Monarch has moved up to No. 4 in this week’s hockey rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, the poll will release each Monday.
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.
Four new teams joined this week’s boys basketball rankings: Columbine (5A), Chaparral (5A), Erie (4A) and Alamosa (3A).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
This week’s girls basketball ranking added just two newcomers across the five classes: Meeker (2A) and Elbert (1A).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Following its win over then-No. 1 Fort Collins on Saturday, Chaparral has moved up to the top of this week’s hockey rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, the poll will release each Monday.
LITTLETON — Arguably Jeffco’s best male basketball player — Columbine senior Luke O’Brien — and Jeffco’s best male athlete — Ralston Valley senior Caleb Rillos — went head-to-head Wednesday night.
“I thought it was a great battle,” Ralston Valley coach Chris Braketa said of the O’Brien vs. Rillos match-up. “As a competitor you like to see two athletes go at it. Both of them did great things. It’s fun to watch really good players reach their potential in a game like this. They both played outstanding.”
In the end, the future University of Colorado hoopster — O’Brien — led Columbine to a 57-55 victory, ending the 7-game winning streak by Ralston Valley. O’Brien poured in a game-high 26 points.
Ralston Valley senior Caleb Rillos (21) works on trying to get a shot off while being guarded by Columbine senior Justin Lohrenz on Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“He (Rillos) is one of the best defenders that has guarded me so far. He is a really good player,” O’Brien said. “He is going to do really great things up at Air Force.”
Rillos — three-sport athlete in football, basketball and lacrosse — actually celebrated signing to play football at the Air Force Academy in the morning Wednesday. He finished with 24 points for Ralston Valley — No. 3 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A boys basketball rankings.
“Luke is difficult to guard,” Rillos admitted. “I thought we did a pretty good job on his, but he got to the free-throw line more than we expected. He is a great player.”
O’Brien was 10-for-14 from the line, including making seven free throws in the fourth quarter.
Ralston Valley (15-3, 2-1 in 5A Jeffco) hadn’t loss since a 5-point loss to Legend nearly a month ago. The Mustangs had their chances in the final seconds. A missed layup, a pair of missed free throws and not being able to get of a shot before the buzzer sounded marked the first conference loss for Ralston Valley.
“This is one of the games I’ve wanted to win the most,” Rillos said. “We are going to keep our heads up and keep battling. We’ll learn from this. It will actually help us going into this final stretch before playoffs.”
Columbine (14-3, 3-1) had to get the victory to have a realistic shot of claiming a third straight conference title. A conference opening loss to Valor Christian gives Columbine little room for error.
The Rebels turned to O’Brien and Justin Lohrenz in the final quarter against Ralston Valley.
“They had to and that is what senior captains do. They need to step up in games like this,” Columbine coach Clay Thielking said of O’Brien and Lohrenz stepping up in crunch time. “They weren’t perfect, but I thought the effort and composure was there from start to finish. That is what you need to beat a great team like Ralston Valley.”
Columbine junior Tristan Alward (1) is tightly covered by Ralston Valley senior Kyle Zigich during the Class 5A Jeffco League game Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Lohrenz finished with 13 points. The future defensive lineman at the Washington State University made two key free throws with 24 seconds left to give the Rebels a 56-55 lead.
“In the end it came down to me and Luke,” Lohrenz said of him and O’Brien combining to score all of the Rebels’ 14 points in the fourth quarter. “We are the captains and the leaders. The team reflects on what we do. We had to keep everyone together.”
O’Brien admitted he nearly had a costly mistake in the final seconds. After making the first of two free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining to give Columbine a 57-55 lead, he missed the second from the line and then fouled Ralston Valley senior Dario Greco with 5.6 seconds left going after the rebound.
“That was a dumb play by me,” O’Brien said. “Thankfully they missed the free throws.”
Greco missed the first free throw. He purposely missed the second hoping the Mustangs could grab the rebound and get off a game-tying shot, but Columbine junior Luke Garrelts grabbed the rebound and got fouled.
It wasn’t over yet, Garrelts missed both free throws with 3.9 seconds left. Rillos grabbed the rebound, fired an outlet pass to senior Caden Gigstad who dribbled furiously down the court, but couldn’t get a shot off before time expired.
“There were a lot of interesting scenarios down the stretch,” Thielking said. “It was a rollercoaster. Our guys stayed poised and Ralston Valley did too. I just thought it was just a great high school basketball game.”
Dakota Ridge (8-10, 3-0) actually takes over first place alone in the conference. Arvada West, Columbine, Ralston Valley and Valor Christian are all one-game back in the loss column for the race to the 5A Jeffco League title.
“It’s not in our hands anymore,” O’Brien said of the Rebels trying to win a third straight 5A Jeffco League title. “We need to do what we can and win out.”
Columbine has a non-league game at home against Mountain Vista on Thursday night before returning to conference play at Bear Creek on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
Ralston Valley hosts rival Pomona at 7 p.m. Friday night.
“We learn from everything, but you still have to turn the page,” Braketa said. “There is still a lot to play for.”
Columbine junior Garrett Rogers (2) makes a move on Ralston Valley senior Caden Gigstad during the first half Wednesday night at Columbine High School. The Rebels took a 57-55 victory to hand the Mustangs their first loss in Class 5A Jeffco League play. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
JEFFERSON COUNTY — It was a day for celebrations across Jeffco on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Nearly 100 student-athletes from 11 different schools across the school district signed their National Letter of Intent on Wednesday. Feb. 5 marked the start of the Division I and II, along with the football regular signing period.
There is still one more signing period ahead that begins on April 15.
[divider]
[divider]
[divider]
Arvada West High School
Conner Bickford, soccer, Northeast Community College
Shayla Erickson, softball, Otero Junior College
Olivia Henkel, volleyball, Cornell College
Jay Lambert, baseball, Midland University
Justin Lepke, football, Western Colorado University
Noah McCandless, baseball, Garden City Community College
Nicholas Nuher, track, University of Colorado
Shelby Robb, softball, Metro State University
Isabelle Schwein, softball, Friends University
Addison Southwick, baseball, Augustana College
Braden Thomson, baseball, Feather River College
Josh Yago, lacrosse, Air Force Academy — Preparatory School
Bear Creek High School
Jose Ramos, football, Colorado State University-Pueblo
Josh Alejo, football, Harding University
Chatfield High School
Daniel Moore, baseball, University of Dubuque
Hayden Cross, baseball, McCook Community College
Cole Nash, cross country & track, University of Alaska-Anchorage
Abby Wilkinson, soccer, North Dakota State
Jacob Roybal, baseball, Mesa Community College
Jordan Ramirez, baseball, Northeastern Junior College
Garrick Levesque, baseball, Ventura Community College
Kyle Koppelmaa, baseball, Orange Coast College
Columbine High School
Ally Distler, softball, Colorado Mesa University
Annika Schooler, golf, South Dakota School of Mines
Makenna Riotte, lacrosse, Adams State University
Jackie Mudd, swimming, Biola University
Aden Sievert, lacrosse, Hood College
Adam Harrington, football, Middlebury College
Andrew Gentry, football, University of Virginia
Andrew Lauritzen, football, Missouri Western State
Braeden Hogan, football, Western Colorado University
Justin Lohrenz, football, Washington State University
Justyn Classen, football, St. Olaf College
Tanner Hollens, football, Colorado State University
Stephen Hughes, football, Concordia University-Nebraska
Joel Basile, baseball, Scottsdale Community College
Evan Johnson, volleyball, Trinity Christian College
Mark Thurman, baseball, Northeastern Junior College
Erica Mock, tennis, Whitman College
Conifer High School
Josey Nichols, softball, West Texas A&M
Kassidy Butler, lacrosse, Florida Southern College
Jordyn West, soccer, University of Nebraska-Omaha
Adie Brake, softball, Vernon College
Megan Wilkins, swimming, Arcadia University
Denali Douglas, volleyball, Union College
Dakota Ridge High School
Caley Akiyama, softball, Cottey College
Brianna Binder, volleyball, McKendree University
Luke Brandt, football, Bethel University
Kyle Cannon, football & track, Dakota State University
Matthew Heitmann, football, Air Force Academy
James Hess, football, Colorado School of Mines
Tia Krats, lacrosse, Regis University
Faith Lawson, softball, Oklahoma Wesleyan
Izaak McWilliams, football, Bethel University
Madeleine Nightengale-Luhan, volleyball, Colorado School of Mines
Connor Ohlson, cross country & track, Air Force Academy
Adam Rodriguez, golf, Loras College
Samantha Schmidt, lacrosse, Colorado State University-Pueblo
Green Mountain High School
Hunter Grogan, fencing, Vassar College
Kasey Klocek, cross country & track, South Dakota State
Sofia Parisi, beach volleyball, Concordia University
Braydon Schulz, baseball, North Dakota University of Jamestown
Trey Towndrow, football, Colorado Mesa University
Lakewood High School
Josh Beattie, baseball, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Olivia Desso, tennis, Chapman University
Caden Link, baseball, Pacific University
Faith Zehnder, volleyball, Holy Family University
Pomona High School
Sanjay Strickland, football, Colorado State University
Garrett Bishop, football, New Mexico State University
Adam Karas, football, Air Force Academy
Kyle Moretti, football, Central Michigan University
Chase Lopez, football, University of South Dakota
Trevor Baskin, basketball, Colorado Mesa University
Zoe Hendrix, soccer, Doane University
Ashlyn Mathers, softball, Augustana-Illinois
Bethany Tiscareno, softball, Otero Junior College
Ralston Valley High School
Payton Roberts, diving, University of Idaho
Riley Dmytriw, cross country & track, Colorado Christian University
William Wall, baseball, Whitman College
Paul Stone, swimming, Midland College
Braden Siders, football, University of Wyoming
Chase Wilson, football, Colorado State University
Caleb Rillos, football, Air Force Academy
Alexandrya Jacobs, soccer, Hastings College
JJ Galbreath, football, University of South Dakota
Ben Lenahan, golf, Whitman College
Ben Takata, football, Colorado School of Mines
Mitchell Morehead, football, Colorado School of Mines
Tanner Lallman, volleyball, University of the Southwest
Elizabeth Schweiker, cross country & track, Rice University
Parker Dorrance, baseball, Northeastern Community College
Walker Brickle, football, Colorado State University
Kaleb Tischler, football, South Dakota School of Mines
Ben Sampson, swimming, Colorado Mesa University
Standley Lake High School
Julianne Pelletier, cross country, Regis University
Jaren Cosby, football, Western Colorado University
Kevin Starnes, football, Nebraska Wesleyan University
