Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Kent Denver is the new No. 1 team in 3A boys soccer. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)
Things are crazy in Class 3A boys soccer.
Not only is there a new No. 1 team this week — Kent Denver — the classification got four new teams this week.
Kent got five of the six first-place votes after going 2-0-0 last week to improve to 6-1-0.
Meanwhile, Colorado Academy rejoined the poll this week — all the way at No. 2. CA went 3-0-0 last week, including wins over ranked opponents Faith Christian and Fountain Valley.
Kent Denver and Colorado Academy play on Tuesday.
Also joining the 3A ranking this week were No. 7 Sheridan, No. 9 Vanguard and No. 10 Jefferson Academy.
The 5A poll added No. 5 Broomfield and No. 7 Doherty. Rock Canyon remained atop that ranking.
In 4A, Skyline was the lone newcomer at No. 10, and Air Academy continued to be No. 1.
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. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Legacy 13, Heritage 12, Columbine 11, Legend 7, Mountain Vista 6, Fort Collins 5, Grandview 4, Overland 4, Arapahoe 3, Aurora Central 1, Fossil Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Fort Collins (7), Fossil Ridge (9).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Air Academy (10)
8-0-0
100
1
2-0-0
2
The Classical Academy
6-0-0
88
2
2-0-0
3
D’Evelyn
6-1-0
54
8
2-0-0
4
Cheyenne Mountain
5-2-0
52
3
1-1-0
5
John F. Kennedy
8-0-0
40
10
2-0-0
6
Ponderosa
7-3-0
37
4
1-1-0
7
Montrose
7-1-0
36
7
2-0-0
8
Pueblo Centennial
7-1-0
34
9
2-0-0
9
Littleton
6-2-0
24
6
1-1-0
10
Skyline
7-0-0
18
–
2-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Denver North 14, Summit 10, Vista Ridge 9, Niwot 7, Fort Lupton 5, Sand Creek 4, Thompson Valley 4, Centaurus 3, Denver West 3, Windsor 3, Evergreen 2, Golden 1, Pueblo South 1, Wheat Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Wheat Ridge (5).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kent Denver (5)
6-1-0
59
4
2-0-0
2
Colorado Academy
6-2-0
45
–
3-0-0
3
Coal Ridge
6-1-0
43
1
1-1-0
4
DSST-Stapleton
6-1-1
34
8
2-1-0
5
Crested Butte
6-2-0
30
6
2-1-0
6
Frontier Academy
5-1-2
26
7
1-0-0
7
Sheridan
4-1-1
22
–
2-0-0
8
Salida
5-2-0
19
5
2-0-0
9
Vanguard Charter (1)
5-0-0
16
–
3-0-0
10
Jefferson Academy
5-2-0
11
–
2-1-0
Others receiving votes:
Heritage Christian 6, KIPP 6, Bruce Randolph 5, Denver Christian 4, Aspen 2, Faith Christian 2.
Dropped out
Pagosa Springs (2), Faith Christian (3), Fountain Valley (9), KIPP (10).
Oliver Larsson (18) and Rock Canyon are now No. 1 in the 5A boys soccer poll. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Rock Canyon is the new No. 1 in this week’s Class 5A boys soccer ranking, which was released by CHSAANow.com on Monday.
The Jaguars received six of the 13 first-place votes, and took over for former No. 1 Denver East, which lost to Boulder last week. Boulder moved up from No. 7 to No. 2 following its win, while East dropped to No. 4.
Cherry Creek is the lone newcomer in 5A this week, joining at No. 10.
Air Academy (4A) and Coal Ridge (3A) remain atop their respective rankings this week.
The 4A poll had just one new addition: Kennedy, which is No. 10.
The 3A ranking actually had three newcomers: No. 4 Kent Denver, No. 7 Frontier Academy, No. 8 Denver Science & Tech (Stapleton) and No. 10 KIPP.
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. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Denver North 11, Skyline 11, Vista Ridge 10, Battle Mountain 8, Niwot 7, Evergreen 6, Fort Lupton 6, Golden 6, Skyview 5, Valor Christian 5, Durango 4, Standley Lake 4, Denver West 3, Vista PEAK 2, Pueblo South 1, Thompson Valley 1.
Dropped out
Niwot (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Coal Ridge (6)
5-0-0
68
1
2-0-0
2
Pagosa Springs
4-0-0
62
5
1-0-0
3
Faith Christian
4-1-1
50
4
1-1-0
4
Kent Denver (1)
4-1-0
45
–
3-0-0
5
Salida
3-2-0
33
3
1-1-0
6
Crested Butte
4-1-0
28
10
1-0-0
7
Frontier Academy
4-1-2
24
–
3-0-0
8
DSST-Stapleton
4-0-1
20
–
2-0-0
9
Fountain Valley
2-1-1
15
6
1-0-0
10
KIPP
4-1-0
10
–
2-0-0
Others receiving votes:
Colorado Academy 6, Alamosa 5, Bruce Randolph 5, Jefferson Academy 5, Sheridan 4, Aspen 3, Manitou Springs 2.
Dropped out
Colorado Academy (2), Sheridan (7), Peak to Peak (8), Arrupe Jesuit (9).
Denver East toppled Pine Creek last week. This week, the Angels took Pine Creek’s spot atop the Class 5A boys soccer rankings.
Denver East received six of the 13 first-place votes and garnered 111 over points in moving up three places to No. 1 in this week’s CHSAANow.com ranking. Pine Creek, which still got three first-place votes, dropped to No. 2.
Smoky Hilll moved up six places to No. 3 this week following wins over Rangeview and Heritage last week. The Buffaloes’ lone loss is to Denver East this season.
The 5A poll also got three new teams this week: No. 8 Adams City, No. 9 Fossil Ridge and No. 10 Chatfield.
There’s also a new No. 1 team in 3A, where Coal Ridge takes over for Salida. That poll added four new teams: No. 5 Pagosa Springs (which knocked off Salida), No. 8 Peak to Peak, No. 9 Arrupe Jesuit and No. 10 Crested Butte.
Coal Ridge and Salida play on Saturday.
Air Academy, 4A’s top team, stayed put this week. But that class also has three newcomers: No. 8 Niwot, No. 9 Montrose and No. 10 Littleton.
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. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Windsor 17, Battle Mountain 15, Denver North 13, Evergreen 13, Durango 12, Vista Ridge 7, Golden 6, Denver West 5, Standley Lake 5, Steamboat Springs 3, Summit 3, Fort Morgan 2, Greeley West 2, Skyline 2, John F. Kennedy 1, Vista PEAK 1.
Dropped out
Battle Mountain (3), Denver North (8), Evergreen (9).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Coal Ridge (6)
3-0-0
64
3
2-0-0
2
Colorado Academy (1)
2-1-0
63
2
1-1-0
3
Salida
2-1-0
54
1
1-1-0
4
Faith Christian
3-0-1
40
9
2-0-1
5
Pagosa Springs
3-0-0
37
–
1-0-0
6
Fountain Valley
1-1-1
27
4
1-1-1
7
Sheridan
2-0-1
25
7
2-0-1
8
Peak to Peak
2-2-0
23
–
1-1-0
9
Arrupe Jesuit
4-1-0
13
–
2-0-0
10
Crested Butte
3-1-0
10
–
1-1-0
Others receiving votes:
Frontier Academy 8, Kent Denver 7, Bruce Randolph 5, Manitou Springs 4, Aspen 3, DSST-Stapleton 3, Roaring Fork 2, Colorado Springs Christian 1.
Dropped out
Denver Christian (5), Frontier Academy (6), Kent Denver (8), Manitou Springs (10).
Wheat Ridge and senior Ryan Browne (3) joined the 4A boys soccer poll this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
The Classical Academy picked up a huge win over preseason No. 1 Cheyenne Mountain last week. Monday, the Titans entered CHSAANow.com’s Class 4A boys soccer ranking — all the way up at No. 2.
TCA, in its first 4A season, was runner-up in 3A last year. It beat Cheyenne Mountain, the reigning 4A champ and preseason favorite, 1-0 last Thursday.
But they were just one of four news teams to enter the 4A poll this week. Other newcomers included No. 5 D’Evelyn, No. 7 Pueblo Centennial and No. 10 Wheat Ridge.
The ranking also got a new No. 1 team in Air Academy.
The 5A poll added three new teams: No. 7 Fort Collins, No. 8 Broomfield and No. 10 Rocky Mountain. Pine Creek held firm at No. 1 in that ranking.
In 3A, Faith Christian (No. 9) and Manitou Springs (No. 10) joined the poll, which continued to be led by Salida.
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. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Cherry Creek 12, Fossil Ridge 12, Adams City 11, Arvada West 11, Mountain Vista 4, Loveland 3, Regis Jesuit 2, Fountain-Fort Carson 1, Grandview 1.
Dropped out
Grandview (6), Cherry Creek (9), Rangeview (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Air Academy (8)
1-0-0
89
2
2
The Classical Academy (2)
2-0-0
74
–
3
Battle Mountain
2-0-0
72
5
4
Cheyenne Mountain
0-1-0
49
1
5
D’Evelyn
2-0-0
45
–
6
Ponderosa
2-1-0
35
4
7
Pueblo Centennial
3-0-0
30
–
8
Denver North
2-0-0
28
7
9
Evergreen
0-1-0
25
3
10
Wheat Ridge
2-0-0
24
–
Others receiving votes:
Niwot 22, Montrose 10, Summit 9, Golden 8, Littleton 8, Windsor 6, Denver West 5, Valor Christian 4, Green Mountain 3, Greeley West 2, Pueblo South 1, Vista Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Niwot (6), Standley Lake (8), Centaurus (9), Pueblo West (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Salida (5)
1-0-0
67
1
2
Colorado Academy (2)
1-0-0
65
2
3
Coal Ridge
1-0-0
50
3
4
Fountain Valley
0-0-0
49
4
5
Denver Christian
1-0-1
36
5
6
Frontier Academy
1-0-1
31
10
7
Sheridan
0-0-0
24
7
8
Kent Denver
1-1-0
22
6
9
Faith Christian
1-0-0
19
–
10
Manitou Springs
1-1-0
10
–
Others receiving votes:
Bruce Randolph 7, DSST-Stapleton 3, Arrupe Jesuit 2.
Salida won last season’s Class 3A championship. (Courtesy photo)
The girls cross country program at Salida placed in the top five at the Class 3A state meet five consecutive seasons from 2008-2012, but had yet to achieve every team’s ultimate goal.
During last year’s state championships at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, the Spartans overcame an ultra-challenging course and a strong 3A field to claim the state crown in dominant fashion with a mere 35 points. Estes Park was the runner-up with 94 as Holy Family and Frontier Academy tallied 106 and 110 points, respectively.
“It was definitely a dream season and we happened to run our best when it counted the most, which is always the goal of any coach,” Salida coach Ken Wilcox said of his first girls state championship at the school. “That’s how you draw it up and sometimes it works for you in your favor and sometimes it doesn’t. The girls just kept feeding off each other all year and pushing each other to new heights.”
Wilcox, entering his ninth season as the coach of both Salida’s boys and girls programs, coached his boys to a team title in 2009. He had a good feeling about his girls’ chances at the crown in 2013.
“We were cautiously optimistic throughout the season,” Wilcox said. “Kind of where we are geographically, we don’t always see all the teams. There’s certainly good teams here in the mountains, but you also just don’t see many of them until regionals or state. I think at regionals, when we just had a really solid race, I think we had four of the top five that day. At that point, I think that gave us a little more confidence and that carried over to the state meet the following week.”
Sydney Fesenmeyer, a junior, handled the field at the 3A Region 2 meet in impressive fashion with a 20-second victory over St. Mary’s Elena Slavoski and three of Fesenmeyer’s teammates. The effort helped the Spartans capture the Regional crown with thirteen points, 35 points clear of Saint Mary’s.
“Sydney, she certainly had a breakout season for us and it really came together for her at the regional meet,” Wilcox said. “That was the first time she had led our team all year. She’s always had the physical capabilities but then the mental side came, too.”
Salida’s Sydney Fesenmeyer. (Courtesy photo)
Fesenmeyer, who placed 17th at the State Championships as a freshman, had a splendid third-place finish in leading her talented teammates, Phoebe Powell (sixth), Taryn Ceglowski (tenth) and Bari Beasley (16th), to the sought-after crown.
3A has allowed six competitors to race varsity, the top four of which score for the team. 4A and 5A, due to obvious size advantages, allows seven competitors from each team to race varsity, five of which score.
Starting in 2014, 3A is implementing the same race seven, score five system as the bigger schools, a benefit to a Salida team with worthy depth. Salida returns all six varsity racers and a few others who battled for the final spots at the state championships.
Ceglowski is expected to be towards the front of the pack once again, especially after a breakout track season with a personal best of 5:16 in the 1,600 and a third place finish at 3A state track in the event. Ceglowski, a sophomore, also ran 11:54 in the 3,200.
Wilcox attributes the success of the girls program to work ethic and competitive fire.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” Wilcox said. “The kids, they put in the time in the summer. They really feed off of each other and they’re a real competitive bunch, which is really good, as a coach, to have a competitive team. Every now and then it can get a little chippy, but, as a coach, I don’t mind seeing that a little bit. At the end of the day, they’re all still friends and they’re pulling for each other.
“I think one thing that’s really helped us is that our kids have really bought in to the team concept of the sport of cross country,” Wilcox added. “That’s allowed them to keep pushing hard when you hit that point in the race when it’s really difficult.”
The team also likes to challenge themselves against the best Colorado has to offer. They’ll be competing against many of the 4A and 5A powerhouses at the Arapahoe Warrior Invitational and the Brooks/TCA Titan Thunder Invitational.
“We really enjoy running up against some of the bigger schools,” Wilcox said of the competitive invites.
“In the early years of coaching, we definitely got our butts kicked at those,” he added with a laugh. “But, I think it’s helped elevate our program as the kids we’re seeing what it looked like to be at the top. We see it, then we can dream it, then we can go out and figure out how to make that a reality.”
Wilcox noted his team has a healthy respect for their competitors and know nothing is a given in cross country, but they hope to make a state crown a reality once again.
Estes Park, Colorado Academy, Moffat County, and Kent Denver are among the teams looking to unseat the champs. Fesenmeyer, Powell, and Ceglowski could all be in the thick of the race for the individual crown.
[divider]
Class 3A girls cross country
Defending individual champion: Eva Lou Edwards, Bayfield (graduated)
Pine Creek is the No. 1 team in this year’s preseason Class 5A boys soccer ranking. (Pam Wagner)
Pine Creek, Cheyenne Mountain and Salida are on top of CHSAANow.com’s preseason boys soccer rankings.
Both Pine Creek (5A) and Cheyenne Mountain (4A) are defending champions, while Salida was a semifinalist in 3A last season.
Following Pine Creek in the 5A ranking is No. 2 Rock Canyon, No. 3 Boulder, No. 4 Denver East and No. 5 Smoky Hill. Grandview is sixth, Fairview is seventh, Heritage is eighth, Cherry Creek is ninth and Rangeview is tenth.
Air Academy is No. 2 in 4A after Cheyenne Mountain.
Defending 3A champion Colorado Academy is second in that ranking, just two points behind Salida.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Liberty 10, Arvada West 6, Montbello 6, Fort Collins 5, Arapahoe 3, George Washington 3, Ralston Valley 3, Broomfield 2.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Cheyenne Mountain (9)
97
2
Air Academy (1)
76
3
Evergreen
72
4
Ponderosa
54
5
Battle Mountain
50
6
Niwot
36
7
Denver North
31
8
Standley Lake
27
9
Centaurus
26
10
Pueblo West
13
Others receiving votes:
Valor Christian 10, Wheat Ridge 10, Palmer Ridge 8, Lewis-Palmer 6, Summit 6, Longmont 5, D’Evelyn 4, Silver Creek 4, Greeley West 3, Green Mountain 3, The Classical Academy 3, Montrose 2, Pueblo Central 2, Pueblo Centennial 1, Windsor 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Salida (5)
67
2
Colorado Academy (2)
65
3
Coal Ridge
49
4
Fountain Valley
48
5
Denver Christian
39
6
Kent Denver
35
7
Sheridan
29
8
Vail Mountain
18
9
Bruce Randolph
12
10
Frontier Academy
8
Others receiving votes:
Aurora West 5, Manitou Springs 5, Roaring Fork 3, Faith Christian 2.
