The 2014 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Players of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
LAKEWOOD — George Washington’s Dior Hall has been a national phenom in the 100-meter hurdles for many years, but accomplished something Saturday that no one in Colorado history had at the State Track and Field Championships.
She ran a 13.09 100-hurdles in the Class 5A finals, smashing the 1996 all-classification record of 13.23 held by Denver South’s Dominique Calloway. The time was the third fastest in U.S. history for a high school girl.
Perhaps the most amazing thing is that Hall’s 13.09 wasn’t even a personal best. The senior holds the national record in the event with a 13.01, a time she ran to win silver at the World Youth Championships last summer. At a March meet in New York, Hall set the 60-meter hurdles national record with a time of 8.11.
George Washington’s Dior Hall. (Brock Laue)
On Saturday, Hall put on a show in the first event of the final day of State at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood. Her competition was Cherry Creek’s super sophomore Ashley Miller, already one of the fastest Colorado girls hurdlers in history herself.
From the gun, Hall and Miller took control but the George Washington star’s speed and picturesque form cruised her past the field to the near sub-13 performance. Miller placed second in the fourth-fastest time in state history, 13.38.
“I just wanted to complete my race plan,” Hall said of her preparation for the final. “Going into finals I wanted to run 12.9, but I ran 13.09. It’s pretty good.”
Hall, who has mostly focused on the 100 hurdles and the Patriots’ always blistering relay squads during high school, displayed versatility senior year.
“I split a 54 on the sprint medley (relay),” Hall said. “It was my first event of the year. I was actually not supposed to run as fast as I did, but I felt like someone was behind me, so I felt like I had to go faster. I was really happy with a 54.”
Hall’s performance was enough to help George Washington become the first Colorado sprint medley relay team to break 1:43. They own the all-classification record with a 1:42.98, the top time in America when they ran it.
The Patriots chose not to stack the relay at State, but Hall was certainly busy Saturday. Less than an hour after her 100 hurdle performance, she placed second in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.69, a new personal record. Pine Creek’s Ally Watt claimed the 5A crown in a time of 11.53.
Hall also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in 24.26 seconds. Watt won the double with a blistering 23.73.
Hall even ran a leg on George Washington’s second place 400-meter relay (47.13). Pine Creek claimed the title in 46.55, a mere .04 seconds off the Colorado record of 46.51, which GW set in 2007.
Hall’s impressive weekend helped the Patriots place fifth in the 5A girls team standings with 51 points. Fort Collins won the state championship with 84 points, four points ahead of Pine Creek.
Elise Cranny-led Niwot won its second straight 4A championship with 66 points. Thompson Valley finished second with 57.5 and Broomfield was third with 55 points.
The Classical Academy won its third consecutive team title in 3A with a dominating 111-point tally. Eaton was second with 82.5 points.
In 2A, Paonia held off a game Hotchkiss 102-86 to claim back-to-back team crowns.
Jennifer Celis did her best to give Hotchkiss a chance at victory with 30 individual points in the 400 (57.84), 800 (2:11.43), and 1,600 (4:58.55) by herself. She also anchored the state championship 1600-meter relay in a time of 3:59.78.
Hotchkiss’ Jennifer Celis. (Brock Laue)
Celis broke her own 2A records in the 800 and 1,600. She closed with a scorching fast kick in both races to beat West Grand’s Tabor Scholl. Celis’ 800-meter race was especially impressive.
“The past few years I would take it on pace and then slow up to make sure I had enough for the kick,” Celis said of her 800-meter state championship. “This year I really just wanted to run my own race. I knew I wanted to break 2:13 this year, but for that race I kind of just wanted to run it to win it and hopefully the time would come.”
One event later, Celis won the 400-meter dash despite admittedly tired legs.
The Hotchkiss star might be a 2A athlete, but will be competing for a big-time college program next season — Oklahoma State University — after winning six individual state titles and three relay titles in her career.
In 1A, Shining Mountain Waldorf won an exciting battle for the State Championship with 74 points. Heritage Christian (71), Dove Creek (68), and Vail Christian (65) were all in the mix late into the weekend.
On a day filled with spectacular performances, Hall’s 100-hurdle state championship run stood out. The senior exudes humility and class, but is honest about her long-term goals.
“To make the Olympics in 2016, win, and break the world record,” Hall said of her ultimate dream.
The George Washington star seems capable of anything after a breathtaking Saturday morning at Jeffco Stadium.
Shining Mountain won the 1A girls track championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)Paonia won the 2A girls track championship (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)The Classical Academy won 3A girls track’s championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)Niwot won 4A girls track’s championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)Fort Collins won 5A girls track’s championship. (Whitney Webermeier/CHSAANow.com)
Regis Jesuit is No. 1 in this week’s 5A baseball ranking. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
For the second consecutive week, there’s a new team atop CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A baseball ranking. This time, Regis Jesuit has ascended to the top.
The Raiders, now 14-3, went 3-0 last week — including a 7-5 win over then-No. 6 ThunderRidge. They are now 9-0 in the always tough Continental League, and are riding an 11-game winning streak.
Fairview actually received the same amount of first-place votes (six) that Regis Jesuit did, but remained at No. 2 with 125 overall points to the Raiders’ 137. The Knights are now 16-1 — 13-0 against in-state teams.
Arvada West jumped into the rankings at No. 6, just behind No. 5 Chatfield and No. 4 Mountain Vista.
ThunderRidge dropped to No. 7, Rocky Mountain is No. 8 and Chaparral is No. 9. Cherry Creek rejoined the poll at No. 10.
There are also new teams atop the 3A and 2A polls. In 3A, Eaton received nine of the 10 first-place votes to overtake Holy Family, which dropped to No. 2. In 2A, Resurrection Christian got five of the seven first-place votes and took over for Swink, which also fell to No. 2.
Windsor retained its spot atop the 4A ranking, and Stratton held firm atop 1A.
The 4A poll added Pueblo East at No. 9, and also saw Lewis-Palmer move from No. 5 to No. 3, and Evergreen go from No. 7 to No. 4.
3A added Bayfield (No. 8), while 2A added Limon (No. 9) and Lyons (No. 10).
With the regular season ending Tuesday, these rankings will serve as the final poll of the regular season.
BOULDER — Fairview’s baseball team made such quick work of Greeley West in a win last Saturday — it took 57 minutes — that the Knights held batting practice afterward.
The win was a 10-0 affair in five innings, blown open by an eight-run fourth inning which included Jeff Clarke’s home run over the scoreboard in left field. Eight of their nine players recorded at least one hit, and seven had at least one RBI.
Sitting in their dugout after the game, a few players approached coach Rick Harig and asked if they could take batting practice. They didn’t feel like they’d been on the field long enough. Harig shrugged: “Sure, why not.”
So the Knights took hacks for another hour. Not that they really needed the practice. These guys can hit.
Saturday’s game was the seventh in a row in which Fairview’s lineup had produced double-digit runs, and Tuesday’s 15-0 win over Poudre made it eight straight.
(Pam Wagner)
Fairview now has four players with at least four home runs — Clarke, Cam Frazier and Walker Harris — and its 18 homers as a team is third-best in the state among all classifications.
Clarke is hitting .579 with 33 RBIs, Frazier is at .526 with 20 RBIs and Jacob Thoning is hitting .500 with 17 RBIs. No one who sees regular at-bats is hitting below .333. And this is a team which lost designated hitter Steve D’Epagnier to a torn labrum after five games.
The Knights lead Class 5A in team batting average (.447), slugging percentage (.698), RBIs (152) and runs (167).
For context, ThunderRidge led 5A in batting average and runs scored en route to the championship last season. Rocky Mountain, the runner-up, led 5A in RBIs, and was second in runs.
More context: 2012 champion Cherry Creek led 5A in RBIs and runs, and was second in home runs. 2011 champ Regis Jesuit led 5A in runs, home runs and RBIs.
But ThunderRidge, Cherry Creek and Regis also had great pitching staffs. In fact, Cherry Creek’s team led 5A with a 1.75 ERA in 2012. And pitching is what separates teams in the postseason, where seemingly everyone can hit.
Fairview’s arms have matured this season and become more consistent compared to prior years. As a staff, the Knights have a 2.23 ERA, which is third-best in 5A at this point.
Senior Ryan Kokora carries a 1.18 ERA in 29 2/3 innings, and is now 6-0. He started (and won) Fairview’s biggest win of the season, a 10-7 victory at Rocky Mountain on April 10. Kokora gave up seven runs that day, five earned, but hasn’t allowed anything else in any of his other appearances. In fact, outside of the Rocky Mountain game — in which he pitched well, make no mistake — Kokora has allowed just eight hits.
But one pitcher can’t carry a team through the postseason.
(Pam Wagner)
Fortunately for Fairview, the Knights have what amounts to two aces. Ryan Madden, a junior, is 6-1 with a 3.37 ERA and 31 strikeouts against just five walks in 35 1/3 innings.
Mike Vlasity is the team’s closer with a 0.88 ERA, and has 21 strikeouts to two walks in 16 innings.
Johnny Feauto or Jacob Kearney will likely be Fairview’s third starter should they need one in the postseason. Neither have been needed since early April.
All of them have flourished under the guidance of senior catcher Cannon Casey, who calls pitches all game, and has since he was a sophomore.
It’s all amounted to this: Fairview is unbeaten in Colorado so far this season (11-0), with the lone loss coming over spring break in Arizona. The Knights already have 14 wins, which is the most since going 16-5 during the 2008-09 season. That is also the last time they won a postseason game. Fairview beat Arvada West in the first round of districts that season, but then lost to Grandview in the second round.
As far as recent history goes, the Knights lost in the first round of districts in 2013 and 2010, and didn’t even make the postseason in 2012 or 2011. In fact, Fairview’s last trip to the Final 8 came during the 2007 season, when it went 1-2.
In recent months, Regis Jesuit’s 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman Tim Lynott has hauled in the scholarship offers. Thursday, the 2015 grad was offered by Wyoming. That followed an offer from Utah State on Monday. He’s now up to 12 total, and counts Miami, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona State and Kansas State among his offers. CU and CSU have both offered, as well.
He’s a 2016 graduate, but Legacy quarterback Matt Lynch committed to Colorado State during the Rams’ spring game this past Saturday, according to BoCoPreps.com. “It did shock me a little bit,” Lynch told BoCoPreps of committing early.
Eaglecrest picked Tom Brennan as its girls basketball coach. He was an assistant at the school this past season, and was also on the staff at ThunderRidge when it won 5A titles from 2003-05. “We are confident coach Brennan can take this program to a different level of success moving forward while also providing long term stability and consistently high expectations year in and year out,” Eaglecrest AD Vince Orlando said in a statement. In addition, the school hired Rhonda Appleton-Webb as an assistant.
Ralston Valley’s Jordan Holloway went 4-for-4 with three home runs and nine RBIs in a win over Standley Lake last Saturday.
Dakota Ridge golfer Sydney Merchant set the course record at The Meadows Golf Course on Monday when she shot a 63. Just another golfer to watch for in the loaded 5A field.
The Colorado 7 League added an eighth team during the 2014-16 realignment, but will keep its name.
Rule change for swimming: In the backstroke, “any part of the swimmer’s body must be on or above the water at the finish.” This will take effect in the 2014-15 season. Previously, the swimmer could be underwater.
Chatfield is the No. 1 team in this week’s 5A baseball poll. (Pam Wagner)
Chatfield, 13-0 to start the 2014 season, has taken over atop this week’s Class 5A baseball poll from CHSAANow.com.
The Chargers moved up from No. 3 and received seven of the 15 first-place votes. They had 131 total points to top the ranking.
A total of six teams got first-place votes, including former No. 1 ThunderRidge, which dropped to No. 6 following its loss to Mountain Vista last week.
Fairview got two of those first-place votes and is No. 2 this week. Columbine, which plays Chatfield on Wednesday, is third, and Regis Jesuit is fourth. Mountain Vista rounds out the top five.
After ThunderRidge, Arapahoe is seventh and Ralston Valley is eighth. Chaparral is No. 9 this week, and Rocky Mountain is No. 10.
The 4A ranking also got a new No. 1 team this week when Windsor overtook Montrose. The Wizards received six of the 13 first-place votes, and had 115 overall points.
Montrose dropped to second this week, and is followed by No. 3 Niwot. Wheat Ridge bumped up one place to No. 4, while Lewis-Palmer is No. 5 after 3-0 week which included a win over then-No. 10 Palmer Ridge on Saturday.
Longmont is the lone newcomer to the 4A poll, joining at No. 10.
The other No. 1 teams held firm atop their respective rankings. Holy Family continued to lead 3A, Swink remain atop of 2A and Stratton continued to lead 1A.
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 17 are below.
Fairview, and shortstop Cameron Frazier (3) are No. 4 in this week’s 5A baseball poll. (Dennis Pleuss)
Perhaps no win was bigger for Fairview in recent years than last Thursday’s decision over then-No. 5 Rocky Mountain.
But the win for the Knights was just one-fourth a tough 4-0 week last week, and now they find themselves ranked No. 4 in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A baseball poll. Fairview was seventh last week.
The Knights are actually 7-0 in Colorado, with the lone loss coming in Arizona during a Spring Break tournament. Their lineup has produced double-digit scoring outputs the past four games.
ThunderRidge remained in its top spot in the 5A ranking, where it has been since the preseason. Regis Jesuit stayed at No. 2, and Chatfield held firm at No. 3.
Behind Fairview, Columbine rounds out the top five.
Ralston Valley is No. 6, Mountain Vista is No. 7 and Arapahoe is No. 8. Rocky Mountain dropped to No. 9 after going 1-2 last week.
Chaparral is the lone newcomer to 5A this week. The Wolverines rejoined the poll at No. 10.
Elsewhere, Swink took over the top spot in the 2A ranking. At 9-0, Swink moved up from No. 2. Former No. 1 Resurrection Christian dropped to No. 3.
The 2A poll added Kiowa (No. 8) this week.
The other No. 1 teams remained the same. Those are Montrose (4A), Holy Family (3A) and Stratton (1A).
The 4A poll has two new teams this week: Wheat Ridge, which joined all the way at No. 5, and Elizabeth, which is No. 7.
Cherry Creek 16, Central (G.J.) 10, Fruita Monument 6, Legacy 4, Rock Canyon 3, Dakota Ridge 2, Pine Creek 2, Brighton 1.
Dropped out
Dakota Ridge (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Montrose (5)
9-2
112
1
1-1
2
Niwot (4)
10-1
106
4
3-0
3
Windsor (4)
12-1
101
2
3-0
4
Delta (1)
11-1
77
5
0-1
5
Wheat Ridge
7-2
64
–
3-0
6
Lewis-Palmer
8-3
50
9
3-0
7
Elizabeth
10-1
41
–
3-0
8
Valor Christian
7-5
38
3
0-2
9
Evergreen
7-2
36
10
3-0
10
Palmer Ridge
8-3
31
7
3-1
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo Centennial 19, Longmont 17, Air Academy 16, Ponderosa 12, Mesa Ridge 10, Mountain View 9, Skyline 7, Pueblo East 4, Canon City 3, Falcon 3, Pueblo West 2, Widefield 2, Durango 1, Green Mountain 1, Pueblo South 1.
Dropped out
Longmont (6), Falcon (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holy Family (6)
12-0
85
1
4-0
2
Eaton (3)
8-0
84
2
1-0
3
Faith Christian
9-1
67
3
4-0
4
Gunnison
10-0
49
7
3-0
5
Valley
10-1
46
5
2-1
6
Cedaredge
11-0
41
6
2-0
7
Lamar
9-3
38
4
2-2
8
University
7-2
28
9
1-1
9
Brush
7-1
24
–
4-0
10
The Classical Academy
7-2
18
8
3-1
Others receiving votes:
Bayfield 14, La Junta 1.
Dropped out
Bayfield (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Swink (3)
9-0
63
2
4-0
2
Rye (1)
9-1
55
4
3-0
3
Resurrection Christian (2)
8-2
52
1
2-1
4
Hotchkiss (1)
11-2
42
7
2-0
5
Peyton
9-1
39
6
2-1
6
Sedgwick County
7-1
36
8
2-0
7
Lutheran
5-4
21
5
2-1
8
Kiowa
7-3
15
–
5-1
9
Limon
6-3
13
10
1-1
10
Denver Christian
4-3
11
3
2-1
Others receiving votes:
Haxtun 6, Holyoke 6, Dolores 5, Front Range Christian 5, Lyons 5, Sierra Grande 4, Byers 2, Nucla 2, Rocky Ford 2, Yuma 1.
Dropped out
Ignacio (9).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Stratton (5)
5-1
50
1
1-1
2
Granada
3-2
40
3
0-1
3
Elbert
5-1
38
2
1-0
4
Caliche
5-6
29
4
2-0
5
Eads
4-7
28
7
2-1
6
Briggsdale
5-4
20
–
3-1
7
Community Christian
5-5
15
6
2-0
8
Peetz
1-2
14
8
0-1
9
Fleming
3-3
11
10
0-0
10
Dove Creek
2-8
9
9
0-2
Others receiving votes:
Cornerstone Christian 7, County Line 7, Holly 3, Manzanola 3, Cotopaxi 1.
