Quarterback Cody Summers and Grandview are now the top-ranked team in Class 5A football. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Grandview, now 8-0, is the new No. 1 team in CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Wolves took over the top spot previously occupied by Valor Christian, which lost an in-state game for the first time in 28 outings on Friday when then-No. 9 Cherry Creek upset the Eagles 33-17.
Led by senior Andrew Wingard, Ralston Valley is No. 2 in the 5A poll. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Ralston Valley also had a good claim to the top ranking. The Mustangs are 8-0, too, and won a monster game over then-No. 3 Pomona on Friday. They settled into the No. 2 spot this week, just 10 overall points behind Grandview.
Grandview received 10 first-place votes; Ralston Valley got five.
Meanwhile, Fairview moved up two places to No. 3 after escaping an upset bid from Fossil Ridge.
Pomona dropped one spot to fourth, Cherry Creek rocketed up from No. 9 to No. 5, and Valor fell all the way to sixth. Regis Jesuit is seventh, dropping one place despite a good win over then-No. 7 Mountain Vista.
Rocky Mountain remained at No. 8, Mountain Vista fell to No. 9 and Doherty rejoined the 5A poll at No. 10.
Speaking to the uncertainty in the 5A ranking at the moment, spots Nos. 4-7 are separated by a mere five points. Things could get much more clouded â Valor Christian and Grandview play in their regular season finale on Friday.
In the other six classificatoins, none of the top-ranked teams were displaced. It means Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man) stayed on top.
There were no newcomers in the 4A ranking this week, though 3A added Palisade (No. 10), and St. Mary’s (No. 9). Eaton (No. 10) joined the 2A poll. 1A added Crowley County (No. 10), and North Park joined 6-man’s ranking at No. 9.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
Fountain-Fort Carson is ranked No. 10 in 5A this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Buoyed by its four-overtime win against Doherty on Friday night, Fountain-Fort Carson cracked CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings on Monday.
The Trojans, now 6-1, entered the poll at No. 10. They have won their last five games.
Elsewhere in 5A, Valor Christian stayed atop the ranking after receiving ten of the 16 first-place votes. Grandview, which got four first-place votes after its big win against Cherry Creek, returned to the No. 2 spot this week.
Pomona is third, and Ralston Valley is fourth. Those two cross-town rivals play one another on Friday night.
Fairview rounds out 5A’s top five, Regis Jesuit is sixth, Mountain Vista moved up to No. 7 and Rock Mountain is No. 8. Cherry Creek fell three places to No. 9.
The other No. 1 teams also remained put, including Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Newcomers (or returners to the rankings) this week include Dakota Ridge (No. 9 in 4A); Berthoud (No. 9, 3A); Fort Morgan (No. 10, 3A); Sterling (No. 9, 2A); and Cheyenne Wells (No. 10, 6-man).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
Columbine’s players celebrate a home run on Saturday. More photos. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)
Jennifer Romero led Columbine to the biggest upset in the softball regionals on Saturday.
The sophomore pitched in all three games her No. 31-seeded Rebels played in the Class 5A bracket, and didn’t allow a run — including a complete-game performance against No. 2 Legacy, the defending 5A champion, which clinched a berth in next weekend’s state tournament.
“She really stepped it up a notch,” Columbine coach Brooks Roybal told CHSAANow.com on Saturday evening. “She pitched really, really well.”
Columbine actually dropped its opening game of the 5A Region 8 bracket at Broomfield Industrial Park. That was also against Legacy, and the Rebels fell 6-0.
But Romero entered in the final two innings of the opening game, and didn’t allow Legacy another run.
Columbine dropped to the loser’s bracket for the second game, and face Cherokee Trail — a team the Rebels had beaten 12-11 in the second game of the season. Like the first meeting, offense ruled. Cherokee Trail led 7-6 midway through before Romero again entered again — and again shut the opposing offense down.
Columbine went on to rally and win that game, 11-7, thanks in part to a home run from Carly Perry.
Meanwhile, Douglas County had topped Cherokee Trail 6-0, and then beat Legacy 7-0 to win the region. It set Columbine up with a rematch, with a berth to state on the line.
This time, Romero started. She pitched a complete-game shutout, and buoyed by a grand slam from Perry, Columbine pulled the upset, 8-0.
“I think playing against Cherokee Trail, our bats came alive a little bit and they had a little more confidence going against Legacy that second round,” Roybal said. “Especially after we shut them down. Legacy might have been down a little bit, too, because they just got beat by Douglas County. You catch them at the right time sometimes.”
The end result was this: Columbine, a No. 31 seed, moved on to the state tournament, while Legacy did not.
“We told them afterwards it was probably the biggest win Columbine has had in the last eight years,” Roybal said. “We haven’t been a qualifier for seven or eight years.”
Columbine already had a number of big wins this season, including topping Brighton and Ralston Valley.
“They’ve got a few good wins under their belts this year which have been huge,” Roybal said. “You know, we’ve never beat Brighton, we’ve never beaten Ralston Valley. And I’m sure we’ve never beaten Legacy. We’ve always thought we could beat anybody, if we played well.”
More 5A notables
No. 24-seeded Pine Creek upset No. 9 Mountain Range in the opening round in Region 2, then advanced to the state tournament with a 10-9 win over Fruita Monument in the final game.
Horizon, a No. 28 seed, rallied from being no-hit by Castle View in its first game to top No. 21 Greeley West (13-2), and then No. 12 Pomona (8-5) in reaching the state tournament.
No. 29 Arvada West dropped its first game, but then won two straight to earn a berth. Included was a 10-5 win over No. 13 Rock Canyon.
The complete 5A state field, with regional seeds noted: No. 1 Fossil Ridge, No. 3 Dakota Ridge, No. 4 Brighton, No. 5 Castle View, No. 6 Legend, No. 7 Grandview, No. 8 Broomfield, No. 10 Grand Junction Central, No. 11 Rocky Mountain, No. 14 Chaparral, No. 16 Eaglecrest, No. 18 Douglas County, No. 24 Pine Creek, No. 28 Horizon, No. 29 Arvada West, No. 31 Columbine.
The softball seeding committee will meet at the CHSAA office at 9 a.m. Monday to seed the state tournament.
Air Academy, a No. 24 seed, dropped its first game of the tournament, to Erie, 3-1. The Kadets then beat No. 25 Holy Family 1-0, and upset eighth-seeded Mountain View 7-5 to claim a state berth.
Region 4 had a length rain delay which disrupted play in its second round games. Prior to the delay, Wheat Ridge advanced. After the delay, No. 20 Thompson Valley went on to upset No. 13 Pueblo East for the other berth.
No. 26-seeded Mead rebounded from an opening-round loss to win its next two games and advance to the 4A tournament. The Mavericks beat No. 23 Thomas Jefferson and No. 10 Berthoud.
D’Evelyn, a No. 27 seed, actually upset No. 6 Vista Ridge in the first round but then dropped the winner’s-bracket game to No. 11 Ponderosa. D’Evelyn had to turn around and beat Vista Ridge again for the tournament berth.
The complete 4A state field, using regional seeds: No. 1 Frederick, No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Pueblo West, No. 4 Wheat Ridge, No. 5 Silver Creek, No. 7 Discovery Canyon, No. 9 Erie, No. 11 Ponderosa, No. 12 Mullen, No. 14 Niwot, No. 16 Falcon, No. 18 Windsor, No. 20 Thompson Valley, No. 24 Air Academy, No. 26 Mead, No. 27 D’Evelyn.
Surprisingly, there was not a single upset during the entire 3A regional tournament. It meant the new format, which would have only played a third game if the top seed in a given region lost, was not used this season.
The complete 3A state field, using regional seeds: No. 1 Strasburg, No. 2 Valley, No. 3 La Junta, No. 4 Sterling, No. 5 Eaton, No. 6 Lamar, No. 7 Skyline, No. 8 Burlington, No. 9 Cedaredge, No. 10 Brush, No. 11 Rocky Ford, No. 12 Basalt.
Mountain Vista is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 5A poll. (Paul DiSalvo/MaxPreps)
Mountain Vista, off to its best start in seven seasons, has joined CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Golden Eagles are now 6-0 following a 34-7 win over Rock Canyon on Friday. The six wins are the most since Mountain Vista went 7-4 in 2009, and the unbeaten start is the best since the Golden Eagles began 7-0 in 2007. Mountain Vista also started 6-0 in 2006, when it went 10-2.
Mountain Vista is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 5A poll.
Valor Christian continued to lead the 5A ranking after beating Eaglecrest last week, as the Eagles got 12 of the 17 first-place votes and amassed 165 total points. Pomona remained in the No. 2 spot following its fifth-straight win, while Grandview jumped Ralston Valley for No. 3.
Broomfield is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 4A poll. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Cherry Creek reamined in the No. 6 spot, and Regis Jesuit stayed at No. 7. Doherty bumped up two places to No. 8, while Rocky Mountain is again No. 9 this week.
The six other No. 1 teams in the rankings also stayed put: Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Broomfield joined the 4A poll at No. 10, while 3A added Glenwood Springs, also at No. 10.
New to the 2A ranking is Montezuma-Cortez (No. 10), and 6-man added Mountain Valley (No. 10).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
A complete schedule for the Class 3A regional softball playoffs. All games are Oct. 11, unless noted.
Note that the third game will only be played if the higher-seeded team (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) loses the second game. The winner of game two and game three will then be the state qualifiers.
If the higher-seeded team wins games number two, game number three will not be play and the two participants in game two will be the state qualifiers.
Fossil Ridge is the top seed in the Class 5A regional softball field. (Pam Wagner)
AURORA — Fossil Ridge, Frederick and Strasburg earned the top overall seeds in their respective classifications when the regional softball brackets were released by CHSAA on Sunday.
Fossil Ridge, 17-1-0, won the always-tough Front Range League in Class 5A by virtue of going unbeaten 11-0. 5A’s No. 2 seed, Legacy (15-4-0), also hails from the Front Range League. Both will host their respective regionals.
In 4A, Frederick was a clear-cut No. 1 seed. The Warriors finished the season unbeaten at 19-0-0, won the Tri-Valley League, and played a very tough schedule which included top teams from 4A and 3A, as well as 5A opponents.
Valor Christian (18-1-0) got the No. 2 seed, while Pueblo West is No. 3. Defending champion Wheat Ridge is the No. 4.
Other regional hosts in 4A are No. 5 Silver Creek, No. 6 Vista Ridge, No. 7 Discovery Canyon and No. 8 Mountain View.
3A’s top-seeded Strasburg (also the defending 3A champion) went unbeaten at 19-0-0 despite playing in District 3, which is arguably the toughest softball league in the state.
That district also features No. 2-seeded Valley — which will also host a region — No. 4 Sterling and No. 5 Eaton. Additionally, Brush (No. 10), Lyons (No. 13) and Greeley Central (No. 18) also qualified for the regional bracket.
Other regional hosts in 3A include No. 3 La Junta, No. 7 Skyline, No. 8 Burlington and No. 9 Cedaredge.
Each of the regional tournaments will begin and complete play next Saturday, Oct. 11. Both the Class 5A and 4A tournaments feature 32-team fields split into eight regions, while 3A has 18 teams split into six.
All three regional tournaments will advance two teams from each region to their respective state tournaments Oct. 17-18 at Aurora Sports Park.
