to exorcize the demons from a semifinal loss to eventual state champion Erie in 2019.
“Every single one of these girls have the grit,” Nguyen said of the team’s comeback. “They fight, scratch, and do whatever they can to score runs.”
That momentum carried over to the championship game, as the Tigers started things off by promptly loading the bases. Junior Abby Edwards — a starter on the 2018 championship team — drove a bomb to left centerfield to give the Tigers an early 4-0 lead, never relinquishing it.
“I saw an inside pitch, and I was so excited that they threw something inside to me,” Edwards said. “When I saw the umpire’s hand go in their air, I just jumped up in the air. It was so exciting to do that for my team.”
While Mead threatened, turning in two home runs as it got as close as 6-5 in the fourth inning, scratched across some insurance runs to seal it. Among those included an inside-the-park home run by Edwards in the 6th inning, which served as a coronation of sorts as Holy Family held on for the state crown.
Nguyen, an assistant for the 2018 championship who was in her first season as head coach, saw up close the senior class’ transformation from freshmen to two-time state champion. It’s a special group, Nguyen said.
“It’s amazing, seeing this group of freshmen since they were seniors, and what an experience and ride it was with these girls,” Nguyen said. “My heart is huge right now.”
