AURORA – You have to hand it to the Discovery Canyon foursome on their performance on Monday at CommonGround G.C. in the opening round of the Class 4A state golf tournament.

Mere moments before their collective morning tee times, the Thunder group of Emily Cheng, Christina Cheng, Lauren Jaworowski and Mena Song-Lew got the usual words of encouragement from their coach Mark Liggett.

But they didn’t get to see his face, just heard his voice from back home in Colorado Springs, where he was at the bedside of his wife Susan, who is still in the hospital after complications from a surgery the week prior.

The Thunder (team score of 255), who to a player will admit they didn’t play their best golf on Monday in the ideal conditions at CommonGround, played for their coach and will carry an eight-shot lead over Holy Family (263) into Tuesday’s second round. Cheyenne Mountain (266) is in third and both Windsor (272) and Mullen (272) are lurking in fourth.

“They were all in a better mood this morning when they got the news last night that (Susan) had come out of her third surgery and found out what was making her so sick,” said Discovery Canyon assistant coach David Schwartz, whose team is in search of its first title in the sport. “They were happy to hear that and they all had a chance to talk to him on the phone and that put them all at ease that she is in a better place at least physically.”

Sophomore Emily Cheng led the way for Discovery Canyon, firing a 6-over par 78 on the 5,907-yard layout. She sits alone in third place and will be in the final pairing tomorrow with Holy Family’s Jessica Mason (3-under par, 69) and Mead’s Timbre Shehee (77).

Christina Cheng (88) and Jaworowski (89) rounded out the scoring three for Discovery Canyon.

“They did exactly what they needed to do today, finish in first place, and I think tomorrow will be a better day,” Schwartz said. “They didn’t play their best today and our top three really weren’t on their game, but we are looking forward to tomorrow and the warm weather.”

Schwartz and his team, who are hoping to have Liggett back tomorrow, know that the course they saw on Monday – damp and somewhat receptive after the overnight rains – will play a lot differently on Tuesday in what is supposed to be a 90-plus degree dry day.

“It did play a little slower as compared to the practice round yesterday and that is the most difficult thing for younger players is to readapt to changing conditions,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a totally different day and now that they have the bad rounds out of the way, they know what is in store for them tomorrow.”

As for Mason, who is attempting to keep the medalist honors at Holy Family after three straight wins by Hailey Schalk from 2017-2019, it was a nearly flawless round of golf.

The Tigers junior had it to 4-under after pouring in a 12-foot eagle putt on No. 15, and ultimately finished with a 3-under score of 69. The only blemishes on the card were a couple of three putt bogeys on the inward nine’s two difficult par-3’s.

Mason will carry an eight shot lead into tomorrow’s final round and will have a front row seat to watch her two closest chasers try and catch her.

“I was relaxed today and everything was good today, so tomorrow I just have to come back out and do the same thing,” said Mason, who went a perfect 5-for-5 in Northern Colorado Athletic Conference tournaments this season. “Even if you do have an eight-shot lead, you still have to play well.”

In the final coaches poll of Season D, Colorado Academy and Evergreen finished at No. 1.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. This data will be used as one criteria for postseason qualification and seeding.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Girls Lacrosse Poll

Voted upon by coaches around the state. Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — It wouldn’t be a true state tennis tournament at Pueblo City Park if it wasn’t setup for a thrilling final day. That will be the case once again as Cheyenne Mountain, Mullen and Niwot will battle it out for the state title as each school has at least four of seven positions into Saturday’s Class 4A girls tennis semifinals. Mullen leads the team race with 16 points while Cheyenne Mountain has 15.

Cheyenne Mountain fell in No. 2 Singles as Windsor’s Schrader beat Brooke Ballenger and the No. 2 Doubles team of Emma Delich and Katie Delich lost to Mullen’s Tierney Scanlan and Izzy Desjardins in what was maybe the pivotal match of the day. Marin Smith fell in the first round of the No. 3 Singles bracket for Mullen and Brooklyn Hanley and Parker Durand lost to Grand Junction’s Natalie Hanks and Kylie Hanks.

Each team will rest up and do what they need to be ready for Saturday’s semifinals.

“We’re having team dinner and pool night,” Mullen’s Lauren Manwiller said. “We’re getting to bed early but our whole team is going to be here tomorrow to support everyone and we’re all going to be watching each other’s matches and cheering each other on.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

The No. 1 Singles bracket is proving to be a key race for the team title. Manwiller dropped just five total games in two rounds to advance to the semifinals and Cheyenne Mountain freshman Maya Michalski looked strong herself as she rolled into the semis with wins over Longmont’s Lauren Pavot and Grand Junction’s Emma Aubert.

For a freshman playing in the top position, Michalski showed no signs of showing any nerves on a stage where her team has a tendency to contend for a championship every year.

“I was worried for a few matches,” she said. “But I just powered through.”

Both teams have their own pockets of inexperience as Michalski is in just her freshman year at the school and Mullen only has four players on the roster with previous varsity experience. Part of it is because of youth and part is because last year’s state tournament wasn’t contested because of COVID-19.

“It helps because No. 1 has the most points,” Michalski said. “The fact that I’m still in it and doing well makes me happy for the team.”

There are five teams bunched close to the top with Kent Denver, Niwot and Palmer Ridge all within five points of the lead and the state tournament itself is a representation of how much parity there is across the classification.

“This is exciting and I’m pretty darn sure this is how it was going to be,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Dave Adams said. “From looking at the participants and the MaxPreps scores, I thought there were five or six teams that could win it. It’s really close.

Semifinals begin at Pueblo City Park at 9 a.m. on Saturday with championships tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m.

Photos from the Liberty Bell track and field meet.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PUEBLO — Lauren Manwiller faced a bit of a trouble in the second set of the Class 4A girls tennis No. 1 Singles championship.

She had dropped the first game of both sets to Loveland’s Beilynn Geiss and Manwiller was down 15-break in the 10th game of the second set. She held a 5-4 lead and with the temperature rising at Pueblo City Park, playing a third set was something she wasn’t interested in doing.

So she rallied and to get the 6-2, 6-4 to give the Mustangs a No. 1 Singles title. That win also pushed them out of reach of Cheyenne Mountain to claim the team championship. Manwiller knew that while she was playing for herself in her position, she also had team implications riding on the result.

“That’s what I love about high school tennis,” she said. “I love it more than tournaments. I’m on a team where they support me and I support them.”

She needed the support through the duration of her match. Geiss got on the board early, taking the first game in each set trying to establish momentum early. But Manwiller was prepared for the battle ahead of her.

She didn’t shy away from the challenge of falling into an early hole, but rather she embraced it and used as fuel to battle back.

“I knew she would hold her serve so I just stayed focused,” Manwiller said. “I just played my game and held my serve for most of the time. I knew if I could hold my serve then I would likely win.”

Prior to the championship she faced her toughest challenge in Niwot’s Alys Pop. The Cougars sophomore put up quite a fight in the semis but after Manwiller got the first set 7-5, she rolled to a 6-1 win to close out the match.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Although the No. 1 Singles match was all that was needed for the Mustangs to win the team title, the overall team went on a gold medal hunt on Saturday. Tierney Scanlan and Izzy Desjardins won the No. 2 Doubles title while Madeline Crites and Aubryanne Meugers rolled to a No. 3 Doubles crown.

They weren’t reliant on just one position, the Mustangs wanted to put together an all-around great team performance to finish with 45 points.

“It was a whole team effort,” Mullen coach Jera Sturgell said. “It was obviously a tough season with the restrictions and everything. We came in blind and coming into state we had to play our best because the best is here.”

The team championship is the first for the Mustangs since 2006.

The biggest drama of the day came in the race for team runner-up as Niwot had a chance to overtake Cheyenne Mountain, but Palmer Ridge’s Tessa Rothwell beat Niwot’s Anna Sallee in No. 2 Singles to dash the Cougars’ hopes of a runner-up finish.

Cheyenne Mountain held on to win second as a team despite not winning a single state championship at the tournament.

Kent Denver left Southern Colorado with hardware of their own as the Sun Devils were given the Vicky Matarazzo Sportsmanship Award.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

In the latest coaches poll voting, Ponderosa and Merino claimed the top spots in their respective classifications.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Baseball Polls

Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

In the latest coaches coaches poll, Evergreen and Grand Junction moved up in Class 4A.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Girls Lacrosse Poll

Voted upon by coaches around the state. Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.

Five different players scored goals as Mullen girls soccer grabbed a thrilling 5-4 overtime win over Eaglecrest.

Results from the 2021 Class 4A girls tennis regionals, which includes info on who has qualified for the state championships.

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In the latest coaches poll, Palmer Ridge entered the rankings at No. 12 in Class 5A.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

[divider]

CHSAANow.com Girls Lacrosse Poll

Voted upon by coaches around the state. Coaches looking to vote should email bcochi@chsaa.org.